Best Freelance Job Websites: Find freelance work online with these freelancer job sites

Finding freelance jobs online can be a difficult task, but with the proliferation of online jobs sites you’ll never be stuck for options for finding freelance work online.

I’ve compiled this list of 21 freelance job sites, covering everything from web design and IT contracts to photography projects, graphic design to copywriting jobs.

While you will want to build up your own network, referrals and repeat business, these freelance job sites can help you build up your experience and get you used to the ins and outs of working as a freelancer.

Each entry has a link to the job site and a brief description. I plan to return to the list and update it with further details, like how much the typical project pays and which areas / countries the freelance jobs tend to come from for each job site, but I hope this is a good start and is useful for those looking to find freelance jobs online.

These lists include sites where you bid for projects, as well as  job sites and forums. For sites where you bid for projects, the sites often take a commission – usually a percentage of the project fee. In case of forums, you get the ability to contact the client directly and work out a project fee from there.

Don’t forget to check out my post on 28 tips from freelance job sites that you can use to be a successful freelancer to make the most out of these freelance job sites.

Also read this comment on the Freelance subreddit if you want to escape low paying gigs on sites like these.

There’s a lot freelance job sites out there and I’m sure I’ve missed some, so leave me a comment or get in touch if you want me to add another freelance job site.

To make it easier, you can click on these links to skip to the section most relevant to you:

• The Main Freelance Job Sites
• Freelance Writing Jobs
• Freelance IT and  Web Design Jobs
• Freelance Digital Marketing Jobs
• Freelance Graphic Designer Jobs

The Main Freelance Job Sites

Elance – One of the biggies, with over 25,000 jobs posted weekly. Free registration. No cost to apply to jobs. 100% payment protection on all your jobs.

Odesk – Similar to Elance, with 100,000+ jobs are posted every month, with a variety of job opportunities that can be long-term or short, paid hourly or per project, expert to entry level.

Freelancer.com – While not as big as Odesk or Elance, Freelancer.com posts impressive numbers, with 13,548,918 members, £1,163,903,727 worth of fees from 6,635,751 projects.

Craiglist – While you might think of Craiglist of being the place to buy and sell furniture or find a new flat, there are actually lots of jobs posted to their site that are perfect for freelancers – especially if you’re looking for freelance gigs from a particular location.

Gumtree – Similar to Craigslist, but may be even more useable, Gumtree lists local jobs for people and businesses looking for freelancers in their area.

Freelance Writing Job Sites

Textbroker – Founded in 2005, Textbroker has thousands of registered authors and customers from around the globe execute more than 100,000 content orders through their site every month. Their clients include publicly traded corporations, small business owners, ecommerce websites, social media communities and publishers.

Writer Access – Earn 2 cents to $2 or more per word depending on your rating, on their site – a ranking that improves with certifications, solid performance and customer reviews. Their fully transparent pay policy means 70% of every dollar a customer is paid to you.

The Content Authority – While looking less professional than other freelance job sites, this site has the potential to earn you more per word as the amount a writer is paid for an article is determined by the number of words requested by the client, article type, and level of quality listed for the article.

Zerys – Offers no monthly fees, unlimited access to writing jobs and no need to submit bid proposals. You simply get notified when new jobs are posted that match your profile and you can even develop long-term relationships with clients and build a steady source of work.

Scripted – You’ll find higher quality writing jobs here as becoming a Scripted writer requires a high proficiency in the English language. Their English proficiency test consists of a combination of word scrambles, idioms, and multiple choice questions that have been carefully reviewed by their data scientists.  This level of difficulty means that 80% their writers are from the US.

Media Bistro – Their freelance marketplace is a great place to publicise yourself to mediabistro.com’s 3 million unique visitors a month, including 100,000+ editors and managers in their member database.

Duotrope – An established, award-winning writers’ resource,  they currently list 5,000 fiction, poetry, and non-fiction markets that you can applications and bids to.

Journalism Jobs – Founded in August 1998 by Dan Rohn, a former copy editor and business writer with The Washington Post, JournalismJobs.com receives between 2.5 to 3 million page views a month.

Contently – A tech startup based in NYC with the mission of building a better media world, and empowering the three groups that have a stake in that: publishers, creative people (journalists!), and readers. Contently have talent scouts who look at portfolios from time to time to recruit freelancers, then they broker your work with their clients.

Freelance IT and Web Design Job Sites

Smashing Jobs -Smashing Magazine has more than 4 million monthly users and is known to be one of the most successful magazines for creative professionals. Smashing Jobs Smashing Magazine’s job board for freelancers.

Computer Assistant – Very much geared at IT freelance consultants, Computer Assistant offers on-site technical support for companies across the US.

GetACoder – AS well as offering the usual bidding system for freelance projects, GetACoder has a Milestone payment system, which allows you to request a buyer to place funds in advance as milestone payments, giving you the added security of knowing you will get regular payments across larger projects.

Freelance Digital Marketing Job Sites

Digital Point – While predominantly a discussion forum, Digital Point also has plenty of job opportunities posted to its messaging board.

Warrior Forum – Another forum like Digital Point, but geared heavily towards Internet Marketing. Take a look at their Warriors For Hire thread for an idea of the kind of jobs available and how other freelancers are selling their services.

Freelance Graphic Designer Job Sites

Dribbble – Dribbble is a community of web designers, graphic designers, illustrators, icon artists, typographers, logo designers, and other creative types who share small screenshots that show their work, process, and current projects.  Their jobs board is an easy way to show off your freelance work and other “shots” to potential clients.

Behance – Less comprehensive than Dribbble and with lots of full-time offers among the freelance work, but still contains loads of freelance job opportunities – mainly US-based.

 

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