# Expert Source Index

> Expert Source Index is a buyer-education reference for sourcing expert networks and independent-consultant marketplaces - the platforms that connect organizations with subject-matter experts for paid calls, advisory, and project work. Understand how the category works, what to verify before you engage, request sourcing help, and explore a sourced reference to notable real platforms in the space. Buyer education, not a certification or endorsement of any vendor.

Buyer education only. Not investment, legal, or compliance advice. No
fabricated credentials, statistics, reviews, or ratings. Data as of 2026-07-14.

## What this site is
A buyer-education reference for sourcing expert networks and independent-
consultant marketplaces - the platforms that connect organizations with
subject-matter experts for paid calls, advisory, and project work. Distinct
from vendor-risk-management (TPRM) verticals: this is a knowledge-sourcing
marketplace category. 4 sourcing guides, 28 vendor
profiles (11 large/established, 8
boutique/specialized, 9 consultant marketplaces),
25 glossary terms, 1 decision framework(s).

## Guides
- [Expert Network](https://expertsourceindex.com/guides/expert-network): An expert network is a platform that connects organizations, most often investment firms, consultancies, and corporations, with independent subject-matter experts for paid one-off knowledge engagements: phone or video calls, short advisory projects, and surveys. The client pays the network an hourly or per-engagement fee, a portion of which is passed to the expert as an honorarium, and the network handles sourcing, screening, and compliance.
- [Expert Network Platform](https://expertsourceindex.com/guides/expert-network-platform): An expert-network platform is the technology and service layer a network uses to let clients search for experts, schedule calls, and manage compliance, ranging from fully white-glove (a dedicated account manager sources every call) to fully self-serve (the client searches and books directly through software). Choosing the right one depends on your team's call volume, in-house compliance resources, and how much control you want over expert selection.
- [Consultant Directory](https://expertsourceindex.com/guides/consultant-directory): A consultant directory, more precisely an independent-consultant marketplace, is a platform that matches organizations with independent consultants or boutique consulting firms for project-based work, typically ranging from a few weeks to several months, rather than the single paid call that defines a classic expert network. Platforms like Catalant, Business Talent Group, and Toptal's consulting practice vet consultants up front and then match them to a scoped project, with the client managing the engagement directly once matched.
- [Expert Network Compliance & Screening](https://expertsourceindex.com/guides/expert-network-compliance-screening): Expert network compliance screening is the process a network uses to prevent an expert call from creating a conflict of interest or exposing a client to material non-public information (MNPI): checking the expert's current and recent employers against the client's stated research target, confirming the expert isn't bound by a conflicting non-disclosure agreement, and requiring both parties to attest they will not discuss MNPI on the call. Buyers, especially investment firms, should treat this as a specific, auditable workflow to verify, not a marketing claim to take at face value.

## Compare (decision frameworks)
- [Large Expert Network vs. Boutique/Specialized Expert Network](https://expertsourceindex.com/compare/large-vs-boutique-expert-network)

## Key pages
- [Source a vendor (sourcing request)](https://expertsourceindex.com/source-a-vendor)
- [Notable expert-network & consultant-marketplace vendors](https://expertsourceindex.com/vendors)
- [Glossary](https://expertsourceindex.com/glossary)
- [Methodology](https://expertsourceindex.com/methodology)
- [Vendors JSON API](https://expertsourceindex.com/api/vendors.json)
- [Guides JSON API](https://expertsourceindex.com/api/guides.json)

## Contact
hello@expertsourceindex.com