The main Upwork alternatives for developers are Fiverr, Freelancer.com, Toptal, Contra and Malt, plus working directly with clients through your own site and directories. They differ less in their fees than in their format: whether you bid, sell packages, get matched or get found. Choose the format that suits how you work, then check the fee.
Every fee below was checked on the platform's own pages in October 2026. Platforms change their pricing often, so treat this as a snapshot and open the linked page before you rely on a number. One of the options at the end is Shipfolks, which is our site, and it is described with the same honesty as the rest.
What each platform charges the freelancer
| Platform | What the freelancer pays | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Upwork | 0% to 15% per contract, shown before you propose; proposals cost Connects | Clients post jobs, freelancers bid |
| Fiverr | 20% of each order (sellers are credited 80%) | Freelancers list fixed packages, buyers choose |
| Freelancer.com | 10% or $5, whichever is higher, on fixed-price work; 10% of each hourly payment | Clients post projects, freelancers bid |
| Toptal | No cut of your rate | Screened network, Toptal matches you to clients |
| Contra | No commission; the client pays a contract fee | Portfolio profile plus direct invoicing |
| Malt | A commission that starts at 10% excl. VAT and drops for long relationships | Profiles that clients search, mostly in Europe |
| Shipfolks | Nothing | A directory of builders and the products they shipped |
The fee column is the one everyone compares, and it is the least important. A 0% platform that sends you no work costs more than a 15% one that sends you a client a month. What decides that is the format.
The four formats, and who wins in each
Bidding (Upwork, Freelancer.com). A client posts a job and freelancers send proposals. This rewards speed, specialisation and a good first line. It punishes generalists, because a generalist is one of twenty similar proposals and the only visible difference is the price. If you use a bidding platform, write proposals that are about the client's problem and send fewer of them.
Catalogue (Fiverr). You list fixed packages and buyers choose. This suits work you can define tightly in advance: "fix one bug in a React Native app", "set up Stripe Checkout on a Next.js site". It suits open-ended development badly, because a fixed package and an unknown codebase do not mix.
Matching (Toptal). You pass a screening process and the platform introduces you to clients. You do far less selling, and in exchange you give up some control over which clients you meet.
Profile and direct (Contra, Malt, directories, your own site). You keep a page that shows your work, and clients either find it or you send them to it. Nothing is guaranteed, nobody bids against you on the same page, and you decide the terms.
Platform by platform
Upwork
Upwork's freelancer fee is now variable, between 0% and 15%, set per contract and shown before you send a proposal or accept an offer. Sending proposals also costs Connects, which you buy. It has the most clients of any option here, and the most competition for each one.
Fiverr
Under Fiverr's payment terms, a seller is credited with 80% of each completed order, so the platform keeps 20%. The buyer pays a separate service fee on top. Good for small, repeatable, well-defined jobs. Hard work for anything where the scope only becomes clear after you look at the code.
Freelancer.com
Same bidding format as Upwork. Its fees page lists 10% or $5 (whichever is higher) on fixed-price projects and 10% of each payment on hourly ones. The fee is easier to predict than Upwork's. The price pressure is the same, because the format is the same.
Toptal
According to Toptal's talent FAQ, freelancers set their own rates and Toptal does not take a cut of them: the client is billed separately. The cost is the screening, which has several stages and takes weeks. Worth it if you are experienced and dislike selling. Not a route for your first client.
Contra
Contra charges freelancers no commission. Clients pay a contract fee instead, and there is an optional paid Pro plan for freelancers. In practice it works best as a professional profile and an invoicing tool for clients you bring yourself, rather than as a steady source of new ones.
Malt
Malt is strongest in Europe and works on day rates. Its help centre describes a commission of 10% excluding VAT for a client met on the platform, falling for relationships that last more than six months and for clients you invite yourself. The exact figure is shown when you create a quote.
Your own site and directories
The option that costs nothing per project is a page you control, plus listings that point at it.
Shipfolks is one of those listings, and it is ours, so weigh this paragraph accordingly. It is a directory of independent builders and the products they shipped: free to list, no cut of anything, and contact goes straight to you. It launched in July 2026 and it is small. It does not bring a stream of clients and we will not tell you it does. What it gives you is a page that leads with work people can open, which helps every other channel convert.
Profile and direct channels are slow to start and compound over time. They also need the other half of the work: outreach, referrals and being visible where your clients talk. Where freelance developers actually find clients covers that half.
How to choose
- You need paid work this month. A bidding platform, with a narrow offer and a capped number of hours a week spent on proposals.
- You do small, repeatable jobs. Fiverr packages, priced so the 20% is already inside the number.
- You are senior and hate selling. Apply to a screened network and keep applying elsewhere while you wait.
- You already have clients or referrals. Contra or plain invoicing, so nobody takes a percentage of work you found yourself.
- You want work that compounds. A page with your shipped work, listed where clients look, plus direct outreach. Slow for two months, then the cheapest channel you have.
Most people end up using two of these at once: one platform for near-term income and one direct channel that gets stronger every month. If you are still looking for the very first client, how to get your first freelance client with no network is the narrower version of this page.