Best Freelance Websites For Designers

Updated on: May 2022 · 8 min read

Best Freelance Websites for Designers

Finding a freelance website can be a daunting task for graphic designers and companies looking for graphic design help. With so many websites touting top talent and an endless well of gigs, how do you know where to start?

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The 11 Best Freelance Websites For Hiring Designers

Online freelance marketplaces offer designers the flexibility to work anywhere, at any time. For companies, freelance websites provide a venue for finding a designer for each project, without the complications of long-term contracts or the hassle of job postings.

A freelance marketplace can serve as a meeting point for companies and freelancers to collaborate with ease on their design projects and digital marketing. The beauty is in the options; freelance websites allow you to find expert graphic designers to meet any budget and timeframe.

Finding some of the best graphic and web designers for your project shouldn’t be a guessing game. Companies, don’t waste your money on subpar work and unresponsive customer service. Designers, join a marketplace with quality projects that match your unbeatable freelancing talent. View our top 15 freelance websites below.

Toptal hires only the top 3 percent of freelancers who apply. Their curated, vetted platform is an option for large and small businesses who want to take the guesswork out of hiring expert web developers and designers. Applicants undergo an unparalleled screening process to ensure their customer service and project management skills are up to Toptal’s standards—helping to ensure a seamless process.

Match with a designer that fits your team’s culture, making communication easy, and saving you time.

The high caliber of designers and personalized matching service means Toptal doesn’t cut corners in finding you talent. With Toptal’s no-risk trial, you’ll never need to settle.

Why It’s Great For Hiring Freelance Designers:

Toptal’s rigorous standards that employers will find some of the best freelancers, not just a sea of mediocre profiles. Beyond graphic design, Toptal also offers a plethora of talent for web development, software development, and finance. These high-quality designers go through a screening process, and many of them come from esteemed backgrounds in design services.

Visit Toptal

Freelancer is one of the largest graphic designer sites on the web, with millions of registered users and a host of different hiring options and payment plans. The site has an interesting model for incentivizing quality work and follow-through; while access to the site is free, both the freelancer and the client pay an upfront fee for beginning a design project. Freelancer’s Milestone Payment system allows employers to release payments based on specified goals, or once they are satisfied with the deliverable.

Why It’s Great For Hiring Freelance Designers:

Millions of businesses use Freelancer. This means you’ll have no trouble finding a high volume of graphic and web designers. Given Freelance’s emphasis on budget-friendly packages, Freelancer can be a starter venue for new freelancers looking to build out their portfolio. Proven freelancers may be eligible to join the Preferred Freelancer Program. The platform charges a flat fee to access this group of candidates.

As one of the largest freelance marketplaces, there are multiple ways to hire designers—you can find one through a design contest, job posting, or by combing through profiles.

Visit Freelancer

Spend a moment browsing through the site’s featured projects, and you’ll see why Dribbble has a reputation as one of the leading online destinations for high-quality designers and some of the best freelancers. Originally invite-only, Dribbble attracts some of the world’s best talent to display their work, look for inspiration, and build a community.

Find your next freelance designer by posting on their job board, or use Dribbble Talent, the site’s creative staffing solution. For a monthly fee, you can gain access to pre-vetted, ready-to-interview candidates.

Why It’s Great For Hiring Freelance Designers:

This is where some of the top designers go-to for conversation and to show off their skills and design work. You’ll see hundreds of amazing portfolios and you’ll get a glimpse of the artist’s style.

Visit Dribbble

Much like Toptal, Superside tests their designers on skills and abilities. Superside also makes it simple to choose projects based on specific projects--such as a Powerpoint design or brochure. And no matter if you’re a client or talent, you’ll have a dedicated project manager handling the details.

Superside targets enterprise and SMBs who need quick turnarounds. Any designers who make it through their testing protocol should have a reasonable and steady workflow.

Why It’s Great For Hiring Freelance Designers:

This is where all of the top designers go-to for conversation and to show off their design work. You’ll see hundreds of portfolios and you’ll get a glimpse of the artist’s style immediately.

Visit Superside

Need more than just the typical landing page template? Consider the quality freelancers at 99Designs. Designers are available in various skillsets in logo design, website app development, packaging, UX, and even tattoos. You invite freelancers to submit ideas and bid on your project. You can also view their design services and hourly rates. Then, you can choose the one you like based on their style and price point. Or, if you’re confident in your selection, you can skip the contest and hire directly.

Why It’s Great For Hiring Freelance Designers:

With 99Designs, invite multiple designers to bid on your project, giving you a wide selection of talent to choose from. They take the hard part of finding and sourcing talent on your own. You can also filter designs by specific industry and see relevant designers who have done work in those areas.

Visit 99Designs

Envato Studio is a part of the Envato universe. Within Envato, you can find WordPress themes, get premium art, and even buy and sell your own design projects. Envato connects those who need designs with those that can do it. To start, search for a service, compare prices, and select a designer. You’ll send over a design brief, and the work will begin. Envato is an extensive marketplace, and not just for services. Designers can sell your products there too.

Why It’s Great For Hiring Freelance Designers:

Designers are already creating individual works for purchase and then can step in and work on your project.

Visit Envato Studio

Submit your ideas and let the designers at Designcrowd take it from there. You may get multiple options from the talented designer submitting work on your brief. Companies submit their ideas, and designers can review and pick out freelance jobs they want to work on. Projects can begin to receive designs within hours of being submitted.

DesignCrowd provides a great place for new designers or those with limited work experience to build their portfolio while working on real projects.

Why It’s Great For Hiring Freelance Designers:

You’ll find an eager group ready to make their mark on your company. Start with a few projects, find a group of designers you’re comfortable with and then go from there.

Visit DesignCrowd

Initially built by Adobe as a showcase for their products, Behance has grown into a portfolio community spurred on by the fantastic Adobe tools. Designers show off their skills to potential clients based on an Adobe tool, such as Lightroom or Photoshop.

Why It’s Great For Hiring Freelance Designers:

Behance is where some of the most talented designers who are familiar with Adobe tools hang out. If those tools are an important part of your workflow, we suggest this site.

Visit Behance

We Work Remotely is a job board for those that enjoy the remote lifestyle. If you’re looking to expand your freelance opportunities or snag a new position, We Work Remotely has jobs in design, programming, marketing, operation, and more.

Why It’s Great For Finding Designers:

Connect with a forward-thinking group of innovators and designers who are used to working remotely. This is a job board, so you’ll get to set your terms and contracts, unencumbered by a certain process.

Visit We Work Remotely

Upwork offers benefits to the freelancer and the employer at the same time: steady work and affordable prices. As one of the best-known freelancer platforms, you will find different levels of talent, from all over the world and at various price points. Because of their history as a freelance marketplace, they have helped set standards for project management, payments, and dispute resolution.

Why It’s Great For Hiring Freelance Designers:

Use this site if you’re working on international projects or are okay with working with designers from another country. Upwork has a worldwide pool of freelance contributors, giving you access to talent from around the world.

Visit Upwork

Coroflot offers full-time web design and graphic design jobs plus one-off freelance work. Plus, they have sortable options to help you narrow down your focus. Hire designers by industry, location, keyword...or browse and see who you find! It’s also a place to showcase work and vote on your favorites.

There’s so much to see on Coroflot. Designers and marketers can browse full-time positions, contract positions, or choose specific freelance projects.

Why It’s Great For Hiring Freelance Designers

If you’re unsure what to pay, you can browse their salary information for different metro areas and cities to gain an understanding of what’s acceptable and what’s not.

Visit Coroflot

Which Freelance Website Should You Choose to Hire Designers?

Consider the following factors before you choose a freelance website when looking for work or hiring a freelance graphic designer or web designer.

Ratings: Look for a freelance website with a system that evaluates pricing and rates designers. As an employer, this will help you see the best freelancers right away.

Skill tests: What do you do if the designer you’ve chosen is good enough for your job? Many of these freelance websites also offer tests and assessments to help you understand their capabilities with little hassle. Some sites like Toptal will test applicants before allowing them on the platform; others like Upwork will offer assessments after sign up. If you’re not sure what you’re looking for and need third-party verification.

Matchmaking: Consider sites and design services that will assess your project and then make a recommendation for freelancers. This is great for clients because they can leave it to the project manager or coordinator to really ask the right questions and drill down your business needs. It's suggested for freelancers because your matcher gets to know your work and skills to make a great recommendation.

Resolution and customer service: Issues may come up with a client or a freelancer, and it’s helpful to have a site that is experienced with dispute resolution and customer service. You will not get this on a job board, but hiring platforms can help with this.

Payment system: Similarly, having a verified payment system helps freelancers with invoicing and makes it simple for clients to pay. This is valuable when hiring and contracting globally, especially with hourly rates.