10 Best Graphic Design Freelance Websites To Make Money Online in 2023

Last Updated on November 28, 2022 by Chimezie Chidi

Want to enjoy flexibility, comfort, and the ability to work in your own creative space.?

I’ve got a great list of the best graphic design freelance websites for you.

The Best  Freelance Websites for Graphic Designers 2023

1. 99Design

2. Upwork

3. AwesomeWeb

4. Fiverr

5. Freelancer

6. PeoplePerHour

7. Dribble

8. Toptal

9. Design Crowd

10. Crowd Spring

Freelance designers communicate with all kinds of clients, helping them create stunning visuals for their audience. This entails arranging colour, symbol, type, and imagery to create an attractive piece or even a brand “feel.” 

You may work on prints, business cards, brochures, folders, postcards, flyers, company letterhead, social media pages, packaging design, catalogues, advertisements, booklets, web advertisements, and web graphic elements. 

Working in design is absolutely satisfying, but you may find it a bit difficult getting clients on your own.

I’m here to help.

In this article, I have curated a great list of 10 best graphic design freelance websites.

Ready to build a satisfying graphic design freelance career?

Let’s dive right in.

#1. 99designs

If you are a beginner, you will love 99designs.

It is excellent for building your portfolio due to its wide range of tools which can be used to sharpen your skills.

Here, clients may either host a design contest or pick a designer.

With contests, clients will submit their project brief to which designers will, in turn, present their interpretations of the client’s need in a contest.

The client will judge these proposals and pick the design they love the most.

However, if you connect with clients on more than one basis, you may work directly with those clients in other jobs in the future. 

There’s just one big flaw; although 99designs is reputable, getting paid depends entirely on the client. If there were no pre-payments, clients might not want to pay you at all even after winning the contest.

Pros

• Great way to build your portfolio
• Diverse forms of payment through PayPal, Payoneer or Skrill
• Flexibility

Cons

• Meagre payments
• The client is valued more than your work 
• 99design will take 5-15% of your pay
• Other designers might piggyback on your proposals. 
• Not a reliable source of income.

#2. Upwork 

Upwork is a merger formed by oDesk and Elance.

It is a very great platform that allows you to connect and communicate with millions of clients from different regions.

You can find precisely the type of job you want to be done either you are a starter or expert in your field.

To better communicate your skills to the client, Upwork gives you tests and various medium to showcase your portfolio and establish killer connections with clients.

Clients on the platform can either browse and talk to freelancers directly or place job listings and receive proposals.

Upwork also offers a premium service called Upwork Pro.

Here you will find the top 3% vetted and experienced professionals at a higher price tag.

Client’s do not generally pay a signup fee, but freelancers will have to part with a cut of their income. 

Pros

• Simplified platform to find freelancers
• Secure payment
• Thousands of graphic designers on the platform
• Thousands of price levels for businesses of all sizes

Cons

• Upwork collects a part of the freelancer’s income
• Takes a lot of hard work to screen through proposals
• Too many milestones may slow down your progress

#3. AwesomeWeb

AwesomeWeb is focused on offering the best-skilled graphics designers to high-end clients.

The platform also has professional web designers and programmers. As a designer, once you sign up, Awesome web will manually screen your application before making your profile visible to clients.  

This platform is superb for already established designers looking for new clients. If you already have an established clientele, a terrific resume, and impressive past projects, this platform is for you. 

On the flip side, Awesome Web will always verify clients.

They are really focused on providing a friendly climate for freelancers. As a freelancer, you would not have any hassles such as unpaid work, bidding wars, or problems getting more clients.

Also, your income is all yours. You will only pay $27 per month. 

Pros

• Suitable for sensitive projects
• A friendly platform for freelance graphic designers
• No cuts from income, only a $27 monthly fee
• 90-day money-back guarantee for its freelancers

Cons

• Not suitable for very small businesses
• Not ideal if you have one project in mind

#4. Fiverr   

Fiverr equally has a fantastic array of graphic designers, although it’s not focused on that field.

Projects can be done for as little as $5 depending on the complexity.

Signing up or posting job ads is free on Fiverr.

Freelance graphic designers on this platform can design everything from Amazon-centric designs to business flyers.

As a client, you can browse through categories of sellers (freelancers), view portfolios, and make your choice.

You can take the hassle off by placing job listings as well.

However, if your project is a bit complicated, you may pay extra charges. 

Pros 

• Excellent for short projects
• Clients tip more often on the platform
• Verified clients
• Freelancers don’t have to bid to get clients

Cons

• Great for high-quality designs at very cheap rates
• Not excellent for building long-lasting relationships
• Very difficult to get first gigs
• Fiverr can shut down your freelance account for any reason

#5. Freelancer 

Freelancer is a massive freelance marketplace like Upwork and Fiverr. 

It uses the same system as well. Clients can simply browse through the platform and select freelancers or set up job listings and receive bids.

It’s free to signup as a client, but you may pay some additional fees if you wish to place more job listings per month. 

Freelancers also enjoy escrow protection on the platform and are paid per hour or project fee.

However, depending on your membership level, you might pay fees ranging from nothing to $59.95 per month.

Freelancers can only submit about eight proposals every month. After, that you have to upgrade to a paid account to be able to submit proposals.

Pros

• Suitable for companies of all sizes
• Ideal for all kinds of tasks

Cons

• Freelancers pay too many upsells ranging from the generic monthly fee to exchange fees and inactive fee
• Clients might find it, difficult screening freelancers.

#6. PeoplePerHour 

Peopleperhour is a fantastic platform for freelance graphic designers.

As a freelance graphic designer, you can quickly signup using your Facebook or LinkedIn login in details.

It’s completely free to sign up as a client or graphic designer.

However, most jobs are hourly part-time gigs. If you want to make a lot of extra cash or build your portfolio, Peopleperhour is an excellent platform for you.

But you would have to contend with the low pay and highly competitive bidding process.

Clients can quickly browse and contact freelancers directly or pay a fixed price on services.

All freelancers receive 15 free job bids per month and can get extras at an additional fee.

Freelancers also pay a high 20% commission which reduces as they make more money in the same month.  

Pros

• Excellent side hustle platform
• Vetted professionals
• Perfect for short, quick and cheap design work
• Ideal for small businesses

Cons

• Might take a while screening freelancers
• Not suitable for long term projects

#7. Dribbble: 

Dribble provides avenues for freelance graphic designers to display their portfolio and get noticed.

However, Dribble is centred not only on the graphic design but web design and app development.

If you are also expecting excellent feedback on mock-up projects, this is a unique platform for you.

Dribbble will screen your portfolio and present you to a vibrant community of clients and other designers alike. 

Clients have three ways of acquiring freelancers on the platform.

They can use the Basic or advanced search platform, make a job listing or pay a premium price for Dribble Talent.

When clients pick the last option, they will access the top 1% of vetted freelancers on the network which they can’t find via search or job listings. 

Pros 

• Ideal for full-time remote hires
• Access to quality professionals
• Ability to post jobs anytime
• Suitable for long term projects.

Cons

• Too pricey to view freelancers
• Not ideal for small businesses
• Not suitable for small businesses

#8. Toptal

If you want to work with the top 3% graphic designers, you can use Toptal.

Toptal is a high-end website offering an exclusive network of finance experts, designers, and software developers.

Toptal rigorously screens all of its freelancers, to assure only of the best. 

Clients are equally expected to provide detailed outlines on their projected task. This helps Toptal match clients to their ideal freelancers.

Clients can employ freelance graphic designers from Toptal on a short- or long-term basis to work remotely or on-site.

Clients also receive a 100% risk-free trial to help them understand the platform and check out a possible match for their project.

Pros

• Qualified and vetted freelancers
• Detailed matching process
• Money-back guarantee
• Access to finance experts, developers, and designers in one platform

Cons

• Not ideal for quick and cheap tasks
• Toptal demands a steep upfront deposit of $500
• Exclusively caters to big corporate clients. 

#9. DesignCrowd

DesignCrowd gives you access to top graphic designers from around the globe.

It’s a freelance marketplace focused on graphic designers who can perform wonders in over 50 different design-related categories. New graphic designers can enjoy the platform, but experienced designers may not like working at the mercy of a contest. 

As a client, you can simply signup and fill in the creative brief. You will receive unique designs from different designers on the platform within a matter of hours or days.

From these designs, you can select the best one for you, pay and receive the files immediately. If you don’t like any of the designs offered, DesignCrowd will refund you within 60 days.

Pros

• High-quality designs at cheaper rates
• 60 days money-back guarantee
• Ideal platform for newbie graphic designers.
• No signup or setup fees, only pay for your task.
• Excellent for short and quick jobs
• DesignCrowd also has solutions for large projects

Cons

• Not ideal for long term projects
• Not suitable for experienced designers
• Highly competitive platform

 #10. CrowdSpring

CrowdSpring is one of the oldest freelance design platforms.

You can find creative designers and web designers offering over 30 categories of services, including product design, graphic design, web design, and many more.

With CrowdSpring, clients can simply signup on the platform, choose a prepacked plan, and send in details of their work.

Most projects run for as little as 1 day to 7 days. When you have sent and accepted your pricing plan, you will receive multiple proposals from different designers.

Pick the design you that works best, modify if need be and pay for it. If you like more than one entry, you can equally pay for them as well.

Clients can also quickly search through the platform and work with one designer. If you are unsure of your choice, CrowdSpring will help you pick one of the best.

Next, negotiate your price and kickstart your project. Pricing plans begin from $299.

However, it’s a bit difficult getting on the platform as a designer. You can send in your proposals anytime, but there’s no transparent system on how their designers are rated.

Check out their FAQs for more detail.

Pros

• Excellent for all kinds of projects
• Competitive prices
• Ideal for long term projects

Cons

• Not suitable for one-off projects except its full branding job
• Caters to the bigger businesses
• Not ideal for quick and cheap jobs. 
• Payment for completed tasks takes too long
• No designer rating

The bottom line

Which freelance website for graphic designers suits your personality the most?

All of these freelance marketplaces can help you connect with clients. But they don’t work in the same way.

For instance, not all graphic designers can bear to work for contests. In such scenarios, their work isn’t appreciated based on quality but the client’s bias. In those events, designers have to keep contesting overtime to make a decent fee.

Sometimes you can “work” for months, without producing anything.

You can always try out multiple platforms to find the right ones that suit your desired experience and style of work. Ultimately, it’s crucial to create your personal website so that you can grow your client list organically.  

Freelancing as a graphic designer can be a fantastic work, once you get started on the right part.

According to HowDesign, there will be days when you feel like a fraud for having one of the best and most satisfying jobs on the planet.