Freelancing jobs has become one of the most talked about jobs these days, as it provides the facility to work from anywhere and at any time. In the freelancing space, the two names that are most talked about and also give great competition to each other are UpWork vs Fiverr.
Both these platforms have revolutionized the way businesses or companies used to connect with freelancers. Both have distinct features that help them to cater to diverse needs of both the freelancers and the business/companies.
Company Overview
UpWork and Fiverr, both boast good presence among market, by having a user base above 1 million. In the table below, we’ll have an overview of both the companies.
| Company name | UpWork | Fiverr |
| Founded | 2013 | 2010 |
| Founder | Berud Sheth, Srini Anumolu, Sanjay Noronha, Odysseas Tsatolas, Stratis Karamanlakis | Micha Kaufman and Shai Wininger |
| Head office | San Francisco, California, United States. | Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. |
| CEO | Hayden Brown | Micha Kaufman |
| Former name | Elance-oDesk | Fiverr International Limited. |
| Market share | 62.3% | 16.04% |
| Customer base | Over 5 million | 4.2 million |
| Global presence | In over 180 countries | In more than 160 countries |
| Revenue | Between $770-$780 million | $93.5 million |
| Website | upwork.com | fiverr.com |
UpWork clearly reflects a higher market share, user base, and also the revenue in comparison to Fiverr.
UpWork vs Fiverr: Key Differences
Here we’ll discuss some of the major factors which help in differentiating between UpWork and Fiverr.
| Factors | UpWork | Fiverr |
| Suitability | Suitable for large scale and long term projects. | Suitable for smaller projects or tasks. |
| Set up time | Require more time for setup, as it requires to post projects or tasks done in detail. | Takes less time for setup and makes it easy to find what the user needs quickly. |
| Service fee | Charges 10% from the freelancers. | Freelancers pay 20% to the platform. |
| Client fee | One time charge taken as the initiation fee of up to $4.95 on new contracts. | Charges 5.5% fee on all transactions. |
| Transaction fee | 5% fee | 5.5% fee (minimum) |
| Ways to find freelancers | 1. Post a job on the platform and receive proposals from different freelancers. 2. Browse project catalog (look for the services from different freelancers ) | 1. Browse the available gigs (service packages by the freelancers) on the platform, and about the profiles of sellers/freelancers. 2. Message them if interested in their services. |
| Billing methods (varies country by country) | Via Credit cards, PayPal, U.S. bank transfers. | Done through Credit cards, Debit card, PayPal (including Pay Later), Google Pay, Apple Pay, Sofort, iDEAL, Boleto, GiroPay, Fiverr account balance |
| Profile badges given and seller level | Following profile badges are given to the profiles of freelancers: Top rated, Top rated plus, Rising talent, Job success score, Expert-Vetted talent, Skill certifications, Diversity-certified, etc. | Freelancers are awarded with following levels: New seller level, Level one, Level two, Top-rated seller. |
| Process for applying job | Use connects made on the platform or respond to an invite. | It offers a platform to freelancers to post their services instead of offering them a job. |
| Payment methods | Direct deposit, Bank transfer, PayPal, Instant Pay, M-Pesa, US Dollar wire transfer. | Bank transfer, PayPal, Fiverr revenue card, Payoneer, Direct deposit. |
| Security provided | Offers multi factor authentication, encrypts data, verifies identities, scans messages, offers single sign on (SSO), adheres to GDPR and CCPA regulations, etc., along with a customer support team. | It provides data security, secure message services, Level 1 PCI DSS compliance, along with a customer support team. |
Fiverr charges a higher commission as compared to UpWork, and also offers more billing methods than UpWork. Apart from the above listed differences, both these platforms offer special features to both the freelancer and the buyer who is looking for a freelancer.
Special features of UpWork
- 10 free connects every month,
- Hourly payment protection,
- Feedback removal,
- Direct contracts,
- Access to UpWork chat Pro,
- Desktop app, etc.
Special features of Fiverr
- Get help from a success manager,
- A seller plus subscription,
- Promoted gigs or service package from freelancers,
- Fiverr Pro application.
UpWork vs Fiverr: Types of Job Offered
| Job offered | UpWork | Fiverr |
| Admin support, AI services, Accounting and support, Customer services, Design and creative, IT and networking, Sales and marketing, Writing, Web, software, and mobile development. Etc. | Programming and tech, Graphics and design, Writing and translation, Business, Consulting, Music and audio, AI services, Data, etc. |
Apart from the above listed jobs, UpWork offers jobs in over 90 available categories, whereas, on Fiverr, jobs and freelancers can be found across 10 industries.
Also on UpWork platform, both clients and freelancers can have customizable contracts and freelancers on the platform have full control over their prices, that includes both the flat-price option and the hourly billing. Whereas on Fiverr, freelancers and the client are in a fixed price contract.
After looking at the differences between the two platforms, now we’ll discuss the pros and cons of each of the platform.
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Pros and Cons of UpWork
Pros
- Offers good filter tools and searches.
- Get more job opportunities with higher pay.
- Offers solid tracking of work opportunities.
- Various collaborations.
- Various payment tools.
Cons
- There is more job competition.
- Sometimes, it becomes difficult to find a high quality partner.
- Fee structure can be complex.
Pros and Cons of Fiverr
Pros
- Offers simple fee structure.
- Easy platform for new freelancers to start their work.
- No lengthy contracts.
- Less fees.
Cons
- Charges high commission.
- Becomes difficult to get repeated clients.
Conclusion
Considering factors like market share, user base, global presence, and the revenue, then UpWork clearly emerges as the winner. Choosing between the two freelancing platform totally depends on the individual preference of work. Freelancers who want long term and customizable work contracts with less commission can go for UpWork platform. Whereas, those who want short term contracts and easy finding of jobs, can select Fiverr platform.
