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14 Freelancing Sites Agencies Use To Scale Faster

Most small agencies across the world start small with a small team. Sometimes even with 2 members.

It is always exciting, challenging to start and run an agency successfully. As you scale your agency you will have problems internally and with team productivity.

In my previous article, I have explained 10 tips to automate agency processes for efficiency and productivity.  

It is almost certain that every agency on the scale will face these challenges. As you retain and get more clients, more challenges arise.

New clients bring new tasks and new challenges. You will need extra hands to do these tasks. You will need more expertise to excel and satisfy your clients. 

If you still face new challenges after automating repetitive tasks then it is the problem of hiring. You should be now ready to hire.

You will be left with multiple questions on hiring a new employee. When should I hire? Do I really need one now? Do I need him full time? Where Do I find a creative designer? Full Time or Freelancer? Where do I find a freelancer?

Here in this article, I have the answers to all your freelancer questions. We spoke to 35 agencies to uncover the top Freelancing sites they use to hire Freelancers. 

But before hiring a freelancer make sure you are prepared on what project to hire, what skill to hire, what is the experience required, what is the location needed (local or non-local), what is the budget for hiring.

Freelancers will be range from $5 to $2000 and more. It’s very important to find the right fit for the ask.  

Hiring a freelancer is not an easy job. There are a lot of freelancing sites online having thousands of freelancers. To find a freelancer specific to your task (as you may need a designer for a small project or a node.js developer for a web application) is difficult from this huge crowd.

More importantly never expect things to happen in a day. Be patient to find the right candidate. The platforms allow freelancers to create illustrator portfolios and bid for the projects posted by the businesses. 

So here I will also help you to find websites agencies use to hire freelancers. To start here are the 6 major freelance websites for your general requirement.

1) UpWork

Upwork: In-demand talent On-demand.  As the title suggests you can find freelancers on demand. Formerly known as Odesk, it was formed in 2003 and is one of the leaders in the market now. It has more than 12 million freelancers and 1.5 million clients registered on the platform. 

You can find freelancers for industries like Content Writing, Web and Mobile App development, Designing, Admin, Sales and Marketing, Customer Service and Accounting. You can find freelancers for both short and long term projects.

You will find freelancers with their profiles with their skills, experiences and their past projects if any.

You will receive applications from interested freelancers for your project and then you can select the one suitable.

You can chat with the professionals inside the platform after they show their interest in your project. It is a platform for freelancers and companies to collaborate.

2) Freelancer

Freelancer.com is one of the world’s leading outsourcing platforms for finding freelancers.

You can find freelancers for all your needs such as designers, translators, marketers, data entry clerks, SEO experts, virtual assistants, developers and many more.

You can find freelancers by location also. Freelancers have the option to bid for your projects as with Upwork. 

It is best suited for SMB’s and has more than 29 million users as of 2019. This platform is most suitable for project based work.

You will have to create a project and then freelancers will submit their applications giving you the scope to select the best. It is also the best place to find freelancers in your budget.

3) Guru

Guru is the marketplace where it hosts more than 3 million users worldwide.

Freelancers of skills in digital marketing, sales, administration, legal, design and engineering are mostly available. Here, freelancers will invoice the clients.

Based on the work you will have the option to pay based on working hours, projects as recurring payments through its Safepay service.

Guru charges lower for freelancers compared to other platforms. It gives the option for freelancers to see how much the client has spent on the platform. It allows freelancers also to see which clients fit their budgets.

4)Fiverr

World largest marketplace for small services. As the name suggests you can get the job done for $5.

It was launched to make people offer and take services at a lower price. Best suited for freelancers who start their careers.

Major services of freelancers are blogs, voiceovers, backlinks, logo designs, wordpress experts, developers, etc.

Fiverr has grown from offering services from $5 to a leading marketplace for freelancers. It is very much affordable for you to find unique talent on Fiverr.

The difference here is that you do not have to create projects. You can directly find freelancers, filter with their skills and talk about the project.

5)Toptal

Hire the Top 3% of Freelance Talent – is what Toptal promotes themselves to the entire world.

Toptal means Top Talent. All the freelancers will have a 5 step screening process to have their name listed on the platform.

But because of the rigorous screening on the platform, everyone understands that the freelancers here are experts and highly talented in their respective industries.

Toptal has big names Airbnb, Shopify, Zendesk, Gucci as their clients. This platform is best suited for developers, finance and designers. 

6) PeoplePerHour

This site also mainly focuses on Technology and Programming and Design. If you are looking for web designers and Graphic designers then this will be your best match.

You can browse through freelancer profiles and filter them with Location, Industry, Ratings, Language and price.

There are certain limitations on the projects as this site is very specific to the skills of freelancers. Check out and see if you have your requirements listed on the platform.


The sites mentioned above are the most commonly used and suggested for hiring a freelancer.

Here are some more sites that provide a marketplace to hire a freelancer.

7) Flexjobs

8) Mechanical Turk

9) Truelancer

If you are looking for Freelancers in a specific niche. Here is the list

Designer Specific Freelance Sites

10) 99Designs,

11) DeleSign

Delesign’s unlimited design service is similar to freelancing platforms in that you’re able to work with a talented designer without having to employ a full time designer and onboard them into your company. 

Delesign is different however in that their management team will match you with a dedicated designer that best fits your needs.

You don’t need to worry about browsing through hundreds of portfolios, interviewing, or losing potentially thousands of dollars if the freelancer doesn’t work out.

Delesign also comes with a 15 day money back guarantee which lets you try them risk free.

Freelance Sites For Content Writers

12) iWriterTheWriterFinder

Freelance Sites For Developers

13) Freelancermap, 14) Codable

The list of all the sites provided above are top Freelancing sites to use to hire for your business. 

These sites will serve you as a good starting point to hire a freelancer.

Also, If you know a great freelancing site that isn’t listed here, feel free to let me know below in the comments section.