Freelance sites are gaining more and
more importance due to ever-growing number of both buyers and sellers who use
their services. There are many freelancing sites available on internet. Some of
the most popular sites are Odesk, Freelancer, Elance, Guru, PeoplePerHour and
GeeksPerHr.com. All these freelancing sites have large number of buyer and
sellers. However, if I were to choose one particular site for getting my
project6 done, I will choose GPH. GPH has many features which make it an ideal
freelancing site. But before I site all reasons for my preference, let’s
compare all these sites.
Here is the comparison between top 6 freelancing sites-
Odesk
Odesk is easy, quick, and great
resource for online jobs. Odesk is also one of the best 500 websites in the
world and the second best freelancing website according to Alexa rank.
Why should you choose Odesk??
1.
Hundreds
or even thousands of online jobs are posted every day.
2.
Hourly
jobs that pay freelancers per hour and insure their rights of payment in case
of any dispute between freelancers and employers.
3.
Mini
job description below every job post to give a preview about the job and this
feature can really help you to decide your level of interest in jobs.
4.
Large
network of developers, tools for tracking employees (keyboard, mouse activity,
screenshots).
What are The Expected Problems with Odesk?
1.
Fixed
Jobs where employees pay you for the whole project unlike hourly jobs. The
payment for this fixed job is not guaranteed by Odesk.
2.
It
takes long time to prepare your profile to look good.
3.
Competition
may make it harder for you to get your first job.
4.
No
limit on bids so jobs often reduce to pricing wars and quality.
5.
Users
can gain profile ratings by hiding negative ratings and having friends provide
feedback, etc.
Freelancer
Freelancer is one of the highest
ranked freelancing websites in Alexa database. It is actually in the top 500
sites all over the world and the FIRST of top 10 Freelancing websites.
What are the best qualities of Freelancer.com?
1.
Free
market where you can buy and sell items and services
2.
Referral
bonus when you invite your friends to Freelancer.com and sign up for jobs.
3.
Signing
up to Freelancer email list will get you lots of job suggestions so that you
can find great jobs sent to you by mail
4.
Payment
is based on millstones, suited to smaller jobs, good for project-based work
Now, what are the expected problems if you were using
Freelancer.com?
1.
First
and the most important, payment options are not very flexible for some people.
I mean that there is no "Direct wire money transfer" to your bank
account.
2.
Also,
PayPal and Money Bookers are not supported in some countries. So, make sure
that you check the payment option via Freelancer.com to make sure that they are
valid for you before bidding for jobs.
3.
Some
postings are without any description.
4.
Users
can gain profile ratings by hiding negative ratings and having friends provide
feedback, etc.
5.
Lack
of talent in pool.
Elance
Elance is a huge freelance
marketplace that welcomes project posters and freelancers alike- in areas like
creative writing, sales writing, website programming, logo design, research and
much more. There are many benefits of using the site, whether you're a
freelancer or a business owner who often finds himself or herself looking for
talented providers.
Below are the top ways in which Elance.com can benefit you
1.
The
Ability to Screen Before You Buy/Provide:
It
doesn't matter whether you're a freelancer or a buyer - with Elance, you can
check the prospective buyer or freelancer before you work with them. Elance has
a pretty in-depth feedback system where clients and providers can rate each
other on how satisfied they are with the work as far as quality,
professionalism, communication, etc. This helps you ensure that you're getting
the best freelancer, or that it's alright to work for a particular employer or
client.
2.
Categories:
You
don't have to compete with several other bids in many different categories with
Elance. You can simply sign up under your preferred category and start looking
for work in just that area. It's organized and easy to use. As a project
poster, your project will be immediately visible by those who work in the
particular category you chose.
3.
Escrow:
With
the Elance escrow program, both parties can be assured that the transaction
will go over well. The project poster can place the payment in escrow, to be
delivered once he or she is satisfied with the work. The freelancer will see
that the escrow payment is pending, so fears of not getting paid are lessened.
Following are the disadvantages of Elance
1.
Elance
is also not providing any guarantee in fixed price job. It totally depends on
the buyers or sellers mutual understanding or communication.
2.
Second
thing is that there are so many jobs posted on Elance, which don’t have any
description and some of them are posted repeatedly. This is wastage of the time
for both buyers and sellers.
Guru
Guru.com is a freelance marketplace.
It allows companies to find freelance workers for completion of work. The goal
of the website is to provide a place where people obtain regular income.
Guru.com launched in 2004 and has been going strong as one of the largest
marketplace for freelancers. They are only one of many online job sites on the
internet.
What we like
1.
Guru.com
is a great site if you’re beginning a freelance writing career. The free
membership offers a lot for beginners. You can upload a resume, samples of your
work, list your skills, create a bio, upload your picture, and much more.
2.
Once
you sign up with Guru.com, you’ll start to receive notifications about
projects. Your success depends on how well you build your profile. You can
receive one or two a day; it depends on what the employer is looking for. Plus,
it’s up to you how many projects you receive and accept.
3.
If
you have no idea how to create a bid or proposal, don’t sweat it. Guru.com
provides samples of a bid and proposal. Some online job sites may not provide
this information. At least you’ll have a guide for future reference.
4.
Lots
of US-based workers.
What I don’t like
1.
Unfortunately,
there’s a down side sometimes server gets too slow to work
2.
Freelancers
pay a lot of fees just to get paid.
3.
Costly
if non-member (10+ %), otherwise monthly fee
PeoplePerHour
PeoplePerHour is a relatively
newcomer in the freelancing scene but has already established itself as a
promising player. If you’ve been on the freelancing market for a while, you’ll
be aware of market leaders such as Freelancer.com, Guru.com, Odesk and Elance. While these sites focus on the mass market
with millions of members and fierce competition, the relatively small
PeoplePerHour focuses on quality and has a much smaller client.
Pros of using PeoplePerHour for your Freelancing Business
1.
The
best thing I find about PeoplePerHour compared to other freelancing sites is
quality leads. We’re talking about a
UK-based business with a large following of online workers in the digital,
media and creative industries that are willing to charge higher prices because
their customers demand higher quality.
2.
The
other big plus of PeoplePerHour is that payment for all contracts is held in
Escrow – an important feature if you’re familiar with the pitfalls of making
contracts online.
Cons of using PeoplePerHour for your Freelancing Business
1.
No
small budget projects for beginners.
2.
Freelancers
pay a lot of fees just to get paid.
3.
Limited
bids available.
4.
Very
difficult to get first project.
GeeksPerHr.com is the brain child of
Mr. Sudesh Agrawal. GeeksPerHr.com is launched in 2011 and has been going
strong as one of the largest marketplace for small businesses and freelancers.
Currently working areas of the GPH are web development, design, application
development, Internet marketing, mobile app development.
Main USP of GeeksPerHr.com: - Instant Access to Work-
With GeeksPerHr.com you get instant
work done. Whether you're a small web development company, small business,
freelancer or someone who need help in projects, there is no need to go
searching around the web for a talented freelancer. You just go with
GeeksperHr.com. You don’t need to post
project and wait for proposal or no need to pay 10-20% of the project cost to
the freelancing site. You just purchase the hourly packages. Their starter
package is just $0.99/hour.
In my opinion GPH is an ideal
freelancing site and it’s totally different from other freelancing sites like
odesk, elance, guru, freelancer, PeoplePerHour etc.
How It Works!
1.
Sign
up with GeeksPerHr.com
2.
Place
an order of 'Starter Pack' - Just $0.99 per hr
3.
You
will be assigned a geek within 12 hours via email and in-built private
messaging system.
4.
The
assigned geek will confirm all the details with you.
5.
You
authorize the geek to begin work via email and/or in-built private message
system.
6.
You
can ask for any changes, additions, graphics, programming, etc.
7.
Geek
uses work tracking system to keep track of work done (via Dropbox and Auto
Screenshot)
8.
You
get the real-time tracking as Geek works on the project
Pros of GPH-
1.
You
just place an order with project details and you're assigned a prescreened and
managed developer.
2.
The
developer that most closely fits to the project demand is assign, thus you
don’t need to invest times in finding the proper developer.
3.
There's
virtually no wait in project execution.
4.
The
assigned developer updates daily without fails, thus you don’t have to prompt
him for updates.
5.
He
verifies his work on all devices, all browsers before he updates you thus you
don’t need to spend lot of time doing testing.
6.
He
takes the most effective approach to execute the project.
7.
Since
he is technically skilled he uses professional coding standards and comments
his code, thus maintaining.
8.
GeeksPerHr.com
also has backup developer that tracks the project behind the scene, thus just
in case the developer is on leave he can jump in and continue with development.
9.
Low
price – trial package is just 99 cents per hour.
10. There is 24/7
live chat on the website. You can chat with them anytime in case of emergencies
or pressing requirements, which I think is a huge plus.
Author: Alvina Brown, UK
Comparison Chart:
Features
|
Odesk
|
Elance
|
Guru
|
Freelancer
|
PeoplePerHour
|
GeeksPerHr
|
Service fees
|
10% of total job cost
|
$10 to post jobs
8.75% if < $10000
7.75%if >$10000
6.75%if>$40000
+$0 to $60/month
To see the jobs posted
|
$4.95 to $8.95
Money transfer and membership are
charged separately
|
10% of the total job cost
|
3.5% to 15%
|
None
|
Membership fees
|
None
|
$0 to $60/month
|
$0 to $49.95/month
|
$0 to $12400/month
|
$0 to $31.95 depend on bid amount
|
None
|
Country
|
United States
|
United States
|
United States
|
Australia
|
United Kingdom
|
India
|
Time Tracker
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
Fixed price project
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Hourly project
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Support via phone
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
Emergency support
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
Hourly projects terms
|
Guaranteed Pay
|
Guaranteed Pay
|
Guaranteed Pay
|
Guaranteed Pay
|
Guaranteed Pay
|
Guaranteed Pay
|
Fixed price Project terms
|
Worker is paid solely at
employer’s discretion. No dispute resolution- employer has ultimate control
|
Employer prepays the project via
escrow and authorizes when the millstone or the project is completed.
|
Employer prepays the project via
escrow and authorizes when the millstone or the project is completed.
For non escrow projects, employer
pay at the end
|
Employer can prepay via
non-compulsory option and authorize funds releases when the millstones get
completed.
|
Employer prepays the project via
escrow and authorizes when the millstone or the project is completed.
|
Guaranteed Pay
|
Bids allowed per month
|
5-20/week
|
40-100/month
|
10-50/month
|
8-1500/month
|
15-100/month
|
No need to bid
|
Funds handling
|
1. pay for hours at the end of the
week
2. pay broker at the end of the
project
|
1. pay for hours at the end of the
week
2. pay in advance(escrow)
|
1. pay for hours at the end of the
week
2. pay in advance(escrow)
|
1. pay for hours at the end of the
week
2. pay at the end of the project
|
1. pay for hours at the end of the
week
2. pay in advance(escrow)
|
1.pay for hour(when you purchase
hours )
|
Payment methods
|
Credit cards,
PayPal
|
Credit
cards,
PayPal
|
Credit cards,
PayPal
|
Credit cards,
PayPal
|
Credit cards,
PayPal
|
PayPal
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
