Freelancer.com is an online marketplace that connects businesses and individuals with freelance workers across hundreds of skill categories, from web development and graphic design to writing, data entry, and engineering. Employers post projects, freelancers bid on them, and the platform handles payments and dispute resolution in between. It operates globally and supports both one-off tasks and ongoing hourly work.
How the Platform Works
Freelancer.com revolves around three main formats for getting work done: fixed-price projects, hourly projects, and contests.
With a fixed-price project, an employer posts a job description and budget. Freelancers then submit bids, often including a proposal explaining their approach and a price. The employer reviews bids, checks freelancer profiles and ratings, and awards the project to the person they choose. Payment is tied to deliverables rather than time logged.
Hourly projects work differently. The freelancer tracks time using the platform’s tools, and the employer pays based on hours worked at an agreed-upon rate. This format suits ongoing or open-ended tasks where the scope is harder to define upfront.
Contests let employers crowdsource creative work. An employer posts a brief (for a logo design, for example), sets a prize amount, and freelancers submit entries. The employer picks a winner and pays only for the winning entry. This is popular for design, naming, and other creative tasks where seeing multiple options before committing is valuable.
Fees for Employers and Freelancers
Both sides of the marketplace pay fees, though freelancers carry the larger share.
Employers pay a 3% fee (or $3, whichever is greater) when they award a fixed-price project. For hourly projects, the 3% fee applies to each payment made to the freelancer. Posting and awarding a contest is free for employers.
Freelancers pay 10% on everything. For fixed-price projects, the fee is 10% of the project value or $5, whichever is greater. Hourly projects carry the same 10% rate. Contest winners also pay 10% or $5, whichever is greater. If you’re part of the platform’s Preferred Freelancer Program, which gives you access to recruiter-sourced projects, the fee jumps to 15% on those specific jobs.
Freelancer.com also offers paid membership tiers that unlock additional benefits beyond the free account, such as more bids per month and enhanced profile visibility. You can use the site without paying for a membership, but free accounts come with limits on how many projects you can bid on.
How Payments Are Protected
The platform uses what it calls the Milestone Payment system to reduce risk for both parties. Here’s how it works: when a freelancer is awarded a project, the employer deposits funds into an escrow-like holding account on the platform. That money sits there, visible to both sides, until the employer confirms the work has been completed satisfactorily and releases the payment.
For larger projects, work can be broken into multiple milestones, each with its own deposit and release. This means a freelancer doesn’t have to finish an entire project before seeing any payment, and an employer doesn’t have to pay the full amount before seeing any work.
If something goes wrong, either party can open a dispute. The platform offers a Dispute Resolution Service that steps in when the employer and freelancer can’t agree on whether the work meets the project requirements. Funds stay locked in the milestone system until both parties reach a resolution or the dispute process concludes.
Identity Verification
Freelancer.com offers an identity verification process that helps establish trust between users. To become verified, you need to submit three things: a valid government-issued photo ID, proof of address (two recent utility bills or bank statements, or one of each), and a keycode verification photo.
The keycode step is unusual compared to most platforms. Freelancer.com gives you a unique code that you write on a piece of paper, then you take a photo of yourself holding that paper alongside your ID. Your face, the code, and the ID all need to be clearly visible in a single image. This is designed to prove that the person behind the account is real and actually possesses the ID they’re submitting.
Your account name must match the name on your documentation. If you can’t complete verification, the platform may limit or suspend your account. Submitting fake documents can result in your account being reported and removed.
Who Typically Uses Freelancer.com
The platform attracts a wide range of users. On the employer side, you’ll find small business owners who need a website built, startups looking for app developers, companies outsourcing data entry or virtual assistant work, and individuals with one-time needs like a logo or a translated document. On the freelancer side, the user base spans from experienced professionals with specialized skills to newer freelancers building a portfolio.
Because the bidding system is competitive, many projects attract dozens of proposals. Freelancers with strong reviews, completed verification, and a portfolio of past work on the platform tend to win more bids. For newcomers, contests can be an easier entry point since the work speaks for itself rather than relying on a track record of platform reviews.
The platform is global, so pricing reflects a wide range of labor markets. This means employers can often find competitive rates, but it also means freelancers in higher cost-of-living areas may face significant price competition from those in regions with lower costs.