Hiring a squad instead of one freelancer
A squad is two to five freelancers applying together, one of them named as lead. The audition is identical to a solo applicant's and scored on the same rubric, but a squad covers work no single person covers well. Here is when a team is the right answer, how the money splits, and what the lead is actually for.
Last reviewed 18 October 2026 · 5 minute read
Most freelance work is one person doing one thing. The work that goes wrong is usually the work that needed two: a design and a build, a front end and a back end, a strategy and the copy that carries it. A squad exists for that shape of project.
The short version
A squad is two to five people applying under one lead. The audition is the same as an individual's and is scored the same way. If it wins, the contract is with the squad, the split says who gets what, and each member's money reaches their own account.
When a squad is the right answer
- The project needs two skills that rarely live in one person, and you would otherwise hire twice and coordinate the seam yourself.
- The timeline is short enough that the work has to happen in parallel.
- Somebody has to answer for the whole. A squad names a lead, which is a role with a name attached rather than a group chat.
When it is not
- The project is one discipline. Adding people to a single-discipline job is how you pay for coordination you did not need.
- You want a relationship with one person. A squad can still be right, but a lead who quietly subcontracts is a different arrangement and worth asking about directly.
- The task is small. The diagnostic is the same size whatever the squad, so five people doing a one-sitting task is not obviously better than one.
How the money splits
The contract is priced as a whole, and the split says what share of each released milestone each member receives. It is written before the work starts, and the payments follow it — so a disagreement about who did what does not become a disagreement about who gets paid what.
A contract of this size, released in full — the fee is taken once, from the contract, not once per member:
- Contract value
- ₹1,20,000.00
- Platform fee (10%)
- ₹12,000.00
- Reaches the freelancer
- ₹1,08,000.00
- Each member's share arrives in their own balance, under their own name.
- Each member needs their own PAN and bank account before they can withdraw. A squad cannot be paid through one member's account on behalf of the others.
- The lead is a role, not a middleman: the lead does not receive the squad's money and pass it on.
What the lead is for
- Answering the client, in one voice, so a question does not get three answers.
- Submitting on behalf of the squad.
- Holding the split up: who is doing which piece is the lead's problem to coordinate, not the client's.
- Nothing more. The lead has no authority over another member's earnings, which is deliberate — a lead who can withhold somebody's money is a different product.
Applying as a squad, concretely
- 1Form itTwo to five freelancers, one named as lead. Members are invited and accept: a squad is something people join, not a label somebody applies to themselves.
- 2Apply togetherThe squad applies as one applicant, with the lead as the contact point.
- 3Do the diagnosticThe same task the solo applicants get, with the same time limit, submitted with no names attached.
- 4Be scored like anyone elseAgainst the client's rubric, blind. There is no bonus for being a team and no penalty for being one person.
What a squad is not
- It is not an agency. There is no company account, no bench of subcontractors, and no way to bring in somebody who is not a member.
- It is not a way to farm work. Members are real accounts with their own identity details and their own payout destinations.
- It is not required. Solo freelancers win against squads regularly, because the rubric is the same for both.
Questions people ask
How many people can be in a squad?
Two to five. A squad of one is a freelancer, and a squad larger than that stops being a team a client can hold in their head.
Is a squad scored differently from a solo applicant?
No. The same diagnostic and the same rubric, scored blind. Applying as a team carries no advantage in scoring.
Who does the client talk to?
The squad's lead. One voice, and the lead answers for the whole piece of work.
Does the lead get a bigger share?
Only if the split says so. The split is written before work starts and the payments follow it, so the lead's role does not silently entitle them to a cut.
How does the money reach five people?
Each member's share lands in their own balance and each withdraws to their own bank account. A squad cannot be paid through one member's account.
Can the members change mid-project?
The split belongs to the contract, so adding or replacing a person changes who gets paid. That is a change the client should agree to rather than something that happens quietly.
Ready to see it from the other side?
Post a project with a rubric, or browse the freelancers and squads who are already working this way.