Europe-made alternatives · 2026

1 Best European Upwork Alternatives in 2026

Sovereignty-first software picks, all built in Europe — hand-picked to replace Upwork.

By the EU Alternatives team Last updated

Our top pick this year is Malt

Upwork alternatives are mainly CRM & Marketing. Browse any of those categories for a wider shortlist beyond this list.

  1. Europe's largest freelance marketplace matching 700,000+ tech, data, design and marketing experts with companies through managed contracting, invoicing and compliance workflows.

    Malt is a European freelance marketplace connecting independent tech, data, design and marketing experts with companies that need flexible external talent. Founded in Paris in 2013 and now operating across France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK and the Nordics, Malt has a community of 700,000+ freelancers and 70,000+ client companies.

    The platform pairs algorithmic matching with a fully managed contracting, invoicing, compliance and payment workflow. Enterprise customers get Malt Strategy (consulting assignments), Malt Community (private talent pools), compliance checks on freelancer legal status and integration with SAP Fieldglass, Coupa, Beeline and internal vendor-management systems.

    Key benefits:

    • 700,000+ freelancers across tech, data, design, marketing and management consulting
    • Algorithmic matching recommending profiles in hours based on mission brief
    • Fully managed contracting, invoicing and payment across 8+ European countries
    • Compliance and risk management with freelancer status checks under local law
    • Malt Strategy and Malt Community for consulting projects and private talent pools
    • Vendor-management integrations with SAP Fieldglass, Coupa and Beeline
    • Ratings and reviews from verified missions on every freelancer profile

    Malt is headquartered in Paris, France, and hosts all freelancer and client data on EU-based infrastructure under GDPR and French CNIL oversight. ISO 27001 certification, SCCs for sub-processors and a full DPA are standard on every enterprise contract.

    Trusted by L'Oréal, Orange, BNP Paribas, Deloitte and 70,000+ companies across Europe, Malt is the reference choice for businesses that want a large, compliance-first freelance marketplace fully operated from the EU.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best European alternative to Upwork?
Malt is the top-ranked European alternative to Upwork in our directory. 1 EU alternatives are listed on this page in total, scored by feature parity and relevance.
Is Upwork GDPR-compliant?
Upwork is headquartered outside the EU, which means personal data may be transferred to a non-EU jurisdiction. Since the 2020 Schrems II ruling, such transfers require a case-by-case transfer impact assessment under Article 46 GDPR. EU-based alternatives keep your data under European law by default with no transfer impact assessment required.
Why use a European alternative to Upwork?
European alternatives store data in EU jurisdictions, comply with GDPR by default, reduce exposure to the US CLOUD Act and FISA 702, and strengthen the European tech ecosystem. For regulated industries — health, public sector, finance — EU hosting is often a legal requirement, not just a preference.
How do I migrate from Upwork to a European alternative?
Start by exporting your data from Upwork, then pick the alternative that best matches your feature requirements — most EU alternatives listed here offer import tools or migration guides. Running both services in parallel for a week catches any edge cases before you fully switch.