Best freelancing websites in 2026, compared honestly
Updated 23 October 2026
There's no single best freelancing website. Freelancer.com, Upwork and Fiverr have the most work and suit most beginners, Toptal suits senior specialists who can pass its screening, and Contra, LinkedIn Service Pages and Malt charge little or no commission. Most freelancers do best on two or three sites that fit their skill, then focus where the replies come from.
Freelancing websites compared at a glance
Fees below are what each site charges freelancers, from its own help pages and terms at the time of writing (October 2026). They change, so check the site before you rely on a number. Clients usually pay a separate fee on top, which doesn't come out of your earnings.
| Site | How you get work | Freelancer fee | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer.com | Bid on posted projects; contests | 10% or $5 (whichever is greater) fixed-price; 10% hourly | Beginners, developers, designers |
| Upwork | Proposals paid for with Connects | 0% to 15% per contract, shown before you apply | Experienced freelancers, longer contracts |
| Fiverr | Clients buy your packaged gigs | 20% of each order | Productised services |
| Toptal | Screened network; Toptal matches you | No cut from the rate you set | Senior specialists |
| PeoplePerHour | Proposals on projects; fixed-price Offers | 20%, 7.5% or 3.5%, falling as you bill each client more | Long-term client relationships |
| Guru | Quotes on posted jobs | 5% to 9% by membership | Freelancers who want low fees |
| Contra | Portfolio profile, job board, invoices | Commission-free | Creatives with their own clients |
| LinkedIn Service Pages | Clients send project requests | No commission; terms agreed off LinkedIn | B2B consultants with a network |
| Malt | Clients find your profile and day rate | 5% (10% at first on some projects) | Freelancers in Europe |
| We Work Remotely | Job board: apply to companies | None; free for job seekers | Remote contract and long-term roles |
| 99designs | Design contests and 1-to-1 projects | 5% to 15% by level on 1-to-1 projects | Logo and brand designers |
| Dribbble | Portfolio; clients send project briefs | 10%, 7% or 4% on projects; 0% with annual Pro | Product, web and brand designers |
The big marketplaces: Freelancer.com, Upwork and Fiverr
These three have the widest range of work, from quick jobs to long contracts, and the most competition.
1. Freelancer.com
How it works: Clients post projects and freelancers bid with a price and a proposal. Each bid uses one from your membership's monthly allowance, starting at 6 a month on a free account. Freelancer also runs contests, mostly for design, where the client picks a winner from the entries.
Fees: 10% of a fixed-price project or $5, whichever is greater, and 10% of each hourly payment. Paid plans run from $4.99 to $99 a month for more bids. See our Freelancer fees guide for the details.
Best for: Beginners who want to start bidding straight away, developers, designers who like contests, and anyone willing to bid often.
- Pros: Open sign-up with no approval queue, contests as a way in without reviews, Milestone Payments that hold the client's money, and a huge range of categories.
- Cons: Popular projects collect many bids quickly, the $5 minimum fee is steep on very small jobs, and your bids are limited by your plan.
2. Upwork
How it works: Clients post jobs and you send proposals, which cost Connects. Upwork reviews new profiles before you can apply, and clients can also invite you or buy fixed-price services from its catalogue.
Fees: A Freelancer Service Fee of 0% to 15% per contract, shown before you submit a proposal or accept an offer and fixed once the contract starts. Connects cost $0.15 each, and Freelancer Plus is $19.99 a month with 100 Connects. Our Freelancer vs Upwork comparison goes deeper.
Best for: Experienced freelancers and specialists who want longer contracts and can write careful, targeted proposals.
- Pros: Large client base, the fee is shown up front, fixed-price milestones are auto-released 14 days after you submit if the client doesn't respond, and Hourly Payment Protection covers tracked time.
- Cons: Your profile has to be approved, and applying costs Connects whether or not you win.
3. Fiverr
How it works: You create gigs: fixed packages such as a logo in three days or a 60-second video edit. Clients browse, buy and message you, so there's no bidding.
Fees: Fiverr keeps 20% of each order and you receive 80%. Clients separately pay a 5.5% service fee, plus $3.50 on orders under $200.
Best for: Freelancers who can package a service clearly: logos, voiceovers, short edits, small website fixes.
- Pros: Clients come to you, prices and deliverables are set in advance, and you don't spend time or credits on proposals.
- Cons: The 20% fee is high, and a new gig can take time to start getting orders while there's strong price competition in popular categories.
Vetted and premium networks: Toptal
4. Toptal
How it works: Toptal screens applicants for skills, communication and professionalism over a few weeks, including a test project, then matches accepted members with client engagements. It says it accepts fewer than 3% of the more than 200,000 people who apply each year.
Fees: Members set their own hourly rate and Toptal doesn't take a cut from it. Clients pay Toptal separately.
Best for: Senior developers, designers, finance experts and project managers with a strong track record.
- Pros: No commission on your rate, Toptal handles billing and invoicing, and there's no bidding once you're in.
- Cons: Hard to get into, not designed for beginners, and you depend on Toptal finding matches for you.
Smaller marketplaces: PeoplePerHour and Guru
5. PeoplePerHour
How it works: A UK company. You send proposals on custom projects using proposal credits (15 a month on the Basic plan), or sell fixed-price Offers that clients buy directly.
Fees: The service fee depends on how much you've billed each client over time: 20% on the first £250 ($350), 7.5% between £250 and £5,000, and 3.5% above £5,000, excluding VAT. A new client always starts at the top rate. Work with existing clients you invite can carry no service fee under its Zero Service Fee scheme.
Best for: Freelancers who want repeat clients, especially in the UK, where the falling fee rewards long relationships.
- Pros: Fees fall sharply with repeat clients, and you can mix proposals with ready-made Offers.
- Cons: The first £250 with every new client carries a 20% fee, and proposal credits are limited.
6. Guru
How it works: Clients post jobs and you send quotes. A free Basic membership includes quotes on 10 jobs a month, and paid memberships add more. Payments go through SafePay, Guru's escrow.
Fees: A job fee of 9% on Basic and Basic+, 7% on Professional, 6% on Business and 5% on Executive. Clients can agree to cover up to 5% of it, and they pay their own 2.9% handling fee.
Best for: Freelancers who want lower fees on a quote-based marketplace.
- Pros: Lower fees than most open marketplaces, escrow through SafePay, and the option for clients to share the job fee.
- Cons: Less well known than the biggest marketplaces, and only 10 quotes a month on the free plan.
Low or no commission: Contra, LinkedIn and Malt
7. Contra
How it works: A portfolio-style profile, a job board, and built-in contracts, invoices and payments, aimed at independent creatives and developers.
Fees: Contra is commission-free for freelancers. On the free plan, clients may pay a fee on larger payments and job access is limited; Contra Pro, at $29 a month or $199 a year, removes client payment fees and unlocks unlimited job opportunities. Third-party payment processing fees can still apply.
Best for: Designers, developers and other creatives who already have clients, or want a profile that doubles as a portfolio.
- Pros: No commission, plus free tools for contracts and invoices.
- Cons: Job access is limited on the free plan, and the most useful features sit behind Pro.
8. LinkedIn Service Pages
How it works: Service Pages, which grew out of LinkedIn's older ProFinder service, list what you offer on your profile. Clients send you a project request, you reply with a proposal, and you agree the terms and get paid outside LinkedIn.
Fees: Creating a Service Page is free and LinkedIn doesn't take commission. A Premium Business subscription adds a Request proposal button, media and extra project requests.
Best for: Consultants, marketers, writers and other B2B freelancers who already have a professional network.
9. Malt
How it works: Clients search for freelancers and contact you based on your profile and daily rate; you then send a quote through Malt. It's active in nine countries and regions, including France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK.
Fees: A freelancer service fee of 5% excluding tax. On some projects in France, Spain and Belgium it starts at 10% and drops to 5% after six months on the assignment. The exact fee is shown when you create a quote.
Best for: Freelancers and consultants in Europe who price by the day.
- Pros: A low fee, quotes and invoices generated for you, and fast payment on eligible projects after the client validates the work.
- Cons: Mainly useful if you work with European clients.
Remote job boards: We Work Remotely
10. We Work Remotely
How it works: A job board for remote roles, including contract work. You apply directly to the company, usually on its own site, rather than through a marketplace.
Fees: Free for job seekers. Employers pay to post, from $299 a listing at the time of writing.
Best for: Developers, designers, marketers and support specialists open to longer contracts or part-time remote roles.
- Pros: No platform fee for you, and companies pay to post, which We Work Remotely says filters out spam and low-quality listings.
- Cons: Many roles are full-time jobs rather than freelance projects, and there's no escrow or payment protection.
Specialist sites for designers: 99designs and Dribbble
11. 99designs
How it works: Clients run design contests, where designers submit entries and the client picks a winner, or hire a designer directly for a 1-to-1 Project. Designers move up through Entry, Mid and Top levels.
Fees: On 1-to-1 Projects, a designer platform fee of 15% at Entry level, 10% at Mid level and 5% at Top level. There's also a client introduction fee of 20% on the first $500 of paid invoices with a new client, capped at $100, which is waived if you won or were a finalist in that client's contest or invited them to 99designs yourself.
Best for: Logo, brand, packaging and illustration designers.
- Pros: Contests let new designers win clients without reviews, and fees fall as you level up.
- Cons: Contest entries are unpaid unless you win, and entry-level fees are high.
12. Dribbble
How it works: A portfolio community where designers post work. Clients browse and send project briefs; Pro plans let you receive leads and send proposals, and projects are paid through Dribbble.
Fees: A designer platform fee of 10% on the first $500 of a project, 7% on the next $500 and 4% above $1,000, for projects started from 5 February 2026. It's waived on annual Pro Standard ($8 a month, billed yearly) and Pro Plus plans.
Best for: Product, web, brand and illustration designers with a strong visual portfolio.
- Pros: Clients come for the portfolio, and annual Pro removes the designer fee.
- Cons: Design only, and getting noticed depends on a polished portfolio and, often, a paid plan.
Best freelancing sites for beginners
If you have skills but no reviews yet, start where the door is easiest to open:
- Freelancer.com: sign up and bid the same day, and use contests to build a portfolio.
- Fiverr: turn one skill into a clear, well-priced gig and let clients find it.
- Upwork: worth applying to, but build a complete profile first so it gets approved.
- 99designs: contests are a practical first step for designers.
Toptal is the one to leave until later: it's built for experienced specialists. Whichever you choose, a strong first proposal matters more than the site. Start with our proposal template or the free AI proposal generator, and read how to start freelancing for the full plan.
Sites like Upwork, and alternatives to Freelancer.com
If you want something like Upwork, with posted jobs and proposals, Freelancer.com is the closest match, followed by Guru and PeoplePerHour. If what you like about Upwork is the quality of clients, Toptal is the step up for senior specialists.
If you want an alternative to Freelancer.com, Upwork is the obvious one. If bidding itself is what you want to avoid, Fiverr lets clients buy fixed packages, and Contra or LinkedIn let you work with your own clients without commission.
You don't have to choose one. Many freelancers keep two or three profiles, track where replies and wins actually come from, and spend more time where it works.
How to choose the right freelancing website
- Match the site to your skill. Designers have specialist options; developers and writers do best on the broad marketplaces.
- Count the real cost: commission, plan or Connects, and withdrawal fees, against a typical job of yours.
- Check payment protection. Escrow and funded milestones matter most while you're new.
- Look at the work on offer. Browse live listings in your category before you build a profile.
- Watch for scams. Never pay to get a job and keep chats and payments on the platform. Our guide to freelancer scams covers the warning signs.
- Give it time. Judge a site after a few weeks of steady, tailored proposals, not after five bids.
Using Freelancer.com? Let MoreGigs do the bidding
MoreGigs works with Freelancer.com only. It doesn't connect to Upwork, Fiverr or the other sites here. On Freelancer it checks new projects every couple of minutes, skips likely scams, tiny budgets, crowded or stale listings and off-skill work, and writes a fresh proposal for each good match from your real profile, priced inside the client's budget and paced to your plan. Plans start at $19 a month after a 24-hour free trial with no card. Read how Freelancer auto bidding works, or check your profile for free.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best freelancing website for beginners?
- Freelancer.com and Fiverr are the easiest to start on: Freelancer lets anyone sign up and bid straight away and runs contests where you can win work without reviews, and on Fiverr you list a gig and clients come to you. Upwork has more long-term work but reviews new profiles first. Designers can also try 99designs contests.
- What are the best sites like Upwork?
- Freelancer.com is the closest match, with posted projects you bid on, milestone payments and a similar mix of categories. Guru and PeoplePerHour work in a similar way. Toptal suits senior specialists who want vetted clients, and Contra suits freelancers who want to avoid commission.
- Which freelancing website has the lowest fees?
- At the time of writing, Toptal takes no cut from the rate you set, Contra is commission-free for freelancers and LinkedIn Service Pages charge no commission. Among open marketplaces, Malt's standard fee is 5%, Guru charges 5% to 9% depending on your membership, and PeoplePerHour's fee drops to 3.5% once you've billed a client more than £5,000.
- What are the best alternatives to Freelancer.com?
- Upwork is the biggest alternative, followed by Guru and PeoplePerHour, which also work through quotes and proposals on posted jobs. If you'd rather not bid at all, Fiverr lets clients buy fixed packages from you. Many freelancers keep Freelancer.com and add one of these rather than switching.
- Which freelancing sites are free to join?
- Most are. Freelancer.com, Upwork, Fiverr, Guru, Contra, LinkedIn Service Pages, Dribbble and We Work Remotely all let freelancers start for free. The costs come later: commission on what you earn, paid plans for more bids or features, and, on Upwork, Connects to apply for most jobs.
- Can I use more than one freelancing website?
- Yes. They are separate companies and you can have a profile on several. Keep each client and their payments on the site where you met them, because most marketplaces ban taking clients off-platform and only protect payments made through them.
- Are freelancing websites safe?
- The large marketplaces hold client money in escrow or milestones and offer dispute help, which makes them safer than unprotected direct work. The main risk is scam clients, so never pay to get a job, don't move chats or payments off the platform, and only start work once a milestone is funded.
- Does MoreGigs work with Upwork or Fiverr?
- No. MoreGigs works with Freelancer.com only. It bids for you on new Freelancer projects with a tailored proposal for each one, and it doesn't connect to Upwork, Fiverr or any other site in this list.
MoreGigs is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Freelancer.com. You're responsible for how you use your Freelancer account and for following Freelancer's own terms.