Fiverr Vs. Upwork: Who Gives The Better Service?

Whether you are a freelancer or a customer, chances are you need to find a marketplace where you can offer your services for small gigs or buy them. The two leading platforms today are Fiverr and UpWork, with UpWork having absorbed several companies like oDesk and eLance, while Fiverr remains solo.

Fiverr VS Upwork: which is better? Let us take a look at some important aspects of the sites and to compare them side by side. We will compare:

• Size
• Fees
• Ease of joining
• Quality

Size

UpWork was founded sometime in 1999. It was in 2013 when it merged Elance and oDesk together. It has a total of more than 14 million users worldwide. Overall, it has charged more than $1 billion in gigs.

Fiverr, on the other hand, started out in 2010. As the name implies, it started a $5-gig economy where all the services can be bought for as little as $5.

Eventually, the company allowed its freelancers to charge more than that. In less than two years from its launch, Fiverr was already hosting more than one million gigs.

Today, Fiverr has more than three million gigs and is home to more than 5.5 million buyers and 800,000 sellers. Looking at these numbers, UpWork is the clear winner.

However, if you think about it, UpWork had a lead time of ten years, and it did not really grow its users organically, as it merged with to other companies that already have a massive user base.

Fees

This is a critical comparison, even if you are a buyer. The fees that these platforms charge will undoubtedly affect the prices of the services you buy. If you are a freelancer, then this is all the more important so you can price your gigs accordingly.

Let start with freelancer fees.

UpWork – charges 20% for the first $500 worth of successfully paid projects. This will get reduced as you charge more. By the time you have charged more than $10,000, you will only be paying 5% freelancer fees. For bids, UpWork charges $0.15 per bid.

Also, UpWork charges a withdrawal fee of $0.99 if you withdraw your earnings directly to your bank account.

Fiverr – the fee is a flat rate of 20%, regardless of the project price or how much you have charged over time. Fiverr does not charge withdrawal fees. Fiverr does not charge a fee for the bid, but you only have a maximum of ten bids per day.

Now, if you are a buyer, will you pay for anything? Fiverr will charge you $1 if you buy a service up to $25. If you are purchasing a gig that costs more than that, Fiverr will charge 5% of the total cost.

If the project you paid for is $100, then the total payment you will make is $105. $5 will go to Fiverr, and another 20% of the remaining $100 will go to Fiverr.

In UpWork, there is a flat rate of 3% if you buy a gig. This applies to all payment methods you use like PayPal or credit cards. In this area, UpWork wins as it does offer flexible fees to the sellers, and a flat rate of 3% to all project costs.

Ease of Joining as a Freelancer

Before you can even place bids in UpWork, you need to pass several tests according to your specific skills. During the sign-up process, you have to select how many skills apply to you as a freelancer, and then you need to take the tests. You must have a rating of at least 90% to qualify.

If you fail, you cannot place bids on that specific skill. On Fiverr, there are tests you can take, but they are not required. Some of the tests are free, while some are paid.

The purpose of these tests is to show your potential clients your skill rating and therefore improve your chances of getting hired.

As far as jobs are concerned, you can place bids on both sites, but many people think that Fiverr is a marketplace where you wait until clients find you. This is not true. Fiverr gives you ten bids per day, and it is free. So, for Fiverr VS UpWork on ease of use and joining, Fiverr clearly wins this one.

Quality of Work

Now, since it is easy to join Fiverr, you can also expect to find the poor quality of services here. The thing with Fiverr is that it does not check or validate the qualifications of its sellers and service providers. UpWork, on the other hand, has strict rules before you can even place a bid.

There was even a time when UpWork did a purge on its users. Thousands of freelancers were banned, especially those who were not earning enough, or those whose bid success percentage was low.

It did not matter if you had a high rating; people were removed for not closing many gigs. This goes to show that UpWork is much more concerned about the quality of services that its freelancers offer, despite the erroneous and ludicrous purging system.

Also, there was a time when Fiverr made a Facebook ad saying that people are paying too much for their graphic design services. The company received a lot of backlash from legitimate and talented graphic artists. So, for Fiverr VS UpWork on quality of services, UpWork beats Fiverr.

Conclusion

UpWork got three points out of four, and so it is the clear winner. Despite this, do not be discouraged from using Fiverr. It is a goldmine for both freelances and buyers if you are just patient enough to find the right person to do business with.

For freelancers, UpWork is a tough marketplace to get into. You will not even be approved if the service you offer is a common one, like graphic design.

UpWork does not want more graphic designers, and it is more likely to approve your application for membership as a freelancer if you are offering hard-to-come-by services like computer coding or app development.