Fiverr vs. PeoplePerHour vs. Freelancer For Small Businesses In 2024

IMHO Reviews is ready to release their findings regarding the best freelance site for small businesses after using three different online platforms.

Platform overviews

Who Is Fiverr for?

Fiverr is one of the best low-cost freelance platforms, as the services offered begin at only $5. It offers a very extensive range of services, from singing telegrams to programming, and it is ideal for short projects or recurring small projects. The client fee is 5 percent, but if you purchase $20 of work or less, the fee is only $1. Fiverr consistently has some of the highest online reviews of any freelance website.

Read Fiverr review to learn more about the platform

Who Is PeoplePerHour for?

One feature that separates PeoplePerHour from the other freelance websites is that it is more location-specific, enabling clients to hire freelancers from their local area, which helps with targeted projects and could lead to long-term work relationships. PeoplePerHour is a bit smaller, with approximately 1.5 million freelancers on the website. Since the creation of the website, more than 1.1 million jobs have been posted on PeoplePerHour for freelancers in more than 89 countries, resulting in earnings of more than $100 million. Companies can choose from skills in approximately 15 job categories that include IT, marketing, SEO, translation, social media, video, writing, administration, design, tutorials and more.

Who Is Freelancer.com for?

Freelancer.com features the widest range of freelancers from around the world, hosting more than 21 million professionals from more than 247 countries. The fee per project is 3 percent on this platform, which is fairly standard compared to other freelance websites. One of the unique features of Freelancer is that companies can post jobs in a contest format, which allows businesses to list the work they need completed and freelancers to submit their best efforts, with only the winning freelancer being paid. 


Business Models Explained

Fees for the buyer:

Fiverr

Fiverr charges buyers a processing fee of $1 for orders up to $20. For orders above $20, they charge buyers 5 percent of the total.

Freelancer

Employers can post projects for free, but buyers must pay a fee of either 3 percent or $3 on fixed-price jobs or 3 percent on every payment for hourly jobs once they accept a bid.

PeoplePerHour

Many buyers mentioned on various review websites that they were charged fees of up to 10 percent on orders, but these fees are not officially stated on the PeoplePerHour website.

Protection from Fraud

Like any freelance website, there is the possibility of scams happening within these platforms. Unless you have worked with a freelancer for a while and they have proved to be reliable, it is wise not to share login information for your website or any other sensitive information. Employers also should never pay money upfront without receiving any work.

Important Information for the Buyer

It is essential for buyers to limit all their communication to the platform’s messaging system so that they have a full record if something goes wrong. Any other information will likely be disregarded by customer support if there is a problem, so it is crucial to be able to provide evidence within the website.

Be sure to look for an appropriate amount of detail in each proposal. If there is anything that seems too broad or vague, ask questions in order to clarify. For large or long-term projects, confirm that there are specific and appropriate milestones and that any deadlines are realistic.

Carefully reviewing the delivered work before confirming your payment will protect your money and ensure that you are fully satisfied with the finished product. On that note, it is absolutely vital to only pay through the platform as the site cannot protect buyers from scams if they send a payment through a different platform.

Clearly communicating expectations and presenting detailed and accurate requirements is crucial for the satisfaction of the company. If the project description is unclear or misleading, the freelancer will not know exactly how to meet that need, and it will result in frustration for everyone and possibly even a payment dispute. It is also important to think through details such as the deadline, your budget and the experience level you need for the work to be done well. Setting a deadline that is realistic and fair will go a long way toward a project being completed smoothly.

Ultimately, IMHO Reviews decided that every platform has its own advantages and disadvantages. Fiverr is best for low-cost, short or recurring projects, PeoplePerHour is ideal for location-specific work or work that requires a long-term relationship and Freelancer has the widest selection of freelancers to choose from.