Open Lance

Freelance marketplace with escrow

Hire free.
Keep 100%.

100% applies to Ultra members on fixed-price and hourly contracts (0% commission). Without Ultra, commission is 5%.

Clients post jobs and review proposals for free. Every job is paid through escrow: funded before work starts, released when the client approves.

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  • Free to post a job
  • 0% commission on Ultra
  • Escrow on every job
  • Bring your track record

What Open Lance is

A freelance marketplace that pays through escrow.

Clients post work or buy ready-made services. Freelancers send proposals. Every job is paid through escrow: the money is put in before work starts and released when the client approves the result.

We built it because we freelanced ourselves, and were tired of losing a cut of every invoice, paying more just to be seen, and wondering whether a client would pay at all.

For clients

Hire without paying to get started

  • Posting a job, reading proposals and messaging freelancers cost nothing. There is no subscription.
  • Fees are shown before you pay and added on top. The amount you fund for the work is not cut.
  • On fixed-price work only the first milestone is funded when the contract starts.
  • Nothing is paid out until you approve the work.
How hiring works

For freelancers

Keep more of what you earn

  • 0% commission on fixed-price and hourly work with Ultra. 5% without.
  • A proposal costs the same number of bids whatever the job's budget.
  • The client funds the milestone before you start, so you can see the money is there.
  • New freelancers get free starter bids once their profile is complete.
See pricing

Ways to work

Four ways to hire

Pick the one that matches how the work is shaped. All four run through escrow.

A small, clearly defined task

Drop-In

Buy a service a freelancer has already packaged, with a set price, delivery time and number of revisions. No proposals to review.

A project with a clear scope

Fixed-price

Agree the milestones up front. Each one is funded when it starts and paid when you approve it.

Work where the scope will move

Hourly

Set an hourly rate and a weekly hour limit. The freelancer logs time in a work diary and you approve the hours each week.

Ongoing work, month to month

Dedicated Hire

A monthly engagement with one freelancer, funded a month at a time. Suited to steady work like support, content or maintenance.

Or start from a skill:

How payment works

Funded first.
Paid on approval.

The client funds a milestone before work starts, so the freelancer knows the money exists. It moves when the client approves, so the client only pays for work they accept. If something goes wrong, either side can open a dispute while the money is still held.

How it works

Where the money is

  1. Funded

    In escrow

    The client funds the milestone before work starts. The money is held by Open Lance, not sent to the freelancer.

    then

  2. In progress

    Working

    The freelancer works knowing the budget is already committed.

    then

  3. Approved

    Approved

    The client approves the work, or asks for a revision. If they go quiet, it approves automatically after a set time.

    then

  4. Released

    Paid

    Payment moves to the freelancer's wallet and clears for a short period before it can be withdrawn.

Don’t start from zero.

Years of good reviews elsewhere should count for something. Add your stats from Upwork, Fiverr and other platforms. We verify them, and verified experience counts toward your rank here, so clients see your record from day one.

Create a freelancer profile

Start with one milestone.

Post a job for free, or create a profile and send your first proposal.

Post a job Create a free account