No one has every skill needed to tackle a big project or launch a new business: it’s impossible, right?

Most people, especially entrepreneurs or startups in their humble beginnings, don’t have the time or money to hire full time writers, designers or programmers, either.

But, there are a lot of people who have those skills, and are looking for hourly work. It’s the gig economy. We live in hustle culture. Why not leverage that to find those perfect people to meet your specific needs, for a specific period of time or a specific project?

To do just that, here are some of the best talent marketplaces to hire freelancers, and what kind of industries they’re suited for. Go find your special freelancer. Go find The One.

Best Talent Marketplaces to Hire Freelancers by Industry

Software Development and IT:

1. Gigster: For bringing a software idea to life with just about zero work on your end
2. Toptal: To find tech professionals, from coders to web development experts
3. Lemon.io: An affordable software developer hiring platform, geared towards startups
4. Code Mentor: For meeting specialized coding needs

Design, Marketing and Sales:

1. Envato Studio: To find vetted professionals to fill your web design and branding needs
2. 99Designs: To brand your business with the best graphic designers out there
3. MediaBistro: To find your copywriters, editors, salespeople, anything media, really
4. Kimp.io: A cost effective solution for entrepreneurs and small businesses to brand build

For a Huge Variety of Services (Including Random Ones):

1. Fiverr: A place to connect with a lot of talent in a huge marketplace
2. Freelancer: For SEO marketing, web development and other online professionals
3. UpWork: A super flexible platform to find someone to do just about anything
4. People Per Hour: A quick and simple way to find talent from all over the world

1. Gigster: Hire an entire software team to do all the heavy lifting.

Some tasks are so tedious and time consuming that I would throw what was, in retrospect, a lot of money, at someone else so I don’t have to do them. I have never regretted spending the money.

Gigster operates on this idea, except with scalable, full service software development teams. They provide a very hands off way to take a software idea to market. The vetted professionals that work with you do pretty much all of the heavy lifting. They deliver a well developed product in an agreed upon amount of time.

The platform works like this: Professionals apply to join Gigster’s Talent Network. They send in resumes, are interviewed, skills vetted, the whole nine yards. Very few people do get in, and those individuals day are  usually at somewhere like Google, or MIT. (Read: Super smart people will work on your project.)

You speak with someone on the Gigster team about your project idea and requirements. Then their AI-powered software produces a quote. If you accept the quote, Gigster goes and finds the team that will bring your project together. They also assign a project manager to oversee the entire process. They have taken away the burden of hiring and management. So you can just sit back and watch your project being developed on their intuitive, milestone based dashboard.

If, for some reason, you see that your idea is not being executed to your specifics or imagination, then you can contact the project manager. They will work with the team to get your project back on track.

The main reasons not to use Gigster are, for some, the very reason to use Gigster: pricing, and the management process.

For some smaller ventures, their $52,000 minimum pricing is just too steep.

At the same time, Google employees make $100,000 a year. So, you know, try luring them away from that for your startup.

Some people also prefer to have a more active role in developing a project. These people probably feel uncomfortable with the low level of effort they’d be expected to contribute.

If you are the kind of person who values your time, and does not want to do all the managerial shit that comes along with being “the boss,” let Gigster take over. If you want the best, you have to invest, right? If you know this, and have the funds for it, this freelance marketplace is the best place to find your software development team.

2. Toptal: Add vetted professional to your startup. Or rent one for crunch time.

Toptal is a high end freelancing platform that pre-screens their candidates. The platform’s available freelancers have undergone extensive hard and soft skill testing, at a level that most employers looking to fill positions just don’t have time for. They make sure that whoever you hire is not going to waste you time and money by producing subpar work. 

Freelancers who do not continually meet the platform or client expectations will be removed. So rest assured that whoever you hire has followed through on projects, and will do the same for you.

Because everyone on the platform is a solid candidate, it takes Toptal very little time to match you with someone. Skip the pain of hiring someone and then finding out that they, I don’t know, lied on their resume (which is rare, right?)

 Their other selling point in terms of quality assurance is your ability to “test the waters”, so to speak. When filling roles with Toptal freelancers, you have a two week trial period, during which you can decide whether your hire is right for you. If they do not bring what you need to the table, you can let them go. You won’t be charged for any services during those two weeks. 

On to pricing. You pay a $500 deposit to Toptal once you hire someone. It is applied as a credit to your first invoice. Toptal usually invoices you, the client, twice a month. So technically you pay Toptal, and they pay their freelancers. That first credit is like a retainer.

Hire someone on an hourly, part-time or full-time basis, and ramp up and down the number of people you have working with you at any time.

The point is that you are paying for quality assurance, the ability to scale your team up and down quickly, and do it quickly. You are paying higher salaries than your average freelancer platform would have, but quality isn’t cheap, and a lot of startups have recognized it.

Yep, Toptal is where the big boys hire from, including:

• Airbnb
• Shopify
• Duolingo
• Udemy

I don’t usually name drop, but with this laundry list of clientele, I kind of had to.

Roles that you can hire freelancers for on Toptal:

• Developers: Software Developers, Data Scientists, DevOps, QA
• Designers: Web, Mobile, UI/UX, Branding, Visual Designers
• Project Managers: Digital Project Managers, IT Project Managers, Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches
• Product Managers: Digital Project Managers, Product Owners, Business Analysts
• Finance Experts: Financial Modelers, Fundraising Advisors, Mergers and Acquisitions, Financial Planning and Analysis

Toptal is the best talent marketplace to hire freelancers to complete your startup team or build one from scratch. Maybe you ramp up the size of your team during “crunch time,” after which you can let them go ride into the Silicon Valley sunset or something.

3. Lemon.io: Hire software engineers without blowing your budget.

The very first thing you notice about Lemon.io is, unfortunately, their cringy marketing efforts. They definitely stand out from their competitors, but not in a good way. A piece of advice, for your projects, businesses, life in general: sometimes it’s better to be respectable and forgettable than memorable for your bad taste.

The benefits of this product outweigh this, though, so I’ll let it slide. (Seriously, though, Lemon.io, if you’re reading this, you don’t need to impress us with medieval quipps. You’re good on your own.) 

The second, much better thing you notice about Lemon.io is their 24-hour guarantee. After speaking with a Lemon.io account manager about your project, they guarantee to find you a candidate from their vetted pool of software engineers within 24 hours. If you don’t think it’s a good match, they’ll continue searching until you’re satisfied. 

Lemon.io completes a thorough resume and reference check. They administers a skills test and an attitude test. They only accept those who are committed to the startup hustle, and, by extension, to your project.

They offer two extremely reasonable price plans. The startup plan is $35-$55 per hour, and the Add-a-CTO (Chief Technical Officer) is a custom pricing plan, which starts at $500/month. 

The startup plan gets you the project discussion with a Lemon.io account manager, 24-hour guaranteed match, weekly reporting, and a developer time tracking system. There is a replacement guarantee in case anything happens with a hire, and on-demand support from the Lemon.io team.

A CTO will oversee the entire engineering process, mentor your developers, consult on architecture, tools and solutions, and conduct master code reviews. They are huge time savers, and relatively cheap to hire, considering how much you’d have to pay a full-time hire to oversee these same project aspects.

Startups and small business owners: If you’re zoned out and just scrolling by now, zone back in.

Lemon.io is specifically designed for startups, to quickly hire at an inexpensive price. Because they cater to startups, larger companies will very likely not be able to fill all of the roles needed to effectively manage and grow. This freelance marketplace is also geared towards tech startups, which is great for someone developing an app, but not someone who is just trying to open an ecommerce site.

Related: Looking to build an ecommerce site? Here are the best ecommerce store builders to start selling today.

If you’re trying to quickly design the next Snapchat or SaaS solution, then Lemon.io is the best talent marketplace to hire freelancers who will quickly provide quality work, at a price that won’t break the bank.

Related: Are you building a SaaS product? Here are the best web hosting providers for SaaS applications. Scope them out, ask for your freelancer hire’s opinion, and make your decision.

Side note: You may not find exactly the software developer you need, if you’re working with an older or more obscure coding language. Also, if you’re looking for someone to solve a tricky diagnostic problem, CodeMentor is where you’ll want to find yourself.

Arc (The artist formally known as Code Mentor)
: Hire remote developers to fix code and design software.

Arc as a platform is split into two parts: Arc itself is for hiring world-class engineers and remote teams. CodeMentor is the place to be when your code is too infuriating for your eyes. (Well, maybe you enjoy a challenge, but I have deadlines to meet.)

Freelancers here are all versed in several coding languages, so they can develop or assist with literally anything you need. Well, anything code related.

Their hiring process is exhausting just to look at, let alone go through. The Arc team manually screens applicant profiles. Then they take timed coding and communication skill assessment. 

Then you have to talk to people from places like Google and IBM for, like, 2 hours. This is to assess a candidate’s logic. Finally (deep breath) a final interview from an independent team. 

And there you go, simple right?

Code Mentor is about the same. Code reviews are super helpful for higher order WordPress site customization, app development issues, etc. 

Arc’s gets paid based on your hiring. For permanent hiring, Arc takes a fee out for every hire. It’s based on the hire’s salary. There’s a 3 month guarantee. If hires don’t work out, let them go before then.

For contract hires, you can either pay a retainer to make sure your freelancer always sets aside time for your work, even if something else comes along. Arc invoices you every week. Or, you can have hires track hours and then be invoiced. 

All Arc hires are remote. This makes Arc is the de facto place for hiring remote software developers. Get your team together. Get your project done. Get your project reviewed. Get your sanity back if you run into an impossibly irritating bug in your code.

5. Envato Studio: Hire digital creatives who are way more qualified to build your brand’s aesthetic.

Envato’s freelance marketplace is there to help you hire web focused creators faster. Freelancers are all hand picked professional artists who can deliver. Freelancers offer many Express options that allow you to get your WordPress themes, photos, and item customizations very quickly, for a price. You can also send an inquiry to a freelancer describing a custom job and request that they write out a custom “brief” proposal. This helps you both to be on the same page about the specific project needs.

Major services offered by Evanto freelancers:

• Logo design and branding
• Designs and graphics
• WordPress themes, plugins, design, etc.
• Websites and Programming
• Ecommerce and CMS Development
• Mobile and Apps
• Content and Copywriting
• Online Marketing
• Visual and Animation
• Audio

Related: Envato Studio has pretty legit WordPress themes for sale. Feast your eyes here.

Envato has a solid Dispute Resolution Process that allows you to settle any problems in the quality or delivery of a project. If someone’s services are not up to par for you, your money will be returned to you.

If you’re looking for a vetted, experienced digital creative professional who can produce quality work quickly (and are willing to pay for this – quality is not cheap), Envato Studio is one of the best talent marketplaces to hire from.

Important side note: Some customers have reported having difficulty with WordPress installations of work, and the pricing of those kinds of jobs. Be very explicit with what you need when speaking with a potential hire.

6. 99Designs: Turn creative ideas into actual products in just about any medium.

99Designs is a popular marketplace to find people to design everything from websites, to hats, to logos. This is a good place to go when you’re looking to fully flesh out your personal or business brand. Your brand is an important contributor to gain recognition and get new leads. You want to be memorable? Use 99Designs to become memorable, in a good way.

Lemon.io, please, call for web design submissions. And then no one will have any complaints. This includes, but is not limited to, me.

Major services offered by 99Designs freelancers:

• Logo and Brand Identity
• Web and App Design
• Business and Advertising
• Clothes and Merchandise
• Art and Illustration
• Packaging and Labels
• Book and Magazine

Each of these categories have detailed subcategories for you to choose from.

Getting the Job Done: The Artistic Process

Getting a project done on 99Designs is a 3 step process. You spend a few minutes writing up your creative brief. Then either choose a designer to work with, or hold a contest where designers from all over send in their designs, and you choose the one you like the best. Then, finalize your design, making sure that you’re happy with it. And, maybe, you work with that designer again, for all of your branding needs.

The posting and choosing process is very intuitive, almost intentionally made for those who have little to no creative bones in their body. For those who have difficulties describing a concept, 99Designs asks very helpful questions so that your creative brief actually describes the vision you have in your head, even if it’s hard for you to verbalize. You also get an estimate of how many proposals you’ll get based on the price you set for your project, and you can run a blind contest where no one can see submitted designs for your project except for you, if you decide to go the contest route. 

You do have the option to set your own payment price for designers and contest winners, but there are minimums for every category (and they’re not cheap). They offer packages for contests, which vary depending on the category, but usually start at $299 (and that’s the lowest package). Hiring a designer starts at around the same minimum price, but you negotiate with your chosen designer on a final payment price.

If you are searching for  the right branding materials, and need a lot of help getting your designs conceptualized and/or created, 99Designs is for you. Find the freelancers who can capture your artistic vision. Or put your face on a t-shirt. Same thing.

7. MediaBistro: Hire freelancers for all things media related.

MediaBistro is the place to be if you’re looking for any media related tasks. You can find a freelancer through filtering out available freelancers by industry, level of expertise, specialty and location, among other things. Or, you can pay for “job credits” that allow you to post your own gig on their job posting page.

Major services offered by MediaBistro freelancers:

• Writing and Editing
• Social Media
• Copy Writing and Editing
• Graphic Design
• Photography
• Research
• Content Editing
• Public Relations

Their “job credit” prices are a little steep, but they’re worth it to find the right media focused freelancer for your venture.

8. Kimp.io: Best talent marketplace to get graphic designs without buying a graphic designer’s love.

Kimp.io has a unique way of getting your work done. For many, this service has proven to be a cost effective alternative to hiring on other talent marketplaces like 99Designs, and hiring a full time graphic designer. It’s a happy median, if you will.

You send graphic design requests for whatever you need. Your dedicated team of 3 professional graphic designers and project manager work to quickly meet your request. Your team consists of Kimp.io hires. They’re good at what they do.

Because you work with a dedicated team, it’s easy to iron out a brand identity, with fonts, colors, logos, web design aspects, etc. You’ll have your own team you can trust to keep on-brand, because they helped to create it.

For one flat rate of $389/month, you can make an unlimited number of graphic design requests to be completed in the order that you need them done.

You can ask for an unlimited number of revisions, which are implemented with a quick turnaround time. They’ll work with you to develop an unlimited number of brands and branded material. You are given a dedicated project manager and design team, taking all of the pressure of hiring and managing a project off of your shoulders. For entrepreneurs and small business owners, this alone is worth the cost.

Kimp.io also strays from the standard freelancer platform through their workflow management source: Trello. To request a design, you submit a project brief on a Trello board in the “Requests” card. Your Kimp.io team member will look over it and, if nothing needs to be clarified, the brief is moved to the “In Progress” card. Once your design is drafted, it’s moved to the “In Review” card for you to look over and either ask for a revision, or accept as completed.

This is done so that you are able to see exactly the stage your project is in. You can also communicate with your team, add new members and clients. Designs and revisions are made very quickly, usually in less than a day. The team only works on weekdays, though, so be mindful of this.

The completed design is completely yours.

Kimp.io is not your mama’s freelance marketplace.

So you don’t have to go through the process of paying freelancers, having a fee taken out, having to dispute over work or deadlines, or choose from different payment tiers. Your team consists of full time Kimp.io professionals. But you kind of “hire” them every time you make a request.

There is no contract, so you can stop using their services whenever you like. But again, if you continue working with a design team, they get to know your brand further. They can really start tailoring designs to your exact tastes.

These are all great perks, but the underlying question you’ll have to ask yourself is: Do I need enough designs every month to warrant paying a monthly fee? If you only need one design, another design platform that has you pay per project is probably a better choice. However, there is a tipping point where this kind of payment structure is more suited to your needs.

The platform is entirely focused on design, and can create everything from Amazon graphics to email graphics to Google ads to pitch decks to web banners to album covers. They do too much to list everything they do, but here are all their design categories.

Kimp.io is the best talent platform to hire freelance graphic designers without actually having to “hire” them. Get a team together without the hassle of dealing with a standard freelance marketplace. And avoid the steep sticker price of a design agency.

This is a great place to go to both build on and iterate a brand. Start with website graphics, then email messaging designs, then YouTube thumbnails, until you’ve covered every kind of marketing and visual aesthetic outlet out there. As you roll out new products or ideas, Kimp.io will be waiting to make them look nice, in a faster, more cost effective way.

9. Fiverr: A huge pool of talent. Dive in.

Fiverr was originally designed for you to find someone to do a gig for $5 (hence, you know, the name Fiverr). It has expanded into a unique system for finding talent in several industries.

Most gigs fall under these categories: 

• Graphic Design
• Digital Marketing
• Writing and Translation
• Video and Animation
• Music and Audio
• Programming and Tech
• Business and Lifestyle

Each category has around thirty subcategories, so you’ve got a lot of options. Set your budget and timeline. Choose whether you want local or online sellers, what rating you’d prefer they have, and many seller details (spoken language, geographic location, etc.). 

Fiverr’s three-tier seller service offerings are interesting. You choose your sellers, who have put up sample work, a blurb about them, etc. They have set three different levels of service packages: basic, standard or premium. Fiverr sellers explain what you, the buyer, get with each service level. If you want something specific, definitely ask before hiring, that way you’re all on the same page.

In terms fees: For every gig priced under $40, there is a $2 fee paid by you every time you hire someone. For over $40, you pay an additional 5% of the gig price as a service fee.

Fiverr is a talent marketplaces to hire freelancers in a range of fields quickly and easily. Find exactly the right person to get the job done.

10. Freelancer: Hire freelancers for any type of online-centric project.

Freelancer is one of the biggest hubs for freelancers out there. There are 1,350 categories for you to choose from to find the right person, in everything from 3D modeling, to accounting, to data entry, to banner design, to Amazon Web Services, to banner designs, to…you get the point.

Because they are such a large platform, it’s easy for you to find a wide selection of freelancers willing to do tasks. It costs nothing to post a job, and you only pay a 3% fee to Freelancer after your job is completed.

If you are looking for a flexible platform, with a lot of options in terms of freelancers ready to do online-centric projects, then Freelancer is the best marketplace for you.

11. UpWork: Hire or small projects and odd jobs.

UpWork has gone through a lot of changes as a business. It started out as Elance in 1999. Then rebranded a couple times, merged with other companies and eventually became what it is known as today: a bid-based job hunting platform. 

It works like this: you post a job on their job board. It’s free to do this. You can get pretty specific about what kind of freelancer you’re looking for. Leave specific questions for applicants to answer, or require a certain job success rating. Even choose a preferred time zone that applicants are in. It’s a good way to give applicants a holistic view of who should be applying.

They can still apply if they don’t meet all of your specifications, but unlike when applicants just send in resumes, stats like job success rates cannot be changed by freelancers.

Freelancers on the platform have built profiles showcasing their work, previous projects, descriptions, key skills and any certifications they have under their belts. Reviews left by past employers can be seen on their profile as well.

You set your price range, which can be an hourly rate or by milestone, and then “interview” candidates, whether that’s through asking more questions in a chat or setting up a call. That’s up to you. 

When you do make a hire, you put down money in an escrow account, and clients do not get paid unless the job is done to your satisfaction. On a “free plan,” when you pay your freelancers, UpWork takes out a 3% processing fee. You can also pay a monthly fee for features like invites to interview freelancers whose profiles are particularly appealing, but I wouldn’t recommend this unless you’re planning on hiring a high volume of freelancers and would like some talent sourcing assistance.

Major services offered by freelancers on UpWork:

• Web, Mobile and Software Development
• IT and Networking
• Data Science and Analytics
• Engineering and Architecture
• Design and Creative Work
• Writing
• Translation
• Legal
• Administrative Support
• Customer Service
• Sales and Marketing
• Accounting and Consulting

Each of these categories are divided into many subcategories, so you have a lot of options for finding someone in the specific area you need a job done for. There are also some more interesting, very specific jobs you probably won’t find in these other “niche” freelancing platforms, like creating nutritional plans for people, salary negotiation emails, editing Minecraft stories and (yes) editing erotic fantasy novels.

An important caveat to this, though: UpWork does not vet their freelancers and their skill sets. They only “verify” that the freelancer’s identity is true as listed on their profile. 

This has led to UpWork becoming a saturated, highly competitive marketplace in terms of pricing. The freelancer to job ratio is such that many have set low standards in terms of how much they’re willing to complete a job for. From a hiring perspective, of course it makes sense to try and find someone who will do a good job for as little an amount of money as possible. However, the key phrase here is good job. 

Someone who has set their payment rates very low is almost guaranteed to do a worse job than someone with more experience and a higher rate. Be sure to thoroughly interview a candidate before hiring if your job requires a specific skill set, superior quality or rapid turnaround. 

A great deal of jobs posted on UpWork are either one off projects like writing an article or someone’s college entry application (I mean “assisting” with writing), or longer ones like editing memoirs. You can find people to help with resumes, designing apps and life coaching. The general idea here is that UpWork is good to post smaller, less intensive, less team oriented projects. The typical timeline for contracts is less than 1 month, or 3-6 months, but there is an option to hire someone for a longer period.

This is not to say that everyone on UpWork is terrible, incompetant or very expensive. If it sways you at all (because I’m definitely someone whose opinion you care about, right?) I’ve personally hired from UpWork and have found good people to work with long term.

People Per Hour: Hire freelancers quickly, with minimal platform fees.

People Per Hour runs in a similar way to the “standard” freelancer platform. You can post a job, for free, and then collect bids and make your hire. Or, you can contact freelancers whose profile you like and request a proposal. Because People Per Hour is used in 89 countries, you can pretty much find someone to start working very quickly at any hour of the day. Freelancers are paid hourly, with minimal fees paid to the platform itself. Payment is held in escrow until the job is finished to your liking, and if there are any disputes, People Per Hour has a 24/7 support team to help settle it.

Major types of services offered by freelancers on People Per Hour:

• Technology and Programming
• Writing and Translation
• Design
• Digital Marketing
• Video, Photo, and Imaging
• Business
• Music and Audio
• Marketing, Branding, and Sales
• Social Media

The selling point of People Per Hour is that it is a fast, cheap and relatively easy way to find freelancers at any hour of the day. The platform is also designed so that you can message freelancers, watch the progress of the job being done, and even send files over it. You never have to leave the platform. Couple that, with their payment protection plan, and you have a safe platform to work from.

Note: There have been many reviews discussing scammers on People Per Hour freelancers who don’t actually have the skills listed, or don’t deliver. There are also reports of scammers on the hiring end as well, but if you’re taking the time to read this, you probably aren’t one of them. This will happen on any platform where the validation process is less rigorous, so be choosy with your hires. 

If you are looking for an easy way to hire freelancers, locally or globally, without having to pay a lot of fees to the platform you’re working with, People Per Hour is the best marketplace to hire freelancers to work on your next project.

There are a lot of freelancers out there. These platforms exist to help you find The One.

Technically, it’s easy to find someone who will complete your project. It’s harder to find someone who will complete it to your standards. That’s why these platforms exist: to help you find “the one,” or “the team.” who will execute your vision just as you imagine it.

Keep in mind quality, pricing and turnaround times. But keep in the very forefront of your mind that this is your business, your future: it is worth more to have something done well once, than to pay for several cheap, unsatisfying solutions.