The Best Fiverr Alternatives for Freelancers and Clients
Find the best Fiverr alternatives. If you’re looking for a way to use your skill set and make extra money, alternatives like Upwork can help.

Since its launch in 2010, Fiverr has been a popular platform for independent professionals to connect with clients in need of their services.
A wide range of services are available through Fiverr, including digital marketing, social media design, e-commerce photo editing, and more. Small businesses, startups, and large businesses can all use the platform to find talented pros.
How does Fiverr work?
Fiverr revolves around “gigs,” which are services developed by the professionals who use the platform. Clients can browse available gigs—such as logo design, SEO audits, or web development—before purchasing the option they like best.
If you enjoy working this way, Fiverr might be a great choice! Some clients and talent prefer to work in other ways, though, including:
- Design contests
- Hourly contracts
- Consulting engagements
Luckily, there are a number of freelance websites available to independent pros—and their clients—today that can help you work the way you want.
Why talent looks for Fiverr alternatives
Talented professionals seek out Fiverr alternatives for a number of reasons. These can include:
- Growing competition
- Client availability or quality
- Length of projects
- Lack of interest in gig-style projects
You and your client may have little communication when working on Fiverr, due to the fact that anyone can purchase gigs without messaging you first.
If this isn’t how you like to work, then you might want to check out a Fiverr alternative.
Why clients look for Fiverr alternatives
Clients may look for Fiverr alternatives due to the availability of services offered, talent quality, platform fees, or other usage issues.
This isn’t to say there aren’t lots of high-quality professionals working on Fiverr—there are! In fact, many professionals using Fiverr can also be found using one or more of the other platforms on this list as well.
But to use Fiverr most effectively, it’s helpful to know exactly what you need or want, so you can find it while browsing the lists of available services.
While this can be straightforward if you know you need a single deliverable, such as a WordPress web design template, it can be more complicated if you aren’t sure what you need—you just know you need a professional to help you figure out next steps.
In that case, you might prefer using an alternative work marketplace—such as one with a different contract structure, more consulting options, or fewer job categories.
3 Top Fiverr alternatives
The three platforms below are some of the top Fiverr alternatives used by talent and clients around the world. They’re popular due to factors like:
- User-friendly interfaces
- Easy signup
- Clear payment processes
- Simple fee structures
- Wide industry coverage
- Options for clients all around the world
We’ll take a closer look at each of these companies and explore why both independent professionals and their clients may want to use them as an alternative to Fiverr.
1. Upwork
For over 20 years, Upwork has helped independent professionals connect with clients in need of quality work. Upwork’s users sign more than 49,000 contracts every week.
Upwork for independent professionals
Talent can use Upwork to find:
- Fixed-rate, project-based work
- Hourly rate contracts
- Consulting clients
- Contract-to-hire positions
Upwork has a flat 10% service fee for talent. This fee is collected at the time you’re paid—never up front. An optional Freelancer Plus subscription gives independent professionals access to:
- Additional Connects
- Deeper job insights
- Upwork Chat Pro, powered by Uma, Upwork’s mindful AI with GPT-4
Upwork for clients
Clients can rely on Upwork to find:
- Talent offering more than 10,000 skills across 13 specializations
- Skilled consultants with deep industry experience
- Full-time working relationships (through contract-to-hire engagements)
Upwork charges a one-time initiation fee of up to $14.95 on new Marketplace contracts. The marketplace fee may be reduced to 3% for clients in the U.S. who pay with a checking account.
How it works
When talent searches for work on Upwork, they can connect with clients of all sizes—from Fortune 500 companies to solo entrepreneurs in need of assistance. And clients can find pros all around the world ready to tackle projects in nearly any language or time zone.
To find work or skilled professionals, many people turn to:
- Talent Marketplace™ where clients can post work and talent can respond with proposals explaining how they can help, and at what rate
- Project Catalog™ where clients can browse and pay for specific services that talent have outlined and posted on Upwork
Clients can also use Upwork Enterprise to do more work at scale with the help of a dedicated account manager, support team, and additional features that include:
- Access to the top 1% of talent on Upwork
- Billing and reporting tools
- Support for classification decisions
- The Job Post Generator powered by Uma
Why choose Upwork as a Fiverr alternative?
Many people like Upwork thanks to the sheer diversity of work opportunities and skills available on the platform. Plus, Upwork offers a number of protections that make working together on Upwork—and paying talent—a safer experience. These include:
- Multiple communication methods including in-app phone calls
- Client payment verification
- Hourly payment protection
- Fee-free Direct Contracts
It’s free to sign up for an Upwork account and search for work or create a job description.
Learn more: Upwork vs. Fiverr: An In-Depth Comparison
2. Freelancer.com
Freelancer is another popular Fiverr alternative serving users around the world.. The platform supports three ways for clients and talent to work together:
- Fixed-rate contracts with milestones
- Hourly projects
- Contests, where clients post the details of a project and pros compete to win
Freelancer for talent
Independent professionals can use Freelancer to search for work and either enter contests or submit proposals for fixed-rate and hourly contracts.
Unlike many work marketplaces, Freelancer offers the option to seek out in-person, local gigs. These opportunities can include:
- Package delivery and pickup
- Personal shopping
- Food and beverage delivery
- Photography
Like Fiverr, Freelancer assesses a service fee on all projects.
Talent working on fixed-price projects pay 10% of their project bid amount or $5, whichever is higher. This amount is converted into other currencies based on where you reside. On hourly contracts, talent pays a 10% fee on every milestone payment.
Freelancer for clients
Clients using Freelancer can either post work and receive bids, or start a contest. These posts can be open to anyone or require an in-person activity in a specific area.
Freelancer charges clients a fee as well.
Clients with fixed-price projects pay 3% of the winning project bid amount or $3, whichever is higher. Once again, this amount is converted into other currencies based on your location. On hourly contracts, clients pay a 3% service fee.
Why choose Freelancer as a Fiverr alternative?
The number of online and in-person jobs available on the Freelancer platform may be attractive to many clients and professionals.
Clients may also like that contests allow them to see deliverables before selecting the talent they want to work with.
Keep in mind, however, that when talent searching for work accepts a fixed-rate contract on Freelancer, they’ll have to pay that 10% (or $5) fee up front. This means that finding work on Freelancer could require you to have some cash on hand.
3. PeoplePerHour
PeoplePerHour is an application-only platform for talent—anyone interested in using the service to find work must apply to join and be approved by the company’s moderation team.
There are nine categories of work on PeoplePerHour.
PeoplePerHour for talent
Once talent is admitted to the platform, they can use PeoplePerHour to browse work posted by clients and send up to 15 proposals per month for free.
Talent can also post prepackaged service offerings and advertise them to clients—similar to how Fiverr’s gigs and Upwork’s Project Catalog listings work.
Fees are charged to talent on a tiered scale. These fees are based on the total amount talent has billed a client throughout their entire time working together, not just on a specific contract.
- Below £250: 20% fee plus VAT (with a minimum fee of £1)
- Between £250 and £5000: 7.5% fee plus VAT
- Over £5000: 3.5% plus VAT
PeoplePerHour for clients
Clients seeking talent can start posting work directly from the PeoplePerHour homepage. They don’t need to apply, and getting an initial description started is very simple.
Clients pay a fee based on their payment method:
- £0.60 plus a 10% transaction fee for all payments made through PayPal, credit card, debit card, Skrill, Alipay, Kiwi Wallet, TrustPay, GiroPay, Paysafecard, or UnionPay
- 0% to 2.5% transaction fees on bank transfers
Why choose People PerHour as a Fiverr alternative?
Some clients and independent professionals may like that PeoplePerHour requires an application to join the platform as talent. Plus, the company uses pounds for pricing, which is nice for any users located in the U.K.
PeoplePerHour also offers several features to help keep clients and talent safe when they work together, including:
- In-app communication
- Escrow accounts for client payments
- One-click and automatic invoicing
Niche-specific Fiverr alternatives
PeoplePerHour, Fiverr, Freelancer, and Upwork are all well-known names among talent and clients looking for work. But a few other platforms are worth knowing about based on the kind of work you do—or the help you need.
Toptal (for tech professionals)
Toptal is another Fiverr and Upwork alternative that’s a favorite among many in the tech industry, including software development and financial pros.
Toptal for talent
Toptal (a fusion of the words “top talent”) has specific criteria to meet in order to use the platform. It’s suggested that talent have at least two years of experience—and anyone seeking to find work through Toptal must pass a multi-stage screening process that includes:
- English language evaluation
- Personality assessment
- In-depth skill reviews
- A live screening interview
- Test projects
According to Toptal, only 3% of applicants to the platform successfully make it through the entire screening process.
Toptal does not charge talent any fees to use the platform.
Toptal for clients
Clients are vetted before using Toptal too, though they aren’t tested like talent.
Toptal isn’t a work marketplace in quite the same manner that Fiverr is, either. Rather than have clients post jobs—and talent send in proposals—Toptal recruiters work with clients to handpick a list of talent that may suit their needs.
Clients must pay a $500 refundable deposit to start using the Toptal platform, and can work with up to three independent professionals during an initial trial period.
Why choose Toptal as a Fiverr alternative?
Once admitted to the platform, clients and talent can work on projects across several industries:
- Web development
- Design
- Finance
- Project management
- Product management
- Marketing
This narrow focus makes it a favorite of many professionals working in highly specialized and tech-related fields. And some people will like the guided service that Toptal provides versus Fiverr’s more do-it-yourself approach.
DesignCrowd (for designers)
DesignCrowd is similar to Freelancer—but limited to design projects.
Clients and talent can work together on DesignCrowd in two ways:
- By entering into a contract between the client and one design professional
- By posting or participating in a design contest, where multiple designers all submit their work to the client for review and selection
DesignCrowd for talent
If a professional using DesignCrowd enters a contest and doesn’t win, they may still be awarded a participation payment. This amount is up to the client’s discretion, but DesignCrowd suggests an amount between $10 and $20.
Contest winners earn a flat amount, with a minimum payment requirement of $100.
Talent must pay DesignCrowd a 15% commission on all earnings, including any participation payments.
DesignCrowd for clients
If clients decide to host a contest on DesignCrowd, they’ll be responsible for selecting their two favorite submissions and paying the winners at least $100.
The client will then receive the usage rights to the two graphics they selected, and can opt to issue participation payments to everyone else.
It’s not free to post an opportunity on DesignCrowd, though. Clients are charged several fees based on the project scope:
- Up to $129 to post an opportunity, plus a 4% transaction fee on payments
- A 20% project management fee for opportunities that pay out $200 and up
Why choose DesignCrowd as a Fiverr alternative?
Because DesignCrowd only works with design professionals, connecting with exactly the type of talent or client you are looking for is simplified. DesignCrowd can also be an attractive choice, along with Freelancer, for anyone who likes the contest-style model of work.
WriterAccess (for content creators)
WriterAccess is a work platform that offers opportunities for copywriters, editors, translators, designers, and other content creators.
WriterAccess for talent
Talent in the U.S., Australia, Canada, the U.K., Ireland, South Africa, Brazil, and New Zealand can use WriterAccess to submit proposals and work with clients.
Note, though, that WriterAccess does not permit talent on its platform to end a contract with a client for any reason, including the client becoming non-responsive.
Talent is always required to produce whatever was initially requested by the client. WriterAccess also allows clients to request an unlimited number of revisions.
Talent must also pay a 30% fee on all of their earnings when they are paid out.
WriterAccess for clients
As with Upwork, clients can search for and view talent profiles on WriterAccess or post work and wait to receive proposals.
Clients need to subscribe to WriterAccess in order to work with talent through the platform. Plans start at $41 per month (when billed annually) and include a $2.75 processing fee on all payments to talent.
Why choose WriterAccess as a Fiverr alternative?
The very specific nature of WriterAccess makes it a viable choice for content creators and clients seeking help with that kind of work.
It may also be an attractive option for any clients who need content that directly speaks to audiences in any of the eight countries WriterAccess talent reside.
Factors to consider when choosing a Fiverr alternative
Talent interested in finding a Fiverr alternative will want to ask themselves a few questions before choosing a platform:
- What’s your speciality? While PeoplePerHour, Freelancer, and Upwork all offer opportunities for professionals in a wide variety of fields, WriterAccess, DesignCrowd, and Toptal are limited to a smaller range of skillsets.
- How soon do you want to get started? Some platforms, like Toptal, have a lengthy application process before you can begin earning money. If you’re ready to work right now, you may want to choose a platform like Upwork or Freelancer, where there isn’t a screening process or waiting period.
- Can you pay any upfront fees? You might need to pay a fee up front when using Freelancer. If that’s not an option for you, stick with alternatives like Toptal, PeoplePerHour, and Upwork, where you’ll pay any fees out of your earnings.
All of the platforms on this list allow talent to sign up for free—and most of them let clients do the same, too. While you may have to submit an application or pay a fee before pitching or accepting a job, this will at least give you the chance to look around the platform and see if you like it.
Clients should also consider several factors, including:
- What kind of talent are you looking for?
- What industry are you in?
- How much customer support do you need or want during the hiring process?
- Are you interested in seeing deliverables before selecting someone to work with?
- What payment systems are you comfortable with or able to use?
- Do you need to pay for services in a specific currency?
Tips to succeed when using work marketplaces
Regardless of the work marketplace or platform you choose to use, there are a few things you can do to help make your experience successful.
Tips for talent
Your profile is one of the biggest assets you have on any platform. Be sure to optimize it as much as possible, including:
- A clear photo of yourself
- Your real name and location
- Your typical rates
- Information about the type of work you do
- A statement about how you can help your clients
Whenever possible, you’ll also want to build a robust portfolio that includes examples of work you’ve completed successfully. If all of your work is meant to remain private between you and a client, then try creating a case study or displaying testimonials (all with the clients’ permission, of course).
You should also:
- Be proactive when it comes to seeking out work and sending proposals
- Vet clients and ask questions so you can better ascertain if an engagement is the right fit for you
- Keep an eye on your message inbox or email so you can respond to client inquiries quickly
- Make sure you have your payment details filled out correctly to reduce any delays
- Be on alert for the signs of potential scams
If you choose Upwork as your Fiverr alternative, there are lots of great resources available to help you succeed!
Tips for clients
As a client, you can also take several steps to make sure you have a good experience while looking for a service provider on a work marketplace.
- Write great job descriptions that stand out
- Be clear about what you are looking for
- Establish a project budget
- Be proactive about looking for talent who may fit your needs
- Review proposals as they come in
- Provide a project brief to the talent you decide to work with
- Be responsive to messages while you’re working with talent
And whether you’re working on a platform as a client or as talent, you should always read the terms of service and requirements for using your marketplace of choice!
Future work trends to watch out for
Work marketplaces have been around for decades—and working independently is only becoming more popular as time goes on. By the end of 2022, U.S.-based independent pros funneled $1.35 trillion in annual earnings into the country’s economy. Nearly 60 million Americans were working independently by that time, too.
As interest in working as or with independent professionals grows, we’ll see new innovations shaping the future of work. Keep an eye out for developments like:
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