Top 14 Freelance Websites to Get Online Earning Jobs
1. Elance
Boasting total member earnings of about $1.1 billion as of mid-2014, Elance brokers
freelancer-client relationships in several broad categories:
programming, mobile app development, design, writing, and marketing. The
platform, whose clients include notable firms such as Mozilla,
CareerBuilder, and Disney, sees more than 100,000 job postings per
month. Anyone can sign up for an account and search easily for postings.
However, having an Elance account doesn’t guarantee work. Job
postings that require fewer specialized skills, such as website content
and marketing copy generation, tend to have more applicants. More
complicated jobs, especially OS-specific development work, may be less
competitive. Positive client feedback and higher lifetime earnings are
what can set your proposals apart from those of less experienced
workers.
When you come across an appealing job, you must put together a
proposal that includes your qualifications, your estimated completion
time (including a detailed timeline for each deliverable), and your
required compensation – either an hourly rate or a flat fee, depending
on the client’s specifications. Clients generally select proposals that
offer the optimal combination of experience, skills, and
reasonable compensation requirements.
Depending on its size and complexity, each proposal costs one or more
“Connects” – Elance’s virtual currency. Individuals receive 40 Connects
per month as part of a free membership plan, with paid plans offering
higher monthly Connect quotas and other perks.
There are three paid plans:
- Individual Membership: For $10 per month, you get
20 additional monthly Connects and up to 15 profile keywords that can
increase your visibility to clients.
- Small Company Membership: For $20 per month, you
get 40 additional monthly Connects and 20 profile keywords. If you’re
managing a team, you can also add up to five individual profiles on your
account.
- Large Company Membership: For $60 per month, you
get 60 additional monthly Connects, 25 profile keywords, and an
unlimited number of team member profiles.
Additional Connects are available to all membership types at $1 per
unit. Elance deducts 8.75% from your total earnings for each project.
2. oDesk
oDesk offers
opportunities for developers, designers, systems and data analysts,
writers, translators, marketers, and business and administrative
professionals. Like Elance, it touts some notable clients, such as
OpenTable, NBC, and Panasonic, and features more than 100,000 monthly
postings.
After signing up for an account, you’re asked to flesh out a profile
that highlights your skill sets and experience. Next, you can search for
job postings. When you find an appealing job, submit a solid cover letter that
describes your qualifications and links to your profile. Using this
information, the client selects a pool of applicants to interview via
email, phone, or Skype. If hired, you’re required to provide regular
status updates to the client and send along deliverables as
they’re completed.
Unlike Elance, oDesk clients – not freelancers – set hourly rates or
flat fees per project. However, you can negotiate those rates during the
interview process. Membership is free and lacks Elance’s multi-tiered
structure. The platform deducts a 10% fee from the client’s payment.
Post-project client ratings and total earnings signify experience and
competence on the site, increasing the likelihood of selection for
future projects.
3. Textbroker
Textbroker caters
exclusively to freelance writers. Like Elance and oDesk, it brokers
relationships between clients and writers, handling payment and dispute
resolution on their behalf. It’s free to sign up, but you need to take a
writing test and receive manual approval to begin accepting work.
You’re assigned a rating at the outset – ranging from two to five
stars – which determines your earning power for publicly posted jobs.
Two-star writers earn less than one cent per word after Textbroker’s 35%
cut of client payments. Five-star writers earn five cents per word
after the cut. You’re evaluated several times per year, with the
opportunity to move up or down in the ranks – higher ranks generally
have more available work.
Once you’ve established relationships with clients, you can set your
own price for work and receive it directly from them. Additionally,
clients may create teams of hand-selected writers at fixed per-word
rates. Textbroker also manages content-generation accounts for larger
clients, many of which pay significantly more than the five-star rate.
Clients – or Textbroker itself – can request revisions to submitted
orders as many times as necessary, with payment coming only when the
order receives final approval. Earnings for client-approved orders are
deposited in writer-specific escrow accounts, which pay out weekly.
4. Accountemps
Run by Robert Half Company, a major staffing firm, Accountemps is
a freelancing and temporary employment platform for accounting and
administrative professionals. It contracts with mid- and large-size
companies for special accounting or data entry projects, general back
office support, loan origination, auditing work, tax-related projects,
and collections. Accountemps earns a cut of each employee’s total
compensation, negotiable on an individual basis with its clients (and
generally not disclosed).
For employment candidates, the sign-up process resembles hiring for a
traditional position: Submit your resume or LinkedIn profile online or
at one of the company’s office locations (there are approximately 350).
If approved for an interview, you visit in-person or confer with an
human resources staff member via Skype. Interviewees test for competency
in Excel, QuickBooks, data entry, and general accounting principles.
Accountemps approves workers on the basis of experience,
qualifications, and test performance, so entry-level employees may not
be approved. If assigned to a project, you immediately earn access to a
generous benefits package that includes a 401k,
healthcare plan, online training classes, and tuition reimbursements.
If you work a certain number of hours, you may receive performance
bonuses and vacation time as well.
Accountemps-brokered relationships are generally project-based, but
they tend to be more stable than those reached through Elance or oDesk.
Project lengths range from a couple of weeks to a year or more, and
solid work may be rewarded with a full-time job offer.
5. Guru
Guru connects
individual clients and companies to designers, developers, accountants,
administrative professionals, writers, translators, marketers, and
legal specialists. Unlike Elance and oDesk, where clients must post
individual jobs and accept applications from freelancers, Guru’s
freelancers actively advertise themselves to clients. Those clients can
select workers before communicating the details of their projects.
Clients can also post jobs, for which freelancers may search and
apply. Projects are paid on an hourly or flat-fee basis, with no bidding
required. Total earnings and positive evaluations from clients increase
freelancers’ likelihood of being selected for competitive projects.
When you sign up for Guru, you create a profile that highlights your
skills, experience, and minimum compensation requirements. Once a client
hires you, Guru holds funds in escrow until all of the project’s
deliverables are approved. The platform takes 4.5% of the total payment
on every project.
6. 99designs
The 99designs platform
caters to freelance designers, who submit drafts in response to
client-generated briefs. Posted work includes everything from corporate
logos and book covers, to digital advertising materials and screen
prints. Each job is structured as a contest, with an unlimited number of
designers submitting mockups over a seven-day period. After that
period, clients select their favorite design and compensate the
freelancer. It’s free to join and maintain a membership.
Clients can choose from four membership levels, ranging from a bronze
package that costs $299 to post a contest, to a platinum package that
costs $1,199 to post. The dollar amount represents the winning
designer’s prize. 99designs generally takes a 40% commission before
passing prize money to each winner, although this cut is lower for bulk
projects (designers can request payment after winning just a single
contest). Contests attract anywhere from 30 to 120 submissions, so
competition can be steep.
7. PeoplePerHour
PeoplePerHour matches
clients with a wide range of specialized freelancers. Upon opening a
free account, you create a profile highlighting your experience,
competencies, and minimum compensation requirements. Then, you can find
work in three ways:
- Post “Hourlies.“ These are
publicly visible offers to complete short jobs, such as writing a single
blog post or developing a mobile app. You set the parameters of the
job, including your hourly rate, delivery timetable, and what the
finished product includes. Any PeoplePerHour client can hire you to
complete this service, and satisfactory performance may lead to more
work from that client.
- Individual Job Proposals. You can send up to 15 proposals per month for client-posted jobs that are publicly available to all PeoplePerHour freelancers.
- Client Solicitations. You can receive an unlimited number of solicitations from clients who view your profile and send you work directly.
In all cases, you specify your desired compensation. However, it is
important to note that you’re competing on price with other freelancers
when you send a proposal for client-posted jobs. Total earnings,
endorsements from past clients, and the number of successfully completed
jobs all increase your attractiveness to prospective clients.
PeoplePerHour is a U.K.-chartered company, but you can receive
payment in U.S. dollars if you wish. Projects are compensated on a
per-hour or flat-fee basis – when you successfully complete a project
and send an invoice to your client, your compensation is deposited in an
escrow account. PeoplePerHour deducts a 15% commission on the first 175
pounds that you earn in a given month, plus 3.5% on any additional
earnings. It also costs one pound to send an invoice.
8. iFreelance
iFreelance links
third-party clients to freelance designers, photographers, multimedia
producers, writers, consultants, administrative professionals, IT
workers, architects, engineers, and accountants. There are two ways to
find work on iFreelance: You can browse and bid for job listings posted
by clients, or you can create your own postings for general services
such as blog writing, logo design, and website builds. In either case,
you need to flesh out a profile that highlights your skills, experience,
and minimum compensation requirements.
Anyone can join iFreelance, but unlike Elance, oDesk, and
PeoplePerHour, the platform has an upfront cost. Basic memberships cost
$6.25 per month, silver memberships cost $9, and gold memberships cost
$12. Discounts are available for prepaid 6-, 12-, and 24-month packages.
Project bids are prioritized according to membership level, with gold
members getting top placement. Gold members can also post their
services in an unlimited number of subcategories, such as translation
and mobile app development, whereas basic members are limited to just
three.
While iFreelance doesn’t deduct commissions from client payments – a
big perk for freelancers, who get to keep all of their earnings after
paying monthly membership dues – it also doesn’t hold funds in escrow
while a project is in progress. As a member, you’re responsible for
collecting payment from your clients.
9. Freelancer.com
With more than 11 million users and 6 million projects posted, Freelancer.com
bills itself as “the world’s largest freelancing, outsourcing, and
crowdsourcing marketplace by number of users and projects.” It caters to
freelance software and mobile developers, writers, designers,
accountants, marketers, data entry specialists, and even legal
professionals and virtual personal assistants.
There are three ways to find work on Freelancer.com:
- Bid on a Posted Project. As on oDesk and Elance,
clients can post projects and solicit bids from freelancers. Free
accounts get eight bids per month. To bid for a project, specify the
deliverables that you’ll provide, your required compensation, and the
project’s timetable. If the client approves your bid, you’ll begin work
on the project and may begin communicating with the client directly.
When the client accepts your finished work, you’ll be paid either
through Freelancer.com’s escrow transfer service, or via an outside payment method. For security, it’s best to opt for the former route.
- Enter a Contest. You can also enter a contest in any of Freelancer.com’s
work categories, although they’re more common for creative specialties
such as marketing and design. Just select a contest that appeals to your
skill set and submit your original entry. If your entry is selected,
you’ll be paid the listed contest prize, less Freelancer.com’s cut, via the platform’s escrow system.
- Add a Service. Similar to PeoplePerHour’s “Hourlies,” a Freelancer.com
“Service” is an announcement that you’re available to complete a
specific type of project, such as writing a blog post or designing a
logo. Clients can hire you directly to perform these services.
It’s free to set up a freelancer account and build a profile that
includes 20 of your most relevant skills, but both clients and
freelancers pay fees for listing and accepting work. If you have a free
account, Freelancer.com takes
10% of your earnings for hourly projects, the greater of 10% of your
earnings or $5 for fixed-price projects, and 20% for work completed
through Service postings. To withdraw your funds, request a bank
transfer or a prepaid debit card when your account reaches $30.
For freelancers, there are several paid membership plans that entitle you to more bids and other perks:
- Intro: For 99 cents per month, this entitles you to 15 bids per month and a total of 30 skills in your profile.
- Basic: For $4.95 per month, you get 50 bids per month and 50 profile skills.
- Plus: For $9.95 per month, you get 100 bids per month and 80 skills.
- Standard: For $49.95 per month, you get 300 bids per month and 100 skills. Freelancer.com’s fee also drops to 5% of your total project-based and hourly earnings.
- Premium: For $199.95 per month, you get 1,500 bids, 400 skills, and Freelancer.com’s
fee drops to 3% of your hourly and project-based earnings. This level
is useful for project managers and entrepreneurs who manage teams of
freelancers.
10. DesignCrowd
Like 99Designs, DesignCrowd
is a crowdsourcing, contest-based platform that connects freelance
logo, t-shirt, print, and web designers (as well as other graphic
artists) with clients. Unlike 99designs, clients can pay whatever they
want for the winning design, as long as it exceeds DesignCrowd’s
$30-per-contest minimum. On average, each contest attracts more than 100
entries, so competition is steep. Higher-paying competitions draw more
plentiful, better quality entries. There’s no cost to enter a contest.
You can browse for relevant contests by category, such as WordPress
design and T-shirt design. When you find a contest you like, enter it
and submit your work. If clients like your design but aren’t quite ready
to accept it, they can request changes to it before giving final
approval. DesignCrowd holds the client’s funds in escrow for the
duration of the contest, releasing the money to you once your design is
accepted (minus the flat 15% fee for all contests).
You don’t retain the copyright to your designs, although you can ask
the client to let you display them in your work portfolio. Once you’ve
won a few contests, clients may begin to invite you to their contests,
potentially increasing the chances that your submissions are accepted.
DesignCrowd mediates disputes over payment and acceptance.
11. crowdSPRING
crowdSPRING
is a contest platform that caters to graphic designers, creative
copywriters, web designers and developers, and packaging designers.
Registration and entering contests are free, with no limit on the number
of entries you can submit, but crowdSPRING takes 40% of the winning
submission’s award. Clients can set their own prize amounts for
contests, with a minimum cost to the client of $299 and deadline windows
of between 3 and 10 days.
crowdSPRING also automatically cancels contests that don’t receive
100 bids within the deadline window, and canceled contests do not pay
out awards. For the duration of a contest, client funds are held in
escrow, then disbursed to the winner at its close. crowdSPRING either
pays by PayPal (free for designers) or via wire transfer ($28 per
transfer). If a client accepts your design, you must forfeit the
copyright.
12. LivePerson
LivePerson
is a online marketing and analytics firm that offers a
conversion-centric chat platform for website administrators and
marketers. It also maintains the LivePerson Expert network, a collection
of about 30,000 experts in 600 categories, from technical support and
computer programming, to financial advice and romantic counseling. It’s
free to apply to be an Expert, but you must document your qualifications
and experience before receiving approval. Once you’re approved, you
receive your own listing in the relevant category and can begin
accepting solicitations from the site’s clients.
As an expert, you set your own rates, usually expressed as a
per-minute charge for phone conversations and online chats, and as a
per-email fee for email consultations. When you’re starting out, you may
need to compensate for your lack of onsite experience by posting a
lower rate. Over time, your reputation may improve, more clients
may seek you out, and you might find it feasible to charge more. You are
paid either by mailed check or PayPal when you’ve earned at least $50
through the platform.
For religious and spiritual advisors, LivePerson deducts 55% from the
client’s fee before passing on your earnings. For all other categories,
its cut is 38%.
13. Craigslist
Many established freelancers shun Craigslist,
which does have a reputation for accepting dubious listings. While it’s
possible to report potentially illegal postings and scams (after the
fact), there’s no onsite framework for evaluating integrity. For
freelancers confident enough to wade through some scammy, spammy
solicitations, Craigslist is a useful resource.
Unlike some other platforms, listings are sorted by geographical
region, which facilitates face-to-face contact between independent
workers and their clients. With low listing costs, it’s also a favored
fulfillment tool for smaller or one-off employers, such as individuals
needing an editor or ghostwriter, or boutique marketing firms that need a
logo designed or white paper researched.
Clients bear Craigslist’s job-posting costs – which are $75 each in
the San Francisco market and $25 each in about 50 other major U.S.
markets (postings are free for clients in smaller markets). It is
completely free for freelancers to use, but they use it at their own
risk. Craigslist doesn’t hold funds in escrow or offer dispute
resolution services.
14. MediaBistro
As an aggregator of media-related content and educational resources, MediaBistro offers
two main employment platforms for writers, editors, developers, and
other professionals in the industry: a traditional job posting board
(billed as “the number one job posting board for the media industry”)
and a freelance marketplace. The former includes temporary, part-time,
and full-time jobs. The employer pays $279 per 30-day listing, with no
cost for applicants. However, many of these traditional jobs are
location-specific, with the bulk clustered in media centers such as New
York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.
MediaBistro claims that its database includes about 100,000 editors
and hiring managers. Its freelance marketplace lets you create an online
profile with a CV, work samples, and a personal statement. It costs $21
per month or $145 per year to post your profile, with the first month
free. You get a $6-per-month discount if you join MediaBistro’s
AvantGuild, which costs $55 per year and provides discounts on invoicing
software, rental cars, and MediaBistro’s in-house courses.
Once you’re hired for a job, MediaBistro does not take a cut of your
earnings or help resolve disputes. All further negotiations take place
directly between you and the client. Since this platform’s pool of
freelancers includes many seasoned media professionals, you might have
trouble finding work if you don’t have verifiable past experience.
