Whenever we talk about marketplaces for freelancers, Upwork and Fiverr are two names that come first to our mind. They have made themselves the most reliable MVPs in the remote job industry. But truth to be told, none of them is perfect. 

Each comes with its own flaws. Even the most senior freelancers of the community often complain about Upwork favoring clients more than sellers. Or, Fiverr is promoting only those gigs that pay them for ranks. 

So, if you think there’s no chance you’d be able to survive in the freelance marketplace business with a brand new platform, you’re totally wrong. You can win the niche quite easily if you are able to offer the most essential online marketplace features accessible to both buyers and sellers. 

It’s not just a bluff. But it’s true. If you have a tiny knowledge of search engines, you’d understand what I’m saying now. Recently, the use of keywords like “upwork alternative” or “fiverr alternative” to search online has been growing. Yes, talents are trying to get out of this traditional loop and find a fresh platform with better UX. 

Today, I will guide you on how you can grab this opportunity and create a freelance marketplace business model that will succeed. Below are top 10 freelance marketplace features to consider while making a new freelancing website.

1. Secure Payment for Freelancers

This is a basic rule of thumb. We all work for money to earn our daily bread and butter. When you are able to relieve someone’s worry about secure payments, you have already won their heart 50%. 

Built-in payment gateways can be a great way to make your website a complete freelancing marketplace. Another secret trick to make your site famous is using the Escrow method to ensure transparent transactions. 

✓ Offer multiple built-in payment gateways
✓ Accept multiple currencies and methods
✓ Solve freelancer client conflicts by integrating Escrow or any other online dispute management system
✓ Leave an option for admins to monitor each ongoing transaction in the platform

2. Reviews for Both Buyers & Sellers

Let buyers and sellers judge each other to make the right decision. 

Review and ratings work in 2 ways. First, a buyer or seller could understand the other party’s past records. Second, having higher reviews and ratings after completing each project will help the profile owner to get featured and hired on the custom searches. 

3. Freelance Marketplace Features For Profile

Creating a perfect profile layout starts with offering an easy login option. The login process should be both easy and secure at the same time. These login facilities are a must nowadays: 

✓ Social login
✓ 2FA (2-factor authentication)
✓ Verification with reCAPTCHA, login questions, etc. (if multiple login attempts are found)

You need to let users create profiles in various ways, like freelancer, buyer, agency, etc. This way, each type of user will be able to personalize their profile thoroughly. 

In the profile page of a freelancer, these details should be featured: 
✓ A clear photo of the user
✓ Overall rating and recent reviews
✓ Relevant work portfolio
✓ Certifications
✓ Skillset
✓ Graphical presentation or introduction (if possible)

4. Project Management Tools for Freelancers

Now, let’s talk about the user dashboard. Users should get access to all dashboard features for freelancers from one centralized panel. 

You need to integrate tools like time or project trackers to help users manage their projects thoroughly. Freelancers would be able to show how much they worked and how they worked. Clients can also pay them properly by calculating the work duration. 

✓ Create trackers that track the time and screen of the freelancers
✓ Show total earnings, pending works, etc., from the dashboard
✓ Project details should be easily accessible

5. Job Categories & Search Filters

If you are creating a general freelance marketplace, you need to keep all the famous work categories on your website. Also, create subcategories to help users find the right talent or job with ease. 

The search filter is very crucial. It should have more filter options than any ecommerce store filter bars. Clients should be able to search by filtering price, skills, reviews, categories, etc. 

6. Messaging System for Freelancers

In-built texting option makes your platform more convenient. 

Sending texts alone will not work. To improve communication, you need to offer high-quality media, multiple file formats, and audio record sharing options. 

It can be tricky, but it’d be best if you also integrated the audio call and screen sharing option in the messaging part. 

7. Commissions

This is the part where you think about your business over your users. You can set a percentage of income as fees for using your platform. Or, you can just fix a price for every type of income, just like Upwork. 

Note that you can keep the charges minimal at the initial stages to attract more customers. You can also earn by opening paid campaigns for pro freelancers to get featured on your website. The pro plan should charge sellers monthly and come with multiple benefits.

8. Hybrid Marketplace Model

Just bidding or applying won’t be enough. 

For long-term projects, milestone-based payments are the most suitable option. Clients will pay after completing each milestone. 

Hourly based hiring also sounds fair these days. Fixed prices sound unfair in some cases, for example, troubleshooting, auditing, etc. Because nobody’s certain how much time and effort it’ll take to figure out the issue. 

9. Job Listing

Posting a job on your website should feel like posting a short note on Facebook or X. You shouldn’t cap the post length. The client can give as much information as they want. 

To help them out, you can also create multiple fields in the job form so that the client doesn’t miss out on anything. 

Most importantly, you can create a manual approval option to make sure your users are posting valid openings that comply with your freelance marketplace platform policies. 

10. Better Website UX

Last but not least, a freelance marketplace is not just about features; it’s about experience. If users struggle to navigate your website, no amount of features will keep them around.

Here are some must-follow UX practices:
✓ Keep the design clean and mobile-friendly
✓ Use a simple menu with clear navigation
✓ Ensure fast page loading speed
✓ Provide multilingual and multicurrency support for global users
✓ Add an onboarding guide for new freelancers and clients
✓ Remember, a better UX builds trust, and trust is what makes users stay.

Bonus: Profile Promotion Options

I’ve given some opinions on how you can earn money from the best freelance marketplace platform. You can set competitive platform charges to earn and create your brand reputation simultaneously. However, there are some other monetization options. 

You can open coaching sessions by niche experts to win the freelance marketplace. You’ll make them paid. But make sure the price is very reasonable. 

You can also create some paid plans for both freelancers and outsourcers that will cover some extra benefits like getting featured more, knowing in-depth details about the competition, etc. 

Recently, both Upwork and Fiverr have launched some paid campaigns. Freelancers now have to spend more paid connections to bid on exclusive jobs. Whereas buying paid plans to promote gigs has become very common among Fiverr users. 

ViserLance: The Best Solution for Freelance Marketplace Owners

Building a freelance marketplace from scratch requires a huge time, money, and resources. But with ViserLance, you don’t need to start from zero.

ViserLance is a ready-made freelancing marketplace script that comes with:

– Secure payment gateways
– Multiple market model
– Freelancer and client profile systems
– Built-in project management tools
– Job categories, bidding, and milestone features
– A clean, responsive design with powerful UX
– Premium support from ViserLab Developers team
– 20x reasonable and affordable than custom marketplace development

With ViserLance, you can launch your own Upwork or Fiverr alternative within days, not years. It’s reliable, scalable, and designed to help you succeed in the freelancing industry.

Check out ViserLance here

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do freelance marketplaces make money?

They usually earn through commission fees on transactions, featured listings, and premium subscription plans.

2. Is it possible to compete with Upwork or Fiverr?

Yes. By targeting specific niches, offering better UX, and ensuring fair policies, you can attract freelancers and clients who are frustrated with bigger platforms.

3. Do I need coding skills to build a freelance marketplace?

Not necessarily. With a script like ViserLance, you can set up a fully functional platform without advanced coding knowledge.

4. How can I attract freelancers to a new platform?

Offer low commission fees, better visibility opportunities, and transparent policies. Promotion campaigns on social media also help.

5. Which payment methods should a freelance marketplace support?

Multiple options like PayPal, Stripe, bank transfers, and crypto payments help you serve a global audience effectively.