What is Freelancer.com and How Does it Work?

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What is Freelancer.com?

Freelancer.com leads as the biggest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace in the world. It links more than 68 million clients and freelancers from over 247 places around the globe.

Employers use this platform to find freelancers for various tasks. The work can range from software creation, writing, and data entry to engineering, sciences, sales, marketing, accounting, and legal support. It’s a place where many skills meet many needs.

Is Freelancer.com Legit?

The answer is Yes, Freelancer.com is legit. Freelancer started in 2009. The main office is in Sydney, Australia. But there are also offices in places like Vancouver, London, Buenos Aires, Manila, and Jakarta.

Freelancer has acquired several crowdsourcing marketplaces including Get A Freelancer.com, EUFreelance.com, Scriptlance.com and many others.

How Does Freelancer.com Work?

Freelancer.com is a platform that connects clients and freelancers all over the world. You can post a project on it. It can be a short task or a long one. Then, skilled freelancers send you their price quotes and time frames for doing the work. This setup helps both sides.

For clients, it means choices. They can pick from thousands of freelancers and get the exact skills they need. They don’t have the cost or tie of hiring someone full-time in person.

For freelancers, it’s a door to regular work. They can find part-time or full-time jobs. Clients are looking for them, so the work is there and ready.

Freelancer.com Jobs: Fixed Price or Hourly Jobs

Freelancer.com offers a variety of job options. You can find both big and small projects on this platform. This flexibility is perfect for freelancers. It provides many choices. You might want a side job and bid for small tasks. If you seek full-time work, you can go for larger, long-term projects.

You can choose between two kinds of jobs on Freelancer.com: fixed-price jobs and hourly jobs.

Fixed Price Jobs These jobs pay a set price for the whole task. It doesn’t matter how many hours you spend on it. This approach can be more profitable. The benefit is knowing exactly what you’ll earn for a particular job. Fixed-price jobs usually pay at the end. If the project is big and takes weeks, you can ask for partial payments as you hit project milestones.

Hourly Jobs Freelancer.com also offers jobs that pay by the hour. You earn a specific rate per hour, as stated in the job details. These jobs can be short or long-term. Freelancer.com includes a time-tracking app to record your hours. It even takes screenshots so the client can see how you’re doing.

So, whether you’re looking for a small task or a major project, Freelancer.com has options to fit your needs. It allows you to pick what suits you best, giving you control over your work and income.

How Much Does Freelancer.com Charge?

Freelancer.com has charges for both freelancers and clients. The fees depend on the kind of work. The cost might seem confusing at first. But, with regular use, you’ll understand how it works.

Charges for Employers Joining Freelancer.com and posting a project is free for employers. You can also talk to freelancers and check their profiles at no cost. But, you’ll pay a fee when you pick a freelancer for a project.

For fixed-rate projects, the cost is 3% or $3, whichever is more. For hourly work, the site takes 3% every time you pay a freelancer.

Charges for Freelancers Freelancers can join for free. With a free account, you can make a profile, bid on projects, and more. But, when you take a project and finish it, you’ll pay a fee. The fee for a fixed-price job is 10% or $5, whichever is more. For hourly work, Freelancer.com takes a 10% fee on each payment you get.

Fees for Contests Employers pay nothing to enter a contest. But, when you win a prize, you’ll pay a fee to the freelancer. You pay this fee after the contest ends and you’re happy with the entry.

Freelancers pay 10% or $5 to enter a contest, whichever is more.

In short, Freelancer.com has a clear system of fees for various services. Knowing these costs can help you plan better, whether you’re hiring or looking for work.

Milestone Payments

Milestone Payments is a method to pay freelancers securely. Both clients and freelancers get protection and equal control over payments. Each Milestone Payment comes with an invoice you can see and download from the project page.

Here’s how it functions:

When a freelancer and a client start a project, they decide on milestones or tasks. These might be tasks like completing certain pages or hitting a design stage.

For Clients:

After agreeing on milestones, you’ll create Milestone Payments for them. When a milestone is reached, you send a payment to the freelancer. This payment often shows as a percentage of the total project cost. It’s your way to see that the freelancer moves forward on the project.

For Freelancers:

You can start work as soon as a Milestone Payment is made. You’ll view these payments on the project page. You have choices for the pending payment like Request Release, Cancel, and Dispute. If you cancel a Milestone Payment, it sends the money back to the client’s account. You can no longer dispute it after that.

Using Milestone Payments helps keep a project going smoothly. It builds trust between the freelancer and the client.

The Preferred Freelancer Program

The Preferred Freelancer Program gathers the best talent on Freelancer.com. It makes a group of top freelancers. They work with our Project Recruiters. Those in the program get special invites to valuable projects. There are other benefits, too.

Benefits of Being a Preferred Freelancer:

Special invites to projects worth $1500 USD or more
Paying project fees only after getting paid (for Recruiter projects)
Help with making your profile better
Strong support from the Preferred Freelancer Team
A special badge that makes you stand out

Becoming a Preferred Freelancer:

You can apply to be a Preferred Freelancer for free. To keep the program’s quality high, we have strict rules. There are things you must meet. Our team will look at your application. They will get back to you in 14 work days.

If you don’t get in, you can try again. You can do this up to three times. After that, you can apply once a month.

This program aims to highlight the best freelancers on the platform. It helps them find the best opportunities. It’s a way for top talent to get the rewards they deserve.

How Do You Get Paid on Freelancer.com

You have the following payment options:

PayPal: You can withdraw at least $30 USD without any fees.
Express Withdrawals: Move funds directly to your bank account. Again, there’s a $30 USD minimum and no withdrawal fee.
Skrill: This option is also available for at least $30 USD, exclusive to EUR and GBP, and comes without withdrawal fees.
Wire: If you prefer USD, you can wire the funds to your bank account. Here, the minimum is $500 USD, and there’s a $25 USD transaction fee, plus possible extra charges from intermediary banks.

Freelancer.com User Reviews

Overall, Freelancer.com has a Trustpilot excellent rating of 4/4 out of 5 stars.

As you can see, out of a little over 12,000 reviews from both clients and freelancers, 81% of them gave the platform a 5-star rating.