Best freelance websites to earn money for students and beginners

Whether you are a student or have just begin looking for a reliable passive income source, then you might be considering to join a freelancing platform and make bucks out of it, but the first question very likely to come to your mind might be; which is the best freelancing website for beginners that is more flexible, beginner friendly and also would help you make money and resolve your financial issues?

The answer to that puzzling question is that, you don’t need to worry anymore cause we have created a very detailed and comprehensive overview of the best freelance websites on the internet where you can make money. If you are a high student, make sure to check check out this detailed blog post about the best websites and apps for high school students who want to earn money to pay both college fees and loans.

1. Fiverr:

Fiverr is by far the most popular and beginner friendly freelance platform. You can join easily and start selling your skill without worrying about profile approvals, level of skill and any proven testimonials or certificates.
It is a gig based website, that means you create a gig (kind of online shop) which shows in detail about what you can offer. You yourself can set the time on your gig for the completion and delivery of projects, so if you’re a student and need a part time job, then this feature will benefit you a lot.

Pros:

• Founded in 2010 and worldwide, more than 2 billion dollars so far have been earned Fiverr freelancers/sellers.
• It offers a very broad range of jobs, from technical jobs like graphic designing, writing, SEO, website building, animation to the most basic jobs like virtual assistant, translation, photography, video and photo editing etc. Explore Fiverr categories and subcategories here
• One of the most popular and active websites with over 3 million registered buyers. It provides greater chances of securing a project from a client.
• Offers multiple payment withdrawal options like Paypal, Payoneer, bank transfer or direct deposit.

Cons:

• Charges 20% fees for every project both from buyers and sellers.
• Earned money from each project remains in escrow for 15 days before it can be withdrawn by the seller.
• Low project prices, the minimum price that a seller can offer is 5$ and maximum 5000$.
•  You can’t apply for jobs (through buyer requests) if you have an overall rating less than 4.7 stars.

2. Freelancer.com:

Freelancer.com is a bit different from Fiverr since it is not gig based site. You have to create an account and set up a good looking profile and voila, you are good to go hunting for projects. It also offers a broad range of jobs and you can apply to pretty any job you find relevant and suitable, that is, unlike Fiverr you can search jobs and apply/bid accordingly. It also offers the chance to see who else has applied for a particular project you are considering. In short, its features are very diverse.

Pros:

•  You can search projects and bid for almost any relevant projects you find. It also offers fixed priced and hourly projects.
• Its milestones feature for projects is great and very secure.
• Allows to take part in competitions (mostly graphic designing based) and win good cash bounties.
• Offers multiple payment withdrawal options like Express withdrawal to local banks (not available in every country), PayPal and Skrill.

Cons:

• Charges 20% fees for every project both from buyers and sellers.
• Earned money from each project remains in escrow for 15 days before it can be withdrawn by the seller.
• Low project prices, the minimum price that a seller can offer is 5$ and maximum 5000$.
•  You can’t apply for jobs (through buyer requests) if you have an overall rating less than 4.7 stars

3. Upwork:

This platform is one of the best platforms you can find online mainly due to high project prices and if you’re successful enough, the buyers themselves will invite you to bid on their projects. Similar to freelancer.com, you need to create an account and but you need on Upwork you need a profile approval. This is a tough site for beginners but once established, you can earn a lot and can even go full time.

Pros:

•  High price projects. The buyers are eager to pay more if you are talented and hard working enough.
• Can apply for both fixed price and hourly projects. No need to create gigs on Upwork.
• If you are a beginner on Upwork, you can grab testimonials from buyers for the projects you have already completed outside of Upwork.
• You can earn a lot once you have an established profile with a lot of good reviews and a superior portfolio.

Cons:

• You need “Connects” to send proposals to any proposal. You get 60 Connects after account registration and get 10 free Connects each month, else you need to purchase them or get a membership plan.
• High service fees starting from maximum 20% to a minimum 5% depending on how much you have earned from a particular project.
• Getting projects and establishing a profile is quite hard, since this platform is designed to provide superior work to clients.
• You need progress tracker apps for hourly projects and it will screenshot and record your progress.

4. Guru:

Guru.com is another popular freelance site where you earn by completing the projects. While the competition is high on Guru, chances of securing a project are higher than Upwork if you have an appealing portfolio. You can even create a team and work on posted jobs as a group or work as an individual in more than eight available categories.

Pros:

• Lower service fees. You’re charged 9% for each successfully completed job.
• A lot of options for withdrawals like Wire Transfer, eCheck, PayPal and Payoneer.
• User friendly and simple interface make it a better site for students and beginners.

Cons:

• Premium members get a boost and better ranked quotes and are more likely to win a job.
• Competition is high.
• They charge a 2.5% fee for credit card transactions.
• There are a lot of scam jobs and the platform doesn’t do much to block them.
• Customer service is poor and few options are available if you have questions or complaints.

5. 99designs:

6) 99designs:

99designs is one of the largest graphic designing marketplace connecting talented designers with businesses worldwide. The site is popular for logo design contests held by people who need a new logo for their businesses. Once you join the site, you earn money by attracting clients to your profile, participating in logo contests if you are a logo designer, or the site will match you with a client who has requested a design consultation.

Pros:

• 99designs charges different service fees based on the designer level: For Entry Level designers, the service fee is 15%, 10% for Mid Levels, and 5% for Top Levels.
• For beginner and amateur graphic designs, 99designs is great to build up your portfolio, and gain work experience.
• The prize for the contest winner is very high and you can earn a lot by winning the contest.

Cons:

• There are often complaints of designs being stolen or copied.
• The clients may cancel the contest, and take away or copy your design ideas for other projects.
• The design contests can be frustrating since only the winner gets the money while other designers don’t get any money or recognition.

5. People Per Hour:

PeopePerHour is a UK based freelancing platform that offers millions of freelancers to set their fixed hourly prices and work on thousands of online jobs. They have a strict process for profile approval but once you get an approval, you can access thousands of jobs from more than 1.2 million clients. There are a lot of categories you can choose including technology & programming, design, writing & translation and social media marketing.

Pros:

• It offers automated invoices.
• You can choose the hourly rates you like for your services and work as a fixed priced freelancer.
• Thousands of projects are posted everyday from buyers around the world.
• All freelancers have to have approved and verified accounts, so there are less chances of the site getting saturated.

Cons:

• If your account approval request is rejected, you can’t work on the site as a freelancer.
• Customer support usually supports buyers even if the buyer is the wrongdoer.
• High competition and your skills and portfolio need to be up to date.
• The site has high service fees of 20% for each project and fees fluctuate depending how much you earn.