The Top Freelance Marketplaces Where You Can Find Work

If you enjoy freelance work, whether it’s writing, design, transcription, data entry, or even programming, there are more than a few freelance websites where you can find jobs. The freelance marketplaces I have listed below are all fairly similar in how they operate (you bid on available work), and most of them are open worldwide. Methods of pay vary, and some do require a monthly fee in order to see and bid on all available work.

oDesk: I have personal experience with oDesk, and it is mostly positive. There is a lot of available work in many different areas of expertise with both hourly and fixed price jobs. They do charge a fee to employers (not to you!), so you must adjust your rate accordingly (a calculator is provided during the bidding process). There are different methods of pay available, and jobs are open worldwide.

Elance: Very similar to oDesk. The one difference is that there is an escrow payment system in place to prevent employers from not paying you for your work.

Note: oDesk and Elance have merged, but that does not seem to have changed how each operates. Changes could be coming, however, so be on the lookout.

Freelancer: There are different levels of membership available. The free plan allows you to bid on 10 projects per month, the Intro plan costs $0.99 per month and allows 15 bids per month, and the Basic plan is $4.99 per month allowing up to 50 bids. You can also complete objectives to increase your reward level, which can help offset the cost of your membership. Open to just about any industry, and there are many different payment options available.

iFreelance: You must pay a basic membership of $6.25 per month in order to view and bid on projects. The upside to this is that you get to keep 100% of your profits.

Guru: This is another bidding marketplace, and they use an escrow method called SafePay to protect you from employers who don’t pay. You can join as a Basic member for free, but you only have access to 10 bids per month. Some jobs aren’t visible to Basic members. You can upgrade to Basic+ for $8.95 per month, which grants you access to 50 bids per month. There are more expensive membership options available. There is a commission fee they charge, so keep that in mind when bidding.

People Per Hour: You can either submit bids for freelance jobs, or you can create “hourlies” for freelance work you can complete in one hour. You are paid in either a bank transfer or Paypal. Focus is on US/UK, but jobs are open worldwide.

Have you worked on any of these freelance marketplaces? If so, please leave a comment to let me know about your experiences with them.

Comments

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments