Is Freelancer Legitimate?
In this Freelancer review we’ll find out if Freelancer is worth your time and effort. We will answer the question ‘is Freelancer a scam or is Freelancer legitimate?’
Freelancer is an online job marketplace. People who sign up as freelancers bid for jobs they can do, and once awarded those jobs, complete the work to a high standard and get paid for their efforts.
Let’s take a look at Freelancer.
Some basic information about Freelancer:
- Website: https://www.freelancer.com
- Price to join: Free for first month, with options to join a paid membership
- Recommended: Yes, but research the membership fees prior to signing up
My Freelancer review will take you through the following sections:
- What is Freelancer and how does Freelancer work?
- How do you get paid with Freelancer?
- Is Freelancer legit?
- My recommended way of making money online
What is Freelancer and how does Freelancer Work?
Freelancer is a global online job marketplace that provides a means for employers and freelancers to collaborate for mutual benefit. Employers can post their projects and freelancers submit bids for the completion of the work.
Projects are posted by registered employers with work descriptions, skill requirements, and a budget range. Freelancers search the posted projects and determine those that match their skills and interests. Freelancers should read the full descriptions of applicable projects, then place bids and upload work samples on their portfolio page for employers to review. Employers then compare bids and work samples to determine the most appropriate bidders and award their project to one or more freelancers.
There are a range of different project types available on the platform:
- Small jobs, large jobs, and anything in between
- Fixed price or hourly projects
- International and local jobs
- Specific skills, price, and schedule requirements
And the diversity of project categories is massive. The job categories include:
PHP; Graphic Design; Website Design; HTML; Logo Design; Photoshop; WordPress; Article Writing; Javascript; Mobile App Development; Software Architecture; Data Entry; Android; Excel; CSS; HTML5; Internet Marketing; Copywriting; SEO; iPhone; Research Writing; Translation; Java; MySQL; Ghostwriting; Marketing; Data Processing; Technical Writing; Python; Social Media Marketing; Research; Link Building; C# Programming; 3D Modelling; Web Search; Web Scraping; 3D Rendering; Linux; Video Services; C++ Programming; eCommerce; Banner Design; Illustration; Proofreading; 3D Animation; and Content Writing.
Even within these categories, there are lots of sub-categories of work.
From the employer’s perspective, here is what the process looks like:
Getting started with Freelancer
You can set yourself up and get going in four steps:
1 Complete your profile
- Select your skills and expertise
- Upload a professional photo for your profile
- Complete the verification checklist
2 Search for jobs that suit your skills, expertise, price, and schedule
There are jobs available across a diversity of skills. You can save your search and get alerted when relevant jobs are available.
3 Write a bid for the project
When you find a project you want, write the best pitch you can. Tell the client why you’re the best person for the job. Writing a new brief for each project is more effective than using the same one – you want to tailor your brief as much as possible.
4 Complete the work and earn
Once you get hired, complete the work you’ve been engaged to do. Always deliver high quality work and you will earn the agreed amount.
Like anything, please make sure you read the terms and conditions of Freelancer so you know what the rules are.
Membership Options
When you sign up for an account it is free and you are automatically subscribed to the free membership option. This option gives you a month of free access.
However, there are membership plans available that will dictate what’s available to you in the platform in terms of how many bids you can make per month, how many skills can go in your profile, and how many employers you can follow, to name a few. I’ll go through each option.
The Introductory Plan is $0.99 per month, and allows:
- 15 Bids Per Month
- 30 Skills
- Unlock Rewards
- Unlimited Project Bookmarks
- Custom Cover Photo
- 1 Free Highlighted Contest Entry Per Month
- 1 Free Sealed Contest Entry Per Month
The Basic Plan is $4.95 per month, and opens up a few more benefits:
- 50 Bids Per Month
- 50 Skills
- Unlock Rewards
- Unlimited Project Bookmarks
- Preferred Freelancer Eligible*
- Custom Cover Photo
- 3 Free Highlighted Contest Entries Per Month
- 12 Free Sealed Contest Entries Per Month
- 5 Employer Followings
The Plus Plan is free for the first month, and is then $9.95 per month, offering:
- 100 Bids Per Month
- 80 Skills
- Daily Withdrawal Requests
- Unlock Rewards
- Unlimited Project Bookmarks
- Preferred Freelancer Eligible*
- Custom Cover Photo
- 5 Free Highlighted Contest Entries Per Month
- 25 Free Sealed Contest Entries Per Month
- 10 Employer Followings
- 5 External Invoicings
- Free Project Extensions
- High Value Project Bidding
(from what I gather, the Plus Plan is the plan you are placed on originally when you first sign up, which is initially free).
The Professional Plan is $29.95 per month:
- 300 Bids Per Month
- 100 Skills
- Daily Withdrawal Requests
- Unlock Rewards
- Unlimited Project Bookmarks
- Preferred Freelancer Eligible*
- Custom Cover Photo
- 15 Free Highlighted Contest Entries Per Month
- 75 Free Sealed Contest Entries Per Month
- 20 Employer Followings
- 15 External Invoicings
- Free Project Extensions
- Free Sealed Projects
- Premium Freelancer Insights
- High Value Project Bidding
The Premier Plan is $69.95 per month:
- 700 Bids Per Month
- 400 Skills
- Daily Withdrawal Requests
- Unlock Rewards
- Unlimited Project Bookmarks
- Preferred Freelancer Eligible*
- Custom Cover Photo
- 30 Free Highlighted Contest Entries Per Month
- 150 Free Sealed Contest Entries Per Month
- Unlimited Employer Followings
- Unlimited External Invoicings
- Free Project Extensions
- Free Sealed Projects
- Premium Freelancer Insights
- Free NDA Projects
- High Value Project Bidding
I don’t know about you, but there’s something that doesn’t sit well with me about paying fees to do work. I feel like it shouldn’t actually cost you anything to simply register to do work. That feels wrong to me, considering that Freelancer also take fees from your earnings as well. You’ll need to make up your own mind how you feel about that.
Moving right along.
How Do You Get Paid With Freelancer?
Payments from completing projects and contests are transferred to your Freelancer account. You can then have them requested to be withdrawn.
The available payment methods vary from country to country. The minimum withdrawal amount is $30 USD (or its equivalent in other currencies)
Freelancer has a milestone payment system which is the recommended way of paying freelancers. This system offers protection to both employers and freelancers by giving equal control over created payments for awarded projects. Only employers can create and release them, and only freelancers can cancel and return them to their employers.
Milestone payments are agreed between employer and freelancer before the work begins. This method is particularly good for larger projects, offering security to both parties. Once a milestone payment is made by the employer, the funds are securely held so the freelancer cannot access them. Milestone payments are released when the employer is 100% satisfied with the work.
Fees
There are some fees involved, you need to take these fees into consideration when preparing your bids:
For hourly projects, 10% of the payment released to the freelancer is charged as fee.
For fixed-price projects, 10% of the winning bid or $5 USD is collected when the awarded freelancer accepts the project (whichever is the greater). Each subsequent payment to the freelancer in excess of the original bid amount will incur a 10% project fee.
Is Freelancer A Scam or Legit? It’s LEGIT!
Freelancer is absolutely legitimate. Sitejabber reviews of Freelancer were overwhelmingly positive. Let’s take a look:
There are over 7,500 reviews of Freelancer, and they have an average rating of 4.5 stars.
However, just be a bit careful because some of the comments, including the Q&A section on sitejabber, allude to difficulties with getting paid. Some have called Freelancer a scam. If you are interested in joining Freelancer, I would stay on the free option for the first month and really test it out to see what you think before investing much time and money. Also, double check that they don’t automatically bill you for a month of membership without your consent.
Other Ways to Earn Extra Money From Home
Check out my list of ways to Earn Extra Money From Home. This includes cash back sites, get paid to sites, using your skills sites, surveys, writing, website testing and using your skills.
Whilst getting extra money through freelancing is awesome (and in many cases necessary!), you can build your own business while you’re working. My preferred way to earn money from home is through affiliate marketing.
The affiliate marketing is a great way to be in charge of your career and create a residual income:
Be your own boss. Who knows, maybe one day you can use Freelancer as an employer and pay people to write content for your websites!
Create your free affiliate marketing account today and explore whether you think this will work for you: