1️⃣Toptal
Toptal consistently delivers the highest effective hourly rates for vetted experts. Enterprise clients come pre-qualified and budgets are serious. If you want premium projects and fewer proposals, this is the fast lane.
- Top tier rates
- Enterprise budgets and long term engagements
- Minimal bidding
- Reliable payments
- Strong demand for senior talent
- Rigorous screening can take time
- Smaller talent pool means fewer open roles per category
2️⃣Braintrust
Braintrust pays more by removing platform fees for talent. Fortune 100 brands hire directly and rates stay high. The community powered model rewards proven professionals.
- 0% talent fees keep more money in your pocket
- High profile clients
- Fast payments
- Strong remote culture
- Transparent job posts with budgets
- Supply of roles can fluctuate by speciality
- Network approvals and referrals may be needed
3️⃣Upwork
Upwork can be very lucrative if you build reputation and niche down. There is endless demand across industries. Success requires deliberate positioning and disciplined pitching.
- Massive client marketplace
- Hourly payment protection
- Specialized talent badges and project catalogs
- Global demand across time zones
- Intense competition drives price pressure
- Platform fee reduces take home
- Proposal time costs are non billable
- Account reviews and holds can disrupt workflow
4️⃣Contra
Contra lets independents run a zero commission business with sleek client portals. It is great for project based work and repeat clients. Discovery is improving but still limited compared to giants.
- 0% commissions on earnings
- Portfolio and contracts in one place
- Easy branded proposals
- Good for retained relationships
- Fewer enterprise buyers than larger marketplaces
- Less inbound lead volume
- Narrower role categories in some regions
5️⃣Freelancer.com
Freelancer.com offers huge reach and constant postings, but average pay skews lower. It can work for quick wins and filler projects while you build reputation. Expect to filter aggressively.
- Large volume of short gigs
- Contests can surface fast opportunities
- Milestone system for staged payouts
- Global client base
- High competition compresses rates
- Aggressive fee structure
- Spam and low quality briefs require heavy screening
- Many projects are short term with limited upsell potential