Choosing Freelancing Platforms in 2024
Introduction
There are thousands of freelancing platforms out there. While some of them are not worth your time, some others can help you build a great career. Today we’ll discuss the most popular freelancing platforms along with their pros and cons to help you choose the best freelancing platform in 2024.
Best Strategies to Choose Freelancing Platforms
Before you may sign on a freelancing platform, you need to consider several important factors including your profession, your skills, your expectations and the main benefits of the chosen platform. A lot of nuances can play a crucial role in finding the best platform for you.
Upwork
Upwork is one of the first freelancing platforms. It’s also one of the most popular online marketplaces. It’s the platform many freelancers have started their career with. So, we can say it’s a great place both for beginners and experienced freelancers. Here you can sell your services, projects, consultations, etc. there is a wide range of job categories to match with your skills.
Pros:
Tons of active clients: 150.000 clients looking for freelancers to fulfill their projects.
Daily job announcements: thousands of fresh job announcements to apply for daily.
Huge diversity in jobs: compared to other freelancing platforms Upwork comes with a vast amount of categories for different skill sets and professions.
Cons:
Too competitive: you are competing with more than 18 million other freelancers to win a job.
Expensive bidding system: each job proposal costs you money. You need to buy connects which are used in sending job proposals.
Fiverr
Fiverr is another good freelancing platform to choose in 2024. The system in Fiverr is a bit different. Here you need to showcase your skills, experience. There is no need to send job proposals. Instead, clients just look at your service and skill set and send you an order which means they buy your service.
Pros:
More than 5 million yearly buyers: since Fiverr is quite popular, many clients use it to find professional freelancers.
Easy to use: the platform is easy to use both for the seller (freelancer) and the buyer (client).
Packages instead of hourly rates: you can choose to put package rates based on the complexity of the service.
Cons:
Competitive: this leads to lower rates because freelancers end up competing on pricing.
High fees: fees are 20% of everything you make including tips.
Freelancer
Freelancer is the next well-known online job marketplace on our list. Here you can find different categories of projects, job announcements, and even contests.
Pros:
Easy-to-use platform.
Easy to communicate with the clients via on-page chat.
Free bidding: you can bid for a certain number of projects for free.
Cons:
A lot of scams: many clients are scammers looking for newbie freelancers. The freelancers need to be very careful in the choice of the job and client.
Low quality projects: there are cases when a freelancer meets a low-quality or even a fake project which is a waste of time.
Peopleperhour
According to the 78 anonymously submitted reviews on Glassdoor 84% of employees would recommend working at PeoplePerHour to a friend. It’s a leading online marketplace with more than 2 million freelancers working on a variety of projects.
Pros:
Over 1 million clients.
15 free bids per month.
You can set your own rates.
Cons:
Heavy fees: the platform comes with high fees (although lower than other platforms).
Very competitive: freelancers have to compete for jobs.
Poor customer support: they almost always take a buyer’s side.
Toptal
Toptal is a great platform for experienced developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers. The chances are high you build a strong career with a strong profile and portfolio at Toptal.
Pros:
User-friendly interface: it’s easy to use both from the clients and freelancer’s side
Higher rates: compared to the previous platforms, Toptal allows freelancers to put higher rates.
High quality clients: here you can meet long-term projects offered by serious clients who are willing to pay high to the most professional freelancer.
Cons:
Limited job categories: this platform is mostly focused on business, design and tech.
Extensive vetting process: it takes too long to get evaluation and verification on the platform. It can last anywhere from 2-5 weeks.
Guru
Guru is our last choice on this list. It has over 2 million registered members. This platform may not be the best one for beginners but once you get the hang of it, it can become a steady workplace for you.
Pros:
Broad range of job categories including web development, design, writing, and administrative support.
Flexible pricing: freelancers can choose between fixed-price or hourly projects.
Limited number of freelancers: easier to stand out in the platform.
Cons:
Higher fees, complicated billing system and paid membership plans.
Poor strategies to block scammers.
Conclusion
As you see, there are some good freelance platforms that can bring you a steady income. All of them come with advantages and disadvantages. Your task is to choose the platform that best suits your skills and meets your expectations. You can start with one and then continue building your career on other platforms too. This way, you’ll have a flexible workstyle and will become more knowledgeable in the freelancing world.
Check the video below to learn more about freelancing platforms in 2024.
