You have to choose the most suitable Upwork alternative for freelancers to get your first high paying client and make money online from home.
In this guide, I’ve ranked and reviewed the 13 best alternatives to Upwork for freelancers as well as my top 3 recommendations to help you find the one that best fits your needs and budget.
Fiverr is the place to be if you're a graphic designer, programmer, content writer, translator, or artist, and you're looking for work. You can share your talents with others and earn money while you're at it!
On 99designs, you can do what you love and get paid for it. Find amazing clients and become a member of our global community of talented designers, all while working in a safe and secure environment.
Freelancers can use LinkedIn on a daily basis to increase their visibility, connect with relevant companies, and showcase their expertise to companies that are looking for new contractors.
Ask any freelancer about the best platform to find projects and 90% will suggest you “Upwork”!
According to a survey held in 2020, approx. 12 Million Freelancers are registered on Upwork.
What the hell in this world is Upwork?
Why are so many people going crazy for this?
Well, Upwork is an American company which works as a mediator between clients who want a particular task to be completed and the Freelancers who have skills and are looking for projects.
Upwork is known to have genuine clients who are willing to pay handsome amounts in exchange for their work done with utmost professionalism and within the timeline!
If Upwork is such a blessing, why am I suggesting 13 best alternatives to Upwork for freelancers that you should try in 2022 ?
No matter how good the opportunity we get and money Freelancers can make through this platform, there are several drawbacks because of which people like us start looking for an alternative.
Let’s find out some drawbacks which fresh Freelancers are facing on Upwork.
1. Profile Verification
First problem is Profile Verification, in order to get yourself registered on Upwork and start getting projects everyone needs to undergo the process of profile verification.
According to the new users, this process of verification is quite tricky and is time consuming.
2. Getting the First Project is also a very tough Job
If you are not hired by anyone through Upwork, this will show on your profile and getting a good project with a fresh profile is taught as people won’t trust you!
Your profile on Upwork shows all the details publicly like, the number of projects you have completed, billing amount, and the reviews as well. Imagine, your first client puts a bad review on your profile!
3. Limited Payout
No doubt, Upwork is known for it’s high paying clients but still there are several businesses which offer much less pay than usual.
When you have a fresh profile, there is a great chance that you will initially attract only less paying projects! Hence, the other problem is, There are still less paying businesses registered on Upwork.
4. High Commission Charges
Upwork is not providing you a platform to make money for free! Similar to mediators, Upwork will charge some percentage from you for each project that you get.
For the first $500 billing, Upwork will charge 20% from you. Later in the billing of $500.1 to $10000 the fees charged will be 10%, and at last the service charges from Upwork will reduce to 5% as soon as your billing crosses $10000!
Hence, getting a good project is tough for new Freelancers and on top of that the service fees charged doesn’t seem very pleasing to most new registered members.
There are several other similar platforms in the market which are working as a connection between the independent professionals and businesses.
In such a huge sea of opportunities how will one know what to choose and what not?
This judgment of choosing comes with experience and experience demands time.
Do you have enough time to try each platform and then decide the best one?
No one is this patient which is why I come in the picture! Let’s jump directly at best alternatives to Upwork:
13 Best Alternatives to Upwork For Freelancers
1. Fiverr
Of all the other alternatives available, Fiverr is the most preferred option by me. Recently my brother has started his Freelancing journey with Fiverr and with a little guidance he was able to earn 100 dollars with no investment, if he can you can too!
Similar to Upwork, Fiverr is also a platform which helps businesses or organizations to hire independent skilled workers for a particular project or task.
Fiverr also shows client reviews on a Freelancer’s profile and helps each business to filter based on the skills and charges.
Though Fiverr is very much similar to Upwork, still there are few differences which makes it an easier yet satisfying, the best Upwork alternatives for freelancers.
Let’s shift our attention on some features of Fiverr:
➽ Fiverr is an Israeli platform which was developed in 2010, offering job opportunities in approx. 500 diverse categories.
➽ Fiverr supports many currencies which makes the payment process easier for everyone. By default, the US dollar is set as a currency type, however you can change your country and currency settings from the profile menu.
➽ Fiverr has clearly indicated his concern about contractors or freelancers being exploited by setting the minimum rate of each service as $5.
Most of the fresh talents in the market get rotten because of those few contractors who are paying only a few pennies in exchange for a project that demands much more labor and time. Well, we need not to worry as Fiverr is supporting us!
➽ Fiverr is not a time consuming platform as there is no process and cost for profile approval. This makes it easy for Freelancers to start looking for projects as soon as their profile is created.
➽ Another most common review heard about Fiverr is that it has a user friendly interface.
Unlike how it works on Upwork, Fiverr allows you to simply apply for any job offer without any chaos of bidding and bid coins. You need to focus only on building a great profile and applying for those jobs only for which you have the desired skill and knowledge.
There are several other features available for Fiverr but I would rather prefer to shift our focus to the Cons of Fiverr, for your better understanding about the platform. Take a deep breath……
➽ Fixed 20% service fee, the only bad part about this platform is the fixed service fee deduction. 20% is a very huge amount to be charged at each transaction, because of this service charge many Freelancers are switching from Fiverr to other freelancing platforms.
I have recently heard from one of my colleagues that Fiverr can block your account anytime and for no reason. Personally, I haven’t experienced this even once from the past 4 years but if this is happening, that is a huge concern! You are nothing and all your efforts go in vain if your profile is blocked.
2. Freelancer
After Fiverr, freelancer is the platform which every Freelancer has tried at least once in their entire career.
Let’s find out some Pros and Cons of this platform named “Freelancer”
Pros:
- As one of the most popular freelancing platforms, Freelancer.com offers a wide range of categories in which we can find work that matches our skills and what we are best at.
- Aside from the availability of such broad categories, Freelancer.com is also known for its remarkable real time project execution. You can message the employer directly and based on your suggestion there is a great chance that you will get the project in no time.
Cons:
- The problem most freelancers face when working with Freelancer.com is the currency withdrawal process. Before taking responsibility for a project, you need to consider that it takes almost 14 days for the money to show up in your bank account after submitting the withdrawal request.
3. Guru
Guru is another option in the list of best alternatives to Upwork. It was founded in 1998 with headquarters based in Pittsburgh.
Guru is well known for its mind blowing projects for developers.
Pros:
- The best thing about working with this platform is the dashboard! Once you have taken ownership of a specific project, there will be less or no confusion between you and your employer as all the details of the project can be monitored through Guru’s comprehensive dashboard. According to the freelancers who work with Guru, the user friendly interface perfectly manages the workflow for each project!
- Unlike the other freelance platforms, the hiring process on Guru is very sorted. If an employer wants to hire you, all they have to do is sign an official document and then get on with the work, which saves a lot of time, resulting in a much faster project completion rate.
Cons:
- Many freelancers find Guru’s customer support irritating and say they always delay the issue by not responding in a timely manner.
4. People Per Hour
People Per Hour is a British company founded in 2007 and headquartered in London. The company has a base of approx. 1.2 million clients!
Pros:
- With People Per Hour, you get projects based on the personalization’s you prefer. There are some people who look at global projects, while others prefer to work with local employers in order to avoid communication gaps. While working with this platform you can set a filter whether you want to see global or local projects!
Cons:
- In my view, People Per Hour is pretty strict on its users. Their policy will permanently delete your account if you don’t make $100 in a given period of time.
- This freelance platform only gives you 15 bids per month for free. As a new profile it is obviously difficult to manage and get a project with these offers.
5. 99 Designs
99 Designs is also a British company founded in 2008 and headquartered in Melbourne.
This is very popular among graphic designers, as the name already explained!
Also, this is one of the best freelance sites for graphic designers.
Pros:
- If you are a graphic designer, 99designs is the best platform for you! Get all work related graphic designs here. It is obvious that a platform dedicated to graphic design opens up a huge pool of possibilities, not only for the employers but also for freelancers! I am personally in love with the concept.
- 99designs is known for the level of perfection it let’s you deliver in a very time saving manner! Searching for graphic designing work on a platform which is listing jobs for every niche is very time consuming and therefore leaves you frustrated.
Cons:
- The only downside of 99designs is the communication barrier. As this is a global platform and no matter how proficient you are in English, there will be several instances where you cannot understand the employer’s business needs due to the different culture.
6. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an American company founded in 2003 and headquartered in California.
You may have heard about LinkedIn playing a crucial role in professional networking and career development, and you may also know that many people use this platform to get freelance projects.
Pros:
- This platform allows you to work for a specific company of your interest, gaining access to the entire management team for the specific brand and get the desired project by proposing your ideas. There are many work from home jobs for moms that you can easily find on LinkedIn.
- I see LinkedIn as Twitter for the corporate world, every second people are posting something or the other. I love LinkedIn because unlike other freelance platforms, it’s not used specifically for projects.
- You can connect with the people who are professionals in your field, this way you will not only get the job opportunities but also play your networking game and the scope for learning is vast!
Cons:
- The most common problem with LinkedIn is the premium package! To get access to profiles of certain high level roles, you need a premium version of this application. This makes it quite expensive for the new freelancers who are looking forward to working with a big company and want to propose an interesting proposal or plan.
7. Facebook
Yes, you read it correctly. Facebook is not only a social media platform, you can also get some interesting freelancing projects if you have built your profile professionally.
Facebook was launched in 2004 with headquarters based in California, United States.
Pros:
- Facebook allows you to know the person who is hiring you a bit more personally hence, you can customize your work accordingly and complete the project with utmost satisfaction.
Cons:
- You can definitely get an interesting and well paid project through Facebook but it demands time. You need to regularly check whether there is a new requirement and respond to it as soon as possible.
- There is a good possibility of a fraud client on Facebook. Before taking the responsibility of any project, make sure you analyze the person on the other side cleverly and not begin the work without some advance payment.
8. Toptal
Toptal is a global company founded in 2010. They are not headquartered and work remotely! Simple and sorted.
Pros:
- The best thing about working with Toptal is knowing that the project you are hired on is real. At Toptal, employees cannot start the hiring process directly by simply uploading the requirement.
- Their request first goes through the verification process and then the platform itself offers the suggestion to the employer so that they can interview and hire the most suitable candidate accordingly.
Cons:
- Freelancers who work with Toptal complain over the fixed working hours. You can only work 20-40 hours a week on this platform, so most full-time freelancers have to look to some alternative platforms for other projects.
9. Truelancer
No doubt, Truelancer is one of the easiest and most user-friendly Upwork alternatives. Its simple interface, job board, and services attract both clients and freelancers.
Because there isn’t an on-site verification process, you’ll have to choose a qualified, honest, and efficient co-worker for your projects.
One of the most interesting things about Truelancer is that they allow you to set up deposits from clients before starting a project. This ensures that the client is genuine and that you will not be ripped off.
Their monthly memberships range from $0 to $50, and they charge an 8% to 10% commission depending on your membership package.
10. Hubstaff Talent
Another great alternative to Upwork is Hubstaff Talent, launched in 2013 by workforce management platform Hubstaff. They work with business owners, agencies, and freelancers worldwide.
It is a completely free resource available to anyone looking to hire remote workers from around the world. No hidden fees, markups, or intermediaries.
Pros:
- More than 50+ full-time remote jobs or positions are added every week.
- Every week, they add 80+ hourly or fixed-price freelancing gigs.
- No commission fees.
- Payment is securely handled between the freelancer and the client.
Cons:
- Most jobs are low-paid, with wages starting at $2/hour.
- No option to bid on jobs.
- There are no categories to search for jobs based on their nature (instead, search by specific skills or keywords).
- The position does not have a location tag to allow you to quickly determine if it is within your region or time zone.
11. Outsourcely
Outsourcely is one of the best alternatives to Upwork for freelancers because it helps you find jobs that match your skills.
It offers both short-term and long-term jobs, depending on your availability and needs.
They also provide real-time interactive conversations for remote workers and entrepreneurs.
They have individual, small business, and professional plans.
Each plan offers different features to connect with employees.
Pros:
- Freelancers do not pay any commission or fees on their earnings.
- The employer pays the freelancers directly.
- Preference is given to long-term, reliable work or projects.
- The platform offers a good balance of part time and full time employment.
Cons:
- Job volume is low.
- Finding a suitable job is difficult.
- The verification process is inconvenient.
- Jobs are often not adequately compensated.
12. Freeup
In the United States, FreeUp is a platform that connects businesses with pre-vetted virtual assistants, freelancers, and remote workers who work mostly in e-commerce and digital marketing.
Their main goal is to solve the problem of online hiring for millions of freelancers and online businesses worldwide.
Getting started with the Free Up Freelance platform is a quick and painless (easy) process.
Create a free account and specify the requirements for the ideal freelancer you want to hire. Within one business day, FreeUp will connect you with a freelancer of your choice.
Set up a brief interview with your freelancer match to determine if they are a good fit.
After you have hired someone, you can manage all of the steps of the process through your account.
This includes deadlines, communication with the hiring manager, and billing approvals.
Pros:
- The process of matching freelancers to customers has been simplified.
- Employers are given the option of skipping the candidate profiling procedure.
- During the hiring process, give clients the opportunity to gain hands-on experience.
- Freelancers are subjected to strict scrutiny.
Cons:
- There is a lot of competition among freelancers.
- You have no rights in the recruitment process.
- Compared to other competitors, the job market is very small.
- There are no free trials available.
13. Writers Work
Writers Work is an Upwork alternative that will never be overlooked, dedicated to the daily freelance writer looking for work.
You can quickly build an online portfolio and find work as a freelancer.
These gigs come from business partnerships with some writing businesses.
In order to register, you must be at least 18 years old and have a valid online account into which payments can be deposited.
Pros:
- This site compiles listings from multiple sources.
- The interface is excellent for scanning listings.
- An excellent text editor with a plethora of analysis tools.
- A self-paced online course for aspiring freelancers.
- This may save newer freelance writers some time searching for work.
- A convenient portfolio-creation tool.
Cons:
- There are few unique opportunities, particularly at the high end.
- It may direct you to other websites where you can apply for jobs.
- Advanced freelance writers are likely to be able to source this work on their own.
- Complaints regarding the company’s refund policy.
Final Words
In this era where a huge percentage of the population is switching to full time freelancer from full time office employees, there is an ocean of platforms working as a mediator between the freelancers and employers.
Most common platform among the Freelancers is Upwork but as every coin has 2 faces, Upwork also offers few difficulties for the new freelancers.
I wanted to save your extremely precious time and hence listed the best alternatives to Upwork with some Pros and Cons, so that you need not to try each and every platform.
I hope you will find these best Upwork alternatives for freelancers useful and start your freelancing journey with the platform that suits your requirement perfectly.
One thought on “13 Best Alternatives to Upwork For Freelancers to Find Jobs in 2022”
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