Freelancer.com Reviews

About Freelancer.com

By HighYa Research Team

Published on: Sep 30, 2013

Based in Pyrmont, NSW, Australia, Freelancer.com is an online marketplace specifically designed for freelancers looking for work, and for outsourcers and crowdsourcers looking to have work completed.

In business since 2004, the company claims to be the world’s largest outsourcing marketplace, with 4.5 million projects posted, and nearly 8 million verified users.

Freelancer.com focuses on a wide variety of fields, including web and software development, design, writing, marketing, data entry, and according to the company, “anything else you could think of, all for the fraction of the cost.”

Freelancer.com Features

If you’re using Freelancer.com as an employer or small business, you simply sign up and post a project to begin. You’ll need to enter the project title, project details, skills you require for all applicants, in addition to pricing options (e.g. fixed budget or hourly). You will also be able to attach files relevant to your project at this time.

Once you’re ready to post your project, you’ll be given the option to further promote your listing by attaching additional classifications, such as Featured Project, Urgent Project, Private Project, NDA Required, and more. Keep in mind that these additional classifications will entail fees ranging anywhere from $9-$200, which Freelancer.com claims can increase your project’s visibility and attract up to 80% more bids.

Employers on the site can also be proactive and browse through freelancers, which can be filtered by hourly rate, location, skills, and work categories, after which they can be contacted directly and invited to place a bid.

After your project has been submitted, you’ll begin receiving bids from freelancers who would like to work on your project. At this point you can review their qualifications by analyzing their portfolio and work history, overall rating, skill sets, and test scores. The hiring process is very personalized and is completely based on your judgment and discretion.

Once your chosen freelancer has been hired, work will begin. If your project is based on a fixed price, you will generally pay the freelancer only after work has been completed. If your project will be billed on an hourly basis, Freelancer.com now offers a “Freelancer Time Track,” which ensures that every hour logged by the contractor is actually worked, by tracking their time via a software program that captures frequent screenshots.

Once the project has been completed to your satisfaction, you’ll be able to provide feedback to the contractor, as well as to rate their performance.

If you are looking for work as a freelancer, you can browse projects based on type (e.g. featured projects, projects with low bids, projects that are ending soon, etc.), and/or based on category (e.g. graphic design, web development, 3D animation, online marketing, etc.). You’ll then only place bids on projects that are relevant to your skillset.

Freelancer.com Membership Plans and Pricing

For those looking for work, Freelancer.com offers four different membership options, which range from no cost to $49.95 per month:

• Free
• Basic
• Standard
• Premium

The primary differences between these packages are the number of bids you’re allowed, the percentage of the associated freelancer fee, as well as the number of portfolio items and skill sets you’re able to display to prospective employers. This means that if you’re just starting out, you may be able to get by just fine with a lower package.

However, once your portfolio and skill sets grow, you’ll likely need to move up to a more robust package. It’s also important to note that these packages are tailored more toward freelancers since employers will rarely need to showcase work or place bids on projects. For an informative chart displaying all Membership options and pricing, please click here.

Once your account is set up, you can easily switch between the packages and make payment via MasterCard, AMEX, Visa, Paypal, and Skrill Moneybookers.

Is Freelancer.com a Scam?

Freelancer.com is a globally acclaimed company that is backed by substantially large investors and is staffed by legitimate management and leadership teams. As such, there are no indications that the company is a scam.

Having said this, since Freelancer.com has been in business for several years and has accumulated a wide variety of user reviews, the most common complaint is that many freelancers (as well as some employers) have claimed that they’ve experienced payment delays after a transaction has been completed, or that payments have not been processed altogether. They state their accounts are frequently frozen and undergo some sort of “investigation,” at which point Freelancer.com’s customer service is of little to no assistance.

As can be imagined, when freelancers have worked for days or weeks on a project, completed them to their employers’ satisfaction, but then find that they’re unable to withdraw their funds, they become angry and immediately begin throwing around the “scam” word. To the company’s credit, when responding to these complaints, they have acknowledged that this is an ongoing problem and that they are actively attempting an internal restructuring to address the issue.

Should You Avoid Freelancer.com?

Overall, Freelancer.com seems to have a great vision for the freelancing community and is not necessarily a site that you should avoid. However, as a suggestion, if you do decide to sign up, be sure to contact the company directly and undergo one of their “investigations” before you begin hiring freelancers or bidding on any projects.

By addressing the issue upfront, you can proactively provide them with any additional information they may need, which will help to substantially reduce the risk of running into any future problems.

Another suggestion is to be careful who you hire to work on your projects—use your discretion to judge a freelancer’s character and work experience as best you can.

Freelancer.com provides employers with some of the necessary tools to help discern the difference between low and high-quality work, though they do not have the resources to guarantee that all work completed will match your needs. Caveat emptor.

Pros:

• Large online marketplace for freelancers looking for work, as well as employers looking for work to be completed.
• In business since 2004, and backed by substantial investors and legitimate management and leadership teams.
• Wide variety of project types in fields such as web and software development, design, writing, marketing, data entry, and more.
• Easy to set up an account and bid on/post a job.
• A good selection of payment options.

Cons:

• Numerous users have complained of lengthy payment delays as their accounts undergo “investigation.”
• Customer service has a reputation for being slow to offer assistance.
• If you're a Freelancer, you are required to pay monthly payments for membership packages just to be able to place more bids on projects and increase your skill-sets