Quick Summary
In 2025’s freelance economy, picking the right platform makes all the difference in your success. Upwork and Fiverr lead with their huge user communities, Toptal caters to high-end talent at higher prices, Freelancer.com connects globally, PeoplePerHour serves European markets well, We Work Remotely focuses on location-free jobs, and LinkedIn Services Marketplace uses existing professional connections with zero fees. Pick your platform based on what matters most to you: the type of project, your budget, talent quality needs, and location preferences.
The Freelance Landscape Today
What You’ll Learn
- Finding the right freelance marketplace for your situation
- Main differences between the top seven platforms (services, costs, special features)
- Practical advice for freelancers looking for work and businesses hiring talent
- What’s happening in the freelance world in 2025
The Work Revolution
The freelance world keeps growing in 2025, changing how people work worldwide. I’ve seen this shift speed up recently, with new tech making it easier for skilled workers to offer services on their own terms, while companies can find specialized help without permanent hires.
These online marketplaces connect freelancers with jobs and help businesses find experts quickly. Whether you’re selling skills or buying them, which platform you choose affects your results, money, and satisfaction.
After studying these platforms for years and hearing from countless users, I know that picking a marketplace isn’t about size alone. It’s about matching your goals, skills, and work preferences with the right environment. This guide helps you make a smart choice.
Platform Analysis: What Each Has to Offer
1. Upwork: The Big Player
Services Available: Upwork covers the most ground in 2025, with over 90 categories across 12 industry areas. You can find AI developers, data scientists, graphic designers, writers, translators, marketers, customer service pros, financial experts, legal help, and engineers all in one place.
Fees: Upwork plans to change its fee system in May 2025. Instead of the current flat 10% fee, freelancers will pay between 0% and 15% on new contracts, based on demand for their skills. This rate stays the same throughout each contract. Some exceptions exist: Direct Contracts cost freelancers 5%, and Any Hire contracts have no fees. Clients pay up to 7.99% on everything.
Size: About 18 million freelancers from 180+ countries use Upwork. The site had roughly 851,000 active clients in 2023, with $4.14 billion changing hands that year. These numbers keep growing.
Special Features: Upwork now offers Uma (an AI helper for writing proposals), the Project Catalog where freelancers list packaged services, and Consultations for quick expert advice. Paying for Freelancer Plus gives perks like extra Connects for bidding and the ability to see what competitors are charging.
Best For: Businesses that need many different skills and freelancers who want both quick gigs and long-term clients. Anyone who values secure payments and project variety will like Upwork.
Watch Out For: High competition, especially when just starting. The Connect system costs money to submit proposals, and the huge size means you’ll need smart strategies to get noticed.
2. Fiverr: The Package Deal Platform
How It Works: Unlike Upwork where clients post jobs, Fiverr lets freelancers create ready-to-buy service packages. Buyers shop through categories like graphics, marketing, writing, video, programming, business help, and lifestyle services.
Fees: Simple but steep – sellers pay 20% on everything they earn (including extras and tips). Buyers pay 5% extra (minimum $2) per purchase.
Size: About 4 million active buyers from 160+ countries shop from roughly 380,000 active sellers. Fiverr handled $1.13 billion in sales during 2023, with steady growth since then.
Seller Levels: Freelancers start as New Sellers, then can climb to Level One, Level Two, and finally Top Rated Seller based on reviews, completed jobs, and performance metrics. Each level adds credibility when buyers shop.
Best For: Freelancers with services that fit neat packages and clients who need quick, specific tasks completed. Graphic design, marketing materials, and content writing work particularly well here.
Watch Out For: Fierce competition and pricing pressure, especially for beginners. The 20% fee takes a big bite from earnings, and quality varies widely across price points. Buyers need to review portfolios carefully.
3. Toptal: The Exclusive Club
Who They Take: Toptal markets itself as the place for only the top 3% of global talent. They connect businesses with senior-level experts in software development, design, finance, project management, and product management – people with solid experience and success stories.
Money Matters: Toptal uses a different approach to fees – freelancers pay nothing. Instead, clients pay premium rates that include Toptal’s markup (which can be up to 50% of what the freelancer gets). Clients usually put down a $500 deposit to start looking for talent.
Getting In: What sets Toptal apart is their tough screening process. Freelancers go through language tests, technical reviews, live interviews, and often sample projects. Only about 3% of applicants make it through.
Client Protection: Clients get a trial period (usually two weeks) to make sure they like the freelancer before paying. Toptal aims for long-term working relationships rather than quick, one-time jobs.
Best For: Companies with must-succeed projects that need top-notch expertise, especially in tech, design, and finance. Also great for highly skilled freelancers wanting quality clients and good pay.
Watch Out For: The high-end service means high-end prices – much more expensive than other platforms. For freelancers, getting accepted takes time and effort, and you won’t know exactly how much Toptal marks up your rate to clients.
4. Freelancer.com: The Global Auction House
Job Variety: As one of the oldest players, Freelancer.com lists over 2,700 job types. You’ll find website builders, software developers, designers, writers, marketers, data entry specialists, virtual assistants, translators, financial experts, and many others.
Cost Breakdown: Freelancers pay 10% of what they earn (minimum $5) for fixed-price jobs and 10% of each payment for hourly work. Clients pay 3% (minimum $3) on fixed-price projects and 3% on hourly payments. You can also buy monthly memberships with extra perks.
How Big: The site has over 80 million users across 247 countries and territories – one of the biggest talent pools around. By early 2023, they’d posted 22.2 million jobs.
Special Features: What makes Freelancer.com stand out is their contest option, where clients can run competitions for tasks like logo design and pick from many entries. They also use a Milestone Payment system that holds money safely until work is finished.
Best For: Clients who want to compare lots of bids and prices. Also great for freelancers in almost any field wanting worldwide clients. The contest system works especially well for creative pros who want to show off their skills.
Watch Out For: Lots of low-budget projects create tough competition and pressure to lower prices. Both sides should watch for scams, and with so many bids per job, quality providers struggle to get noticed.
5. PeoplePerHour: The European Hub
What They Offer: PeoplePerHour connects businesses with writers, translators, marketers, designers, programmers, branding experts, sales pros, and business support specialists. You can work by the hour (“Hourlies”) or with fixed prices for whole projects.
Fee System: Fees drop as you earn more with each client: 20% on earnings up to £250, 7.5% between £250-£5,000, and just 3.5% once you’ve billed more than £5,000 to a single buyer (VAT not included). You’ll always pay at least £1 per invoice.
Size: Around 3 million freelancers and 1 million businesses use the platform, with especially strong numbers in the UK and Europe. About 4.6 million people visit the site monthly.
Cool Tools: They use AI to match clients with freelancers who have the right skills. “WorkRooms” gives teams spaces to communicate and share files. Their “CERT” ranking system rates freelancers based on skills, experience, and client feedback.
Best For: European companies and freelancers benefit from regional connections and familiar market standards. The platform works well for building long-term relationships since fees decrease dramatically as you work more with the same clients.
Watch Out For: New freelancers face high initial commission rates, and there’s a limit on how many free proposals you can send each month. Customer support can be slow when issues come up.
6. We Work Remotely: The Work-From-Anywhere Board
Main Focus: We Work Remotely (WWR) is a job board just for remote jobs in programming, design, DevOps, management, finance, product development, customer support, sales, marketing, and other work-from-anywhere roles.
Cost to Use: The site is free for freelancers and job seekers. Anyone can make an account and apply to listings without paying anything.
Visitor Numbers: WWR gets over 3 million visitors monthly and usually shows more than 25,000 active job listings. They add about 1,000 new jobs each month and send custom job alerts to over 50,000 remote workers.
Search Tools: You can filter jobs by category, region, time zone, and job type (full-time or contract) to find the best match for your situation.
Best For: Freelancers who want location-free contract work and companies looking for global talent. The site works especially well for tech pros, designers, and marketers who value flexibility.
Limitations: Unlike full freelance marketplaces, WWR doesn’t have freelancer profiles or built-in messaging. While it lists contract jobs, you won’t find as many quick, small gigs here.
7. LinkedIn Services Marketplace: Your Network, Your Business
What It Is: LinkedIn Services Marketplace lets freelancers list services right on their LinkedIn profiles. You can offer consulting, writing, content creation, marketing, graphic design, IT help, accounting, and many other professional services.
Price Tag: The big plus – it’s completely free for everyone. Freelancers pay nothing to list services, and businesses pay nothing to find and contact service providers.
User Base: Building on LinkedIn’s 1.1 billion members, the Services Marketplace had about 10 million service providers by late 2024. Popular categories like consulting, design, marketing, and software development each have hundreds of thousands of providers.
Main Advantage: This marketplace connects directly to your professional LinkedIn presence. Freelancers use their existing profiles, work history, recommendations, and connections to attract clients. Clients can check your professional background and network to assess your credibility.
Best For: Service providers offering relationship-based work like consulting, coaching, and strategy where trust matters. It’s perfect for professionals already using LinkedIn who want to find clients without paying platform fees.
Limitations: The marketplace doesn’t have built-in project management or payment tools – you handle those yourself. There’s also no way for freelancers to see reviews of potential clients before working with them.
Picking Your Platform: A Simple Guide
For Freelancers: Finding Your Match
Career Stage Matters: Where you are in your career should guide your choice. Just starting? Try Fiverr and Freelancer.com for easier entry and quick portfolio building (but expect lower pay). Mid-career? Upwork and PeoplePerHour offer better balance. Established expert? Toptal might pay best.
What You Do Matters: Different skills work better on different platforms. Creative work often sells well on Fiverr and PeoplePerHour. Tech and development can earn more on Upwork and Toptal. Writers and translators can work anywhere, but rates vary widely.
Money Goals Matter: Want lots of steady, smaller jobs? Fiverr and Freelancer.com usually have more work at lower rates. Need fewer, better-paying projects? Try Upwork or Toptal, but expect tougher competition for each job.
Use Multiple Sites: Many successful freelancers in 2025 maintain profiles on several platforms. You might sell packaged services on Fiverr, build client relationships on Upwork, connect with your network on LinkedIn Services, and keep an eye on We Work Remotely for contract opportunities.
Quick Comparison:
| Platform | Best For | Commission Fees | Competition Level | Payment Security |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upwork | Varied projects, long-term work | 0-15% (variable) | High | Very Strong |
| Fiverr | Packaged creative services | 20% flat | Very High | Strong |
| Toptal | Premium projects, high rates | 0% (client pays premium) | Medium (post-acceptance) | Very Strong |
| Freelancer.com | Global reach, wide variety | 10% or $5 minimum | High | Good (milestone system) |
| PeoplePerHour | European market access | 3.5-20% tiered | Medium-High | Good |
| We Work Remotely | Remote contract work | Free | Medium | Handled off-platform |
| LinkedIn Services | Network-based opportunities | Free | Low-Medium | Handled off-platform |
For Businesses: Finding Talent
Project Type: Match your platform to how complex your project is. Need something simple with clear results? Fiverr’s packaged services keep it simple. Working on something that needs back-and-forth collaboration? Upwork’s work management tools and payment protection help. For critical projects needing serious expertise, Toptal’s strict freelancer screening pays off.
Budget Reality: Your money situation limits your choices. Tight budget? Try Freelancer.com or basic Fiverr gigs. Mid-range money? Upwork and PeoplePerHour give decent quality without premium prices. Big budget for important work? Look at Toptal or top Upwork providers.
Screening Time: If you can’t spend days interviewing people, each platform offers different shortcuts. Toptal does heavy screening for you (but costs more). Upwork and PeoplePerHour show ratings and work history to help you decide. Fiverr’s level system gives some hints, but you’ll still need to check portfolios.
Location Needs: When local knowledge or time zone matching matters, some platforms work better. Need European talent? Try PeoplePerHour. Want global options? Freelancer.com has the widest reach. We Work Remotely lets you filter by time zone so your team can overlap working hours.
Quick Decision Guide:
- Is your project critical, needing top expertise?
- Yes → Toptal
- No → Keep going
- Is your project straightforward with clear deliverables?
- Yes → Fiverr or Project Catalog on Upwork
- No → Keep going
- Need ongoing teamwork?
- Yes → Upwork or PeoplePerHour
- No → Keep going
- Is budget your main concern?
- Yes → Freelancer.com or basic Fiverr
- No → Try Upwork for good quality at fair prices
- Want to use people you’re already connected with?
- Yes → LinkedIn Services Marketplace
- No → Pick based on the criteria above
What’s Next: New Trends in Freelance Platforms
AI Tools Everywhere
AI is changing how freelance sites work in 2025. Beyond just matching people to jobs, platforms now use AI to spot successful patterns, suggest better pricing, and help with actual work. Upwork’s Uma helps freelancers write proposals that get more responses. New AI quality tools can catch problems before clients see the work, cutting down on revisions and making everyone happier.
Specialty Platforms Rising
While big general marketplaces still lead, we’re seeing many new platforms for specific industries and skills. These focused sites offer deeper expertise than the one-size-fits-all platforms. Some examples include data science-only marketplaces, platforms just for sustainability experts, and creative sites built specifically for architects or medical illustrators. If you have specialized skills, these niche sites often get you better-matched projects and higher pay.
Managing Multiple Platforms
Since freelancers now often use several platforms at once, new tools help handle this juggling act. These services let you keep portfolios in sync, watch for opportunities across sites, and manage your reputation everywhere you work. For businesses hiring talent, there are now search tools that look across multiple marketplaces at once, showing unified profiles with work history and ratings from different platforms. This points toward a future where these currently separate marketplaces might work together better.
Success Tips for the Freelance World
For Freelancers
To succeed in 2025, spread yourself across multiple platforms that match your skills and target clients. Make your profiles stand out with portfolio examples showing actual results, not just what you can do. Package your services clearly, even on platforms that don’t specifically ask for this – it helps clients understand exactly what they get when hiring you. Learn how each platform ranks and promotes freelancers, then use this knowledge to get seen more often.
For Businesses
When hiring freelancers, don’t automatically pick the biggest platforms. Match your choice to your specific project needs, budget, and quality requirements. Try using different sites for different tasks – maybe Toptal for essential product development, Upwork for regular support work, and Fiverr for quick creative pieces. Many successful client-freelancer relationships eventually move off-platform after the first few projects, so think of platform fees as a way to find talent, not a forever cost.
The freelance world in 2025 offers amazing opportunities for both talent and businesses, but you need to be smart about how you navigate it. Success comes to those who understand what makes each platform unique and use those differences to their advantage. As technology keeps changing and remote work becomes more normal, these platforms will keep getting better at connecting people with opportunities.
This guide to online freelance marketplaces in 2025 helps both freelancers and businesses decide where to offer services or find talent. The field changes quickly, so keep an eye on platform updates and new options to stay ahead.
