Contractors keep your business moving, but managing them often feels like running a second company. Between misclassification risks, scattered onboarding, and missed payments, things slip—fast.
Contractor management software solutions give you one centralized management system to handle contracts, compliance, and payments without hunting down random files or switching between tools that were possibly never built for this in the first place.
In this guide, we’ll highlight eight of the best contractor management software solutions to help you scale, stay compliant, and actually support the people doing the work. We'll also share tips on choosing the contractor management software that's right for you.
What is contractor management software?
Contractor management software is a cloud-based platform that handles the full lifecycle of your external workforce, from onboarding and tracking time to issuing payments. It replaces scattered systems with one hub for payroll processes, document management, and day-to-day coordination.
Top contractor management solutions
If you're hiring at scale—across borders, currencies, and legal systems—these are the contractor management systems worth considering. Each takes a slightly different approach to compliance, onboarding, and payments, but they all aim to optimize your approach to managing contingent workers.
Oyster
Oyster lets you hire contractors in more than 180 countries and pay them in over 120 currencies, all from a single dashboard. It handles contracts, invoices, expenses, and time-off tracking—with built-in misclassification protection of up to $500,000. Pricing starts at $29 per contractor per month after a 30-day free trial.
Best for: Teams that need compliant contractor contracts, fast international payments in 120+ currencies, and centralized invoice and expense management.
Deel
Deel offers localized contractor agreements, automated invoicing, and support for payments via crypto, Wise, and Revolut. Its AI-driven compliance engine classifies workers with 90% accuracy and claims to reduce HR workload by 25%. The contractor software plan starts at $49 per contractor per month.
Best for: Companies scaling fast across regions who want automation to do the heavy lifting.
Remote
Remote combines global contractor management with flexible payment options, including stablecoin payouts. It flags inactive contractors, so you’re not billed unnecessarily and offers enhanced misclassification protection through its premium plans. Pricing starts at $29 per contractor per month or $99 per month with indemnity coverage.
Best for: Teams that want strong compliance paired with modern, developer-friendly payment infrastructure.
Rippling
Rippling combines HR, IT, and contractor management in one connected system. It simplifies workflows, payroll, and invoicing for employees and contractors, cutting down on manual input and keeping teams aligned. Contractors can generate and submit invoices directly through the platform. Pricing starts at $8 per contractor per month.
Best for: Companies that want a centralized platform to manage HR, IT, payroll, and contractor workflows together.
Gusto
Gusto offers contractor payment tools that work especially well for small businesses already using its payroll system. It handles 1099 payments, syncs with accounting tools like QuickBooks, and gives contractors a simple portal for submitting information and tracking payments. Pricing starts at $6 per contractor per month. Full-service payroll plans begin at $49 per month, with additional per-person fees depending on plan level.
Best for: U.S.-based teams managing both W‑2 and 1099 workers who want low-lift payroll and contractor support.
Worksome
Worksome is designed for project-based hiring, with a built-in marketplace that connects companies to pre-vetted contractors across Europe and North America. It handles background checks, contractor agreements, and payments, along with region-specific compliance reviews. Pricing is available upon request.
Best for: Agencies, consultancies, and teams hiring flexible talent for short-term or specialized projects in Europe or North America.
Papaya Global
Papaya Global supports payroll and contractor management through a cloud-based platform that’s built for scale. Its global payroll infrastructure processes employee and contractor payments side by side, with real-time compliance tracking and reporting. The platform includes an analytics dashboard that gives finance teams visibility across every worker type, from full-time to freelance. Pricing is custom based on your company’s size and needs.
Best for: Enterprise companies managing a blended workforce of salaried, hourly, and contract talent across multiple regions.
Bonsai
Bonsai offers an all-in-one solution for proposals, contracts, time tracking, invoicing, and payments. Its clean, intuitive design caters to solo professionals, consultants, and small agencies that need a lightweight system without the complexity of enterprise software solutions. Pricing ranges from $9 to $59 per worker, depending on plan level.
Best for: Independent professionals and project-based teams looking for a simple, self-serve platform to manage client work from start to finish.
What contractor management software actually does
Cloud-based contractor management systems do more than track tasks or store paperwork. If you're managing remote, independent workers across borders, here’s what you actually need:
- Built-in compliance for global hiring: Misclassifying contractors can lead to serious legal and financial trouble. A good platform keeps your contractor agreements aligned with local labor laws and flags anything that’s missing before it becomes a problem.
- Centralized onboarding: From ID checks to tax forms, the full onboarding flow should live in one place. Contractors get clear instructions. Your team avoids back-and-forth emails. Everyone gets up to speed faster.
- Automated contract generation: Look for tools that adapt contracts by country, role, and terms. That means less time in legal review, more consistency, and fewer errors across regions.
- A clear view of the work: Track deliverables in real time. Catch delays early. Know who’s responsible for what without digging through Slack threads or chasing down updates.
- One place for contractor data: Profiles, contractor agreements, and invoices stay organized and accessible. No more digging through inboxes or shared folders—and audits get a lot easier.
- Payments that run on time: Your platform should pay contractors in the right currency, generate accurate invoices, and sync with finance. When payments flow smoothly, nobody has to ask when the money’s coming.
How to choose the right contractor management software
The best contractor management software fits your current workflow with ease, but it also grows with you. Here’s what to keep in mind as you size up options:
- Use-case fit: Some tools are built for agencies. Others are tailored for construction crews, subcontractors, compliance teams, or global operations. If you’re managing subcontractors on multiple sites, construction-focused management software like Buildertrend or CoConstruct may integrate better with field ops and project management software. Remember, the right contractor software should match how your team hires, works, and scales.
- Scalability with support: As your contractor base grows, your system should keep pace—not create friction. Real-time access, intuitive design, and responsive support matter more than feature bloat.
- Built-in compliance: Don’t leave worker classification and filings to chance. Strong platforms guide you through contracts and legal requirements without slowing you down.
- Smart integrations: Your contractor management software should talk to the systems you already use—HRIS, accounting, customer relationship management (CRM), and project management software—so your team isn’t stuck duplicating work.
Manage global contractors with Oyster
Hiring contractors across borders doesn’t just create administrative overhead—it introduces compliance risks, complex payments, and scattered workflows. Oyster helps you manage it all with a platform built for globally distributed teams.
Unlike other cloud-based contractor management software, Oyster is designed specifically for legal, HR, and finance teams with international talent. It offers built-in compliance checks, localized contractor agreement generation, and a global payroll infrastructure, all without needing to set up local entities.
Oyster’s contractor management platform simplifies every step of working with global contractors, from onboarding and localized agreements to compliant payments and invoicing. With built-in misclassification protection, support from in-country experts, and one dashboard to manage it all, Oyster gives you the confidence to scale your contractor workforce across borders—without added complexity.
Ready to simplify international contractor management? Book a demo to get started.
About Oyster
Oyster is a global employment platform designed to enable visionary HR leaders to find, engage, pay, manage, develop, and take care of a thriving distributed workforce. Oyster lets growing companies give valued international team members the experience they deserve, without the usual headaches and expense.
Oyster enables hiring anywhere in the world—with reliable, compliant payroll, and great local benefits and perks.
