11 Best Freelance Marketing Websites to Hire Top Talent in 2024

Mor Mester 19 March 2024

Freelance marketers are in demand. Employers love the flexibility and cost savings compared to hiring full-time. In fact, 80% of businesses now say they have hired digital marketers on a freelance basis.

But where do you find talent-for-hire? A good place to start are Freelance recruitment websites. These sites make it easy to identify the right person for the job. 

If you are on the hunt for professional digital marketers, read on. We’ve pinned down the 11 best marketing freelance platforms out there. 

Overview: The 11 Best Freelance Marketing Websites to Hire Digital Marketers

These days, every business is a digital business. And that means you have to know how to market and promote yourself in the digital world.

SEO. Content marketing. Paid search and other forms of online advertising. Social marketing. Marketing automation. Marketing intelligence. Digital marketing know-how can have a huge impact on your brand. But where do you find these specialist skills?

Freelance websites give employers global reach in the search for talent. Perfect in the modern world of remote work. They make finding and hiring the right person quick, convenient and safe. And hiring a freelancer gives you the flexibility to only pay for what you need. 

In putting together this list, I looked at the size of each site’s database and how many digital marketing freelancers they have available. I looked at features and ease of use. What the hiring process looks like, and how it’s kept secure. 

If you’re short on time, here’s a summary of what each site is best for.

11 Best Freelance Marketing Websites in 2024

There’s no one type of freelance marketer website. Some work like digital recruitment agencies. They offer strict talent vetting and actively help employers find the right candidates. Others are more like giant job boards or marketplaces. They leave it up to employers and freelancers to find each other. Many offer a blend of different options.

Here’s the detail of what our top 11 picks offer.

1. MarketerHire

MarketerHire has made a big impression in a short space of time. Attracting an impressive list of big-name clients along the way.

Its success may have something to do with how it breaks down what it offers in very simple terms. Everything about MarketerHire is straightforward.

Some digital marketing freelance platforms emphasise the get-to-know-you phase of hiring. MarketerHire prefers to put names in front of clients quickly. It has a pre-approved database of marketing freelancers ready to go. You can expect to be given candidates within 48 hours of applying. If you like the recommendations, you can be up and running with a new team member in a week.

Where MarketerHire does take its time, though, is with its vetting process. It accepts applications from freelancers. But it also has its own dedicated talent scouting team. Like a recruitment agency. They actively search Facebook groups, forums, and LinkedIn for potential candidates. Every candidate goes through an in-depth skills review, a video interview and test projects.

MarketerHire has a simple and transparent pricing structure. There is a choice of 3 contract types. 10 hours, 20 hours and 40 hours a week. What you actually pay depends on who you hire. But it’s easy to budget by contract type.

Best for: Businesses looking for a quick way to find highly-vetted talent they can trust

2. Mayple

Mayple is an freelance platform for digital marketing jobs. It focuses exclusively on digital marketing with a strict vetting process for candidates. And uses data to pair freelancers with employers. 

Every professional who signs up is assessed on 141 different criteria. Mayple wears its 1% acceptance rate as a badge of honour. Only the best talent with proven track records make it onto the roster. So clients can trust the quality of every candidate.

Collecting so much data also puts Mayple in a great position to achieve great matches. Clients are also asked to share plenty of details about their business and the roles they need. Mayple then uses 25 matching criteria to suggest candidates.

Mayple is about more than making the match and then moving on. It sells service packages across different disciplines. Want to boost your business with an email marketing campaign? Or want to increase visibility on social or search? You chooseoutcomes, and Mayple recommends a freelancer to deliver. It tracks performance against your goals. You pay for the combined package.

Best for: Larger businesses seeking marketing talent for guaranteed results.

3. Contently

Contently provides a three-part digital marketing content service. It helps businesses build tailored content strategies based on expert insights. It then also offers a complete content marketing management platform. And finally, it includes a marketplace for hiring content creators.

It’s the last of these that is of interest to us in this article. Contently’s Creative Marketplace works on two levels. First, freelancers can create a portfolio for free. This gives writers a handy place to showcase their work.

Next, freelancers can apply to join Contently’s Premium Creative Network. This is vetted and paid for. As a resource for hiring teams, it means Contently offers something different. Its roster is filled with writers, journalists, designers, videographers, editors, and illustrators. Many of them with a high professional profile. Contently is very much about putting the creative into content creation.

An algorithm suggests a ‘content team’ of matches to choose from. Contently handles contracts, payment, invoicing and all other administrative aspects of hiring.

Best for: Mid to large businesses and digital marketing agencies seeking to hire proven creative talent

4. GrowTal

GrowTal follows the established playbook for professional freelancer match-making. It puts in the work of vetting all marketers who apply to join its network. That way, hiring clients can trust in the quality of the people recommended to them.

The hiring process is quick and easy. Clients complete a two-minute questionnaire detailing who and what they are looking for. From that, GrowTal identifies the best matches from its database. The list of digital marketing roles it caters for includes SEO consultants, email marketers and content marketers. Plus brand consultants, social media marketing specialists, advertising experts and more.

GrowTal sets up video calls with every freelancer it shortlists. Whoever you choose to hire, there is a risk-free trial period.

GrowTal also offers what it calls Accelerator Packages. These are a menu of fixed-term, fixed-price jobs. They range from marketing strategy consultations starting at $499. To CRM platform rollouts for $4999. In all cases, GrowTal has professionals ready to go. It speeds up the process so you can get started faster.

Clients looking to hire on a project basis can also submit requests for proposals (RFP). GrowTal’s creative database is fully vetted. There is a similar ‘on-demand’ service for agencies.

Best for: Knowing exactly what you will get for a fixed price.

5. PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour is one of the ‘big four’ freelancer websites. It has a database of more than 2 million freelancers. Plus more than 1 million business clients.

It’s more of a digitised job board than a recruitment agency in website form. There’s no in-depth vetting process here. Freelancers post the skills they have to offer and their rates. Hirers post work opportunities. PeoplePerHour uses AI algorithms to help them connect. Freelancers submit proposals for projects they are paired with. Or else interesting ones they find themselves. 

One of PeoplePerHour’s biggest strengths is the huge range of skills on offer. It’s much broader than the standard definition of ‘marketing talent’. Here you can find programmers and designers for web development. Translators and video producers. Photographers and music producers. And a crowd of content, SEO, social and email marketers.

PeoplePerHour also offers a very slick and user-friendly interface. Everything from registering to posting projects to talking to freelancers is very easy. The same goes for pricing. You agree on prices either by the hour or on a full project basis. You pay a deposit on accepting a freelancer’s application. PayPerHour uses this to pay them initially. And based on a trial period, you pay the balance later if you are happy with the work.

Best for: Anyone looking to hire a freelancer on a short-term basis, fast.

6. Upwork

Upwork is huge. It has a database of 18 million freelancers and 5 million clients worldwide. Making it a major player in the so-called ‘gig economy’.

It’s more than just a freelance site for marketing talent. Upwork covers sectors such as finance, HR, IT and law, too. But there’s no shortage of digital marketing and creative talent available.

One of the things that makes Upwork so popular is its flexible hiring options. Its Talent Marketplace works much like other job board-type sites. Hiring teams post details of the jobs or projects they have available. Upwork’s AI scours the database to find a freelancer to match. Clients can view freelancers’ profiles and read ratings and reviews before hiring.

Another option is the Project Catalog. This is a library of fixed-term, fixed-objective jobs offered by freelancers for a fixed price. The projects available lean heavily towards digital marketing and branding. And tend to be quick, low cost and have short lead times. You can have someone start working within a matter of hours. 

A final option is to find an industry expert for a one-to-one consultation. Again, you share project details and Upwork matches you with a suitable specialist. You then book a private Zoom meeting through Upwork. And pay the consultant by the hour. This is a great way to firm up project plans in areas outside your own expertise.

Best for: Flexible hiring options with the biggest range of freelance talent.

7. Fiverr

Fiverr made its name as the job board where freelancers sold tasks for $5 a go. It’s moved on a lot since those days. But it sticks to the strengths that made it one of the world’s biggest job sites. Simple project-based pricing. A huge range of skills. An easy and direct hiring process.

Fiverr’s talent mix covers digital marketing, the creative industries and tech. That includes just about every digital marketing discipline you can think of. It’s also popular for graphics designers, translators and photographers. Plus web developers, software programmers and data analysts.

On Fiverr, hirers don’t post details of projects. It’s on you to search the database for suitable talent. The search feature has a good set of filters to help you. You can filter by skill, price range, location, and experience.

This self-service approach will suit some businesses. But others might like the talent-matching services other freelance platforms offer. Fiverr has that covered, too. Fiverr Business is an enhanced service that recommends freelancers based on project criteria. All freelancers available for hire through Fiverr Business are fully vetted. It’s free to join, but commission charges are higher. 

Best for: Making low-cost hires on a short-term basis.

8. Freelancer.com

Freelancer.com is one of the very first freelancer marketplaces. In many ways, it set the format that other freelancer sites have followed.

Freelancers create profiles detailing their skill sets and experience. Hiring teams post projects they need to hire for. There isn’t any match-making. But freelancers can search for jobs, and businesses can search for freelancers. You can search by skill, by language and by location.

The list of freelancer skill sets catered for is excellent. Freelancer.com can’t quite match the enormous talent database Upwork offers. But the range of sectors and skill types it covers is second to none. It reaches well beyond digital marketing. In total, Freelancer.com claims it covers more than 1800 different skill sets.

Freelancer.com provides a Live Chat tool. You can use this to sound out candidates before you make a hire. And keep in touch for the duration of a project. 

You can pay per project or hire freelancers by the hour. Either way, payments are managed by Freelancer’s Milestone Payment system. This lets businesses split payments into parts. To be released when certain milestones on a project are completed.

Best for: Searching for freelancers with specific skills.

9. Guru

Guru is a large global freelancer marketplace. It has more than 1.5m freelancers on its books, covering a wide range of industries. This includes more than 100,000 freelance digital marketers.

A great feature of Guru is that you don’t have to sign up to browse its talent database. Freelancer listings include portfolios of previous work. Plus stats on how many projects they have completed. You can filter searches by how many invoices hirers paid and how many employers a freelancer has had. This gives you a good indication of experience.

You have to sign up to start contacting freelancers and request quotes. This is completely free to do and takes a matter of minutes. Hiring teams can also post jobs and projects and have freelancers submit bids to them.

Guru’s WorkRooms is a collaboration space for managing relationships with freelancers. It’s particularly useful if you hire multiple freelancers on a single project. You can assign and track tasks and keep on top of all documentation. WorkRooms also tracks progress and clocks work by the hour.

Like most similar platforms, Guru holds payments until you are satisfied with the work completed. There are multiple payment options, including an AutoPay feature. This automatically completes the transaction when an invoice is outstanding. 

Best for: Browsing for talent with no signup.

10. ClearVoice

ClearVoice is owned by Fiverr. But the 2 are very different platforms. Fiverr is very much a job marketplace for all kinds of freelancers. ClearVoice is a managed content creation service.

So if you’re looking for a freelance writer to work with, ClearView ticks that box. But it isn’t a place to simply post available projects and search for people to fill roles. The experience is a little more involved than that. 

When you engage with ClearVoice, you don’t just get a freelance writer completing tasks for you. You get a whole team, a mix of ClearVoice staffers and freelancers. ClearVoice positions itself as delivering full editorial teams to deliver complete content strategies. 

It’s a different riff on the freelance hiring website concept. But one that is great if outsourcing your entire content creation process appeals to you. ClearVoice specializes in content production, SEO and amplification. It doesn’t have the huge database of freelancers other services offer. But its network is highly vetted to offer only proven, experienced professionals.

Best for: Businesses looking for a complete managed content creation service.

11. LinkedIn

LinkedIn needs no introduction. With 900m+ active members worldwide, it’s by far and away the biggest platform on this list. It’s also not purely a freelancer marketplace or a jobs message board. Although it does cover both.

As anyone who has ever used it will know, LinkedIn bills itself as a professional social network. So just as you use social media to connect to friends and family, LinkedIn makes professional connections. 

Job search and hiring talent is a big part of that. LinkedIn isn’t focused just on digital marketing and adjacent industries. It’s not even a freelancer-focused site. But what you do get is high-quality recruitment tools. 

LinkedIn’s native hiring tools fall under its Talent Solutions banner. Options include:

• Jobs: A straightforward jobs board.
• Recruiter and Recruiter Lite: Platforms for sourcing, contacting and hiring candidates at speed. Differentiated by hiring volume.
• Talent Insights: Data analytics platform for tracking workforce and recruitment intelligence.
• Talent Hub: An applicant tracking system (ATS) for recruiters.

LinkedIn also has inspired a whole industry of third-party recruitment and talent management plug-ins. And you can’t underestimate the value of good old-fashioned networking and recommendations. Both of which LinkedIn aids. 

Best for: General recruitment and networking beyond marketing.

How much does it cost to hire a freelance marketer?

The cost of hiring a freelance digital marketer varies. Lots of different factors affect the cost:

• The type of marketing skills you are looking for
• The experience and expertise of the freelancer
• The size of the project or length of the contract
• The freelancer website’s fees and commission
• The pricing structure

What you pay is often shaped by the freelancer website you choose. At one end of the scale, sites like Fiverr and Upwork specialize in short-term, fixed tasks that start at a few dollars a time. Mayple and GrowTal offer project-based bundles ranging from $500 to $5000. Contently and ClearVoice can charge even higher rates for managed content services.

Another factor is that digital marketing relies on access to software. When you hire a marketing freelancer, you’re often hiring them to use a particular platform. You have to pay for the app subscription on top of the freelancer’s fees. Examples include:

• Email marketing and newsletter software
• CRM platforms
• SMS marketing services
• Web and landing page builders
• Project management software
• Rank tracking software
• SEO reporting tools

Freelance Marketing Websites: Which is right for you?

If you’ve not already decided which freelancer marketing website is the best for you, here are my final tips. 

If you’re a small business looking for quick and easy access to marketing skills, check out the ‘job board’ type sites. They’re great for short-term hires at low prices.

If you’re a larger business, you probably want guaranteed results on a longer-term basis. Try a specialist marketing site that offers advanced candidate vetting and match-making.

Best freelancing sites for quick, low-cost, short-term hires:

• Fiverr: Best for small projects at budget rates
• Upwork: Best for the number of freelancers to choose from

Best freelancing sites for finding the very best candidates:

• Mayple: Best for AI-powered talent matching
• MarketerHire: Best for talent vetting

FAQs about The Best Freelance Marketing Websites

About Mor Mester

Mor Mester is the Head of Content Marketing at EmailVendorSelection. He's an email marketing and marketing automation expert with 6+ years of experience. Having tested and reviewed 100+ email marketing, marketing automation, CRM, ecommerce, SMS marketing, email verification, online course, and lead generation tools, he knows a good business software when he sees one.
After work, you can find him riding his bike on some trails.

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