Introduction
Hey, welcome back to Blogstera the place to be if you’re looking to create a fabulous career and master your life. If you want to learn more tips and tricks about career success and happiness then be sure to bookmark this website. On this website, we talk a lot about freelancing and working from home. I give you lots of tips and tricks and lots of tools that you can use not only to land freelancing gigs but also to be successful at them.
If you’re just starting as a freelancer these are some of the questions you’ve been asking yourself and probably many more:
- Upwork or Fiverr?
- Which one is better for you?
- Where can you make more money?
- Where can you get gigs faster?
- Which one is more suitable for beginner freelancers?
I totally understand because when you’re just starting out as a freelancer it is quite overwhelming. You have to make so many decisions and it’s difficult to figure out from the beginning whether you should choose Upwork versus Fiverr especially. They both seem great but you can only dedicate time and focus your efforts on one.
Why do you want to be a freelancer?
Why do you want to start a freelancing business? Let me know in the comments down below I would love to know with that out of the way.
4 Ways to Evaluate Upwork vs Fiverr
In today’s blog, I’m going to share with you four ways that you can use to evaluate Upwork versus Fiverr. I will explain exactly why one of them will be better for you in your exact situation right now. No matter which one you end up choosing either of them is a great choice. They both are an amazing way for you to test out your services and the quality of the work that you want to offer.
1) REACTIVE VS PROACTIVE
Let me start with criteria number one which is reactive versus proactive. In my opinion, Fiverr is a much more reactive platform. They do bring customers to you but not to you specifically but to you as a marketplace. It is essentially a marketplace like Amazon. You create a profile, post your offering, and then customers come to you but you cannot proactively reach them.
Upwork’s Proactive Opportunities:
Now on Upwork on the other hand you have an opportunity to be proactive. You have an opportunity to individually reach out to those customers who have a job to offer to freelancers. You can even narrow down the offering and laser-focused approach to the ones that will allow you to bid for. There is an option for you to choose the ones that have a low level of skill and complexity and maybe a smaller budget. So if you’re starting and you have no experience as a freelancer you should start on Upwork versus Fiverr. Upwork allows you to be proactive and go after early-stage and low-level freelance jobs.
2) EASE OF ACCESS
The criteria number two is the ease of access. Both platforms are open so anyone can sign up and enroll pretty much right away. It doesn’t cost anything and you should end up with a profile within a matter of minutes. If you look beyond the simple sign-up process each of the two platforms has a special category or a special league. When you are a freelancer with some experience then you can attempt to be part of that special league.
Special Categories and Recognition
Fiver Pro Badge:
In Fiverr, there is a category called Fiverr Pro. The one percent of freelancers that offer the highest quality of work and best services there will manage to get their pro badge.
Benefits of a Fiverr Pro Badge:
- You will be able to charge a lot higher fees
- You get to charge upwards of ten thousand dollars for your services
- Under special exceptions up to fifty thousand dollars for your services
- You also get much better in terms of search results
Fiverr will promote you and you will show up in search for people who are looking to hire freelancers like you. So you get a lot more exposure and opportunities to close deals. Ultimately you will end up making more money but before you’re able to do that you need to get the pro status.
How to get a Fiverr Pro badge
In order to get the pro badge there is a bit of background check:
- They will go through your work experience
- They look at your education
- They’ll look at the freelance work you’ve done before
- They need to make sure that the quality of work you do matches and fits with that one percent
To get Fiverr Pro Badge you have to be able to prove the high standard and quality of your work however it’s a big benefit.
Upwork’s Top-Rated Status
When it comes to Upwork they also have a special league that is called top-rated.
How to get Upwork’s Top-Rated Status
In order to get the top-rated status and the badge next to your name then you need to have been on the platform for a while. There is a list of criteria that you need to meet before they will allow you to become top-rated. If you are an experienced and high-quality freelancer then the requirements are not necessarily that difficult to meet.
Benefits of Upwork’s Top-Rated Status
On Upwork, the benefits you get as a top-rated don’t match the ones that you get on Fiverr. You will show up in searches but not necessarily a lot more than you would have without the top-rated badge. You can charge higher fees but you could have done the same without the top-rated badge. So at the end of the day, you don’t get a whole different type of treatment if you are a top-rated seller on Upwork.
3) COMPETITION
Criteria number three is competition and I will say that both platforms are very competitive. Both platforms have lots of freelancers and offerings. However in my opinion one of them is more competitive than the other when it comes to beginner freelancers.
Advantages for Beginners on Upwork
If you are a beginner even though there are lots of other freelancers like you that have a profile on Upwork and are offering very similar services. You have an opportunity and a direct channel to your customers. So you are able to directly get in touch with them and offer your services and propose your product and service to them.
On the other hand, when it comes to Fiverr the same competition is probably there. The difference though it is a marketplace a customer gets to see everyone and all the offerings.
The Price War
There is quite a bit of an intense price war on Fiverr. Especially if you’re not a very experienced freelancer and you might have not gotten your pro badge. Then it’s very easy to blend in and end up having to compete for price. Honestly competing for price is the worst place you can be in. So that you can charge a fair price for your service rather than start with offering 5$ or 3$ services. When you know that the value of what you give is maybe 15, 20, 30, 50, or even 100$ you don’t want to get into a price war situation.
Avoiding the Price War
So in my opinion, if you’re a beginner and you don’t know how to differentiate yourself you should go to Upwork. Because there you can target your customers directly and offer your services to them.
If you have a niche and you can understand your focus customers and their exact needs then it’s absolutely fine to be on Fiverr as well. Even if you’re just a beginner and don’t have a pro badge you will be able to stand out. But standing out on Fiverr in my opinion is a little bit more difficult when you blend in and don’t have a very niche-specific offering.
4) GAINING POTENTIAL
Criteria number four is pricing or gaining potential. Fiverr started by being the 5$ marketplace so it has or used to have a reputation of being the marketplace where you can find freelancers for cheap prices. When you’re on Fiverr you can easily blend in and end up in a price war.
On the other hand, when it comes to Upwork you can directly target your customers and avoid that whole price war situation. There are still enough freelancers on Upwork that will charge lower prices. There is an expectation that the hourly rates of the freight answers charge are not necessarily in the single-digit front. I think customers that go to Upwork in a way expect to pay a bit more of an upscale service at the same time.
Conclusion
On Upwork, you get to approach your customers directly and have a huge opportunity to position the value of your services. That way you can charge the fair rate that you deserve rather than having to compete against some freelancers on Fiverr who are just betting on price. So from this perspective, I don’t think there is a better or a worse one. I think both of them are great but you need to understand what the environment looks like and what you need to do to be able to charge a fair price for your services. I hope that by now you have a much better understanding of Upwork versus Fiverr which one would be more suitable for you. Share with a friend who might also be interested in starting a freelancing business.