The short version
The short version: Freelancer.com takes 10%, or a minimum fee, from freelancers, limits how many jobs you can bid on for free each month, and pushes paid memberships and paid bid upgrades to do more. Open Lance takes 0% for Ultra, which is $20 a month, or 5% standard, and keeps bidding simple at a flat $1 per bid with no monthly cap to buy your way past. Here is how they compare.
| Open Lance | Freelancer.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Commission on earnings | 0% on Ultra ($20/month), 5% standard | 10% or a minimum fee |
| Bidding | Flat $1 per bid, no monthly cap | Limited free bids per month, pay for more |
| Membership to bid more | No | Paid tiers, Basic through Premier |
| Bid upgrades | None | Paid highlights, sponsored, sealed bids |
| Ways to work | Fixed-price, hourly, monthly retainer, Drop-Ins | Fixed-price and hourly |
| When you can withdraw | Instant release after a short cool-off | Milestone release, then a withdrawal delay |
| Bring your existing stats | Yes, from other platforms | No |
Fees cited are Freelancer.com's published rates at the time of writing. Always check a platform's current terms.
Commission and fees
Freelancer.com takes 10% from freelancers, or a minimum fee on small jobs, and adds a project fee on the client side. Open Lance takes 0% on Ultra or 5% standard. On a $1,000 project a Freelancer.com freelancer keeps around $900. An Open Lance Ultra member keeps the full $1,000, and a standard member keeps $950.
Bidding: flat and simple, versus caps and upsells
This is the biggest day-to-day difference. Freelancer.com gives you a small number of free bids each month, then asks you to buy a membership to bid more, and on top of that sells bid upgrades like highlighting and sponsoring to get seen. It adds up to a bidding system with a lot of moving parts and a lot of ways to spend. Open Lance keeps it flat: $1 per bid, no monthly cap, no upgrades to buy. You know exactly what applying costs, and you can bid as much as your work rate needs.
Four ways to work, one platform
Most platforms give you one or two ways to engage. Open Lance gives you four, so the model fits the work instead of forcing the work to fit the model:
- Fixed-price projects, paid by milestone.
- Hourly contracts, with a tracked work diary so hours are clear on both sides.
- Monthly retainers, for ongoing work at a set monthly rate.
- Drop-Ins, ready-made services a client can buy directly, with no back-and-forth needed.
You can list a productized service, take on an hourly contract, and hold a monthly retainer without ever leaving the platform.
Bring your track record with you
Starting on a new platform usually means starting from zero. Open Lance does not work that way. You can bring your stats from Upwork, Fiverr, and other platforms into your Open Lance profile, and they count toward your standing here, your rank and your talent level, not just a line in your bio. Your remote work journey is portable, so the reputation you already earned keeps working for you instead of being locked to one site.
Getting paid, and protected on both sides
Escrow is the starting point, not the whole story. On hourly work, Open Lance protects the freelancer and the client at the same time.
For the freelancer: the client funds a weekly buffer in advance. Your hours go into a weekly work diary, and once that week is settled you are paid for the work you logged, even if the client goes quiet afterward. You are not left chasing an unresponsive client for money you already earned.
For the client: a freelancer can never add hours you have not approved. There is no runaway billing and no surprise invoice at the end of the week. You only pay for the hours you agreed to, and the weekly buffer is the ceiling, not a blank cheque.
And when it is time to withdraw, you do not sit through a fixed hold every single week. Once a short cool-off period passes and the client agrees, funds can be released instantly. On fixed-price work the same idea applies through milestones: fund, approve, release, with instant release available once the cool-off clears.
Hiring: what clients pay
Open Lance is free to hire. You post the work and hire without a marketplace fee added on top. You see any transparent fees before you commit, and Open Lance never takes a hidden cut of your escrow.
Who each is best for
Freelancer.com has a very large project volume and a long history, so it can suit someone who wants sheer quantity of listings and does not mind the fees, the bid limits, and the upsells. Open Lance suits freelancers who want simple flat bidding, more of their earnings, faster payment, and more than one way to work.
Where Freelancer.com may still fit
Freelancer.com posts a very high volume of projects across many categories, so if raw quantity of listings is what you want, it delivers that. Open Lance is newer, so it has fewer listings today, though what it does have comes without bid caps or paid upgrades, and you keep more of what you earn.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Open Lance limit how many jobs I can bid on?
- No. Bidding is a flat $1 per bid with no monthly cap. Freelancer.com limits free bids and sells memberships for more.
- What is the commission compared to Freelancer.com?
- Freelancer.com takes 10% or a minimum fee. Open Lance takes 0% on Ultra ($20/month) or 5% standard.
- Are there paid bid upgrades on Open Lance?
- No. There are no highlight or sponsor upsells. Every bid is a flat $1.
- Can I bring my Freelancer.com reviews?
- You can bring your stats into your Open Lance profile, and they count toward your rank and talent level.
- How fast do I get paid?
- Once a short cool-off passes and the client agrees, funds can release instantly.