- Hiring a nearshore contractor through HireSwiftlee costs the contractor's hourly rate plus a flat, visible 15% platform fee. The contractor side pays 5% from their earnings.
- The platform fee is only one line of the real cost. Recruiting time, screening, contracts, tax forms, and payment handling land on you if you hire without an agency.
- All figures below are illustrative worked examples, not quotes. Rates vary by role, seniority, and country.
- There are no seat minimums and no long-term contract, so you can start with one hire and scale month to month.
The model, stated plainly
You pay the contractor's hourly rate plus a flat 15%. That is the whole client-side fee — no setup charge, no subscription, no per-seat license. The contractor keeps their rate minus a 5% fee, and is paid weekly via Wise. HireSwiftlee is the Agency of Record, so you do not need a local entity in the contractor's country.
One hire, worked through
Take a bilingual support rep at an illustrative $10/hour working 160 hours in a month:
| Line item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Contractor's pay (160 hrs × $10) | $1,600 |
| Flat 15% platform fee | $240 |
| Your monthly invoice | $1,840 |
| Effective all-in hourly cost | $11.50 |
Illustrative example only. Actual rates depend on the role, experience, and country.
You pay only for hours actually worked. If the contractor works 120 hours in a slow month, the invoice scales down with it.
A three-person team
Now say you need three contractors: two support reps at $10/hour and one virtual assistant at $8/hour, each at 160 hours. Pay is $1,600 + $1,600 + $1,280 = $4,480. The 15% fee is $672, so the invoice is $5,152 for the month — one invoice, one agreement.
The costs that do not show up on a price page
A lower sticker price does not mean a lower total cost. If you hire without an agency, these are the line items you absorb yourself:
- Recruiting and screening. Posting the role, reading applications, running interviews, and testing English and Spanish ability. This is hours of management time per hire.
- Contracts and tax forms. A compliant contractor agreement and the right forms for a cross-border relationship.
- Payments. Paying someone in another currency every week, reliably.
- Replacing a miss. If a hire does not work out, you restart the whole cycle.
How the approaches compare
| Platform fee only (you recruit) | HireSwiftlee (marketplace + AOR) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who finds the talent | You | HireSwiftlee — ranked shortlist in ~24 hours |
| Who vets them | You | HireSwiftlee, before you see the shortlist |
| Contracts and tax forms | Platform tooling, you drive it | Handled — one Master Services Agreement |
| Fee shape | Typically a per-contractor fee plus your own time | Flat 15% on the contractor's rate |
Platform pricing changes often — see Deel pricing explained for how one contractor-management platform charges, and confirm live quotes.
The honest framing. If you already have a sourced roster and only need paperwork and payments, a contractor-management platform may be cheaper on paper. If the bottleneck is finding and vetting people, the flat fee buys back the work that usually costs the most. For the full model comparison, see the best Deel alternative for hiring contractors and Deel pricing explained.
Want to run your own numbers? The pricing page has a rate calculator, and /compare lines up the hiring models side by side.
FAQ
How much does it cost to hire a nearshore contractor?
What costs are easy to miss when hiring contractors yourself?
Is there a long-term contract or seat minimum?
Hiring contractors, not employees abroad?
HireSwiftlee finds, vets, contracts, and pays bilingual nearshore talent — a flat 15% on top of the contractor rate, no per-seat SaaS fees. Post a role and see a ranked shortlist within 24 hours.
HireSwiftlee is a recruiter-driven marketplace and Agency of Record for independent contractors — not an Employer of Record. Competitor product names and pricing are referenced for comparison, are accurate to the best of our knowledge as of publication, and may change — always confirm current details on the provider's own site.