The main Airtasker alternatives in Australia for 2026 are hipages for licensed trade work, Gumtree for local one off jobs, freelance marketplaces for digital tasks, and direct casual employment for recurring work. Oneflare closed on 30 June 2026, so the task marketplace field is smaller than it was last year.
Australian businesses looking for Airtasker alternatives are usually running into one of two limits. Either the work needs a licensed tradesperson and an open bidding marketplace is the wrong filter, or the work keeps recurring and a task platform has quietly become an expensive way to run a job that should be employment.
This guide covers the realistic replacements, how each one charges, and the cases where staying with Airtasker is clearly the better call. The field also changed materially this year, so some older comparison articles you may find are now out of date.
What changed in the Australian task marketplace in 2026?
Oneflare, one of the three names Australian businesses used to compare, was retired by its parent company Airtasker on 30 June 2026. The site and app now redirect to Airtasker. Consequently, what was a three way decision has become a two way one between Airtasker and hipages, plus the non marketplace options.
That consolidation matters for buyers. Fewer competing marketplaces generally means less pricing pressure, so it is worth re-testing your assumptions rather than relying on a comparison you read in 2024.
How Airtasker charges, and why it shapes your options?
Airtasker is an open bidding marketplace. You post a task with a budget, workers make public offers, and you choose one. Payment is held in escrow until the task is completed.
Importantly, the service fee falls on the worker rather than the poster. According to Airtasker’s own support documentation, the Australian Tasker tier system runs across four levels with fees between 20 per cent and 12.5 per cent excluding GST. Published tier tables in July 2026 set Bronze at 20 per cent, Silver at 18.5 per cent, Gold at 14.9 per cent and Platinum at 12.5 per cent, with repeat clients charged at 1.9 per cent.
This structure has a direct consequence for you as a buyer. Workers price that fee into their offers, so on smaller tasks you are effectively paying part of it. Furthermore, because bidding is public and visible, the platform naturally rewards the lowest price rather than the strongest credential.
Verify before you commit. Marketplace fees and tiers change without much notice. Every figure here was checked on 10 August 2026 against platform documentation and published pricing analyses. Confirm current terms directly before relying on them.
The main Airtasker alternatives compared
| Alternative | Model | Who pays | Switch to it when | Do not switch when |
| hipages | Lead based. Enquiries go privately to a small number of businesses. | Tradespeople pay a subscription. Free for the customer to post. | The job needs a licensed trade and you want quotes rather than a public price race. | The job is a small odd job. Lead based platforms are built for trade work. |
| Gumtree | Classified listings | Largely free, with paid promotion available | The job is local, simple and you are comfortable vetting people yourself. | You need escrow, dispute handling or verified credentials. |
| Freelance marketplaces | Bidding or fixed price, commonly with platform commission | Usually split between both sides | The task is digital, such as design, writing or development. | The work is physical or requires attendance on site. |
| Direct casual employment | Employment under a Modern Award | Employer pays wages plus loading | The work recurs weekly and you direct how it is done. | The work is genuinely one off with a defined deliverable. |
| Local trade directories | Listing or referral | Varies | You want a business you can build an ongoing relationship with. | You need someone this week and cannot wait for callbacks. |
Best for, in one line each
- hipages is best for regulated trade work where licensing matters more than price.
- Gumtree is best for simple local jobs when you will do the vetting yourself.
- Freelance marketplaces are best for digital work with no physical attendance.
- Casual employment is best for work that recurs and that you direct.
- Airtasker is best for defined one off tasks where speed matters and the scope is clear.
hipages: the closest alternative for trade work
hipages runs the opposite model to Airtasker. Rather than a public auction, it distributes enquiries privately to a handful of businesses who then follow up with you directly.
For the buyer, this changes the dynamic considerably. You receive quotes from businesses that have chosen to pursue your job, rather than offers from whoever underbid everyone else. Licensed trades generally prefer this structure, because they are not visibly undercutting each other in front of the customer.
The commercial model sits on the tradesperson’s side. Published pricing analyses in July 2026 describe hipages subscriptions running from roughly A$139 to A$649 per month plus GST, spent as credits on leads, on an initial six month term that then auto renews for twelve months. That subscription cost shapes who is on the platform. It tends to filter towards established businesses rather than casual operators.
When Airtasker remains the better choice?
We would not advise switching in these situations, and saying so matters more than a longer list of alternatives.
The task is genuinely small and defined. Furniture assembly, a gyprock patch, a garden cleanup, moving items. Airtasker’s demand genuinely sits here, and no alternative fills these faster.
You want no ongoing commitment. Airtasker carries no subscription and no contract on either side. A quiet month costs nothing. Compare that with a hipages subscription, which continues whether you have work or not.
You value escrow and dispute handling. Payment held until completion is genuine buyer protection that classified listings do not offer.
Volume of available workers matters. On general tasks, Airtasker’s pool is the deepest in Australia, and consolidating Oneflare has only deepened it further.
The alternative most businesses overlook
If you find yourself posting similar tasks month after month, the honest alternative is not another marketplace. It is employment.
Repeated task posting carries a hidden cost: you re-brief every time, quality varies, and no one accumulates knowledge of your business. Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded 329,500 job vacancies in May 2026, down 2.1 per cent over the quarter and 30.3 per cent below the May 2022 peak. Softer vacancy conditions generally mean stronger applicant flow for employers advertising directly.
Consequently, work that recurs weekly and that you direct is usually better structured as casual employment. Our guide to how to hire casual staff in Australia covers the obligations, including the casual loading and the current Fair Work definition.
Where CloudColleague fits?
CloudColleague, which publishes this guide, lets a business post both one off tasks and ongoing roles from a single account. That matters specifically for the overlap case above, where some of your work is task shaped and some has quietly become a job.
To be straightforward about the trade off: CloudColleague does not match Airtasker’s volume of general task workers, and for a same day furniture assembly job in a capital city, Airtasker will very likely fill it faster. Nor do we replicate hipages’ trade specific lead routing. Consider us when consolidating both types of work in one place is worth more to you than raw marketplace depth, and not otherwise.
Choosing correctly, in three questions
- Does the work legally require a licence? Electrical, plumbing and gas work do, in every state and territory. If yes, use a trade focused channel and verify the licence yourself.
- Does the work recur? Weekly and directed points to employment. One off with a clear end point points to a task platform.
- Are you buying a price or a credential? Open bidding optimises for price. Lead based platforms and direct hiring optimise for capability.
For a direct head to head between the two remaining marketplaces, read Airtasker versus hipages. If the work involves a regulated trade, see how to hire tradespeople in Australia. For employment channels rather than task platforms, start with the best job posting sites in Australia.
Frequently asked questions
Oneflare was retired by its parent company Airtasker on 30 June 2026. The site and app now redirect to Airtasker, which reduces the Australian task marketplace field to Airtasker and hipages plus non marketplace options.
The service fee falls on the worker. Airtasker’s tier system runs from 20 per cent down to 12.5 per cent excluding GST depending on tier, with repeat clients at 1.9 per cent. Workers typically price that fee into their offers, so it indirectly affects what you pay.
Posting a job is free for the customer. The commercial model sits on the tradesperson’s side through a monthly subscription spent as credits on leads.
hipages is the closest fit, because lead based distribution suits licensed businesses better than public bidding. Whichever channel you use, verify the licence yourself on your state or territory register before work begins.
When the work recurs on a predictable pattern and you direct how and when it is done. That combination points to employment rather than a task engagement, and getting the distinction wrong creates real liability.
