Upwork Vs Fiverr: Which Is The Better Freelancing Platform?

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Freelancer on Upwork or Fiverr

Fiverr or Upwork? There are a lot of ways to describe each platform or compare them to each other.

But I believe what you want to read here is exactly what I am about to write: Conclusions based on my own personal experience as a freelancer on both of them.

Are you ready to learn some crucial differences betwen the two? Let’s dive in!

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.

Getting the First Client

When it comes to getting the first client, here is what I experienced:

On Fiverr, you have to first work on optimizing your Fiverr seller profile, your Fiverr seller gigs, make sure you can send some traffic over your page to increase views, clicks or favorites (Fiverr likes) , and… wait.

Yes, to get the first message from a Fiverr buyer, you have to basically wait.

I personally would have preferred to have more control over that, and would choose a more active approach instead of just passively waiting.

Yes you can use Fiverr’s “Buyer Request” feature, but most of the jobs offers there are unrealistic requests such as “I will pay you 5$ for 10.000 YouTube subscribers”.

Good luck delivering that one.

Here I like Upwork more. On Upwork you can go and send proposals to more serious offerings being updated basically every minute!

Yes the competition may be tough, especially if you have a brand new freelancer profile, but there is always something for newbies as well.

Doing the job and delivering your work

For me, Fiverr wins this one and let me tell you why:

The communication is often smooth and the whole process of work is more organized and clear

You first have a chat with the buyer and when they decide to try out your service, they place an order.

Once you do the work, you deliver your order by uploading all the necessary files that demonstrate proof of work done.

The buyer can accept the delivery, request revisions (if they have good reasons for it), or do nothing.

If they decide to do nothing, after 3 days the order gets closed automatically and you get paid anyway.

Very rarely I had issues with a Fiverr buyer and when I did, Fiverr support helps a lot in sorting things out.

So if you like delivering your freelancer services fast, Fiverr is definitely the place for you!

Fiverr also has a lot of amazing online courses that not only help you improve your freelancing career in general but also teach you how to grow your business and client base within the Fiverr platform itself.

On Upwork, some clients might want to trick you when it comes fixed price jobs.

For example, out of a $300 project, they only put $5 on the first milestone and try to get the whole work for $5.

So be sure the client adds at least 70% of the money on the first milestone. If they are serious about working with you, they will have no problems with doing that.

Types of competition

Upwork and Fiverr also differ when it comes to the type of competition you as a freelancer will face.

Between the two, I like Upwork more and here is why:

On Fiverr, services are listed one the page as if they were Amazon products.

Freelancers there rank based on the number of reviews, orders they are getting, how fast they deliver those orders, clicks, etc.

Not only you have to keep the same levels of performance, but you also have to hope buyers reach out to you instead of the freelancer next to you.

At the time this article is being written, there are 80,899 services available on Fiverr for Social Media Marketing services only.

While this might not look like a big deal, this has a psychological effect on the buyer who sees the abundance of choice and the commodity in easily hiring anyone at anytime.

On Upwork, the client publishes a job position, and a number of freelancers apply to that job.

Then he has to go through this list of freelancers who have applied, decide which one to interview and eventually which one to hire.

So instead of competing with literally all the freelancers on the page, you only compete with the ones who applied for the same position.

Upwork VS Fiverr: Churn rates

I personally have experienced a higher churn rate on Fiverr than on Upwork. A lot of one time purchases, sometimes it can last 2 to 3 months and very occasionally 6 to 10 months.

On Upwork, the clients often seem to be looking for a long lasting relationship with the freelancer they hire.

Where do you earn more money

This one is easy to answer.

And here is why: Upwork lowers the service fee from 20% to 10% for clients who have paid you $1000 and up. On Fiverr the fee always remains 20%. And that is painful.

Also the secret to growing your profit as a freelancer has a lot to do with the ability to maintain your existing clients while you’re acquiring new ones.

So because relationships with clients seem to be more serious on Upwork, this is where I think you can make more money freelancing.

Upwork Vs Fiverr: Talent Badges, reputation and Authority

Because Upwork wants to maintain a high level when it comes to talent and expertise, building reputation and collecting talent badges isn’t the easiest thing out there.

You have to maintain a high JSS (Job Success Score), and even to just get a JSS you will need to complete a number of projects.

According to Upwork’s FAQ 90% of freelancers have a score after 5 projects, and nearly all freelancers have scores after completing 8 projects.

And no, projects from the same client don’t count. They have to be from at least 2 or more different clients.

On Fiverr things are a little easier.

With $400 earned (all time) and 10 orders, you become a Level One Seller.

With $2000 earned and 50 orders you become a Level Two Seller and with $20K and 100 orders you become a Top Rated Seller.

While Top Rated Sellers are hand picked, everyone can become a Level Two Seller by completing the criteria.

You can read all the specifics here.

Upwork VS Fiverr: Platform’s support

Fiverr’s customer support is amazing! I’ve always found support there for both small things and complicated issues.

When it comes to Upwork, things are a little harder. Upwork kinda wants the freelancer and the client to sort things out on their own.

And when this can’t be achieved, the case can even be handed to the American Arbitration Association, a neutral third-party organization.

The total cost for arbitration is $875, with the client paying $291, the freelancer $291 and Upwork $293.

You will want to avoid getting there.

Upwork Vs Fiverr: Which one should you Choose?

The answer to this question is in the question itself.

It depends what is the best for YOU, in the exact time and place you decide to launch your freelancing career.

If you need money fast, Upwork allows you to send requests to jobs just being posted. So here you can actively search and apply to jobs.

If you are not in a hurry to earn money online, but you do want your reputation to grow fast within the platform, then Fiverr is the right place.

Because becoming (at least) a Level One or Level Two Seller, wasn’t that hard to my experience.

Also on Fiverr clients seems to be a little less demanding when it comes to your skills and professional knowledge. As long as your reviews are good, then they’re good to give it a try in hiring you.

For example I’ve noticed that a lot of graphic design or social media marketing jobs offers on Upwork, seem to consider a “must” knowing how to use some graphic design softwares and tools.

But on Fiverr i’ve done a lot of graphic design work using Canva, and all of the clients loved the results.

Canva is an online graphic design tool that I use to create social media posts, banners, logos and more.

There are many freelancers and entrepreneurs who not only use Canva to deliver their services but have even built terrific online businesses with it.

My only recommendation is that if you’re going to use Canva like I do, use the Pro version.

It will make your life easier and your clients will love the results.

Do an A/B Test

If you cannot decide choosing between Upwork and Fiverr, you can try both and see what works best for you. This is what I did myself.

I personally got my first job on Upwork for $5 per hour. While I was doing that, I got my first message on Fiverr that I was able to convert to a client.

She paid me something like $40 for some social media posts, but I over delivered for her and she recommended me to her friend who paid me around $400 for work I could do in two days.

So I focused on Fiverr from that moment on.

I cannot lie that if I could turn back time, I would have dedicated more time to Upwork as well. Because I have seen freelancers make more money there.

Every freelancer’s beginning is different, so do need to be afraid to go out there and make your own first experience.

Conclusion:

Differenent freelancers have different opinions when it comes to the Upwork Vs Fiverr debate.

Here I share the experience I got by using both.

But the best advice I can give you is to make your own conclusions based on your own current situation as a freelancer.

You are free to try both of them and see what works best for you.

Once you know, you can focus all your energies and time on one.

At the end it all comes to down to get started and taking action.

You will make your own path, just like any other successful freelancer out there!

Eugen Prendi
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