Freelancer

Founded in 2009 by Matt Barrie, Freelancer.com refers to themselves as the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace.

Created by Barrie out of his own needs (and frustrations) with finding freelancers online to help him with a family project, he set out to revolutionize the freelancer market and create a platform that was different. He didn’t want this to just be another platform where companies or project owners would post work and freelancers could look for jobs. He wanted to create a platform that would drive value for the entire global community.

As of March 2022, the site has connected over 38 million employers and freelancers across 247 different countries and regions.

How does it work?

• Find a freelancer

• Find a project owner

How does Freelancer create value? 

Benefits to the companies/project owners

• Unlike other platforms, Freelancer does not charge companies/project owners to post on their website/enter the platform. They allow companies to post for free and share their posts with millions of workers around the world. They are given tremendous flexibility as to the types of postings they can share – project owners can post various jobs as hourly or fixed-bid, or even framed as “contests” – where freelancers compete with their unique designs.
• Companies also appreciate having a safe, secure, and flexible platform where they can customize their needs (e.g. by skill set, language, location, etc), and search globally for the right type of freelancer. In addition to the standard offerings, the platform also has additional unique add-ons – created out of customer requests- which makes the platform even more competitive (e.g., NDAs, IP agreement, etc)

Benefits to the freelancers

• Similar to the project owners/companies, it is free for any freelancer to create their online profile. They have the ability to bid on as many projects as they want, and they have the flexibility to work as much as they want, and work from anywhere in the world. The more (successful and timely) projects the freelancer completes, the better their online profile and overall rating. The key here is that the freelancers get full flexibility  – they dictate what type of work they want, when they want it, and from where.
• In addition, the option to become a “preferred freelancer” and participate in their “preferred freelancer program” is another unique way which drives additional value. Freelancers can participate in this program and they will work with project recruiters (from Freelancer) to find and work on exclusive projects. (These projects are normally higher paid, exclusive, complex, and boost ratings).

How does Freelancer make money?

While it is free to post on the site, the platform collects small fees in a variety of different ways. Their goal is to charge low fees but they make money due to the high volume. It is typical that they will charge a 3% fee for each project  They also charge processing fees when they are required to hold funds or manage escrow. And, they also have the “membership plan” option which allows upgrading services.

What makes them unique?

Freelancer invested in a team of world-class data scientists and relied on data to create an optimal platform for project owners and freelancers. After a decade of finetuning, they have a global platform that is user friendly, customizable, secure, and focuses on helping all of their users thrive.  They focus on the entire community and promote a healthy data cycle that continues to improve the platform and offerings.