What are the best freelancing sites and platforms to get you started in your freelance work? Let’s have a close look at the pros and cons.
Freelancing as a career has really taken off over the last couple of years (especially remote freelancing amidst the global coronavirus pandemic). More and more people want to break away from the mold of working a typical day job, clocking in each morning and clocking out each evening. Working for yourself allows you to determine your own schedule and start to do more of what you truly enjoy.
The beauty of doing freelance work is that anyone can do it. There are opportunities for freelance jobs in most industries and at all skill levels. You don’t need to have any special skills to get started in freelancing (though it certainly helps you to get higher paying jobs). In this article we’ll go over the best freelancing sites and include some tips for starting your career.
Best freelancing sites and platforms to get you started in your freelance work
Check out the best freelance platforms to begin your freelance career and start working for yourself.
1. Toptal
The way that Toptal is able to provide the top talent is through their freelancer application process. There is a screening process for each type of freelancer and you have to prove that you really are in the top 3% of talent available by performing tests in your field of expertise.
Types of freelance work available: Developer, Designer, Finance Expert, Project Manager, Product Manager
Pros:
- Work with large brands
- More opportunity for skilled work
- You can work remotely
- You don’t have to pay to find work on Toptal
Cons:
- Some people don’t like the screening process
2. Guru
To become a freelancer on Guru, all you need to do is sign up and create your free profile. Then you can start bidding on jobs and begin working.
Types of freelance work available: Programming, Design, Writing, Translation, Administrative, Business, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Legal, Education, and more
Pros:
- Ensure that freelancers get paid for work completed
- You can leave feedback for your clients, and they can leave feedback for you
- Easy to stay organized on their platform
- Add-on app and Chrome extension available
Cons:
- Relatively high fees taken out of earnings (With most of these platforms, generally a portion of client’s pay goes to the platform before you get your cut, but some take more than others)
- Fake clients sometimes get approved (be careful of scams)
- You have to pay to get your bid higher on the list for competitive jobs
3. Freelancer
To start freelancing through Freelancer, you need to complete your profile by selecting your skills and expertise, uploading a professional photo, and completing their Verification Center checklist. Once that’s done, you can start browsing through jobs, writing pitches, and working.
Types of freelance work available: Freelancer has over 1800 different categories of work available, so you’re likely to find something that you can do here
Pros:
- Easy communication with potential clients
- Multiple money withdrawal options (ACH, Paypal, and more)
- Get jobs quickly
Cons:
- Fake clients can get through
- Because there are so many categories available, you may have to do a lot of searching to find the quality of jobs you want to take
- Fees taken out of freelancer’s pay are high (many refuse smaller projects due to this)
4. Fiverr
To get started, you can sign up for free, create your Gig, and wait for clients to submit an order for your work. Fiverr works to ensure that each freelancer is paid on time, every time.
Types of freelance work available: Designer, Developer, Writer, Video Editor, Musician, Voiceover Artist, Social Media Marketer, and more
Pros:
- You don’t have to bid on jobs, you can wait for buyers to come to you
Cons:
- Difficult to get started on the first few Gigs without previous reviews on the platform
- Fiverr takes a 20% cut of what the buyers pay
5. LinkedIn
You may not think of LinkedIn as one of the “best freelancing sites,” but there are a couple of different ways you can get freelance work from your LinkedIn profile. The first is to optimize your profile for the type of work that you want to do. List your skills, experience, and any portfolio items you can. Employers and business owners are always using various softwares to seek out individuals with the skills they need to complete certain jobs within their companies. So you may find that businesses start reaching out to you for your services.
On the other side of that, you can join job groups and browse through the open positions that are available in your field of expertise and start applying (a lot of these can be freelance work too).
Types of freelance work available: Anything you can find
Pros:
- LinkedIn acts a professional resume for you
- It can bring job opportunities directly to you without even searching
Cons:
- Many employers on LinkedIn are seeking out individuals who will work as employees for their company, and not freelancers
6. Upwork
To join Upwork as a freelancer, you just need to create your free profile and start bidding on jobs. Upwork has fixed-price protection where clients pay for the project and then your earnings are released to you as certain project milestones are completed.
Types of freelance work available: Developer, IT, Designer, Sales, Marketing, Writing, Translation, Administrative, Customer Support, Finance, and more
Pros:
- Upwork screens clients
- Time tracking capabilities
- Secure payment collection
- Feedback and rating system so you can see others’ experience with the clients you want to work with
Cons:
- A lot of competition for higher quality jobs, which sometimes forces freelancers to lower their bids to stay competitive
- High fees taken from client pay before you get your cut (20% of the first $500 and then 10% until you hit $10K in earnings, after that it goes to 5%)
7. We Work Remotely
To use the platform, you just have to start looking through jobs. And when you find a job you want, you just need to fill out the application for the job. No sign up necessary.
Types of freelance work available: Programming, Design, Management, Finance, Product Development, Customer Support, and Other (several different types of jobs fall under this category, like SEO, Researchers, Recruiters, and more)
Pros:
- Great for people looking for remote opportunities
- Free
Cons:
- Not the most user-friendly platform
8. SimplyHired
The easiest way to find freelance work is to type “freelance” or “independent contractor” in the search bar and see what opportunities are out there.
Types of freelance work available: All kinds
Pros:
- You work directly with the client (so the platform doesn’t take a cut of your pay)
- Search through local opportunities
Cons:
- It may take longer to find good freelancing jobs since all job types can be listed here
9. PeoplePerHour
To get started on PeoplePerHour, you have to apply to become a certified freelancer. Once your application is approved, you’ll get access to projects and job listings and can start providing your services to new clients.
Types of freelance work available: Programming, Writing, Translation, Design, Digital Marketing, Video & Photo Work, Business, Music & Audio, Marketing, Branding, Sales, Social Media
Pros:
- Secure payment options (PeoplePerHour makes sure you get paid for your work)
- Apps available
- Ratings system available for buyers and freelancers
Cons:
- A lot of competition for jobs
- High fees are deducted from your pay
- Not the best customer support
10. Solidgigs
The way it works is Solidgigs scours the web for top quality freelance gigs and then sends them to your inbox for a monthly fee. You can do a 30-day trial for $2 and then pay $19/month after that to continue to get new leads for jobs. This takes away the need to spend hours searching for these opportunities yourself.
Here’s what Solidgigs offers you when you sign up:
- Hand-pick gigs daily
- Weekly gig list from approved companies
- Freelance courses and tools
- Interviews with successful freelancers
Types of freelance work available: All types
Pros:
- Solidgigs helps weed out a lot of the scammy jobs out there and sends you the legit opportunities that they’ve found
Cons:
- Solidgigs is still fairly new so there isn’t a lot of information about the platform yet
11. FlexJobs
This is a service that you have to pay for. They have a 1 week ($6.95), 1 month ($14.95), 3 months ($29.95), and 1 year ($49.95) option. All you need to do is sign up, pay for your plan, look through the jobs on their site, and start applying.
Types of freelance work available: All types
Pros:
- FlexJobs screens every opportunity before posting it on their site
- Money-back guarantee
- Save time looking through jobs
Cons:
- Not all jobs are exclusive to FlexJobs and many can be found outside of their site
- Salaries are rarely posted
12. Hubstaff Talent
This is a great way to just add another outlet for finding job opportunities and new clients. It’s free and business owners are already looking there, so why not?
Types of freelance work available: All types
Pros:
- Tons of new jobs added each week
- Free to use
- Time tracking capabilities
Cons:
- Because anyone can use it, there are a lot of low paying jobs to sort through, starting as low as $2/hour
- Limits to integrations
13. CloudPeeps
- Free – 15% of what clients pay will be taken as a commission
- Standard ($9/month) – 10% commission for CloudPeeps
- Plus ($29/month) – 5% commission for CloudPeeps
Additional features are included with the paid plans too. Learn more on their pricing page.
Once you’ve been active on CloudPeeps for more than 24 month and have invoiced over $5,000, you have the opportunity to become a Pro Peep and start earning higher wages on the platform.
Types of freelance work available: SEO, Social Media Management, Content Marketing, Copywriting, Graphic Design, Web Development, Public Relations, and more
Pros:
- Freelancers can offer packages that anyone can search through and purchase
Cons:
- Extensive process to create profile, and it must be approved by CloudPeeps before you can start looking through jobs
- You are limited in how many jobs you can apply for each month depending on your plan
14. Truelancer
Types of freelance work available: All types
Pros:
- User-friendly interface
- Funds are on hold from client until work is finished and approved
Cons:
- Limited support capabilities
- You have to pay for credits to submit proposals
Tips for starting your freelance career in 2022
There has been a huge influx of gig workers, freelancers, and solo workers into the workforce over the past couple years. This can be a good thing, and it can also be a bad thing.
Good, because businesses are becoming more used to working with freelancers and recognizing the benefits of hiring them. Bad, because competition can be fierce for some key gigs.
If you're just starting out, you need to decide whether you want to freelance part-time and work a "day job" to pay the bills until you build up your clientele, or whether you want to maximize your success by devoting yourself 100% to freelance work.
You can decide whether you are going to hold out for the jobs that pay you what you feel you're worth, or take a few lower or entry-level freelance gigs to get your name out there so people can see you're reliable, and then start moving up to the higher-paying gigs. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches.
If you hold out for gigs that pay what you're worth, every job you get will build that reputation further. However, you may have to wait a while, or get referrals for a specific job when you're just starting out. With so much competition out there, expecting a company to hire a relative unknown is a big ask.
If you start working at first for lower-paying gigs, it can start bringing in the dough and getting you noticed, and you can develop working relationships with companies. However, it can be somewhat awkward after a while, when you need to raise your rates to pay your bills. Ideally you'll have developed a good working relationship and reputation by then, and hopefully you can keep working regular gigs with your go-to companies, but for closer to the rates you want to be earning.
Some of the highest paying freelance jobs are based on specific skillsets. If you have a specialized skill that you can offer to customers, then you may be set to start making good money for freelance work.
Some of the higher-paying freelance jobs include:
- Contract and Corporate law
- Digital marketing consultant
- SEO optimization/marketing
- Web design or development
- Programming and software development
- Career coach
- Financial advisor
- Technical or marketing copywriter
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There you have it: Our list of the top freelancer sites, plus tips for getting your career started. Get to work!
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