Photo courtesy Zen Chung.
Remote work was getting attractive at a rapid pace before the Covid-19 pandemic but now everyone has realized the value of work from home. People get to spend more time with their families. There are many freelance marketplaces where freelancers can apply to get hired; providing job opportunities for beginners as well as highly skilled persons. These jobs may be from startups to large corporations. We will discuss the 9 best freelancing websites for work.
A freelancer has to create a good portfolio of his work on these sites to enable clients to see the skills or the work done in the past. The things that a freelancer should look at on these sites are the fees. The pricing on different sites varies and could include a percentage of the payout, contest fee, or flat monthly membership fee. The freelancing sites are-
1. Upwork-
Upwork was formed with the merger of Elance and oDesk, both of which had a large number of freelancers. It is the largest freelancing platform in the world with 18 million freelancers, 5 million clients, and the jobs posted are around 3 million each year. The company is listed on Nasdaq.
It takes time to succeed on the platform and a newcomer may even have to send 20-30 proposals before they land a job and once they get 5-star ratings the journey becomes easy. Upwork has tokens called connects that are needed to apply for a job and the number of connects varies for different jobs. It gives free connects when a person signs up and some are given free every month but a person needs to buy more if he wants to make money. These connects are sold in bundles of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80. Once you have established yourself on Upwork there would be plenty of work available.
A company looking to hire can browse talent by category which includes-
- Development & IT.
- Design and creative.
- Sales and marketing.
- Writing and translation.
- Admin and customer support.
- Finance and accounting.
- Engineering and architecture.
- Legal.
There are plenty of job opportunities for people of all skill levels and people can a get job; whether newcomer or an expert. It is easy to filter gigs for short-term, part-time, or full-time. Once you start working on Upwork you can view the site dashboard for the work in progress, pending, weekly summary, billings, and earnings, connects history, and the transactions history.
The fee structure on Upwork is; 20% on the first $500 earned from a single client, 10% on more than $500 from a single client, and drops to 5% of earnings above $10,000 from a single client.
2. Toptal-
Toptal was founded in 2010 by Taso du Val and Beneschott. The name ‘Toptal’ is derived from Top Talent which the company tries to find from around the world. There is a rigorous screening process that takes 2-5 weeks to complete. Out of thousands of applications each month, less than 3% of the applicants are accepted. The technical knowledge and problem-solving ability of the applicant are assessed.
Toptal has some of the best people with backgrounds such as authors, founders, researchers, mentors, and inventors. It invoices the clients for the duration of the project, receives the payment, takes its commission charge, and pays the freelancer. There are recommended rates from Toptal according to which a freelancer can set his hourly rates and these may depend on the expertise and location of the freelancer. Some of the top clients of Toptal include; Airbnb, Hewlett Packard, Shopify, Duolingo, Udemy, Motorola, Gucci, University of Colorado Boulder, and many more.
Though Toptal has many established companies as clients it is costly for startups and small companies. Companies have to hire for either 20 or 40 hour weekly contracts and there is no scope for adapting to their individual requirements.
3. PeoplePerHour-
PeoplePerHour was founded in 2007 by Xenios Thrasyvoulou and Simos Kitiris with an aim to connect clients to the freelancers to be hired by the hour or on the basis of a project. The flexibility provided lets freelancers live their dreams. So far it has connected over 1 million clients and customers. The businesses that use the platform are the SMEs or the start-ups that intend to do flexible hiring of freelancers rather than hiring in-house. The jobs can start from as little as an hour and can be scaled up to include whole teams online.
The clients submit the scope of the project and the artificial intelligence analyzes and match the project with freelancers who submit their proposals setting their own prices. It is important to submit a good profile to attract clients. There is a 20% fee for the freelancers.
You can send a proposal directly to the buyer and everyday check for the jobs that match your interest. At the beginning of each month, all the users of the platform are given 15 free proposal credits. The next month again you will be given 15 credits again irrespective of the credits used. For every proposal sent 1 credit is used. You can always buy credits that would be rolled over to the next month, unlike the free credits. The freelance jobs available on PeoplePerHour include-
- Technology & programming.
- Writing & translation.
- Design.
- Digital marketing.
- Video, photography & image.
- Accounting & tax consulting.
- Music & audio.
- Marketing, branding & sales.
- Social media.
4. Freelancer-
The freelancer was founded in 2009 and has its headquarters in Sydney. The employer’s post-work and the freelancers place bids in a tender process. There are 6 free bids allowed and the remaining is according to the membership plan. The basic plan allows 50 bids per month, plus is for 100 bids, professional for 300 bids, and premier for 1500 bids.
The members can also enter various contests on the site for which prize money is offered as reward. Employers and freelancers post profiles on the site, complete the work and write reviews on the people they work with.
The jobs offered on the site include-
- Graphic design.
- Website design.
- Mobile app development.
- Software development.
- Internet marketing.
- Data Entry.
- SEO.
- Writing jobs.
- Legal jobs.
- Finance.
- Logistics.
There are freelance gigs in many languages like English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, and other languages. The fee structure on Freelancer is; for the fixed price projects there is a fee of either 10% or $5 whichever is higher, for the hourly projects there is a flat 10% fee and when you win a contest on the site there would be a charge of $5 or 10% fee whichever is greater.
5. Fiverr-
Fiverr was launched in February 2010 by Micha Kaufman and Shai Wininger. It is an Israeli online marketplace and the site gets its name from the starting price of service which is $5. By December 2013 the site launched its iOS app and by June 2019 was listed on Nasdaq.
The freelancer sells their expertise on the platform starting from $5. This would be according to the skill that they possess, and the jobs available on Fiverr are –
- Voiceover.
- Translation.
- Articles.
- Blog posts.
- Proof reading.
- Graphic design.
- Digital marketing
- Writing and translation.
- Video animation.
- Music & audio.
There are categories of sellers that depend on the amount of work done and the positive reviews.
New sellers- These are the freelancers who have just started.
Level 1- These freelancers have completed 10 orders, have been active for more than 60 days, and maintained good performance.
Level 2- These people have completed 50 orders, have been active for more than 120 days, earned $2000 and performance have been good.
Most of the sellers are between Level 1 and 2.
Top-rated- They have completed 100 orders, active for more than 180 days, and earned more than 20,000. Fiverr picks these on recommendations from buyers based on prompt deliveries and good performance.
Fiverr charges a 20% commission from the freelancers for every sale they are making whether it is a $5 gig or a $50 gig. A person can bid on up to 10 projects in a day. Fiverr offers 4 ways to withdraw your money; Paypal, Fiverr revenue card, bank transfer, and direct deposit (the US only).
6. Guru-
Guru was founded in 1998 by Inder Guglani and James Slavet and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It aims to bring employers and freelancers together from around the world so as to get the work done.
Guru boasts of 8, 00,000 clients worldwide and there are 3 million members across the globe that have used the platform to land a job. When a person signs up for Guru he gets a free basic membership. However, there are other paid opportunities also. The options are-
Basic- It is free with a 9% job fee and 120 bids allowed per year.
Basic+ – Monthly fee is $8.95 with a 9% job fee and 600 bids per year.
Professional- Monthly fee is $15.95 with a 7% job fee and 600 bids per year.
Business- Monthly fee is $24.95 with a 6% job fee and 600 bids per year.
Executive- Monthly fee is $39.95 with a 5% job fee and 600 bids per year.
A payment service called SafePay is offered on the platform that creates transparency. It is funded by the employer before the start of work. In this way the freelancer feels confident that he would be paid for his work and the employer will be sure that the work can be reviewed before the payment is released. Funds from SafePay can be released to the freelancer or the employer through release requests. There is a built-in vetting process for the freelancers where the freelancers can prove their credibility to the clients.
The freelancing jobs available on Guru relate to-
- Programming & development.
- Design & art.
- Writing & translation.
- Administrative and secretarial.
- Sales and marketing.
- Business and finance.
- Engineering and architecture.
- Education and training.
- Legal.
7. Flexjobs-
Flexjobs was founded in 2007 by Sara Sutton. It offers freelance jobs, remote jobs on short-term contracts, long-term working relationships, or seasonal jobs as it partners with many reputable companies. Thousands of companies post jobs on the site and a team from Flexjobs carries out research to check if the job is legitimate. When a person applies for a job he is applying directly to the employer and everything is worked out directly with the employer.
Flexjobs offers free skills testing and the persons who have more than 70% scores have their scores displayed on their profiles which increases their chances with the employers. It has its own career coaching experts who provide its services at a discounted rate.
The type of work available on Flexjobs is-
- Freelance work.
- Remote work (full remote, partial or optional).
- Temporary jobs (short-term, long term, and seasonal).
- Hybrid schedules.
- Flexible schedules.
- Part time schedules.
Flexjobs has different membership offers right from $14.95 for one month, $29.95 for three months to $49.95 for a year.
The categories of jobs available are-
- Computer & IT.
- Accounts & finance.
- HR & recruiting.
- Writing.
- Insurance.
- Sales & marketing.
Freelance sites for Graphic designers-
8. DesignCrowd-
DesignCrowd was founded in 2008 in Sydney, Australia, and the founder is Alec Lynch. It is a graphic design freelance marketplace that lets designers including studios, student graphic designers; freelance designers work and earn money. There are two ways to sell designs on DesignCrowd; first is to enter design contests and second to get allocated to work on one designer service.
The design contest is in which an employer posts the description of his project on what he needs and the number of designs. Thousands of designers will submit designs and the person will receive notifications by email. The employer can review the designs; give feedback, request revision until he gets his favorite design.
There are almost a million designers registered on DesignCrowd. The site offers a money-back guarantee and employers can get hundreds of designs for each project. There are 60 project categories to choose from and this includes; web design, logo design, illustration, and social media graphics.
Signing up for DesignCrowd is free and it takes 15% commission on all the payments. The payments can include place payments i.e. 1st place 2nd place, 3rd place, etc.; paid invites, tips, and participation payments.
9. 99Designs-
99designs is a freelance marketplace and was founded in 2008 by Matt Mickiewicz and Mark Harbottle. Its headquarters are in Melbourne Australia.
An employer can create a design description that explains the project like the preferred style, color, and visual elements. They can hire a single designer or start a design contest where many designers submit their ideas allowing you to choose the best. The employer can provide feedback and suggest improvement until happy with the result.
Logo pricing on 99 designs starts at $299 and goes to $1299, web designing price starts at $599, photography at $299, video production pricing price starts at $499, and for other projects like social media, merchandise, illustrations, and advertising materials the prices vary.
Clients on 99Designs are charged a fixed fee of 5% while the designers are charged a varying fee. For the entry-level designers the fee is 15%, for the mid-level designers it is 10% and for top-level designers, it is 5%.
A person has to market his skills, pitch himself as well as set the rates accurately to succeed on these freelancing sites. Good reviews earned would further increase the success rate. Most of the time people will send proposals that the clients will not consider. Many people leave the sites too soon not realizing that it takes time to be successful. Be persistent and have a good strategy. It may take beginners up to a few months to see some results for their efforts. These are the 9 best freelancing websites for work that a person can consider for their freelancing career.