The differences between these forms of labor relations are in the amount of work, duration of cooperation and distribution of responsibility. Freelancers are hired for one-time tasks. For example, a company can hire a designer who will draw a specified number of images for a certain project. Such specialists are contracted under a work contract, a service agreement, or a copyright agreement.

The boundaries between outsourcing and outstaffing are less distinct. In both cases, these are long-term relationships. However, in outsourcing, the hiring company pays for a certain amount of work and signs a service agreement. The client does not care who performs the tasks or where they are completed, as long as they are done efficiently and on time. For example, an outsourcer may continuously offer accounting services to a company. The company does not concern itself with who, where, or how the work is done, as long as everything functions properly.

In outstaffing, companies sign an agreement for the provision of personnel. In this case, the client pays for specific specialists assigned to a particular job position. For example, an outstaffed salesperson can be hired to work at the cash register in the employer's store. Here, the key factor is not how many customers the employee serves but rather how many hours and days per week they are engaged in work.