Upwork, Freelancer and Fiverr are websites that work as a platform where freelancers search for work and organisations and companies search for people who can complete their work.
All 3 websites have the same objective, and yet they share differences. All come with pros and cons, and after knowing it all, you can decide the best platform for you to choose work from.
Key Takeaways
- Upwork has the largest user base, while Freelancer has the lowest commission fee among the three platforms.
- Fiverr is known for offering various micro-jobs, while Upwork and Freelancer offer various projects from various categories.
- Upwork and Freelancer allow users to post job requests, whereas Fiverr users only offer services.
Upwork vs Freelancer vs Fiverr
Upwork and Freelancer both have a bidding system where freelancers bid and clients select the best proposal. Fiverr has a fixed-price system where freelancers list their services and clients make a choice. Upwork and Freelancer target services for complex projects, unlike Fiverr.
Upwork is one of the oldest platforms for freelancers as well as clients who are looking for freelancers. This website has an extensive process to complete before people get a chance to join.
It has several features that will make the work of the clients easy and they will end up with the suitable worker.
The site, Freelancer is also a place for both employers and employees. Employers can post jobs, and freelancers can search and bid on the ones they want to do.
The fees of this site are based on the projects. For every payment you receive, the site will deduct a commission from it.
Fiverr focuses on the creative field of work and mostly contains short term projects. But this is not very user friendly, and some of its features make the work of the freelancers hard.
Fiverr does not cut any percentage of money from the freelancer’s earnings.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Upwork | Freelancer | Fiverr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation | It was founded in the year 1999. | It was founded in the year 2009. | It was founded in the year 2010. |
| Place of foundation | It is an American platform. | It is an Australian platform. | It is an Israeli platform. |
| Pricing | Both free and paid services are available. | Here the price depends on the project and it is high. | It is free. |
| Application | It only accepts applications if there is enough work available. | Anyone can take part in this website. | Anyone looking for short-term work can. |
| How it works | Here you need to search posted jobs and send your bid for the client to know. | Here the clients post the opportunities and writers approach them. | Here the writer posts his/her profile and the client reaches out to them. |
What is Upwork?
Upwork is for getting used by both freelancers and clients. For both, it has furnished plenty of options.
A client posts the opportunity, and then the freelancers who match the profile of the project and have specialized in that specific field will get the chance to bid.
Now with thousands of freelancers available on the platform, how can the clients choose the right person? With the wrong decision, the clients can end up with the wrong freelancer to do their job.
To solve this problem, Upwork has tabs where the clients can see the skills and number of completed projects on the profile of the applicants.
With this facility, the clients get the chance to review the freelancer’s profile and then schedule an interview before selecting the candidate. Upwork has the client covered in all ways.
The platform also approaches freelancers on behalf of the clients.
Upwork offers 4 different plans for you to suit your requirements. But these paid plans are very expensive, and most freelancers have high pricing.
It also comes with software that will track the progress of the work.
What is Freelancer?
Freelancer is another marketplace platform. It is a place for employers and employees to find what they are looking for.
Clients or employers post jobs here, and the freelancers or members of this website bid in the process. The work process is more professional than any other similar website.
You can also notice several members of this site conduct contests and offer money to the winners. Some accounts are free to get, and for some, you need to get subscriptions.
The site also takes up a share for your every completion of work. The website will take 10% of your payment.
To avoid this deduction, you need to pay for a monthly membership service which will reduce the percentage of money.
What is Fiverr?
Fiverr is a platform mainly for the creative industry. One can easily find freelancers. And here, even the freelancers can approach the clients.
For specific work, the website has categorised and further subcategories the works so that freelancers can search for them easily.
If you are a client and looking for freelancers who need to have creative capabilities, then opting for Fiverr will be a good option for you.
And on the other hand, if you are a freelancer who is looking for short gig projects that belong to the creative field, then too Fiverr should get chosen by you.
Being creative space-oriented, it has fewer options to choose from.
To name the fields present here, we need to note content writing, graphics and design, digital marketing, translation, video editing, audio editing, and even animation-based work can be found here.
Not only fun but business and tech works can be found here too.
However, Fiverr has a drawback too, here the website allows the client to claim their money back even after the project has been completed by the freelancers.
They can cancel the given projects anytime. This is the reason many new freelancers avoid this site.
Main Differences Between Upwork, Freelancer and Fiverr
- Upwork is older than all the other platforms as it got established in the year 1999, while Freelancer came to offer work in 2009 and Fiverr came the last of all in 2010.
- Upwork is an America based platform, whereas Freelancer is based in Australia, and Fiverr is based in Israel.
- Upwork offers you free as well as paid services while the prices of Freelancer are higher than the other two. Its price is decided based on the nature of the projects. Fiverr, on the contrary, is free for everyone.
- Upwork does not have a place for everyone. It takes and accepts applications only when they have enough work for everyone. If they do not have sufficient work available, then no new users will get a chance to opt for it. Freelancer, on the contrary, is open for anyone. And Fiverr, too, accepts anyone who wants to get short term work opportunities.
- In Upwork, you can search for jobs posted by different clients and then you need to bid how much money you will take for it. If the client likes your proposal, then you will get the work to do. The Freelancer, on the other hand, lets the clients post the job profile, and interested people can apply for it. But in Fiverr, artists post their profiles, and clients reach out to the ones they would like to hire for the work.
- https://merj.scholasticahq.com/article/3399.pdf
- https://merj.scholasticahq.com/article/6844.pdf
- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-59111-7_35
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