On-Demand Freelancer Marketplace App: Develop Like Upwork & Fiverr

Talking about the gig economy it has gained popularity faster and will have an amazing future in a couple of years. According to studies, nearly 34 percent of US working professionals have already entered the gig economy and this figure is predicted to touch 50.9 percent by the year 2027.

With low competition in the gig economy, it is easier for entrepreneurs and freshers to create their recognition. This economy has also brought in a lot of career opportunities for working professionals. Also, there are multiple reasons why this economy is gaining popularity.

With the emergence and rapid growth of the gig economy, freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr as also seen massive growth. According to reports, 70% of freelancers search for and get their projects via freelance marketplaces.

It also means that launching a freelancer marketplace can be a good idea to start a successful business venture online. If you want to be part of this profitable venture then this blog will help you know how to develop a freelance marketplace like Upwork and Fiverr.

Freelance Marketplace – What is it?

Well, a freelance marketplace can be defined as an online platform that helps the clients (service providers) hire suitable freelancers to work remotely.

These marketplaces offer a secure and flexible process for service providers to search and hire freelancers for various projects or job profiles. Certainly, the freelance marketplace acts as a mediator between service providers who wish to hire and freelancers looking for different projects.

Freelance Marketplace - How Does It Work? For Service Providers/ Clients

  • The service providers register with the marketplace and start posting job/project requirements.
  • To search for the relevant job requirements, the marketplace utilizes big data algorithms to display a list of eligible registered freelancers on the marketplace.
  • A marketplace based on bidding will help service providers to view the list of bids they receive for a job posting.
  • After receiving the bids, the service providers can compare the prices, skills, reviews, expertise, etc to hire suitable freelancers that match their budget and requirements.
  • After the completion of the project, the service providers pay the freelancers based on hourly rates/fixed price rates, etc as decided mutually by the freelancer and service provider

For Freelancers

  • Before the freelancers register on the marketplace, they are assessed through a set of tests and verification of their background.
  • Based on the expertise and skills, the freelancer profile is suggested to the clients looking to hire freelancers. Also, freelancers can hunt for job postings and bid/apply for jobs matching their requirements and skills.
  • Once the job is completed by freelancers, they get payments from the clients based on an hourly/fixed basis or if some milestones are set by the clients.

Why Freelance Marketplaces Like Fiverr and Upwork Are Gaining Popularity?

The increasing popularity of marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr shows that this business is going to have a bright future. Let us have a look at the reasons behind the popularity of these marketplaces.

  • These marketplaces allow service providers to search and hire talented professionals worldwide without making a considerable investment.
  • The freelance marketplaces are preferred platforms as the service providers are free to cancel the contract anytime.
  • As there is less competition, even the freshers without any experience can start their career working on different projects.
  • The marketplaces also help full-time professionals to take up freelance jobs to make extra income and improve their skills.

The above reasons make these marketplaces so popular.

Popular Freelance Marketplaces Other Than Fiverr and Upwork

  • Toptal
  • Guru
  • CloudPeeps
  • PeoplePerHour
  • Freelancer.com

Different Monetization Strategies Adopted By Freelancer Marketplaces

1. Gigs & Packages Model

Here, Fiverr allows its users to purchase a set of services or gigs. Those who wish to buy these services can merge the services and make the payment for entire packages based on their requirements.

2. Subscription Model

If you are planning to invest in on-demand freelance app development like Upwork, then you need to know about the subscription plans. For Upwork, 3 different subscription plans fetch money for the marketplace and they are

  • Plus – $49.99/month
  • Business – $499/month
  • Enterprise – the price for this plan depends on the need of the corporation.

3. Freemium Model

In this mode, you need to offer a basic feature of your website for free and give access to extra features for a fee.

4. Deposit Model

This model is utilized by Toptal wherein it needs a $500 deposit for hiring contractors on a website. It means if a firm wants to discontinue using the marketplace, the deposit needs to be refunded by the marketplace.

5. Commission Model

Popular freelance marketplaces like Upwork or Fiverr charge a fee to the buyers for every productive deal.

For Fiverr, the fee is 10% of the rate of purchases over $10. The freelancers may have to pay the fee too. So, this becomes one of the effective ways to make money through a robust freelancer marketplace.

6. Custom Price

In case you want to focus on large enterprises, you may find it difficult to calculate a standard fee that fits different clients. Hence, you can go with a separate method and calculate a custom price for every client.

7. Mixed model

This model allows you to merge different monetization ways to offer more flexibility to employers and freelancers and boost your earnings.

How To Develop A Marketplace Like Upwork?

You can consider two different methods for freelance app development :

Readymade Solutions

If you are planning for freelance marketplace app development like Fiverr or Upwork or Upwork, then you can choose ready-made solutions to build your freelance marketplace.

Talking about readymade solutions, it is a well-designed solution that undergoes stringent tests by experienced developers to let you release a hassle-free marketplace.

The readymade software can be customizable to some extent and can be customized to fulfill the requirements of several businesses.

A lot of on-demand app development lets you go through free demos to understand the standard features included in the ready-made software. You need to pay a fixed price one time for the ready-made software.

Custom Built

If you do not want to go with a readymade solution, you can choose to build the software right from scratch. To get a custom solution, you need a devoted and experienced team of developers to work on your project. Certainly, it comes with a considerable investment.

Also, custom solutions take a lot of time and you need to be patient as it takes months for the completion of your project. Well, a custom-built solution is developed to meet the individual needs of a business, but it is susceptible to several errors and bugs which will be resolved as the software grows.

The freelance app developers’ cost turns out to be low for a ready-made solution than a customized product. This is because the ready-made solution can be sold out to different clients whereas the custom-built solution is made to suit the needs of a specific client.

How To Build Your Freelance Marketplace Like Fiverr?

For your white-label freelance marketplace development to be successful, it needs the coordination of multiple experts. So, you need to hire an on-demand freelance app development company. Here is the systematic process to be followed for a flawless app development.

The Architecture of The App

This includes back-end architecture which shows

  • How your app will work?
  • How the elements of your app will communicate?
  • How useful your app will be to the users?

App Design and UI Development

This section needs thorough research. Most users prefer platforms like Upwork, so, you can integrate innovative design to meet user expectations.

API integration

To use payment gateways like Stripe etc, you need to use external tools for which your developers will use API development.

Database Development

You need to have the data of your users secure and organized on your platform. For this, the developers would work with different technologies for database development like Mongo DB, PostgreSQL, etc.,

Quality Assurance and Quality Checks

Quality is a vital aspect of any app and your app needs to go through both automation and manual testing methods using tools like Capybara etc.

Deployment

After everything is perfect, the developers will deploy the platform and make it live on the internet.

Website Maintenance & Support

Certainly, the app development process may end with its launch, but the smooth functioning of the app needs ongoing maintenance and support which includes taking care of upgrades, etc

Conclusion

Creating a freelance marketplace like Fiverr or Upwork becomes easy with the right approach and assistance from an expert freelance app development company.

So, make sure you seek help from experts who can build a successful freelancer marketplace for you. Apps On Demand can help you develop your on-demand freelance app like Upwork or Fiverr with the necessary features and functionalities. Share your ideas and requirements and we will offer you end-to-end development solutions. Feel free to request a free quote to know the mobile app development cost for your future marketplace.