What is freelancing?

A freelancer is an independent worker who earns an income on a pay-per-job basis. Freelancers work for themselves and choose which jobs they would like to take on. It's often short-term work and freelancers can choose how much or how little they would like to work. This type of work allows total freedom and is perfect for travelers. Find what your skills are and make yourself a profile on any of these websites.

What kind of work do you do as a freelancer?

Writer: articles, blog posts, reviews, editing, proofreading, etc
Marketing
Designer: websites, logos, brochures, etc
Social media management/brand specialist
Translator
Data entry
Customer service
Photographer/videographer
Virtual assistant

Upwork

Service fees: 20% for the first bill $0-$500 with a client, 10% for total billings with your client between $500.01-$10,000, and 5% for total billings with your client $10,000+

Pros:	Cons:
Employers willing to pay higher rates Need to be approved by Upwork before you start Less competition than other freelance websites Great for long term contracts	Hard to build a portfolio and land jobs w/o experience High expectations for your work even when starting out High service fees

Upwork is my favorite freelance website. Their main focus seems to be based around software and marketing but you can still find a wide variety of jobs. You can typically find employers willing to pay higher rates on Upwork compared to other freelance sites, however, the expectations will also be higher. Be prepared to start on the lower-paying jobs in order to build experience. You can filter out the employers that are looking for entry-level, intermediate, or experts freelancers which I think is helpful, especially if you're just trying to get started building a portfolio.

Guru

Service fees: 9% of every invoice on the free plan

Pros:	Cons:
Only eligible to send out 10 bids a month on the free membership Easy to use Reliable and professional website Employers can search for you	Paying members are boosted above free members It may be harder to outcompete more experienced freelancers

Guru is also one of my favorite websites for finding freelancing work. I have found it to be reliable, easy to use, and professional. You'll spend less time weeding through spam posts and unmotivated employers compared to some other freelancing websites. Due to the reliability of finding trustworthy freelancers, employers often choose Guru.com to post jobs and are often willing to pay more for your services. There is a wide variety of jobs posted daily. If you're looking to longer contracts, higher pay, higher expectations, then Guru is definitely the platform for you.

People Per Hour

Service fees: 20% of pay below £250 ($335 USD), 7.5% of pay between £250($335 USD) and £5000 ($6,710 USD), and 3.5% of pay £5000+ ($6,710 USD)

Pros:	Cons:
Easier for beginners compared to other websites Employers can search for you Nice filters, easy to find jobs Organized website	Weed through spam accounts Competitive

Based in the UK, People Per Hour is another great freelancing website that has tons of job postings. You can filter through the entry-level, intermediate, and expert level job postings which makes it easy if you're just starting out or if you are looking for those higher-paying jobs. You can also filter through urgent postings and posts without any proposals submitted. The filters make scrolling through PeoplePerHour nice and easy!

Freelancer

Service fee: 10% or $5 of the winning bid, whichever is greater

Pros:	Cons:
Communication between employer/employee is simple Employers typically looking for better rates over experience Good for beginners Lots of job options (both remote and onsite) Find simple, easy work Employers can search for you	Weed through the spam posts Competitive Often need to lower your rates to meet competition

Freelancer.com is a super simple, straightforward platform with a wide variety of jobs. With over fifty million users from 180 countries, it can be pretty competitive to land a job meaning you will most likely be lowering your bidding rates to match your competition. Employers typically like freelancer.com for the cheaper rates. I'd say this website is great if you want quick, simple work with easy communication between you and your employer but if you want higher-paying jobs, I would recommend checking out the other options.