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26 Sites Like Upwork to Help You Find a Freelance Writer

By:
Shaun Connell
 Updated
December 16, 2022

If you've read any of my guides on hiring writers for various purposes, one name you've seen come up over and over is Upwork.

There's a good reason for this. Upwork is a very popular platform for freelancers of all sorts, from coders to graphic designers to writers. Freelancers post their profiles, including the price ranges they want to work for, the skills they have to offer, samples of their work, and testimonials from clients. Clients, meanwhile, can post job ads or browse the profiles to find specific freelancers to approach for a job.

Solution Well, Upwork is great, but is it the best site out there? Maybe not. Maybe it is, but you won't know until you try some others. Because there are others, you just need to give them a try!

That's why I've put together this list of 26 sites like Upwork you can try in your search to hire a great freelance writer.

1: Fiverr

Fiverr started out as a cheap gig work site with a gimmick: every service costs $5. Of course, many people quickly realized you either got crap quality work out of it or you got barely anything for that $5. So, Fiverr has changed a lot over the years and has mostly abandoned the gimmick.

Fiverr Website

These days, a lot of great writers can be found on the site, with base pricing and add-on packages allowing you to select an ala carte package of exactly what you need.

2: Freelancer

This is one of the first major freelancing hubs to have been created in the early days of the internet, and it's still going strong.

Freelancer Freelancing Hub

It's very much like Upwork, and in fact, many of the same writers have profiles on both sites just to broaden their bases. Pick the platform you prefer in terms of pricing and support.

3: People Per Hour

Another generalist freelancer site, PPH is nevertheless a good hub for finding writers.

People Per Hour Website

The trick to using it effectively is to set price filters to edge out the lowest-priced writers; many of them are using AI, spinners, or a bare minimum amount of effort. Look for the people charging real rates to find high-quality, reliable writers.

4: Guru

Guru is another site similar to Upwork and Freelancer, with a wide range of different writing services available. You can browse through their list of freelancers and agencies available for hire, or you can post a job for free.

Guru Freelancing Website

Freelancers are allowed to set hourly rates, as well as a minimum number of hours for a project, and you can see a lot of useful information about them when you browse their profiles. Check it out!

5: Contena

Contena is an invite-only community of writers, but clients can post jobs directly to that community for a fee. Contena may or may not be a great site – you can read my full review here – but it's definitely a site where you can find writers to work for you. It's up to you if those writers suit your needs.

Contena Website

The biggest downside, honestly, is how little you can see of the site and community before paying. If you give it a try, let me know how it works out in the comments below!

6: Textbroker

Textbroker is a "content mill," which means you can post an assignment, and any writer from that star level or higher can claim and write it. This isn't great for continuity or quality, though, so why is it on the list?

Textbroker Website

Well, over the years, they've focused more on building quality teams and subject matter expert groups that can be hired (for a higher fee) and which are dramatically more likely to produce excellent content. It's still on the low end of what I would recommend, but you can find some good writers if you're willing to dig.

7: Writer Access

Writer Access is another content mill, but they specialize in higher-end writing, and many of their writers are exceptionally good, high-quality content creators with years or decades of experience and thousands of projects under their belt.

Writer Access Website

It's generally a great site to try if you don't mind the content mill model.

8: FlexJobs

FlexJobs is more of a standard job board. You don't browse writer profiles, pick freelancers, and pitch your project; instead, you just write up a traditional job ad and post it for applications.

FlexJobs Job Board

The primary difference between this site and something like Monster or Indeed is the expectation that it's all remote, flexible, freelance work.

9: ProBlogger

ProBlogger is primarily a site about blogging, learning to blog, the skills needed to run a great blog, and general content creation and marketing.

ProBlogger Website

Why is it on the list, then? Primarily because they have a job board, and it's generally recognized as one of the best spots for freelance writers to find high-quality, well-paying gigs. As one of those clients, if what you offer is up to snuff, you can post your own job there and get some excellent writers rolling in.

10: FreeUp

This is a freelancer hub that claims to have a heavy vetting process, accepting only the top 1% of freelancers who apply to their platform. Ostensibly, that means you only have the cream of the crop seeing your job ads, and you'll have a great time hiring whoever you pick.

FreeUp Freelancer Hub

They do their best to pair you with a great freelancer off the bat and will cover the costs if someone doesn't work out.

11: Truelancer

This site is sort of like a hybrid between Textbroker and Upwork; that is, it's an Upwork-style freelancer hub, but it has a global audience with a generally lower quality level and price range than more US-centric freelancing platforms.

Truelancer Website

It can be trickier to navigate and harder to find high-quality freelancers, but you can occasionally find someone who charges way less than their skill indicates and can run with them for quite a while.

12: Toptal

This is another one of those freelancing sites that claim to only hire the top X% of freelance applicants; in this case, the top 3%. Why 3%? Who knows. Maybe 3% is more believable than 1%.

Toptal Freelancing Website

They tend to focus most heavily on development, design, project management, and other similar projects, but they also have some content marketing and writing freelancers in specific niches, like finance.

13: Credo

Credo is a freelancer hub with a twist; when you sign up as a company, you schedule an interview with the Credo staff. Those staff members interview you, build out a matchmaking profile, and handle the freelancer vetting side themselves. You're then presented with a handful of options (usually 2-3) who offer the kinds of services you need, and you can pick one of them to do the job for you.

Credo Freelancer Hub

Their goal is to streamline the hiring process so you can get up and running ASAP, and it works pretty well when they get it right.

14: Panda Copy

Panda Copy is a twist on the usual content writing sites. Instead of mucking around interviewing and working with a variety of freelancers until you luck into one that clicks, it's more of a content-purchasing platform.

Panda Copy Website

You pay a monthly fee, post content briefs, get content back, and roll with it. Higher-tier plans have more features, like higher daily word counts and stock images included. It's basically a mid-level content writing agency.

15: Thumbtack

Thumbtack is a little outside the range of many of the other sites on this list because it has a heavy focus on local workers. When you search for writers, it will preferentially choose writing services in your area or whatever area you specify via zip code.

Thumbtack Website

That said, you can still find some pretty great writers on the site; it's just not quite the same as many of the other sites on the list.

16: Content Refined

Content Refined is another content production agency, not really that much like Upwork in nature, but effective if you need content more than you need specific writers.

Content Refined Website

They're more or less a full-service agency; you hire them, get bulk copy to suit your needs, and use it as you see fit. They can handle publishing for you as well, but they don't need to take over your whole blog if you don't want them to.

17: Outsourcely

Outsourcely is very similar to Upwork, if you stapled a management platform on top of it. They allow you to post jobs to their crew of freelancers or search through the freelancer profiles directly.

Outsourcely Website

Their management platform gives you a lot more in terms of filtering and searching options, and you can track individual jobs, specific writers, and even the emails you send to writers from the dashboard. It's free to post a job and browse profiles, but all of the advanced features cost you a monthly fee.

18: Servicescape

This is a general freelancer portal for a lot of different business-relevant skills, from design to development to content writing. The only drawback when you're trying to hire writers to work for you is that there's not actually a very large roster of writers on their list.

Servicescape Freelancer Hub

They do, however, offer a variety of non-English languages if you run a multi-lingual blog and want content in other languages as well.

19: Hubstaff Talent

This is the freelance and agency marketplace for Hubstaff, a productivity tool. Freelancers can sign up and create profiles, and clients like you can post job ads looking for those freelancers.

Hubstaff Talent Website

You need to sign up – very few freelancers are visible to non-logged-in accounts – but there are tens of thousands of writers available to pick through.

20: Write Jobs

This site doesn't have any of the bells and whistles of other freelancer sites, but it's been active for over 12 years, so it's doing something right.

Write Jobs Website

You can post up job ads there and have writers apply, and that's basically all there is to it. Simple, easy, effective.

21: All Freelance Writing

Many freelance writing blogs have job boards attached to them, and this is one example.

All Freelance Writing Website

Freelance writers can sign up to their mailing list and get jobs delivered to their inboxes; companies and clients can post jobs and rates for writers to peruse.

22: iWriter

This site is another of the content-mill-like companies. You can sign up, post a content order, and have content delivered to you, guaranteed.

iWriter Website

Is the content going to be good? Maybe. Will you form a relationship with your writers? Probably not. Is it effective at filling out a blog? Sure. It's a specific kind of need, but if you need it, it's a great site for you.

23: Media Bistro

This is the freelancer and media arm of Recruiter.com, and as such, it has a lot of industry weight behind it. It's not a low-quality community or a fly-by-night agency; rather, it's very much a job board you can use to hire creative types of all stripes.

Media Bistro Website

Posting a job isn't cheap, either; it's almost $300 for a month of listing for a single role. Still, the talent you can find is top-notch.

24: Copify

What is there to say that hasn't already been said? This is another copywriting site with a variety of jobs available, plenty of writers and clients moving through the system, and enough reliability to make it on many lists like this one.

Copify Copywriting Website

Give it a try if you've made it this far.

25: LinkedIn Jobs

Believe it or not, LinkedIn can be a pretty good place to find freelance writers.

LinkedIn Jobs

It's not usually anyone's first choice, but the proliferation of freelance roles and the expansion of digital marketing and writing as careers has meant LinkedIn is taking a good position in the industry.

26: Freelance Writing Jobs

If we're being honest, I've always been a little disappointed with just about every site on this list. They all have flaws, whether it's a small audience, poor pricing, exploitative skimming off the top, or just inconsistency. That's why I decided to start up my own job board right here on this site.

Freelance Writing Jobs Job Board

It's live now, so why not check it out? Post a job, and you'll have applicants coming in no time flat. If you have any questions about the job board, feel free to drop me a line!

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Written By:
Shaun Connell
Shaun Connell has spent his entire career either working as a freelance writer or hiring freelance writers for his many successful publications. Shaun has learned the exact tricks of the trade to hire the perfect writer for almost any niche.

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