Freelancer: Hire & Find Jobs

Review by eFreeware

Freelancer is the Android app for the marketplace of the same name, published by Freelancer.com. It is a two-sided service: one side posts projects and hires, the other side looks for paid work, and both run through the same app. It is free to install.

The reason to consider it is breadth. The developer describes a talent pool of millions of freelancers covering software engineering, web development, graphic design, content writing, SEO, translation and more, which means a client with a vague or unusual brief has a reasonable chance of finding someone who fits. That range is the pitch, and it is what separates a marketplace of this size from hiring one specialist directly.

It has been on Google Play since April 2014 and sits at a 3.8 average from 73,372 ratings, with more than 10 million installs. Those numbers describe a large, long-running service rather than a niche tool, and they are worth weighing alongside the developer's own claims, including multiple people's choice Webby Awards.

Posting a project and letting bids come to you

The core workflow for a client is straightforward in concept: describe the job, publish it, and wait for freelancers to respond. The developer says posting a project costs nothing and that bids start arriving within seconds, which is the part of the model that appeals most if you have ever spent an afternoon emailing studios for quotes.

Pricing is handled in one of two ways. You can agree a fixed rate for a defined piece of work or pay by the hour, and the developer's stated policy is that payment follows only once you are satisfied with what has been delivered. That arrangement puts the comparison stage in your hands: instead of accepting the first quote, you read competing bids and pick the one that matches your budget and timeline.

For a small business owner who needs a logo, a landing page or a batch of product descriptions, this is a sensible fit. You are not learning a design tool or a site builder; you are writing a brief and choosing among people who do that work for a living. The trade-off is that the quality of the outcome depends heavily on how clearly you describe the job and how carefully you assess the bids.

Design, development and content work in one place

The categories the developer lists are wide. On the design side that covers business cards, logos, websites, app design, photo editing, video editing and video production, with freelancers working in Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, animation, motion design, 3D design and 3D rendering. If you need a picture created or edited, or artwork delivered as PNG, JPEG or SVG, that is the kind of task the marketplace is built to absorb.

Development is covered in similar depth. Skills available include .NET, PHP, HTML, CSS, SQL, MySQL, Java, JavaScript, Python and C#, along with software architecture and SEO, plus eCommerce work on platforms such as Shopify and WordPress. Mobile projects are mentioned too, including native iOS and cross-platform Flutter builds. For a founder who needs a prototype or a feature added to an existing product, that is a broad menu to draw from.

Writing and marketing round out the offering. You can commission articles, editing, proofreading, research pieces, creative writing and marketing copy, or bring in help with search engine marketing, Facebook and Google AdWords campaigns, YouTube, email marketing and Google Analytics. Translation is available as well, with the developer listing English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese in both simplified and traditional forms, Mandarin, Cantonese, Italian and Hindi among the languages on offer.

Beyond those headline areas, the app covers data entry and Excel work, data gathering and analysis, finance and financial analysis, legal support and project management. That last group is where the app becomes useful for tasks that do not fit a neat creative or technical label, such as cleaning up a spreadsheet or getting a second pair of eyes on a business plan.

Finding work as a freelancer

The app is not only for buyers. Freelancers use the same marketplace to find jobs, so it works as a place to hire people or to look for work from wherever you are. If you sell design, code, writing, translation or marketing services, the appeal is access to clients who are already posting briefs rather than cold outreach.

Projects can be paid at fixed or hourly rates, so both a one-off logo job and an ongoing retainer arrangement have a place. Bidding is competitive by nature: a project that attracts many responses means your proposal has to stand out on price, portfolio or clarity. That is a property of marketplaces generally, not a flaw specific to this one, but it shapes what the experience is like.

The service is aimed at entrepreneurs, small businesses and enterprises, which covers a fair amount of ground. A solo freelancer filling gaps between larger contracts and a company outsourcing a recurring workload are both using the same pool of projects, just at different scales.

What you need before you start

Setup is simple: download the app, post a project if you are hiring, and bids follow. Posting a project is free, and payment comes after you are satisfied with the work, with fixed or hourly rates available.

I would treat the app as a summary of what the service offers rather than a guide to the steps involved. The most recent update is described only as minor fixes and improvements, with regular releases promised and a support address for issues and suggestions.

The practical preparation is on your side of the screen. A clear brief, a realistic budget and a sense of what you want delivered will do more for the outcome than any feature inside the app. The same applies if you are bidding: a specific proposal tied to the client's stated requirements is the part you control.

Where this marketplace fits

This suits small businesses and solo operators who need work done without hiring staff. A shop owner who wants a logo and a menu redesign, a consultant who needs a deck cleaned up before a pitch, a startup founder sourcing a first app build: these are the kinds of jobs the marketplace is organized around, and the range of categories means you are not hunting for a separate service each time.

It also fits freelancers who want a steady stream of briefs to bid on rather than relying on referrals alone, particularly those working in prominent categories such as design, development, writing, marketing and translation. Enterprises outsourcing defined pieces of work fit the same pattern, just with larger scopes and more formal expectations.

The 3.8 average from more than 73,000 ratings suggests a service that satisfies many users without delighting all of them, which is unsurprising for a marketplace where the experience depends on the individual freelancer or client on the other side. If you expect a fixed quality standard regardless of who you work with, a marketplace model will frustrate you; if you are willing to compare bids and manage a brief, the breadth works in your favor.

A broad marketplace worth trying for project work

Freelancer is worth installing if you regularly need work done that falls outside your own skills, or if you sell those skills and want more briefs to bid on. It is free, and the category coverage runs from logos and websites to translation, data entry and finance. For the price of a download, it puts a very large pool of people within reach.

The caveats are the ones that come with any marketplace. Results depend on the freelancer you choose and the brief you write, the developer's claims about speed and quality are its own, and a 3.8 average reflects a mixed body of experience across a large user base. Go in expecting to compare bids and manage the work rather than pressing a button and receiving a finished product.

My recommendation is straightforward: install it if you have a defined project and want to see what the market offers, or if you are a freelancer in one of the listed fields looking for more work. It is a practical tool for sourcing and being sourced, and the breadth of categories is the strongest argument for keeping it on your phone.

What's new in version 7.3.31

Changes: - Minor fixes and improvements. We're releasing regular updates to bring you the best app experience possible. Please reach out to [email protected] with any issues or suggestions.