Hand the task to 48 Spot Research instead. Field research, interviews, checks with local authorities — done by people on the ground I've worked with for years, checked before it reaches you, and answered for by one name: mine.
Not something I can do well? I'll tell you, and tell you who can.
The platform isn't the problem.
Being the one who finds, briefs and chases the freelancer is.
A freelancer platform is the cheapest. That part isn't in dispute.
| Freelancer platform, DIY | Large research firm | 48 Spot Research | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per task | ◎Cheapest option | ×Project minimums | ○From a few dozen dollars |
| Finding the person | ×Your hours, your risk | ◎Their panel | ◎Already known to me |
| If they disappear | ×Start the search again | ◎Replaced internally | ◎Replacing them is my job |
| If it goes wrong | ×You explain it upstairs | ◎Account manager | ◎I answer for it |
| Proof it's real | △You check it yourself | ◎QA process | ◎Checked from several sides |
| Report language | △Usually English | △Major languages | ◎Yours |
| Smallest order | ◎One task | ×A whole project | ◎One task |
Comparison is indicative and reflects typical experience, not a survey of named providers.
The coloured countries are where I take tasks today. Tap a region to find it on the map.
Small countries are shown as dots. Borders are simplified and are not a statement on any boundary.
A generated field report now costs almost nothing to make. So does a generated photo. Here's how both are kept out of what you receive.
Not anonymous profiles. The people doing the work come from a network built over years of living in and working across these regions. I've seen their work before yours arrives.
I've lived in Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, not just read about them. An answer that doesn't fit the place — a fee off by a zero, an office that doesn't work that way — gets questioned before it reaches you.
Original files, a second contact, a callback where it matters. Every delivery says how it was checked and what couldn't be confirmed. You never have to guess which is which.
Reading a report in your second language costs time, and nuance gets lost on the way. So Spot Research reports arrive in the language you actually think in.
The field work is done by people. AI has one job here: language. And no single model is trusted with it. Every report passes through a team of AI agents from two different companies — Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's GPT — each with one role, so one model's blind spot gets caught by another.
Heavier models where judgment matters, lighter ones for mechanical checks. Matching the model to the job keeps the cost down — part of why a task can start at a few dozen dollars.
Model versions are updated as better ones ship. The roles stay the same.
To me, these were ordinary places. I lived there.
I spent years in Africa and South Asia — not passing through, but living inside it. For most of the clients I work with, those same places are unknown in every direction: the language, the culture, the way work gets done.
Some of the sharpest people I met there had one problem, and it wasn't skill. It was work. I wanted to build a bridge between the two.
Every spot task is paid work to an international standard. The people doing it sharpen the kind of communication global clients expect, and that opens more doors for them next time. I do it at the scale I can do properly.
No headquarters, no account managers, no layers between you and the person on the ground. Big firms put those costs in your quote. I don't have them.
Nine years of delivering to clients means the hardest part — finding someone reliable in that place — was mostly done before you wrote to me.
If the job outgrows what I can do well, I'll say so and point you to another research firm, a large agency, or a crowdsourcing route that fits.
Where, what needs to be found out, and what you'll use it for. A paragraph is enough. I read it myself and reply within one business day.
You get a fixed price and a delivery date before anything starts. If it's a field I pass on, you get a better-placed name instead.
A local contact from the network makes the visit, the call or the interview — briefed by me, so you never explain it twice.
Answers, files and claims are checked against each other. Anything unconfirmed is marked unconfirmed.
Translated, checked by several AI agents, and reviewed by me before it's sent. Questions about what came back? Just reply.
The price depends on the place and what the task involves. Larger jobs — several cities, many interviews — are quoted as a whole.
If it's too big for me to do well, I'll say so.
That's enough to start. You'll get a fixed price and a date — or an honest "not me", with a name that fits better.
No platform to sign up for. No profiles to scroll through.
You'll hear back within one business day with a price and a date — or a better-placed name.