FreelancerReviews 20,209

"As the title says"

There are a lot of reviews of many websites regarding freelancer.com that it is a complete scam thing it takes your money etc.

Trust me, it is a platform from where I started my earning and in just 11 months I am in a really good position now. Never had even a single bad experience with freelancer.com.

This is not a scam or a place where website cheats. (Employers can cheat if you don't know what milestone system is.)
They don't steal/block your money. (A common negative review on the internet)
Read their guidelines, follow them and you'll never find issue working on this website. (It's not hard)

TBH, this website is a major source of earning in my house from last 11 months. So, the experience on this website is awesome. :)

What is going on with Freelancer? It really seems the longer I am with this site the harder it becomes for me to find work. I'll elaborate.

1) My biggest issue recently; the new bid proposal system. Literally this system is the worst change I have seen to Freelancer since I have been with the site. Why is it I am only allowed to type about 2 sentences for my proposal for complex projects like webscraping where every site and the challenges it presents are different?

It is becoming literally impossible for me to stand out from anyone else because all I can put is "I am an expert in webscraping blah blah". I can't elaborate on how I would accomplish the project or tackle its challenges or why my work would be superior/unique. Please for the love of god revert this system.

2) The changes to chat have the made the site a LOT slower. Everytime I load up a page it reloads all my chats and the javascript takes forever to complete in addition to the actual chat boxes lagging when I try to type. This makes it take longer for me to scan the site for projects and place bids and reduces my overall efficiency.

3) The new bid sponsor system is terrible and I never use it because now it costs me $30 to sponsor a bid when it used to cost a few dollars. This is money I DO NOT get back if I am not awarded the project so why would I risk 10% or more of the actual project payout in an attempt to stand out.

4) Why am I charged when I deposit funds into my Freelancer account when I am also charged a high % on milestones I am paid?

Honestly I don't know if its greed or a need to change for the sake of change but so much of what has been done in the past year has hindered my success as a Freelancer with the site rather than help it.

I am thankful for the Preferred Freelancer program but everything else that has been done is awful and might look nice on the surface but does not help the actual Freelancer at all which is surprising considering the sites name.

One simple change I can think of that would be amazing is let Preferred Freelancers initiate chats with employers. None of us are going to spam the employer we would simply say "Hello I am X and I am very interested in your project. Here is how I would complete it to your satisfaction, etc".

Make Freelancer Great Again.

I have lost more than $5000 on this site already this was not a good experience. I don't even have the work at all. I don't even know what to do now. Worst case I can't even complain about them publically because if I do they will remove me from the network without solving anything. They have done that many times before the web forums and reviews are filled with them. Best to use some other network or search for companies yourselves.

Freelancer.com provides opportunities for a lot of people who want to earn some extra revenue. Whether you are a job seeker or an employer, Freelancer also makes sure your hard work and money are safe. The site is pretty fair to all its users and is very well regulated. Been using it for a year and never encountered any issue whatsoever! The support team is great (I've been in contact with them every now and then for questions). Kudos Freelancer and Thank you!

My experience with Freelancer is overall very positive. It has been my main income source for over 4 years. Helped me a lot to improve my skills, working habits, provided financial security and so on.

But, I have noticed that getting job is harder and harder, even for me who was building up reputation several years. Not very satisfied with bidding system, not happy how clients are seeing proposals (only couple per page which is not fair for the majority).

I would like for this platform to be more friendly towards all workers, not only top 10 who are placing bids and usually are companies, not individuals. More chances for all people despite their ranking. I wish that everybody can find his own place and have income. This way it is easy for the ones on the top, and a true struggle for beginners, even though they might be as competent for the work, if not more than the top freelancers.

Make it more user friendly, simplify design so clients can easier find what they need, make longer list of freelancers display on their page when they need some work, not just few as it is the case at the moment.