Best Freelance Platforms for Canadians: Fees and How Each Works

Freelance platforms connect you with clients and take a fee for it. This page compares the platforms on what each company publishes about itself: the fee it charges freelancers, how you win work, and what it asks of you before you bid. Their fee and help pages don’t state what freelancers earn, so this page doesn’t rank them by income. It is part of the side hustles hub; the freelancing guide covers setting up and taxes.

Platforms compared

Fiverr’s fee comes from its comparison guide, Freelancer.com’s from its fees and charges page and Guru’s from its freelancer pricing page. Platforms change their fees, so the company’s own page is the place to confirm the current one.

What each fee means on a project

A lower fee on a paid plan only saves money once the fee savings exceed the plan’s cost, which depends on how much you bill through the platform.

Platform details

Fiverr

You create “gigs”, fixed-price service listings, and buyers find them through Fiverr’s search. Fiverr’s own guide says it charges a flat 20% commission on every sale a freelancer makes, including tips. Because the price is set up front, the listing has to cover the fee.

Freelancer.com

You bid on projects that clients post, or enter contests (entering a contest is free). The project fee is 10% or US$5.00, whichever is greater, on fixed-price projects, and 10% on hourly projects. Members of its Preferred Freelancer Program pay 15% on Recruiter projects. Its fees page also lists a standard minimum account balance of US$20.00 that a freelancer must hold before placing a bid.

Guru

You send quotes to employers using “Bids”, which work like a currency on the platform; the free Basic plan comes with fewer Bids than the paid plans. The job fee on each paid invoice falls from 9% on Basic to 5% on Executive, the most expensive plan.

Upwork

Upwork is a general freelance marketplace. It charges freelancers a service fee that it explains in its help centre. Its help pages couldn’t be checked automatically for this page, so no fee is quoted here.

LinkedIn Services Marketplace

LinkedIn lets service providers set up a free Service Page. A client looking for a service can answer a few questions and receive up to 5 proposals from providers, then message the ones it wants to work with.

Specialized platforms

• 99designs by Vista runs design contests, in which a client receives concepts from multiple designers, and 1-to-1 projects.
• Riipen connects students to employers through real work projects; it works with colleges, universities and employers.

Paid in US dollars

Freelancer.com quotes its fees in US dollars, and a platform or client outside Canada may pay you in US dollars. Your bank or payment service converts the money to Canadian dollars at its own exchange rate. For tax, income received in foreign currency is reported in Canadian dollars; foreign income tax in Canada covers the conversion.

GST/HST and income tax

You have to register for the GST/HST once you make taxable sales in Canada and are no longer a small supplier: that happens when your taxable sales go over $30,000 in a single calendar quarter (register from that sale) or over the last 4 consecutive calendar quarters (by the end of the month after that quarter); below that you can register voluntarily. Services to clients outside Canada can be zero-rated; GST/HST on freelance income covers the conditions and which client location sets the rate.

Platform income is self-employment income. You report it on Form T2125 with your T1 return, deduct the platform fees and other business expenses, and pay income tax and CPP on the net amount. The freelancing guide covers records, CPP, instalments and deadlines, and self-employed tax deductions lists what you can deduct.

Related guides

• Freelancing in Canada: set-up and taxes
• How to make money online in Canada
• Best gig economy apps in Canada
• Best online jobs for teens in Canada
• Best side hustles in Canada
• Salary guides by profession