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Freelancer.com Review 2024 – Great Reputation, BUT…

Stephen Wright Stephen Wright Freelance Jobs Expert

With over 53 million professionals, Freelancer.com is the largest freelancer platform. However, numerous scams, high additional fees, fake profiles, and low-quality work are some of the reasons why I wouldn’t recommend it. If you’re looking for top-tier freelancers, head to Fiverr to hire freelancers for as little as $5.

Overview

If You’re Willing To Pay For Quantity Over Quality, Give It a Try

Screenshot of Freelancer.com homepage
I found that Freelancer’s homepage is better designed than its platform

Freelancer is one of the biggest freelance websites, offering access to 53 million professionals in over 247 regions and 34 languages. These professionals have experience in copywriting, data science, software development, research, and more – meaning that you can use Freelancer to acquire technical expertise and operate overseas.

Using Freelancer, you can either search through freelancer profiles and hire them directly or post a job and let them apply. However, Freelancer is known for its excessive scams, making most freelancers, job posts, and proposals useless to businesses looking for high-quality candidates. In addition, Freelancer doesn’t screen candidates and offers paid verification to all freelancers, making it impossible to determine who’s legit and who isn’t.

To avoid unnecessary stress, I recommend avoiding Freelancer.com altogether. If you want to hire freelancers online, create an account on Fiverr. It’s a safer, cheaper, and overall better platform.

One redeeming feature is Freelancer Enterprise, which comes with no monthly fees or added costs compared to its regular plans, which charge exorbitant fees. Unfortunately, you’ll need to spend over $100,000/month on freelancers to see any benefit. If you’ve just started hiring or want to switch from another freelancing platform, you won’t see the cost-saving potential you can get on the best freelance websites.

Before you join Freelancer and put your money on the line, read our comprehensive review to find out why Freelancer is likely not the best choice for your business in 2024.

2.5

Features

Basic Features That Create More Problems Than Solutions

Freelancer offers several standard features, including a built-in time tracker, tasklist, favorites bar, and notification center, ensuring you can organize and prioritize tasks and projects. However, compared to freelancer websites like Fiverr and Upwork, its layout and design are outdated and make navigating difficult. For example, it has numerous pages of features, despite most of them requiring monthly subscriptions and additional fees to access.

Enterprise

Screenshot of Freelancer Enterprise Homepage
I was surprised that Freelancer Enterprise is free for high-volume businesses

Specifically for high-volume businesses willing to spend thousands of dollars on freelancers, Freelancer’s Enterprise combines its best features to offer you an all-in-one solution. For example, you can hire expert recruiters and project managers who will identify quality talent and run your project from start to finish. Better yet, besides the platform’s usual service fees, you’ll pay no additional service fees, monthly fees, or joining fees.

Unfortunately, you need to spend upwards of $100,000/month on freelancers to reap the benefits – disqualifying most startups and SMEs. Plus, to access each service individually, you will spend $11.99 per project for a recruiter and $40/hour per project co-pilot. If you think Enterprise solutions could be right for your startup or SME, you can access over 8,000 more skills with Upwork Enterprise and design a custom package to fit your needs.

Preferred Freelancer Program

Freelancer’s preferred freelancer program is a good feature if you need top-quality talent with industry-specific skills and experience. It allows you to gain access to verified freelancers with exceptional track records and reviews, increasing your project’s chances of success. To qualify, freelancers must excel in the preferred freelancer entrance exam and participate in an extensive interview, guaranteeing their suitability for high-value projects.

Despite only 3% of freelancers participating in the preferred freelancer program, you will run into an overwhelmingly large number of bids per project. Plus, as you’re accessing top-quality talent, you’ll pay higher fees. If you’re on a budget, Fiverr Business is an excellent alternative. It gives you free access to vetted freelancers, a dedicated success manager, and several collaboration tools.

Freelancer Verification

Requiring email, phone, payment, and KYC verification in addition to a video interview, Freelancer’s verification allows you to find legitimate freelancers quickly and easily. Each verified freelancer receives a blue badge and can bid on projects worth over $2,500.

However, anyone can acquire verification by paying $99 and attending a video interview, regardless of their skills and experience. Because of this, you end up with a large pool of verified freelancers who don’t fit your business’s needs. Fortunately, other freelance websites have solved this problem. For example, Fiverr categorizes freelancers by level, clearly showing whether your applicants are new, level 1, level 2, or top-rated sellers.

Freelancer.com Features at a Glance

Signup fee
Transaction fee 3% or $3 (whichever is greater)
Money-back guarantee  7 days from project acceptance & 30 days from contest end date
24/7 support
Conflict resolution  Dispute resolution system
3.0

Ease of use

Freelancer.com Could Be One of the Least User-Friendly Platforms

Screenshot of Freelancer.com navigation menu
Freelancer’s navigation isn’t as smooth as other freelance platforms

Overall, Freelancer.com is a difficult platform to navigate. It has numerous pages, tabs, and notification bars that are almost unusable on smaller screens. For example, every drop-down tab I tried to access while multi-tasking didn’t work, meaning I had to resize my screen to navigate the site. Despite this, it took me less than 5 minutes to create an account, and I could even scroll through its list of freelancers before finalizing my details.

On-Page Chat

Freelancer’s on-page chat feature is great for projects that require regular communication and updates. Whether you’re asking questions, drawing up proposals, or rereading your previous chats, Freelancer makes it easy with a search bar and filter.

You can also view your messages on a separate page if you’d prefer, but there is no added functionality compared to its condensed version. In comparison to other freelance websites, its chat feature barely delivers. For example, when sending and receiving messages through Upwork, you can schedule meetings and filter messages by unread, favorites, interviews, and contract type. Better yet, it even shows the freelancer’s timezone, profile, and more.

Filters

Considering the number of freelancers using the Freelancer platform, you’ll struggle to identify potential candidates without filters. Freelancer allows you to filter freelancers by location, skills, exams, hourly rate, star rating, and online. Despite being a great feature, its filtering system is nowhere near as advanced as other freelancing websites and won’t benefit you nearly as much in your search for freelancers.

To compare, Fiverr offers specific filters per service offered. For example, businesses looking for writers can filter by language, service offering, topic, tone, article type, service inclusions, seller level, seller availability, seller country, budget, and delivery time.

Content Hub

Freelancer’s content hub is a great way to learn how to use the platform and benefit from its features. Each article takes 10-20 minutes to read and can give insight into hiring in specific industries.

For example, several articles I read were ultimate guides, including how to hire and work with engineers, advertising specialists, CNC programmers, and more. If you’re inexperienced in hiring and working with freelancers, this type of content can be invaluable – even if you decide not to hire via Freelancer.com after all.

2.7

Support

Fairly Responsive, but Its Live Chat Support Is Outdated and Vague

Freelancer is limited in its support, offering all freelancers and employers 24/7 live chat and email support. I contacted its support team to test its response times and asked questions about its Enterprise and corporate accounts.

Screenshot of Freelancer.com email support response
I found that Freelancer’s Enterprise team responds to emails in minutes

I used its website to ask if there are any fees associated with an Enterprise account and who the ideal Enterprise account holder is. Despite being outside conventional working hours, I surprisingly received a standard response in less than 15 minutes.

On the other hand, its live chat is challenging to use due to its poor design. For example, you can’t easily increase or minimize the pop-up window. If you do, you won’t be able to access the chat and will need to refresh your page to view your conversation. Plus, once connected, you’ll wait 5-6 minutes at minimum for a representative to join the chat.

Screenshot of Freelancer.com live chat conversation
You may not get the answers you’re looking for when using its live chat

The support team is responsive, yet their answers can be somewhat brief, occasionally leading to further questions. After a couple of follow-up queries on my part, I gained a clearer understanding of the distinctions between personal and corporate accounts.

Freelancer provides a client help center, covering topics like project initiation, milestone payments, initial steps, and basic troubleshooting. The articles are concise and come with multiple links for swift problem resolution. However, the content seems more focused on promoting Freelancer’s services than delivering comprehensive advice, indicating that resolving issues requires direct support engagement.

2.0

Pricing

Lowest Transaction Fees but Offers the Least Value for Money

The pricing structure of Freelancer is difficult to understand, especially if you haven’t worked with freelancing websites before. It offers several plans: Basic, Plus, Professional, Premier, Freelancer Corporate, and Freelancer Enterprise. Its Basic and Plus plans offer no features for employers, but they all come with a 3% fee on every payment. Despite this, if you pay annually rather than month-to-month, you can save up to $20/month.

Freelancer’s per transaction fee is the lowest compared to other freelance platforms, but you’ll pay more in the long run.

Unfortunately, you’ll incur additional project fees on most of its plans (excluding Enterprise). For example, you’ll pay $9.99 for featured projects, $9.99 for urgent projects, $21.99 for private projects, $229.99 for full-time projects, $11.99 for recruiters, $21.99 for NDA projects, $21.99 for IP agreement projects, $9.99 for sealed projects, $5 for priority projects, and $9.99 for extensions. In addition, you’ll pay for contests, to change your username, and more.

You’ll also run into maintenance fees of up to $14/month if you don’t log in for 6 months – which I haven’t seen anywhere else. Plus, when you factor in features, usability, and additional fees, Fiverr is the best value for money. Better yet, freelancers on Fiverr determine the cost of additional services, allowing for high-value services at a fraction of the cost.

Comparison

How does Freelancer.com match up to the competition?

Fiverr BusinessCompareOur Score4.9Compare
UpworkCompareOur Score4.9Compare
SkillDostiCompareOur Score2.5Compare
Freelancer.comCompareOur Score2.5Compare

Freelancer.com REVIEW: BOTTOM LINE

Freelancer is one of the largest freelance websites available, giving you access to over 56 million professionals. However, its excessive scams, basic features, additional fees, and outdated design make Freelancer the least valuable freelance platform for businesses looking for high-quality talent. If you’re looking for the best freelancers in 2024, you can find expert freelancers on Fiverr for as low as $5 using its advanced filters.

FAQ

What are the Freelancer fees?

Freelancer fees vary depending on your chosen service. However, you’ll pay a 3% fee on all projects and payments. In addition to service fees, employers are subject to additional fees that can eat into your profits. For example, you’ll pay $229.99 to hire full-time freelancers, $21.99 to offer NDA or IP agreements, $11.99 to hire a recruiter, $9.99 to extend deadlines, and more.

Can you get scammed on Freelancer.com?

Yes, you can get scammed on Freelancer.com. One of the biggest reasons for this is its Freelancer verification feature, which allows anyone on the platform to purchase a blue badge. Despite requiring KYC, email, phone, and payment verification alongside a video interview, it doesn’t guarantee high-quality products and services and could lead to lengthy disputes.

What is a preferred freelancer?

A preferred freelancer is anyone with a perfect profile, a pristine track record, and exceptional service. In addition, they have been vetted by Freelancer.com, passed the Preferred Freelancer entrance exam, and have access to recruiter, co-pilot, and enterprise projects. Above all, they are considered the top 3% of over 53 million professionals.

Is Freelancer.com legitimate?

Freelancer.com is a legitimate platform that can help businesses find top-tier talent. However, compared to the top freelance websites like Fiverr, you will pay a premium price for mediocre products and services. Additionally, Freelancer is known to harbor fake profiles and low-skilled freelancers, increasing the chances of dissatisfaction.
Stephen Wright Stephen Wright
Stephen specialized in writing about credit card processing solutions for B2B and B2C businesses. Before joining Website Planet, he was a cyber security writer for 2+ years, focusing on obfuscation technology and VPNs. He is a Master in Management graduate who specialized in change and project management, business strategy, and international marketing. When he’s not researching the best credit card processors, he helps his friends develop business plans and choose the best technological devices for their needs.
1.5
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Project Fee

I was working on this site and had a client who assigned me two projects. I accepted both offers, which required a payment of $65 to proceed ($25 for project 1 and $30 for project 2). This was acceptable to me initially, but it became problematic when my client stated that project 1 was mistakenly created. The client cancelled it, however, the fee I paid was not refunded to my balance. I contacted support and was informed that my client needed to delete the project. I relayed this to my client, but my funds were still not returned. Upon contacting support again, my balance was refunded, albeit with the explanation that it was done as a courtesy. Moreover, the chat was abruptly closed by the support agent, which was rather unprofessional. I simply want my money back; there's no reason to pay for a cancelled project. This incident left me feeling quite offended. I would caution others to use or work on this site only if they are prepared to encounter fraudulent practices. It's also widely known that when participating in contests on this site, unscrupulous freelancers may plagiarize your work, and the site takes no action against such plagiarism. Be forewarned! That's all.

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Fachruddin, Indonesia
October 18, 2023
1
Thieves Everywhere Specially in Freelancer.com

I am a professional designer and have been servicing the people in Freelancer.com for 3 years. Till meet up with other paltforms I noticed some issues about this platform. Firstly they shelter fake clients and designers within. Never seen protecting real person's rights. Also low quality entries, jobs or employers into the bargain. Because word of justice is just word there. Everoyen uses stock and stolen assets but never apply sanctions. Any punishments over there, shame. Therefore professional designers get away from this platform. Because they don't respect us.

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Talha, Turkey
September 21, 2023
2
Freelancer.com stole my money.

I signed up to freelacer.com this July as a buyer to find talented creators who can create content for my business. At first, everything was fine. I found a skilled freelancer who successfully completed 5 small projects for me, and I successfully paid for these projects through the freelancer.com payment system. I was completely satisfied with his work and all the payment processes on freelancer.com and decided to hire this freelancer for a larger project. It took us a month to complete this project, and the freelancer had to reject all other orders and projects from other companies. A month later, when I was trying to pay my freelancer $1,400 for a project, something unbelievable happened. Freelancer.com took my money from my PayPal account and froze it on the platform. They started telling me that my account was suspicious and I needed to go through an identity verification procedure. When I asked why everything was fine before and all payments were successful, but now my account suddenly became suspicious, they didn’t really answer me. I resigned myself and began to go through the verification procedure. I had to go through this process several times, but every time something was wrong, and they were always unhappy with something. First, they told me that my IP address did not match my place of registration, and they were forced to reject my request, which is outrageously ridiculous. I can be registered in one city and go to another city within my country on a business trip or vacation, this is not prohibited by law, and they do not have the right to refuse my request for such a reason. Now they simply reject my verification requests without giving a reason. I have already uploaded all my personal documents several times which are real and genuine, taken photos of my face next to my passport, and provided documents that show the legitimacy of my business. But for them, something keeps going wrong. When I ask the support team to explain the situation and name the reason, they constantly evade and do not say what is wrong. The support is not helpful at all and behaves like a robot, responding with template canned answers. As a result, it turns out that they withdrew a considerable amount of money from my account and do not give it to the freelancer because they do not want to accept my verification requests. They don't return the money and keep it for themselves, which is like a regular robbery if you ask me. My freelancer worked hard this whole month and didn't get paid as a result, and I lost my money as a result. So I don't recommend the freelancer.com platform, use UpWork or Fiverr instead.

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Andrii, Ukraine
September 21, 2023
1
It’s the worst freelancing site in the world

Freelancer.com is basically a platform creates by kids. That's how I see it as a freelancer. 99% of the jobs posted are scams and it costs so much money for their useless membership fee. Stay away from this scam site otherwise you'll waste your time and money.

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Roeun, Cambodia
November 29, 2022
1
POOR MANAGEMENT AND CUSTOMER SUPPORT

Worst ever experience. They are thief and completely Froud. They stole my $300 and closed my account for no reason. Please don't waste your precious time using this fake app. When you try to contact support then sent auto generated replies. Not even a single person there to reply. They stole my money and wasted my time. I requested many times that please transfer my funds in my account to my bank account that is my hard earned money. I earned that spending day and night. But no response from them about returning the money every time they say your violated our terms but never tells which one and never talk about sending my money to my bank account. THAT'S MY MONEY. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO KEEP IT.

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Sajjad Ahmad, Pakistan
September 16, 2022
1
Purchaser

The worst experience I’ve ever had no customer service The take your money they allow you to use a service the they won’t allow you to use your funds to pay the freelancer 5 days after you started the tell you your funds aren’t verified and it’s going to take days to verify meanwhile your money is out of your account and in there’s but you can’t pay the freelancer that rushed your job Very embarrassing and frustrating you look like a dead beat to someone that did a great job for you Good luck

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David Benes, USA
September 12, 2022
1
Freelancer’s Unacceptable Customer Relations

After previously writing a stinging review of Freelancer, one of their representative contacted me to amend the situation. Their attempts we laughable. Although I am just working with one Freelancer currently and the amounts are under 300, they will not budge on not accepting 3 forms of my personal ID. With all of the hacks and "personal identity theft" being reported on a daily basis, why would anyone set themselves up for a disaster like this??? Fiverr does not require such absurd confirmations. After not complying with the absurd demand of personal ID, I asked for the most recent project with the artist's NDA and IP contract to be refunded... since they won't allow me to do business on their site... what did they do? They suspended my account!?!?!? Wow! But that's ok, there's always by next best friend - Fiverr! Already found the same freelancer there! I informed the Freelancer representative that if they refund ONLY my project 2's NDA and IP contracts that I would amend my Sitejabber review, but they have not replied to my request, but in fact, closed my account! Madness! Why destroy their reputation over $40.00 of contracts that have not had their projects' started??? This is exactly why a customer relations website such as this one, Sitejabber, is an important resource to us all for reporting the egregious actions of a company against their customers. In short, my update is DO NOT USE Freelancer if you want to protect your personal identification, want to avoid a hellish customer experience, and just live a lesser stressed life.

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Steve, USA
July 05, 2022
1
Dumb operational staff

Freelancers may not even allowed to bring clients from another platform and have client pays inside their freelancer site. The company is running out of client, because they are run by very dumb operational staff. They are asking dear our clients for consultation only for 20 dolar. Which is showing how bad their financial condition is.

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Elham Kaka Bakdiar, Indonesia
March 24, 2022
1
Family sharingMulti User SharingExpert SupportBackupSmart syncPersonal SolutionBusiness SolutionTeams optionsOffline foldersFile history and recovery Read more reviews
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