Top 7 Differences between Elance and vWorker (for Workers):

		vWorker	Elance
1) Free and unlimited bidding and certification privileges			more...
Workers on Elance cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($10/month for 25, $20/month for 40 or $40/month for 60). They also cannot be certified in over 5 areas without paying the same fee. vWorker does not charge any subscription fees.
2) Costs less over the long-term (when following Sourcing Best Practices on both sites):		more...

		vWorker	Elance
3) Payment guarantee via free arbitration		more...	$99 or $199 more...
If the employer doesn't pay you for work you've properly delivered (fully completed by the deadline and up to industry-expected standards), then both sites will step in and pay you via arbitration. vWorker does this for free, so you never have to think twice about exercising this guarantee. See the rules of arbitration for more details.   If the employer doesn't pay you for work you've properly delivered (fully completed by the deadline and up to industry-expected standards), then both sites will step in and pay you via arbitration. However Elance charges you $99 or $199 to do this. This may also make it impractical to get paid on smaller projects. vWorker, on the other hand, does this for free, so you never have to think twice about exercising this guarantee.
4) Avoids "Pay Extra or Lose Your Guarantee" rules?		more...	more...
Exercising your payment guarantee on vWorker.com is free, and we also never force you to pay an arbitration fee to avoid forfeiting it. On Elance an employer can challenge you with an arbitration at any time. If they do, you must either choose to pay the non-refundable arbitration fee ($99 or $199) or forfeit your payment guarantee. See the rules of arbitration for more details.   On Elance an employer can challenge you with an arbitration at any time. If they do, you must either choose to pay the non-refundable arbitration fee ($99 or $199) or forfeit your money-back guarantee. vWorker, on the other hand, never charges you to exercise your guarantee.
5) Prevents abusive employers from stalling arbitration start		more...	Employer can stall up to 21 business days more...
On vWorker you can start arbitration immediately. See the rules of arbitration for more details.   An employer intent on abusing the system can stall the start of arbitration on Elance for 21 business days and during this period your money is not available to you. During the first phase (dispute assistance), the employer has up to 3 business days to respond, and can make this phase last up to 12 additional business days (15 business days total). After this, the arbitration phase "begins", but does not actually start because the employer is given 3 business days to acknowledge the notice of arbitration, and then another 3 business days if they did not acknowledge the first notice. Only at this point is arbitration actually started. See the Elance contract for more information.

		vWorker	Elance
6) Payment guarantee on all hours worked		more...	more...
vWorker guarantees payment for every hour you log in the AccuTimeCard™, and are truly working on the employer's project. It also requires the employer to escrow the funds for the week in advance to make sure they are good for the money. If they try to withhold payment unfairly, vWorker will award you the funds. Click here for more details.   Elance: Does not guarantee any hours until you have already worked for 80 hours. During this time you may find yourself working for free. Even after the above, Elance only guarantees to pay you for the first 40 hours you work in a week. If you are working longer hours to help a client, you may find yourself working for free. vWorker guarantees payment for all hours worked.