Like you have seen, having your own website and promoting your services can be a good start, but if you would like to start with freelancing platforms, here are some of the most popular currently on the market.
Fiverr
Fiverr was founded in 2010. as a platform to buy and sell digital services. So far it has maintained its $5 reputation as all the services start at $5. Jobs on Fiverr are called gigs, and the basic value is $5. Once freelancers reach a minimum number of sales, they can add so-called "gig extras" and thus increase the price.
The company takes $1 for each $5 you earn or 20%. When you first start as a freelancer on the platform, the number of active gigs and gig extras is limited, but as you stay active and fulfill the requirements, you will get to unlock more benefits.
Upwork
Upwork was introduced in 2015 as a merged platform of two global freelancing platforms Elance and oDesk. You start by creating a profile and submitting your proposals when you find interesting jobs. With a free membership, you get 60 connects per month, which limits the number of jobs you can apply to. Roughly, you can apply up to 30 jobs each one requiring 2 connects.
Rising talent program is built to help increase your visibility when first starting out. There is also a top rated program, which helps you make a good reputation and get access to better jobs.
Starting fee for freelancers per contract with less than $500 is 20%. The platform encourages you to go for long-term projects, so once your billing with the same clients exceeds $500, the freelancer’s fee is reduced to 10%. For billings with the same client that exceed $10000, the fee is 5%. Upwork offers a paid membership with 70 connects, possibility to buy more connects, hide your earrings, to view competitors’ bids and customize your profile.
Freelancer
Freelancer represents a large community and opportunities to find jobs across many different categories. Freelancer has several types of jobs, so the fee can vary. You can apply for fixed price projects where you have an introduction fee once your bid is selected and then 10% or $5 whichever is greater. For hourly projects, there is a fee on every payment, and it is 10%. It is free to apply to contest and the fee (10% or $5 whichever is greater) is charged once you are awarded the project. When you are offering services, the fee is 20%. The fees are charged upfront.
As you build your reputation, you can unlock access to a preferred freelancer program, where the project fee is 15%, and no charges are made upfront. Free members have 8 bids per month. Freelancer also offers paid membership plans with 5 types of plans with increasing number of bids, contest entries and skills added.
iFreelance
Unlike others, iFreelance lets you keep 100% of your earnings, but it requires a paid membership so you cannot join for free. You can look for work in two ways, by browsing projects, or directly advertising your services to the employers.
The platform offers marketing tools such as buttons and personalized banners to help you get more work, as well as performance tools to help you improve your success. Membership plans start from $6.25 per month.
People Per Hour
You start by creating a profile which is then ranked and shown to the employers who browse the platform. Being active on the platform People Per Hour and getting reviews will help you rank better.
You can send 15 proposals a month for free, and you can buy more. The fee model is similar to Upwork’s. For lifetime billings per buyer below $700 there is 20% fee. Billings per buyer between $700 and $7000 require 7.5% fee, and lifetime billings per buyer over $7000 have 3.5% fee.
