Due to COVID, you are definitely aware that many people became jobless due to downsizing in most companies. This was an abrupt change in people’s lives, but on the other hand, some freelancers were working from home, and COVID didn’t affect them as badly as the regular employees. In the Freelancing world, many websites provide you a platform to sell your services and earn online. The popular ones are Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, People per hour. Today you will be facing an honest truth between Upwork vs. Fiverr.
Overview
Fiverr
Fiverr is a freelancing platform established in 2010 designed for people who want a quick turnaround at a low-cost. This platform offers a wide variety of freelancers selling their different skills online.
Upwork
Upwork is also a professionally designed freelancing platform that also has over 10 million registered users. You can also find a variety of services on this platform as well.
So, the question is that which platform is best for you if you are going to start a freelancing career? Which offers the most benefits for you?
Upwork vs. Fiverr
Both platforms are good, but some factors can be considered while joining any freelancing platform.
Membership Plan
In Upwork, you will find two membership plans. One is Basic, and the other is Plus. The basic plan is completely free with 20 connects only, while the Plus membership plan has a $14.99/month subscription price. The paid plan includes 70 connects per month, which you can use for bidding on different projects and other benefits.
While in Fiverr, the subscription is completely free. You will be awarded daily 10 buyer requests that you can use for bidding purposes—almost a total of 300 buyer requests you can send over a month.
Profile Creation
When it comes to creating the profile on either platform, you must be aware of them.
You might face some difficulty while creating your profile in Upwork because Upwork only adds those freelancers who are highly skilled in their field as they don’t want to provide the buyers a low-quality service.
While in Fiverr, you can join Fiverr without any difficulty. You can consider it a plus point from Fiverr. Just sign up and get started.
Skills Showcase
In Upwork and Fiverr, the showcase for displaying your projects is almost the same now.
Fiverr allows a newbie to publish up to 7 gigs. It’s up to you whether you publish all gigs of the same or different categories.
Similarly, in Upwork, you can publish your project catalogs almost the same as Fiverr. In addition to this, you can create your portfolio there.
Seller Levels
This one is a very important fact to know about these two platforms.
When you join Upwork, you will be awarded no level. You have to attract buyers through your proposal using the only 20 connects they gave you. Once you start getting orders, then you will be awarded a “Rising Talent” badge. After this badge, you will get promoted depending upon the orders and amount earned like:
Top Rated => After Earning $1000 and good reviews
Top Rated Plus => After Earning $10,000 in one year and good reviews.
Expert Vetted => This badge is hand given and chosen by Upwork themselves.
Fiverr is different in terms of level system. When you join Fiverr, they will give you a new seller badge, which means you are on level zero. Keeping in mind that you have daily 10 bids in Fiverr and upon getting orders and positive reviews, you will be awarded these types of badges.
Level One Seller => After Earning $400 and 4.7-star rating and 10 orders completion
Level Two Seller => After Earning $2000 and 4.7-star rating and 50 orders completion
Top Rated Seller => After Earning $20,000 and 4.7-star rating and 100 orders completion
Tax Deduction
Let’s discuss the taxes and fees they are charging against the reliable platform and services they provided.
Upwork Fees
Upwork also has a percentage system like other platforms, but how much percentage are they charging on each project? Details are
one: 20% on the project less than equal to $500
two: 10% on project greater than $500 and less than $10,000
three: 5% on project greater than $10,000
These percentages will be deducted from your earning depending upon the amount of project you are working on.
Fiverr Fees
The fee or tax system of Fiverr is so simple. However, it’s good/bad for all freelancers. The reason is that they will charge you 20% for each project you are working on.
Example: If you are working on a project of $5, they will charge you 20% of $5, and similarly, if you are working on a project worth $1000, then they will also take 20% of $1000 as well. There is no relaxation of high or low pricing projects.
Withdrawal Charges
Including the taxes and fees, freelancing platforms also charge a small amount when you withdraw your funds to your bank. This is because they ensure to deliver your funds with complete security and checks to get your earning without difficulty.
Upwork has two options to withdraw.
- Local Bank Transfer
Upwork will charge you $0.99 per transaction if you are withdrawing your funds to your local bank. - Transfer via Payoneer
You will be charged $2 per transaction if you are willing to have your funds deposited in your Payoneer account.
On the other hand, Fiverr is pretty good that they do not charge on withdrawal. Fiverr is not going to charge you if you are withdrawing your funds to either Payoneer or Paypal.
Advantages and Disadvantages:
Pros of using Upwork
- A highly skilled talent pool
- An easy recruiting processes
- Quality specialist support
- High Paying projects
- Ease of work (hourly or project-based)
- Good Customer Support
Pros of using Fiverr
- A variety of gigs.
- Affordable price tags
- User-friendly interface
- Extra Money
- Good Customer Support
Cons of using Upwork
- High competition
- Use paid connects to send proposals.
- New Profile Acceptance difficulties
- Monthly subscription
Cons of using Fiverr
- Spammy Sellers or Buyers
- Difficult to make consistent money
- Facing Deadlines
- High Competition
Conclusion
Concluding the topic, if you are planning to join a freelancing platform, then you might have many options to choose from. But if you are choosing from Upwork and Fiverr, then the scenario is a little bit different.
Being a newbie in this field, you must go with Fiverr first because of many positive aspects. One of the big plus points is that Fiverr is free from membership. After getting enough experience from Fiverr, you can now jump to Upwork because you will have enough experience to handle these kinds of platforms and clients.
