Greeting fellow freelancers, you have finally arrived at the crossroads of Fiverr vs Upwork, both of these platforms are filled with myriad of choices and opportunities for both beginners and experienced individuals. Imagine this you’re in a spacecraft where your skills determine the pathway, you’ll embark on this space adventure, which in this metaphorical sense is Fiverr vs Upwork, with the galaxies of workflow, costs, and opportunities stretch out before you. Now, let’s come back to the big question at hand —Which platform will suit you better? Should you dive into the creative waters of Fiverr, or wade into the professional pool of Upwork?
In the contemporary era, people are now exploring different opportunities that can make them money from the comforts of their homes. Consequently, millions of individuals are now considering stepping foot into the world of freelancing, but almost every individual that begins their journey are confronted with this challenge of choosing the right platform and, often ends up getting caught in the middle of Fiverr vs Upwork dilemma.
So, to cut you some slack and make your freelancing journey as smooth as possible, we will discuss in detail the different aspects and pros of both the platforms, so you can make the final decision based on which platforms caters better to your specific need. Ready to unravel the mysteries and choose your destiny in the Gig Galaxy?
Fiverr vs Upwork – An Insightful Glimpse
The Gig Economy Landscape – Difference between Fiverr vs Upwork
Fiverr – Overview of Fiverr vs Upwork
Fiverr was initially founded in 2010, and it started out as a platform where small business could outsource their work to freelancers for as cheap as 5 dollars. It eventually evolved into a platform where freelancers could set their own price, according to their experience and expertise. On this freelancing platform employers are referred to as ‘buyers’ and the individuals that are the freelancers as ‘sellers’.
Imagine Fiverr as creative haven of the freelancing universe, where freelancers ranging from beginners to advanced level set up their shops that displays their skill sets and also a portfolio of their work, along with the services they can offer.
These services are called as ‘gig’. Freelancers from all the different niches such as graphic designing, digital art, coding, tutoring, courses and consultations, artists, create their own gig where they offer services in accordance with their specialty.
Theses gigs often vary in prices, for instance a graphic designer that is just starting out may offer 20 dollars for a basic logo design, whereas the graphic designer at advanced level may offer 50 dollars for the same design. Therefore, clients can take a stroll through this marketplace, check out these gigs, and pick the one that fits their needs.
So, to sum it up in this Fiverr vs Upwork faceoff, Fiverr is a good option for freelancers that are just starting out and small business, since it’s known for its simple user interface and overall affordable prices.
Upwork– Overview of Fiverr vs Upwork
On the flip side Upwork, is basically what you can call a professional epicenter of the freelancing cosmos. On Upwork things are done the traditional way, the freelancers have to create a professional profile in a way that comprehensively conveys their skills, relevant work history, expertise, along with their digital resumes. This leads to a larger pool of skilled freelancers. The projects that the clients post can typically range from short term to long term collaboration, for a myriad of services such as writing, coding, graphic designing, marketing, and more.
Unlike the gig- centric approach used in Fiverr, freelancers have to submit proposals in order to secure projects. For instance, a client looking for a web developer might post a project, and the freelancers interested in working on that project will have to submit proposals that outline their qualifications and approaches. Upwork essentially thrives on collaboration and communication, making it a go-to platform for large business seeking professionals that are skilled. Moreover, what makes Upwork a safer option for larger projects, is its rigorous security measures and payment protections systems.
Key differences – Fiverr vs Upwork
In a nutshell, Fiverr is like having your own stand in a marketplace where people buy your showcased skills directly. Upwork is more like actively applying for different jobs in a job fair, where your detailed profile becomes your resume for potential clients to see. Each has its own way of connecting freelancers with work, so it depends on what style suits you best!
Fiverr vs. Upwork – The Faceoff
Now that we’ve familiarized ourselves with the basics of both the platform in this Fiverr vs Upwork faceoff, lets cover the entire workflow of Fiverr and Upwork. In this section we’ll explore everything surrounding the ways from creating a profile to landing a job.
Creating a profile – Fiverr vs Upwork
Fiverr
Let’s start with the discussion of the steps involved in creating a seller’s account. There are three essential steps:
- You have to first create an account, which you can easily do by visiting the page and clicking on the sign-up option via its homepage.
- Fill in the relevant details such as creating a username, entering an email, and other details.
- The next step is to set up your profile by adding the following details:
- Entering personal information, which involves your full name, uploading a profile picture, selecting your language of preference, and, finally, writing a profile summary.
- Providing your professional details, where you enumerate your occupation, skills, education, certifications, and linked accounts, such as your profiles on social media and, lastly, personal websites.
After your account gets verified, you can start listing your first Gig. This platform will help you immensely as a seller by easily laying out services, displaying a series of packages for one offer. Buyers can additionally make their own custom requests for sellers, catering to their needs. An important thing to note is that Fiverr will only approve an account with a minimum of 65% completion.
From the perspective of a buyer, it is mostly about directing various Gigs to them through Fiverr’s interface. Fiverr accomplishes this by displaying the freelancer’s profile along with the ‘gig image,’ information about the package’s service, previous client ratings, initial price, and a written description that briefly describes the service being offered.
Steps involved in completing a gig from a freelancer’s perspective on Fiverr:
- The freelancer will receive a request from the buyer (accepting or rejecting it is solely dependent on the freelancer).
- After accepting the request, the freelancer will discuss the project details with the buyer.
- The next step is to complete the work, submit it, and receive the payment in return.
Important note: One major drawback is that Fiverr’s customer service mostly favors the buyer. In the face of a conflict or any inconvenience, they may send a request to the seller to refund the money, which can have a negative impact on their rating. Moreover, when sellers take a long time to reply, they are prone to get a negative review. This drop in rating can also happen when the freelancer, also known as a seller, rejects the client.
Upwork
Like I discussed earlier Upwork is more centric towards professionalism and mostly supports large businesses. Consequently, Upwork’s profile is a resume based one. You need to include details such as job title, overview, profile picture, your skills, education, experience of employment, any relevant certifications, portfolio, and other experiences such as volunteering, social service etc.
Completing your profile with all this information is an essential part since, it will not only give the clients a comprehensive guide but will also help the platform in matching you with freelancing opportunities that are the most relevant to your expertise and skills. You also have a chance of getting awarded with a Rising Talent or Top-Rated status badge
After completing your profile, you as a freelancer will have to first submit a proposal by setting your rates, followed by writing a cover letter, in order to land a job on Upwork. You can also list your services on the Project Catalog and wait for clients to contact you to get a job.
While to some, gaining control over the project they’ll be working on may seem like an advantage, for others, this entire job application process comes off as too complicated and time-consuming.
Steps after getting your first job on Upwork:
- After you get a job offer, you need to discuss the details of the projects with the client, making sure everything is clear, and leaving no room for ambiguities.
- After all the details have been discussed and you’ve established a common ground with the client you need to sign a contract, once both parties agree.
- During the project, log hours worked and update the progress status.
- Finally, submit the work and receive payment after the client approves.
One of the biggest advantages of using Upwork is that it has certain features that aid you in managing the freelancing job form start to finish. For instance, everything from project management to billing, and then payment is covered. The most important thing is that, this platform prevents any future conflicts by ensuring both parties are on the same page from day one.
Some of the features that Upwork encompasses are time tracking, automatic generation of invoices and communication tools involving multiple clients, such as direct messaging and Zoom video calls.
Pricing- Analyzing the Cost Between Fiverr vs Upwork
Next in the comparison between Fiverr VS Upwork, we will discuss the cost-effectiveness of both platforms.
The Cost Involved in Fiverr – Fiverr vs Upwork
Services are often offered at set prices, mostly starting at $5 (hence the name Fiverr). However, freelancers have the freedom to create their own custom packages at various prices, mostly in accordance with their skills and experience. Moreover, Fiverr freelancers don’t need to pay any fees in order to sign up or when they are listing their services. Nonetheless, regardless of how much you make or how long you’ve worked with the buyer, Fiverr will charge you 20% of Gigs that are paid.
Ways of receiving payments: This freelance platform provides various safe methods and also allows in-platform payment withdrawal, such as PayPal, Payoneer, Fiverr revenue card, Bank transfer, Direct deposit.
Important note: The fees and minimum withdrawal amount depend on the method used, currency, and location. Most of the time, freelancers have to wait for a 14-day clearing period before they can withdraw their funds. As Fiverr prioritizes buyer support, this timeline is in place to ensure the buyer’s satisfaction and financial processing. But once you cross the top-sellers mark, you can receive your earnings after seven days.
Another thing is that this platform has a membership program for freelancers that have established a good reputation called Fiverr Pro. Although it’s free and open for everyone, the applications are filtered by the team according to the seller’s education, professional background, and lastly, portfolio.
The Cost Involved in Upwork – Fiverr vs Upwork
On the other hand, Upwork requires the freelancers to have ‘Connects’ in order to apply for jobs. Initially you will receive 10 per month for free, and then after month you’ll be required to buy more starting at 0.15 dollars, in order to apply for more jobs. There are other occasions where you can get ‘Connects’ such as completing your first registration and Upwork’s skill certification.
An alternate method involved in earning ‘ Connects’ , is by upgrading your account to Freelancer Plus for 14.99 dollars per month. Other perks of this plan include an account manager that’s fully devoted, increased visibility of your profile, and the opportunity of seeing how much other competitors are bidding for a job.
Another important note is that unlike Fiverr taking a flat-rated commission, this platform has a layered fee structure, such as you get 20% for the first 500 dollar you bill a client, 10% for total billings amounting between 500.01 dollars and 10,000 dollars, 5% for total billing amount that exceed 10,000 dollars.
Another perk is that the commission fee is reduced, for the client you work the most with. Owing to this reason Upwork becomes the perfect platform for building relationships that are long-term. Funds can be withdrawn by the freelancers either by using their own bank accounts or by using third-party payment vendors like PayPal and Payoneer.
Types of Jobs Available – Fiverr vs Upwork
Both the platforms offer a myriad of genres in the selection of jobs, ranging from coding to creating a customized meal plan for client.
Fiver Job Opportunities- Fiverr vs Upwork
The freelancing opportunities are divided into Fiverr’s Gigs Directory, such as Graphics and Design, Music and Audio, Programming and Tech, Digital Marketing, Business, Writing and Translation, data, Lifestyle, Video and Animation.
Note that there are tons of subcategories for each category. For example, sellers under the Programming and Tech section will also consider sub categories, such as website development, blockchain and cryptocurrency, or NFT development.
Upwork Job Opportunities- Fiverr vs Upwork
Upwork allows the freelancers an option to choose a niche from 14 primary job categories and various more, when they are signing up.
The categories are as follow:
- Accounting and Consulting
- Admin Support
- Customer Service
- Data Science and Analysis
- Design and Creative
- Engineering and Architecture
- IT and Networking
- Legal
- Sales and Marketing
- Translation
- Web, Mobile, and Software Development
- Writing
- Education & Training
- Other
After that, the next step involves choosing a range
From here, new freelancers will choose a range of sub categories they have expertise in from each category. To further enhance your profile, you can add up to ten skills.
Upwork allows clients to engage in highly customizable contracts with the freelancers, on top of offering multiple job categories, such as projects that are one-time, Ongoing freelance contracts, Discrete projects with milestones, projects you can do in hourly basis.
As a client, this platform lets you build a team by enabling you to work with multiple freelancers. For example, a marketing company can simultaneously hire a freelance a content manager, content writer, graphic designer, and many more.
Fiverr vs Upwork- Exploring Security and Verification Frontiers
Security is one of the most important aspects when it comes to choosing a freelancing platform. In this section we’ll explore the differences between Fiverr vs Upwork security measures.
Security in Fiverr – faceoff between Fiverr vs Upwork
Fiverr takes security very seriously and meets the standard meets the security standards like the Level 1 PCI-DSS for payment and is also GDPR-compliant. However, this still doesn’t stop you from getting scam, since this platform is more buyer oriented. For instance, a buyer will send request for a custom order. Once the seller has completed it and delivered it to them, they’ll request a refund claiming that they never received the order.
Fiverr vs Upwork – Types of Sellers on Fiverr
Fiverr has defined different levels for buyers depending upon the number of orders they completed, total revenue they generated, and their experience. This is to let clients know who are the best freelancers:
- New Seller: When you first create a Gig on Fiverr, it will automatically rank you as a New Seller.
- Level 1: When you’ve been an active seller for at least 60 days, completed ten orders, and earned 400 dollars or more.
- Level 2: When you’ve been an active seller for at least 120 days, completed 50 orders, and earned 2,000 dollars or more.
- Top-Rated Seller: This badge is reserved for highly skilled freelancers that have been active for at least 180 days and have completed a total of 100 orders and earned 20,000 dollars or more in the last 180 days.
Important Note: In order to receive these badges, you also have to maintain a 4.7-star rating, you should also 90% delivery response rate, ensure on-time delivery, and have received no warnings over the last 30 days.
Security in Upwork– faceoff between Fiverr vs Upwork
Upwork utilizes a number of ways for providing secure contracts and payments such as, the implementation of multi-factor authentication, enabling the Enterprise single sign-on (SSO) and session timeouts, encrypting all the data by using strong algorithms, Verifying the profiles and payment methods of every freelancer and client, complying with the GDPR and CCPA requirements, for secure payment processing Using the PCI DSS Level 2 compliant.
This platform also has a dispute team which is available to resolve any issue that might arise between the clients and freelancers. For instance, conflicts involving billed hours, refunds, or unresponsiveness.
Fiverr vs Upwork – Types of Sellers in Upwork
The Upwork platform also has profile badges and seller levels, similar to Fiverr
- Rising Talent: It’s for freshers having a strong background in their relevant field.
- Top Rated: The top 10% of Upwork talents that are based on positive feedback from clients.
- Top Rated Plus: Individuals that has worked on both large or long-term projects, with proven success.
- Expert-Vetted Talent: You can earn this batch after passing evaluation from Upwork’s Talent Managers.
- Diversity-certified: it’s a special badge awarded to minorities, veterans, women, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ members.
- Skills certification: When you join the Upwork Skills Certification and then feature it on your profile, you earn this batch
Conclusion- The bottom-line in the Faceoff between Fiverr vs Upwork
Both Fiverr and Upwork presents its users with a myriad of opportunities. In some aspects Upwork is better and in others Fiverr, but it the end it all boils down to what your goals and expertise are. If you are looking for a platform where you have freedom and the signing up process is quite easy, then Fiverr is your way forward.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for big professional projects, with amazing collaboration opportunities then Upwork is the one for you. In conclusion the choice between which is better is a question that’s very subjective and will differ from person to person, according to their specific niche and expertise. So whether you’re team Fiverr or team Upwork, I wish you the best of luck in your freelancing endeavors!
