I Rated 10 Popular Freelance Websites for Newbies, and their Pros and Cons.
Are you thinking about starting your freelance career? With so many options available, it can be challenging to know which websites to trust and use.
To help make the decision easier, I’ve rated and reviewed 10 popular freelance websites for newbies, highlighting their pros and cons. Whether you’re a writer, designer, developer, or have another skill set, these websites can help connect you with clients and projects.
The sites included in this article are:
#1 Fiverr:
Best for: graphical design, writing, voiceover, translation
Fiverr was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. Fiverr is an online marketplace that connects businesses and entrepreneurs with freelancers offering a wide range of services, such as writing, graphic design, programming, and more.
On Fiverr.com you can post your gigs on the Fiverr website, and buyers will come across and contact you. A “gig” is a specific pre-packaged service that is offered for a fixed price and can be delivered within a few days.
Overall Rating: 🧡🧡🧡🤍
- Convenience:🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡
- Competition:🧡🧡
- Earning potential:🧡🧡🧡
Pros:
- Easy to set up
- Friendly to beginners
- No set-up fees
- Intuitive user interface
- High traffic (one of the largest freelancing platforms)
Cons:
- High competition
- Clients’ payment expectation is low
- Clients choose you, instead of you choosing the client
- Not for long-term contracts
- Customer service usually stands on the buyers’ side
#2 Upwork:
Best for: virtual assistance, project management, social media management, programming, translation
Upwork was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is an online platform that connects businesses and individuals with freelancers for short-term or long-term projects.
Unlike Fiverr.com, we set up an account on Upwork and apply for clients’ posted jobs.
Upwork operates on a bidding system where freelancers can bid on jobs, and clients can choose the most qualified freelancer to hire.
Overall Rating:🧡🧡🧡
- Convenience:🧡🧡🧡
- Competition:🧡🧡
- Earning potential:🧡🧡🧡🧡🤍
Pros:
- You can get some long-term projects
- More constant workflow
- Large traffic (one of the largest freelancing platforms)
Cons:
- High competition
- Some spams
- Need time to apply for jobs manually
- Limited amount of free applications (you will need to pay for additional applications)
#3 PeoplePerHour:
Best for: Freelance beginners, programmers, designers, content writers, script writers, freelancers based in the UK
PeoplePerHour was founded in 2007, and it’s headquartered in London.
The way of getting clients is similar to both Upwork and Fiverr. You can post your portfolio and services online; at the same time, it operates on a bidding system where freelancers can bid on jobs, and clients can choose the most qualified freelancer to hire.
Overall Rating:🧡🧡🧡🤍
- Convenience:🧡🧡🧡
- Competition:🧡🧡🧡🤍
- Earning potential:🧡🧡🧡🧡
Pros:
- Friendly to beginners
- Relatively low competitions
Cons:
- Need time to apply for jobs manually.
- Limited jobs and concentrate on writing.
- Limited free applications (15 free ones; you will need PRO account for more applications).
#4 Freelancer.com:
Best for: virtual assistance, translation, social media management
Freelancer.com is one of the largest and oldest freelance platforms; it was founded in 2009, and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.
Similar to Upwork and PeoplePerHour, it operates on a bidding system where freelancers can bid on jobs and clients can choose the most qualified freelancer to hire.
Overall Rating:🧡🧡🧡
- Convenience:🧡🧡🧡
- Competition:🧡🧡
- Earning potential:🧡🧡🧡
Pros:
- Large traffic (one of the largest freelancing platforms)
- Have some long-term projects
Cons:
- High Competitions
- Relatively old user interface
- Spams
- Clients’ payment expectation is low
- Need time to apply for jobs manually
- Limited amount of free applications (you will need to pay for more applications)
#5 Toptal:
Best for: professionals, developers, financial experts, project managers
Toptal is a platform that connects businesses and entrepreneurs with the top 3% of freelance talent in various fields, such as software development, design, finance, etc.
It is a more exclusive platform than other freelance marketplaces like Upwork, Fiverr, and PeoplePerHour. The platform is well-suited for businesses and entrepreneurs looking for top-tier talent for high-stakes projects.
The platform has a rigorous freelancer screening process, including skill evaluations, language proficiency tests, and live interviews. This helps to ensure that only the most highly qualified and experienced freelancers are accepted onto the platform.
Overall Rating:🧡🧡🧡🧡
- Convenience:🧡🧡🧡🧡
- Competition:🧡🧡🧡🤍
- Earning potential:🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡
Pros:
- High earning potential
- Good Client
- Likely to get long-term contracts
Cons:
- Only take professionals and specific industries
- The more detailed selection process
- Hard to get in (Take only 3% of freelance talent; but it is worth trying)
#6 Truelancer.com:
Best for: an alternative source of income, side hustle
Truelancer is a freelance marketplace website that connects clients with freelance professionals from various industries. It also offers a paid membership that provides additional benefits such as enhanced project visibility and a dedicated account manager.
Truelancer is an excellent supplementary way to get side money, but due to the low traffic, in general, you cannot build a full-time income on it.
Overall Rating:🧡🧡🧡
- Convenience:🧡🧡🧡
- Competition:🧡🧡🧡
- Earning potential:🧡🧡
Pro:
- Less saturated poll of freelancers
Cons:
- Limited (up to 5) gigs for a free account.
- Clients’ payment expectation is low
- Mind the spams
#7 Guru.com:
Best for: an alternative source of income, freelance programmers and designers
Guru.com is a freelance marketplace that connects businesses with talented professionals for short-term or long-term projects.
Guru.com is an excellent supplementary way to get side money, but due to the low traffic, you cannot build a full-time income on it in general.
Overall Rating:🧡🧡🧡🤍
- Convenience:🧡🧡🧡🧡
- Competition:🧡🧡🧡🤍
- Earning potential:🧡🧡🧡
Pros:
- You can get paid well for each project — worthy of checking out occasionally
- Less spam than on most other platforms
Cons:
- Less traffic
- Not many video/audio jobs
#8 Dribbble.com:
Best for: product designers, graphical designers, showcase your design works
Dribbble is a great platform for designers to showcase their work, get feedback, and connect with other professionals in the field.
It’s also a great place for clients and companies to browse and find designers for their projects and freelancers to find remote design jobs and projects.
Overall Rating:🧡🧡🧡🧡
- Convenience:🧡🧡🧡
- Competition:🧡🧡🧡🤍
- Earning potential:🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡
Pros:
- Well paid to professionals
- Long-term remote jobs available
- Constant workflow
Cons:
- Only for designers
- Need more professional skills
- You need a membership (starting at $7.50/month) to access freelance projects.
#9 ACX:
Best for: voiceover, audiobooks
ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange), owned by Audible, a subsidiary of Amazon, is a platform that connects authors and publishers with narrators, producers, and studios to create audiobooks.
Overall Rating:🧡🧡🧡🤍
- Convenience:🧡🧡🧡
- Competition:🧡🧡🧡🤍
- Earning potential:🧡🧡🧡🧡
Pros:
- Good earning potential
- Steady work and income
Cons:
- Dedicated to voiceover/dubbing
- Need professional voiceover skills and devices
- Royalties on audiobook sales can be relatively low
#10 Voices.com:
Best for: side project, voiceover, voice acting, dubbing
Overall Rating:🧡🧡🤍
- Convenience:🧡🤍
- Competition:🧡🧡🤍
- Earning potential:🧡🧡🧡🧡
Pros:
- Good project payment to professionals
- Extensive database of voiceover jobs
Cons:
- Dedicated to voiceover/dubbing
- Need professional voiceover skills and devices
- Some clients have very high expectations
- Need to buy a membership (starting $499/year — not a small amount) to reach all projects
To the end:
Being a freelancer is enjoyable, where you can control your work schedule and work-life balance, the ability to choose the projects and clients you work with, and the potential to earn more money than you would as an employee.
I suggest first focusing on ONE platform, i.e., Fiverr, Upwork, and Toptal. You can get the hang of one platform and build a stable stream.
At the same time, it doesn’t hurt to register more of them to have more income streams; and try multiple methods, such as Linkedin and email marketing, to get new customers.
