Freelancing gives you the opportunity to become your own boss. It is a great way to earn money extra if you have a full time job. You are your own boss, you can schedule your work-time, which projects to work and many more.
In this post, we're going to explore many freelancing platform's overview and pros and cons to see which platform is best for you.
For more information about: What is Freelancing? How to Start Freelancing?
1. Upwork
Upwork is one of the most popular freelancing platform in the internet. It is a big marketplace that acts as a middleman of freelancer and clients seeking various services, including writing, design, programming, marketing and more. Upwork's user-friendly interface and a wide range of opportunities make it a popular choice for freelancers.
Pros:
- Upwork has a wide range of industries and job categories, allowing freelancers to find projects that match their skills. Examples– development, design, writing, translation, engineering, programming.
- Because of it's popularity, the platform has a large number of clients (around 5 million clients) seeking for different freelancers, offering many job opportunities.
- Upwork has their own built-in payment system to ensure secure transactions and avoid late payments.
- You can make your profile, so clients can find you and submit proposals for jobs.
- Every time you complete a project, clients can rate your work, which will increase your reputation.
Cons:
- With over 18 million freelancers, Upwork is very competitive. It can be hard for beginners to get job opportunities.
- Upwork charges 10% of your total earnings from a project (both hourly and fixed rates projects), impacting your overall earings.
- You still have to submit proposals for jobs. It can very time consuming for freelancers.
- You can't submit proposals unlimited times. You can submit proposals for limited times. To submit more proposals, you have to buy credits in Upwork.
2. Freelancer.com
Freelancer.com is a global freelancing platform. The platform supports many languages like English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and many more. Sign up is free and easy. Same as Upwork, it is one of the most popular freelancing platform in the world.
Pros:
- Same as Upwork, Freelancer.com offers a wide range of industries and job opportunities including writing, transcription, sales, marketing and design.
- The platform hosts contests. Freelancers can earn more money from these contests.
- Freelancers can work with clients around the world. It provides you the opportunity to work on many projects with different clients.
- The platform supports many languages like Spanish, French, Portuguese etc. You can work in with your native language and clients from your own country.
- The platform offers skill tests and certificates. You can showcase your skill tests and certificates to your portfolio or freelancing profile to attract new clients.
- The platform uses an escrow system to hold client payments. This system provides security to both freelancers and clients.
- There are some jobs that you won't find on other platforms like manufacturing and logistics.
Cons:
- Over 60 million freelancers are working in freelancer.com . Due to it's popularity, it is very competitive.
- The platform has a lot of fees, like bidding fees, contest entry fees, directory fees, transaction fees. It will create impact beginner freelancers earnings. Freelancers have to pay fees even before they get paid.
- Due to it's open nature of the platform, there might be fake clients and spam applicants.
- The platform's interface is very complex. As a beginner, it will be hard for you to navigating through the site.
- Freelancers need to depend on bidding system on projects to secure work, which can be pretty time-consuming.
3. Fiverr
Fiverr is a unique and popular freelancing platform. Freelancers on Fiverr create "gigs", which are specialized services they offer to clients. Each gig outlines the scope of work, pricing and delivery time. Fiverr's platform has a wide range of creative and professional services.
Pros:
- Fiverr's gig-based model allows freelancers to offer specialized services to clients.
- Beginner to experienced professionals, Fiverr is accessible to freelancers of all skill levels.
- You can set the price rate of your work, ensuring you get the money based on your work.
Cons:
- Freelancers have to follow Fiverr's platform rules and guidelines, which can limit customization and control over project terms.
- Beginner freelancers might face challenges tin standing out among the competition because they have to depend on gig listings and visibility.
- Fiverr will take 20% of your total earnings for each projects, which can impact your overall earnings.
- It can take upto 14 days to receive payment after you've done the project.
4. Toptal
Toptal is a platform specifically designed for experienced freelancers who are experts in their certain fields. It's known for curating a network of top freelancers in various industries. Toptal's focus is on connecting clients with experiences professional freelancers so clients can access high-quality work.
Pros:
- Toptal's strict screening process ensures clients will get high-quality work from professional freelancers around the world.
- Clients are matched with freelancers who has the specific skills needed for their projects.
- Unlike other platforms, Toptal has less competition for projects among freelancers.
- Freelancers with top-tier skills can take higher rates, allowing them to earn well.
Cons:
- Toptal's screening process can be challenging to pass, making it difficult even for some experienced freelancers to join. Only 3% get pass through it.
- While the opportunities are high-quality, the volume of projects is lower compared to other platforms.
- Clients on Toptal expect top-tier results, which can create pressure on freelancers to work.
- Toptal is not for beginner freelancers, low-quality freelancers will not make through screening process.
- Here are less clients (around 145,400) compared to other popular platforms.
5. Guru
Guru is a freelancing platform that connects freelancers with clients seeking various services, writing, designing, programming, digital marketing and many more. You can place bids on projects posted by the clients. Guru has various tools to make your work more efficient. The platform provides you tools for project management, communication and payment processing.
Pros:
- Guru covers a wide range of industries and opportunities.
- Freelancers can bid on projects posted by clients, which allows them to set their suitable rates.
- Guru provides freelancers with many tools to give clients the best work. Some examples are projects management, communication, file sharing and many more.
- There are multiple ways of to pay freelancers. Clients can pay via American Express, Visa, Discover, MasterCard, or JCB credit card.
- Freelancers can withdraw money with various payment methods like U.S. Bank Account (eCheck), PayPal, Payoneer, Wire Transfer.
Cons:
- To use all the tools you have to pay for a membership.
- With more than 2 million freelancers, Guru is very competitive.
We've known about Upwork, Freelancer.com, Fiverr, Toptal and Guru. There are many more freelancing platforms with their own unique features. You have to choose your freelancing platform based on your skills and skill level. Remember, before choosing a freelancing platform, research and explore the pros and cons of the platform.
0 Comments