Contra Features

Contracts and invoicing are the features that justify the free plan

Contra offers three contract options: its default template, a locally compliant template, or a custom PDF. It adds payment terms and e-signatures to any of them. That is useful because the contract and payment steps live in one place, and the escrow applies to fixed, milestone and one-time hourly projects. ^{[4] [5] [6] [14]}

Verdict: yes, but settle the fee first. Contra’s fees overview sets the Free-plan fee at $15 per payment on $1–$499 and $29 on $500 or more, and $0 on Pro. Check the other party’s plan before you send a contract, because Pro removes the fee. ^{[6] [5] [14]}

Bring your own clients is the feature that matters most

Freelancers can invite an existing client by name and email to run a project on Contra. Fastlancer and Memvers both say Contra works best for freelancers who already have clients. The invite is the feature that turns Contra’s free plan into a billing tool, so it is the one to use first. ^{[7] [12] [13]}

Discover: free to join, with no published effect

Discover ranks profiles with a score that Contra does not publish. Pro members get priority placement and boosted job-matching visibility, and clients browse profiles and contact freelancers directly. No source gives a figure for how much a boost adds to the work you receive. ^{[12] [1]}

Verdict: keep the free profile; test Pro before you pay for it. Pro’s traffic-source analytics are the one visibility extra that is clearly Pro-only, according to Contra’s help article and Fastlancer. Its effect on work is unknown, so compare your inbound enquiries for a month before and after you upgrade. ^{[3] [12]}

Digital products: test before you set a price

On the free plan, a digital product costs the seller 5% of the sale, with a $3 minimum and a $29 maximum, according to Contra’s pricing page. A May 2026 help article sets a flat band instead: $2 for sales of $1 to $199, $5 for $200 to $499, $10 for $500 to $999 and $29 from $1,000. On a $50 sale the minimum gives $3 and the band gives $2. ^{[1] [8]}

Verdict: list one test product on the free plan and check the fee at checkout before you set a price. Pro removes the product fee on both sources, and Contra handles tax, disputes and chargebacks as merchant of record. Refund rules conflict: the help article says sellers set their own policy, while the Terms say digital purchases are final once access is granted. ^{[8] [11]}

The $199 job boost has no published result

Clients can post jobs for free. A boost costs $199 and keeps the job at the top of the job feed for 30 days. It is the only paid client-side visibility product Contra lists. Contra does not say how many applicants a boost brings, so a client should compare the number of applications on a free post first. ^{[2] [1]}

Contra Labs is paid evaluation work, not client-finding

Contra Labs is a separate network. Freelancers apply through a portfolio review, a recorded video interview and sometimes a skills task. Selected people do paid work, typically five to ten hours, evaluating AI outputs. It is a source of paid work, not clients, so do not count it toward your pipeline. ^[10]