10 Sites for Finding Freelance Design Work

You are ready to go solo. You have the talent and experience, but where do you begin? This is a good question. There are certainly a lot of freelance job websites out there, and quality definitely varies.

To help get you started, here are some great websites for finding freelance work in design, web development, or other closely related creative fields.

WP Hired

If you are a WordPress guru, WP Hired is an excellent site for finding freelance jobs in a wide variety of WP specialties. You filter your job search by region and job category, and search for gigs by keyword. Job categories include design, SEO, copywriting, migration, plugin development and more.

Redditors for Hire

Redditors for Hire isn’t specifically dedicated to design and development freelancers, but there are many gigs posted there that fall into this category.

One of the most desirable things about this subreddit is that the participants do a great job of policing themselves and one another as far as what listings are appropriate or not. This means fewer bogus jobs to filter through. If you join this subreddit, you can browse freelance jobs or put yourself out there as available for hire.

Krop

Krop is a website that contains listings of permanent, temporary, contract, and freelance positions. They focus primarily on creative, design, and technical. Many of the freelance jobs include user experience design, web development, art direction, graphic design, and other jobs related to marketing and media. Visitors can drill down through the available jobs to find ones that are in their region.

iFreelance

iFreelance lists available jobs in a variety of specialties, not all of them related to design or technology. However, in spite of casting quite a wide net, this website is definitely a serviceable one if you are looking for a creative, tech, or design job.

HexiDesign

If your talent leans more towards the creative side, HexiDesign might be a great resource for you. Businesses and individuals post projects that include logo design, business card design, wedding branding, stationary design, and even the design of small websites.

LocalSolo

Local Solo curates job listings that are in your area. However, you can also search for jobs all over the world. A quick glance at their job board as of this writing shows job openings for WordPress developers, graphic designers, photographers, business analysts, copywriters, web designers, and more.

Guru

Guru is another website that features jobs in a variety of categories. However, like many freelance job boards, most of the work offered is in the areas of web design, software development, design, art, and multimedia. Employers offering jobs may pay by the hour or ask a fixed price for their entire project.

Freelancer

Freelancer is one of the larger and more popular clearinghouses of freelance positions. They offer a wide variety of jobs, and there is almost always something available to people who are seeking design and development jobs. Be sure to sign up for their email newsletters, you’ll get lots of great information including access to premium content.

Working Nomads

A digital nomad or location independent worker is somebody who intentionally seeks out remote positions, usually freelance, for the benefits of lifestyle flexibility. Nomads are able to work virtually anywhere in the world that they want, as long as they have an internet connection. Working Nomads serves up a constantly updated list of freelance jobs in the areas of development and design.

Upwork

It doesn’t matter if you are freelancer looking for a few short term gigs to earn some extra money, or something a bit more ongoing, Upwork is definitely a website to consider. When you get work through Upwork, all pay is calculated, handled, and released to you from the folks at the website. This means that you don’t need to track your hours, other than for auditing purposes.

Craigslist

Depending on where you live, you may find a lot of freelance development, design, and media jobs in and around your city on Craigslist. If not, you have the option of exploring freelance jobs in other cities. Just be sure to stick with jobs that have been recently posted and to do your due diligence in investigating anybody you would be working with.

PeoplePerHour

People Per Hour is a freelance job listing curator that features jobs in a variety of tech and non-tech fields. You simply browse through the listings that interest you and send a proposal for the ones you want to pursue. The jobs available include logo design, app development, writing, and eCommerce.

Project4Hire

If you are a web designer, programmer, writer, graphic artist, or have other related skills, bookmark Project4Hire. You can bid on a variety of gigs, follow the bidding on other gigs, and find collaborative opportunities. This website has a global scope, which means lots of available gigs but also lots of competition.

99Designs

99Designs may not be for everybody. If you need reliable sources of income, and have established a presence as a designer or developer, you may be better off spending your energy elsewhere.

However, if you are new to freelancing, you might want to check 99Designs out. They hold design competitions that are driven by actual project requests they receive from companies. You pick the competitions you want to enter, create your designs, and receive feedback from the company in question. If they choose your design, you win the prize money.