Scripted Alternatives: 5 Places to Hire Freelance Writers

TL;DR

Scripted alternatives are freelance writer marketplaces that trade Scripted's convenience for different price, vetting, and management models. Pick DIY bidding when you can edit in-house, or screened networks when you need heavier oversight.

Why it matters: High prices or weak oversight push teams to rebid their content ops.
Case in point: Upwork suits self-serve hiring with ratings, milestones, and hourly jobs.
Zoom in: Contently markets a 10K+ creator network with credentialed specialists and editors.
How it works: Skyword and Zerys lean into screened talent, services, or subscription plans.
The bottom line: Match platform overhead to your budget and how much editing you will own.

Content marketing plays an integral role in lead generation, branding, and product marketing. It’s no wonder so many business owners, marketers, and brand owners pay top dollar to outsource their content creation.

It’s an expense that’s well worth the cost, as 80 % of people have spent money on a product due to top-tier content marketing. With so many content creation platforms, it’s vital to do your research and choose the best platform for your content marketing strategy.

Scripted is quickly becoming a popular platform for marketers and brand managers to create blog posts, articles, and other marketing materials.

However, this platform presents high prices, a lack of oversight for creating content, and difficulty to find a writer. Because of that, some companies are looking elsewhere to outsource their content creation.

Scripted offers an easy-to-use platform that might seem like a good option at first, but it can quickly lead to wasted time searching for a writer. Fortunately, you can use alternatives to create better-optimized content.

This list below highlights Scripted alternatives for your branding team to explore.

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5 Top Freelance Writer Marketplaces
Explore the Best Scripted Alternatives Today

5 Top Freelance Writer Marketplaces

2. Upwork

Upwork App Redesign | Web app design, Upwork, App

Upwork has one of the biggest selections of writers today, with around 1.5 million writers to choose from. While it sounds easy to find writers, it can be difficult for content managers to narrow the search for a competent writer.

Upwork doesn’t offer much when it comes to customer service. So, marketers will need to do their own editing, communicate with writers, and negotiate through a bidding process for jobs.

Nevertheless, Upwork has one of the largest collections of writers with different expertise levels. You can choose to pay writers via milestone (meaning by project) or per hour.

In addition, Upwork also allows clients to create thorough job postings to attract potential writers. While you won’t find AI-generated picks here, you can view your writer’s reviews and work samples.

Writers have a star rating that makes it easy to make a trusted decision for your project.

3. Contently

Why Create a Portfolio | The Freelancer, by Contently

Contently is a platform with over 55,000 writers who are at the top of their game regarding expertise, content marketing and creation.

This platform is known for being one of the best platforms for bigger businesses like Google, Walmart, and American Express.

What makes Contently such a standout? The platform thoroughly screens all writers, requesting work submissions and curating only the most talented journalists and writers in the business.

However, they are quite pricey. As a result, they aren’t a good option for smaller businesses looking to expand or start their content marketing strategy.

Contently does, however, offer high-quality account management services. This means your account will be expertly managed, and communication will be streamlined between you and your writing team.

Instead of having one writer create content, you can have a team of experts creating ads, white papers, ebooks, articles, and much more.

The choice between these platforms can really come down to your specific needs and your bandwidth for managing writers yourself. Some folks swear by spending time getting to know writers personally – swapping messages back and forth, seeing who “gets it,” and building a small go-to team. Others just want to plug in a project description and let the algorithm or a platform manager handle everything. The reality is, both methods have their moments. Sometimes, it does feel like finding the right fit is a little bit of luck mixed with trial-and-error.

Also, don’t underestimate the hurdles these platforms can present—especially if you’re new to outsourcing content. The sheer number of profiles, portfolios, and self-promos can be dizzying. And yes, price points can fluctuate wildly, so it’s smart to set upfront expectations and consider budgeting a few test projects for peace of mind. Still, if you land a genuinely great writer, you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches and wind up with content that just works. That’s pretty much the dream, right?

4. Skyword

Skyword Enterprise Content Marketing Planner

Skyword is an up-and-comer in the content creation field, but it’s quickly gaining popularity. This marketplace thoroughly screens all writers and has niche experts.

This means you can find anything from experts in health to beauty, finance, personal training, and much more. Having a niche team of writers makes it easy to find talented writers for your projects.

Skyword also offers account management and other services like analytics and content audits. Requesting content audits can help you improve your SEO and fully optimize content so you can get more out of your content and ensure it performs better.

Their data and insights services provide an overall view of your brand and how it matches up to other companies. Learn what your audience thinks of your brand, where you can improve, and positioning recommendations for your marketing strategy.

5. Zerys

10 Best Ecommerce Content Marketing Platforms In 2023

Zerys is an award-winning content creation and planning platform where marketers can find over 85,000 talented writers ready to work.

Your company can get help writing white papers, articles, and e-books that are instantly published on your websites through WordPress integration.

Zerys also makes it easy to customize your subscription plan. It gives you the option of technical or non-technical blogs to choose from. You can choose from either managed content services or DIY writing platforms to find the best prices for your business.

Explore the Best Scripted Alternatives Today

While Scripted has its fair share of fans, more marketers want an easy-to-use platform that takes the guesswork out of finding a talented writer.

Why do marketers look for Scripted alternatives?

The article cites high prices, limited oversight on finished content, and friction finding the right writer as reasons teams shop elsewhere. Those pain points matter most when you need predictable quality at volume. Alternatives differ mainly in who vets writers and who edits the drafts.

Is Upwork a good Scripted alternative for small teams?

Upwork works when you can post a clear brief, compare bids, and handle editing yourself. You can pay by milestone or hour and use star ratings plus samples to shortlist. It is a poor fit if you need a managed editor bench without adding internal QA time.

When should you choose a managed marketplace instead?

Choose screened or managed networks when brand risk is high or you lack editors. Contently positions itself around credentialed specialists and managing editors for brand storytelling. Skyword and Zerys, in the article's framing, add niche matching, audits, or subscription packaging beyond raw freelance search.

How should you evaluate any freelance writing platform?

Compare vetting depth, who owns revisions, pricing model, and whether analytics or CMS publishing are included. Run a paid test article before migrating your full calendar. Set quality bars in the brief so marketplace convenience does not outrun brand voice or compliance needs.

Scripted Alternatives: 5 Places to Hire Freelance Writers