Upwork and Fiverr are both online freelancing sites but are significantly different. Here’s what to know about using them.
What is Upwork?
There are numerous categories for tasks that can be completed on both sites, and Upwork is often the destination for buyers due to a couple of reasons. Upwork works by allowing buyers to create a job specification and posting it to a particular category.
Sellers – writers, artists, creatives, IT specialists, etc – browse through these job specs and find one that they can work on. They will then create an offer by replying to the job listing, specifying what they will do, how long it will take, and how much it will cost.
The problem of bots raises its head at this stage. Newly posted jobs can quickly attract multiple bids, but not from fast-typing freelancers. The bots are configured to answer as many listings as possible in the hope that the power of numbers is on their side, and the bot owner will receive 1 out of every hundred jobs.
This doesn’t allow jobs to be chosen based on the skills of the bot owner, and so many buyers put checks in place. They ask the seller to mention a particular word or answer a question in order to be considered. If the question is ignored, the job application is also ignored.
Buyers are fully in control of the process as they specify the requirements, which means that sellers may actually make more for similar tasks on other platforms. However, Upwork is simple to use for buyers and sellers, and great relationships can be built leading to fantastic work.
What is Fiverr?
Fiverr operates in almost the opposite way to Upwork. While a “buyer requests” feature is available, it is hardly worth using as it is plagued with aggressively bidding bots. The main way in which Fiverr works is that sellers list tasks they can do, and buyers decide who will best meet their needs.
The site name comes from the basic price of these tasks (known as gigs) being $5, but the price can be anywhere between $5 and $10,000 for a single piece of work.
Just as with Upwork, the quality of the final work will be determined by who the buyer chooses to work with. Fiverr puts more of a focus on the buyer finding someone who can do the work they need which can be very appealing to buyers – you simply decide you want something doing, and choose someone to do it.
Which is best – Fiverr or Upwork?
For the results you get, there is nothing to choose between the two platforms. Poor work and amazing work can be found on both.
The key difference for buyers is that on Upwork you need to wait for applications and sift through them to find the best. On Fiverr, you pick who you want to consider the job.
For sellers, Fiverr is a matter of waiting to see if someone wants to buy your gig. On Upwork, you apply for those that interest you and you know you can do – you just need to be chosen ahead of the competition.