Best Sites to Find Gig Jobs

Upwork is one of the largest freelance marketplaces, and it tops our list of best chose it as the best overall site to find gig jobs because the variety of work listed serves both entry-level and experienced freelancers equally.

Upwork helps freelancers find both one-off gigs and long-term contracts in a variety of industries, including design, development, accounting, marketing, writing, customer service, and more. Freelancers create a free profile where they can post details about themselves and their experience, case studies, build a portfolio, detail their rates and skills, and even post a personal video.

Upwork’s AI-powered search engine then filters through tens of thousands of opportunities to match the freelancer to potential projects. Freelancers can review a client’s ratings, history, and project details before submitting a bid. Clients and freelancers can also ask and answer questions and negotiate rates and details through Upwork, and every aspect of a contract is managed through Upwork, including time-tracking, invoicing, file sharing, messaging, and payment options.

Creating a profile on Upwork is free, but the platform takes a percentage of a freelancer’s earnings based on the amount billed:

• 20% for the first $500 billed to a client across all contracts with them
• 10% for total billings with a client between $500.01 and $10,000
• 5% for total billings with a client that exceed $10,000

We chose Freelancer as our runner-up for best site for gig work because, although it has a larger reach and is a little easier to break into than Upwork, clients tend to underpay for projects.

Rather than focusing on specific industries, Freelancer organizes projects by skill-related categories, including websites, graphic design, illustration, 3D modeling, WordPress, product design, and more. It even allows users to browse local jobs, including teaching/lecturing, drafting, general labor, drone photography, and more.

Like Upwork, Freelancer is free to join. Users create a profile that showcases their skills and experience and set their fees. Then they can browse for jobs using a number of customizable filters, check out client ratings and histories, and place bids on projects. Finally, freelancers can communicate with clients right through the platform as well as track time, submit invoices, and get paid through Freelancer’s Milestone Payments.  

One of the main differences between Freelancer and Upwork is that anyone can open a Freelancer account, but to create an account on Upwork, you need to be approved. Upwork’s vetting process narrows down the competition, making it easier to find quality work than Freelancer does. As a result, Freelancer is better for inexperienced freelancers looking to get simple, lower-paying jobs for building a portfolio or for short-term low-priced hourly work. 

Although creating a profile on Freelancer is free, the platform takes a percentage of a freelancer’s earnings based on how much is earned:

• Fixed-price projects: 3% fee or $3, whichever is greater
• Hourly projects: Flat 3% fee
• Services: 20% fee
• Refer an employer to the platform: No fee for all future work with that client

Guru is our pick for experienced gig workers because it targets professionals rather than entry-level freelancers and offers paid memberships to help users rank higher in the site’s search results. 

Guru focuses on placing talented professionals with projects in nine different categories: programming and development, writing and translation, design and art, administration and secretarial, sales and marketing, business and finance, engineering and architecture, education and training, and legal. Besides these nine, there is also an "other" category for everything else.

As with many gig websites, users can create a profile for free. From there, users can either browse freelance jobs online or get recommendations based on their skills with Guru’s Top Match and Good Match search features. Once a freelancer finds a job they’re interested in, they submit a bid.    

Guru’s platform also offers virtual WorkRooms where freelancers collaborate and add team members to a job. Users can also track time, share files, communicate with their team, create agreements and invoices, choose payment terms, and get paid, all from Guru’s platform.  

Joining Guru and creating a profile is free for freelancers. However, the company offers paid memberships to help freelancers bid for more jobs, boost their search results, send messages to clients before placing a bid, and earn more money:

Taskrabbit is our pick for moonlighting since it offers flexible, local, one-off, or ongoing jobs to suit anyone’s schedule.   

Getting started with Taskrabbit is easy. Users, called "Taskers," create a profile and provide basic information including pay rates and their experience level for their task categories. Tasks can be just about anything, from assembling furniture and planting flowers to cleaning houses and delivering groceries. 

Before they can bid on projects, users have to apply to be a Tasker. Applicants must be 18 or older, have a checking account and smartphone, pass background and ID checks, provide a valid Social Security number, and pay a one-time, non-refundable $25 registration fee. Once a Tasker is approved, they can set up direct deposit.   

After a Tasker is onboarded, they will be notified of potential jobs nearby via the Taskrabbit smartphone app or they can search for them. They can select a job they want to complete, confirm details with the client, complete the work, and submit their invoice.

Taskers rely on completed jobs and good reviews to get more jobs. Users will often save their favorite Taskers to book again and again, so getting regular work is a definite possibility with Taskrabbit.   

We choose Toptal as the best for IT professionals because the company’s aggressive screening process creates an exclusive opportunity for highly skilled freelancers.     

The quality of Toptal’s talent pool is the result of the company’s application process. Applicants begin with a comprehensive English language and communication evaluation. Toptal also assesses personality traits to find passionate and engaged candidates. Applicants are then given in-depth skills assessments, live problem-solving and creativity exercises, and test projects. As a result, only 3% of Toptal’s applicants make it through the application process.   

Due to its rigorous vetting process, Toptal’s freelancers are well-positioned to receive competitive rates for their services, and the company doesn’t charge its freelancers any fees. Instead, it marks up a freelancer’s rate for its clients. Clients are typically invoiced twice a month for ongoing projects with Net 10 terms and can pay for a freelancer’s services via a credit card, ACH, bank wire, or PayPal.

FlexJobs is our choice as the best for remote jobs because the company’s trained researchers scour hundreds of online job resources every day and evaluate each posting to connect freelancers to the best opportunities.

FlexJobs’ extensive research and screening process weeds out ads, broken links, repetitive postings, and scams from remote job postings. The company also works with thousands of companies that post flexible jobs directly to its site. The result is a curated list of professional, high-quality, and flexible job opportunities for freelancers looking for remote work.      

In addition to its curated job listings, FlexJobs offers job search checklists, career advice articles, more than 200 expert skills tests, and tips to help freelancers’ resumes stand out. FlexJobs’ paid memberships offer discounts on career coaching and resume reviews from FlexJobs as well as negotiated discounts from job search-related products and services from other companies.

While FlexJobs offers free job-related information, users must have a paid membership to access the full job listings in the company’s database. Members get unlimited job access; free skills testing; email alerts; expert job tips, resources, and offers; and portfolios with resumes and work samples.

Although reviews are mostly positive, some freelancers complain that listings are outdated and that the filters offered are lacking for certain skill and educational levels.

Fiverr.com was started in 2010 by Micha Kaufman and Shai Wininger as a way for people to offer digital services typically offered by freelance contractors for $5. Along the way, the started allowing bigger jobs and a variety of prices. Today, the company has over 100 service categories and tens of thousands of users from over 160 countries. We chose it as the best for creatives since it offers the opportunity for freelancers in just about any digital creative field to offer their services to a global marketplace. 

Fiverr broadly categorizes its services (like graphics and design, digital marketing, and writing and translation), but freelancers can offer services as specific as they want. Examples include Facebook page banners, podcast intros, book covers, menu design, comic book illustration, and more.

Sellers start by creating a free profile with their listed expertise and setting the services they want to offer, known as Gigs. Sellers can add up to three different packages to the Gig Page to give buyers more choices and upsell their Gig with extras before, during, and after the order. Finally, sellers can send custom offers to potential buyers to offer more flexibility.

Fiverr allows sellers to keep 80% of their funds. When a seller gets paid, Fiverr puts a 14-day hold on the funds in the event a dissatisfied client wants a refund. After that period is over, the seller can withdraw their funds to a PayPal account, credit their Fiverr Revenue Card, which works like a debit card, or transfer money to a bank account. 

Although third-party reviews are mostly positive, some freelancers report problems withdrawing their money, as well as with poor customer service and getting scammed by people who didn't want to pay for their work.