Comparing 5 of the best freelance platforms in 2021 Avatar Written by Hamza Zakir May 17 · 3 min read

Freelancing in Pakistan has never been as popular as it is right now. Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a remote means of earning livelihood, but the nation’s freelancing population has had incredible success as well. Pakistani freelancers earned $150 million worth of revenue in FY2019-20 alone, and this acceleration in growth is expected to continue.

Naturally, if you want hop aboard the freelance bandwagon, you will need to start somewhere. You can get an overview of how to kick-start your freelance career here. As you will notice, when all is said and done, there are quite a few options at your disposal when it comes to freelancing. In this article, we shall look at a few of the best and most popular websites that you can use to create and sustain a freelancing career.

Related: 5 popular freelancing skills courses on Airschool

Therefore, without further ado, here are five of the best freelance platforms in 2021:

Upwork

This is probably the one platform you’ve heard of the most. Upwork has 12 million registered freelancers from all over the world, who generate a combined total of $1 billion every year from 3 million jobs. In other words, it’s a pretty massive platform!

Upwork enables the clients to interview, hire and then work with freelancers on its own platform. There is a timesheet application to track time by taking screenshots of the freelancers while they are working. In order to speed up the process of finding freelancers, it has a real-time chat platform. To get started, you need to create a profile and then find a job you want. Once that’s done, all you have to do is to submit your proposal, and you can learn more about that here.

Pros:

Fairly easy and intuitive to use

Messaging feature allows you to stay in contact with clients at all times

Periodic screenshots allow client to view progress consistently and stay up-to-date

Safe and secure system

Cons:

Occasionally buggy

Time zone synchronization issues if clients are present across multiple time zones

Relatively difficult to land your first job as there is a tremendous pool of candidates

Fiverr

Fiverr is one of the world’s leading platforms for freelancers to connect with companies. It starts at $5 per job. Fiverr is among the top 100 most popular websites in the United States. You can sell any service at this website. For example, you can offer gigs such as social media services or create drawings.

Employers can also check the contractor’s profile and client feedback. Fiverr Reviews helps businesses filter contractors on different levels. The smart filter helps match companies with their preferred skillsets and ideal rates. Seller levels can also help businesses broaden their search for more general job roles.

Pros:

Fairly affordable

Extensive customer support

Wide variety of projects

Easy-to-use interface

Negative Reviews makes for a complete feedback system

Cons:

Relatively high commission rate of 20%

Strict policies like prohibition of contacting people outside the platform

Frustrating abundance of scammers

Guru

Guru works by offering commissioned work to freelancers. Create your profile and submit quotes to open jobs. Employers will review your quote and then choose to hire you. So, make sure you submit a compelling quote.

If you choose the method of recurring payments, then you will be choosing whether to be paid weekly or monthly or quarterly. You can also choose to be paid per task. You can either pay invoices as is or you can do it through Guru’s SafePay option which is known to be more secure.

Pros:

Ensures payment for freelancers for work completed

Feedback system present for both clients and freelancers

Multiple payment withdrawal options

SafePay integration for secure payments

Comprehensive dashboard allows freelancers to effectively manage projects

Cons:

Issue of fake clients

Expensive to promote your job ($29.95 to feature your listing among the top search results for 30 days)

Freelancer.com

Freelancer.com is a marketplace of freelance professionals with a user base of 25 million around the world. This enables businesses and entrepreneurs to scout for workers from a global pool of competitive freelancers. This affords employers a digital hub to find talents for diverse kinds of jobs that include website design, data entry, social media marketing and many more.

The platform also allows employers to monitor the people they hire during billable hours to make sure that they are holding up the end of their bargain. The platform also comes with tools that provide employers and employees with a constant line of communication. This can be done through the web or on the go with Freelancer.com’s mobile application.

Pros:

Easy-to-use and navigate website

On-page chat feature makes it easy to communicate with current and prospective clients

Multiple payment withdrawal options

Competency tests allow clients to truly assess prospective freelancers’ skills

Cons:

Mobile app is occasionally buggy

Payment withdrawal is a lengthy process (can take up to 14 days after the withdrawal request)

PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour allows freelancers to offer their services to worldwide employers on diverse skills and jobs. Freelancers can work on this website by joining and creating their profiles. They can find projects as per their skills and bid on various projects.

This platform allows submission of 15 proposals on a free profile and then signs up for a premium account to bid on this website’s positions. Once you log in to this website, you can see all the job openings and get email alerts for new jobs posted on this website.

Pros:

Ability to choose your own rates as a freelancer

Automatic invoicing

Account management dashboard with two-way messaging allows for easier project management

Free job posting

More location-specific as compared to other platforms

Cons:

High platform fees

Poor customer support in case of tech/payment problems

Presence of spam accounts is a nuisance

Conclusion

As an aspiring freelancer, your platform of choice will be a huge part of your career. With a few fairly good options available at your disposal, you can do your own research into each of them and figure out which one you’re most comfortable with. Once you settle on a platform, you can then start hustling towards that coveted goal of making it big as a freelancer.

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Written by Hamza Zakir
Platonist. Humanist. Unusually edgy sometimes.
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