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If you are a professional based in the United States and searching for leads to manage your business, several online platforms will help you market your services. Taskrabbit and Handy are two such platforms. Let us evaluate both these platforms to see which platform is more suitable for you if you are a professional looking to offer your services to clients.
Services
Taskrabbit is an online platform that helps people with day-to-day chores. It enables people to hire local talent to perform everyday tasks like assembling furniture, mounting television sets, moving boxes via trucks, cleaning homes and offices, plumbing, home delivery of products, lifting furniture, gardening, etc.
Handy is another online platform like Taskrabbit, which allows people in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom to book professionals for Home cleaning, office cleaning, furniture assembly, handyman services, TV mounting, hanging pictures, and shelves, and many more services. Both the platforms offer similar services. Don’t forget to check out both websites for the complete list of services they offer.
Taskrabbit
Taskrabbit was established in 2008 and had its headquarters in San Francisco, California. It has about 140 thousand professionals registered with them. Contractors or Taskers, as they are called, can register on the platform by paying a registration fee of 25 dollars. There are no further charges that taskers have to pay. Taskers can decide the hourly rate they would charge for their services. Customers can review and book services on the web or through the Taskrabbit app. All financial transactions about the tasks are conducted on the platform itself. Taskrabbit charges a Service fee and a Trust and Support fee to the clients who use professional services on the forum. All contractors have to undergo a background check. Taskers are required to raise an invoice after completing the task.
Taskrabbit allows customers to choose which contractor they work with. Based on reviews and the Tasker’s hourly rates, the customers can schedule a task. The Tasker also has the flexibility of scheduling his work hours. Taskrabbit is not known to penalize contractors for reporting late or abstaining from work.
Handy
Handy was established in 2012 and had its headquarters in New York City. According to reports available on the Internet, Handy has about 100 thousand professionals registered with them. Handy vets all contractors before they become eligible to provide services. They charge a 20 dollars fee for background verification which is deducted from the first payout. No registration fee is charged. Handy earns money by charging a fee to customers. The prices advertised by Handy on their platform are higher than what they pay the professionals. The difference between what they charge the customer and what they give to the service provider is the profit earned by Handy. Customers can also tip the contractors through the platform. A hundred percent of the tip is passed on to the contractor. The complete financial transaction is processed on the platform, and there is no physical exchange of money between customers and contractors. Unlike TaskRabbit, contractors don’t get to choose their hourly rates.
The hourly rate depends on the task you do and the location where you operate. There are differences in the hourly rates depending upon the city and region. Handyman tasks usually pay better than cleaning tasks. Also, there could be higher rates for completing more tasks per week or month. Contractors are expected to bring supplies and parts required for conducting their tasks. They can store the receipts of such purchases and claim reimbursement from Handy.
Handy penalizes contractors for reporting late or abstaining from work after claiming a task. Also, you will be penalized if you cancel a declared task at the last minute or leave a task without completing it. In such cases, a certain amount will be deducted from your weekly payout.
Points of Difference between Taskrabbit & Handy
Payment processing
On Taskrabbit, contractors usually get paid within a week of submitting an invoice. The payment is transferred to your bank account. Handy works on a slightly different payment system. All the tasks completed in a week are accounted for on the following Monday, and payments are credited to the contractor’s account, which may take up to another week till they are received. So, if a weekend on the 15th of a month, you can expect the payment in your bank account by the 23rd.
Support
Taskrabbit offers live chat as well as email support to contractors. They also have a safety helpline number for taskers for emergency use. Handy provides a knowledge base and email and postal support to its contractors.
Reviews
Like customers review contractors on Taskrabbit and Handy, employees also review these companies on job boards and other related platforms. Based on the few reviews we read, many contractors believe that Taskrabbit is a better place to work than Handy. While Taskrabbit has a few good comments to their credit, several complaints are voiced against Handy by contractors. Handy doesn’t have a support center where contractors can contact, complain or appeal except via email. I think it would make more sense if you did not take our word about this and do some research yourself.
Conclusion
Although Taskrabbit and Handy are similar platforms that offer similar services, Taskrabbit has a more promising approach to contractors. This is evident because they don’t have a penalty system in place for contractors and because they allow contractors to choose their hourly rates. They also have a better system for contractor support and have better reviews from existing and past contractors.
Also, check the difference between Taskrabbit and Thumbtack.
