MAKE MONEY ONLINE
7 Top Sites Like Fiverr
the best Fiverr alternatives for freelancers
This article is part of the series — “How I made $2k from Fiverr”
Freelancing is not a regular 9 to 5 job where we need to drag ourselves to do the work we don’t like to do. Here, we use our imagination as a canvas, our skills as our paintbrush and beautiful clients are the admirers of our masterpiece!
I never felt that I can ever be a freelancer because the name would give goosebumps to any of the 19s kids. All we know was to study, complete our degrees, and then take a regular job in the 9 to 5 field. That’s all!
I never knew a freelancer marketplace existed back then! I only knew about Amazon KDP, New York Bestseller Lists (in case God had mercy on you and your work sold well!), Amazon Bestseller List, and Hachette Publishing!
But now, after 8 years, I came to know how much I was missing back then. I know many people were already into this but my lack of internet availability at my home, made me miss lots of opportunities that I could have done during my college days.
I had my first phone when I got my first salary. So you can imagine how late I am in this internet world!
It’s been 3 years now since I joined Fiverr to work as a freelancer (since the pandemic). This has become a lucrative job for me where I can monetize my skills and work at my own flexible hours just from the comfort of my home. I started freelancing as a side hustle just to earn a little extra income and now I have turned freelancing into a full-time career!
So if your goal is to get into this freelancing business, the first crucial step will be to build a network of clients that need your service and your skills.
There are two ways to do so -
- Either promote yourself on social media and take clients directly from there!
- Or the best and the safest option is to register yourself on any site like Fiverr where you can get clients as per needed.
I use a combination of both! I work under my real name so I have registered on Fiverr and promoted myself on my Twitter account.
I have already written about Fiverr a lot in my previous articles and now in this, we will see my top favorite sites where you can kickstart your career as a freelancer. All these sites I have worked with in the past and can say they all have the same potential as Fiverr.
So choose anyone and start your journey today!
1. UPWORK
So, I have been on Upwork before and the process is very different as compared to Fiverr. Here, you need to post bids in order to get the job!
If you have been on Fiverr then you know that we have to wait for the work to come to us. Whereas on Upwork, we have to actively seek out for jobs and we also have to compete with other freelancers in order to get the contract.
And for doing this bidding, you need a currency or we can say connects. So depending on the connections you can bid on the projects of your choice. And I have to add here that you need to buy these connects or bids.
And the number of connections a job posting costs will be dependent on the demand and the worth of that particular project. so consider that you are trying to bid on projects with have better pay rates and are in high demand, and then you will need more connections to bid on them!
And the major difference between Fiverr and Work is their charges. Fiverr charges 20% while Upwork will charge 10%comission fee.
I have often seen freelancers having long-term relationships with their clients which actually is not quite possible on Fiverr. Because I have only a few clients that keep on giving me the projects but again they are just a few!
2. FREELANCER
Currently, there are 50 million professionals on Freelancer!
This is the very first site where I got my first scriptwriting job. The amount was little (only $12 during the pandemic time) but this encouraged me to work further. It was not about money but to learn how to work for clients on real projects. Money always follows those who keep on learning!
One thing that I have noticed on the Freelancer site is that there are more chances of getting repetitive work. There is a high chance that your previous client will give you multiple projects to work on! This I have seen myself and so this site is mainly known for having long-term relationships with clients that are often useful in the freelancing business.
Because getting work is not easy my friend!
One thing I like a lot about Freelancer is that they have a flexible payment structure in which you can set hourly rates or you can also set certain milestone payments for your projects. Of course, employers need to agree on this too. This milestone helps to have a long-term relationship with clients and this helps them to build trust.
And if you compare this with Fiverr then clients look for quick work done here. So, mostly you will get one-off small projects on Fiverr.
3. PEOPLEPERHOUR
PeoplePerHour, an internationally active freelancing marketplace trusted by well over a million businesses, is a UK-based alternative to websites like Fiverr.
I have personally not worked on PeoplePerHour because the continuous projects on Fiverr kept me busy. But I have close friends who were getting around 3–4 projects every month. Each project was of a minimum of $90, which I think is good for college students who are looking for some real projects to try their hands on.
PeoplePerHour is a little different because you need to fill out an application and after that, it will be reviewed by the team of moderators. This is to cross-check your skills, your abilities, and whether you are presenting yourself honestly in your profile or not.
It means these freelancers are the professionals in their industry and hence they can charge more for their work!
PeoplePerHour takes a deposite beforehand from the clients and this means that freelancers will get paid for their work!
4. TRUELANCE
One thing that sets me off is their refund policy. Truelance provides a 30-day refund policy if the buyers are not satisfied with the work they have received.
Truelance is mainly known for low-cost gigs which affect the standard of work as well. I have used Truelance a few times and mainly for making e-commerce stores for my clients.
The main thing is that anyone even a newbie can start working here. They don’t need any credentials for getting started.
This has some benefits but also a downside because this also means that there will be many freelancers who are working for low wages as well.
I will advise to be on this platform if you are a newbie and needs to learn new skills. This platform is best for that!
5. GURU
Freelancers have a paid option as well which will include discounted project fees, they will receive more bids and also search boosts as well for their profile.
I have not been here much because the free tier was not giving me many results.
This place can be a good side hustle that you can work in your free time, especially on weekends.
This platform has millions of employers (jobs) and is actually less competitive as compared to Fiverr.
6. FLEXJOBS
Unlike Fiverr, this site is not free and you have to be a paid member if you want to gain full access to the Job board.
Here, we have options — weekly, 1 month, or 3 months of work. We can also apply for 1-year work as well.
7. TOPTAL
Toptal means Top Talent and so if some employer is looking to higher a high-quality freelancer than this place is the best.
This is great for those who have skills in Tech and Finance. for writing, social media, and so on, the above are the best ones.
As compared to Fiverr, Toptal is mostly for experienced freelancer only. And this means there will be screening tests as well to be approved on their website. This includes:
- Language proficiency test
- Personality assessment
- Professional skill review
- Live screening
- Test projects
Conclusion
The list in reality is endless but I will advice you to stick to two only. Two freelance websites are actually enough for making a good income. Make sure you don’t burden yourself with all the sites because, in my experience, there is anyone out there who has made money on more than two sites.
I wish you luck!
If you want to know more about making money on Fiverr, then you can check out my book “How I Made Over $2K on Fiverr as a Freelancer”. Happy Writing Journey!
