16 Freelancer Platform Success Stories [2024]
Freelancer platform is a place where people come with skills and services to offer and people come who need those skills and services. So we can say freelancer platforms are a marketplace for sellers and buyers of services and skills.
The freelancing industry is growing rapidly and it's becoming a popular career option for people who are "non-traditional" employees. The global Freelance Platforms market size is expected to reach $6.7B by the year 2025. While working on a full-time job, freelancers simultaneously work on a freelance career. The platforms available online help them to increase their business by attracting new clients.
With all of the businesses looking for help on their websites, it would be a good idea to start a freelancer platform. Freelance platforms do well because people have jobs that need to be done and businesses have the resources to pay for the job at hand.
In this list, you'll find real-world freelancer platform success stories and very profitable examples of starting a freelancer platform that makes money.
1. Transformify: Workforce Management System ($60M/year)
Started in 2015 when remote work was still a novelty, Transformify grew exponentially, providing global payroll and payments to international contractors and achieving 650% revenue growth in 2021. The idea came after the founder witnessed highly qualified professionals losing their jobs due to automation and process optimization at Coca-Cola Enterprises.
How much money it makes: $60M/year
How much did it cost to start: $250K
How many people on the team: 35
Transformify, a global payroll and payments platform for international contractors, achieved 650% revenue growth in 2021 and reached profitability in 2019, offering social impact programs for various vulnerable groups, vendor management systems for temporary workforce management, and an AI-driven applicant tracking system to help job seekers switch careers amid Covid-19 outbreak.
2. Solar Staff ($6M/year)
solar-staff //s3.amazonaws.com/www.starterstory.com/story_images/images/000/021/326/original/open-uri20221009-25-vx9a2y?1665301493 We used business networking and personal connections to attract and retain customers, along with themed conferences and context advertising. Our promotional budget accounts for 20-25% of our revenues.
How much money it makes: $6M/year
How much did it cost to start: $1.5M
How many people on the team: 77
Solar Staff is a profitable fintech solution that helps businesses work with cross-border contractors, making interaction with freelancers 5 times faster and optimizing business productivity, with a YOY growth of 92% and plans to expand into the UK, India, Mexico, and Brazil.
3. DistantJob ($3.48M/year)
Sharon Koifman, president of DistantJob, came up with the idea for her remote worker recruitment agency after noticing that tech companies were outsourcing work to save money, but not getting the same level of communication and quality. She decided to specialize in finding the best remote workers who could follow a client's processes and culture, and teach her clients how to effectively manage remote teams. DistantJob now has $3 million in revenue and targets small to medium-sized tech companies.
How much money it makes: $3.48M/year
How many people on the team: 26
DistantJob is a unique recruitment agency that specializes in finding full-time remote employees, and with $3 million in annual revenue, they offer small to medium-sized tech companies an edge over big competitors who are not willing to hire remotely.
4. Factofly ($1.8M/year)
Jannik, the co-founder and CEO of FactoFly, came up with the idea for the business after experiencing the burden of administration as a freelancer. Through extensive market research and interviews with freelancers, he saw a need for a platform that would handle the administrative tasks for freelancers, allowing them to focus on their work. Since its launch, FactoFly has grown its revenue to around €130k monthly and is now preparing for a seed round to expand into new European regions.
How much money it makes: $1.8M/year
How much did it cost to start: $50
How many people on the team: 4
FactoFly, a platform for freelancers to handle their administrative tasks, has grown from 0 to €130k monthly revenue in 12 months, and is preparing for a seed round and expansion to other European regions.
5. Flexiple ($1.2M/year)
Suvansh Bansal, co-founder of Flexiple, came up with the idea for the freelancing platform while realizing that existing platforms focused too heavily on reviews and ratings, rather than the actual skill and expertise of freelancers. Recognizing the need for a platform that prioritizes quality interactions, Bansal and his co-founders decided to build Flexiple with a focus on providing the best freelance developers and designers in their community.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How many people on the team: 9
Flexiple is a customer-funded profitable business, generating $80K in gross monthly revenues on an average over the last 6-months, driven by their focus on connecting high-quality freelancers with companies looking for reliable and remote talent, while continuously iterating on their business model and expanding into complementary areas like tech hiring and content marketing.
6. CloudDevs ($1.2M/year)
CloudDevs was born out of the founders' frustration with hiring quality freelance tech talent. After struggling with platforms like Upwork and Toptal, they realized there was a huge demand for highly skilled developers and designers at affordable rates. They decided to create a platform that vetted and matched these professionals with startups and entrepreneurs looking to build their tech projects. Within their first year, CloudDevs reached $1 million in GMV, signaling their success in disrupting the tech talent-hiring industry.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $2.5K
How many people on the team: 10
CloudDevs, a tech talent platform that sources and vets freelance tech talent and matches them with companies, has achieved $1 million in GMV in its first year, plans to achieve 100% growth year on year, and focuses on customer loyalty through its Net Promoter Score metric.
7. SkillSoniq ($480K/year)
Abby, the founder of SkillSoniq, came up with the idea for her business after experiencing the challenges of working with outsourced talent on a tech project. She saw a need for a better way to source skilled talent quickly and affordably in the US, leading her to create SkillSoniq, the world's first AI-powered recruiting app. Through hosting marketing events at co-working spaces and leveraging personal connections, Abby was able to attract and retain customers, leading to impressive revenue growth.
How much money it makes: $480K/year
How much did it cost to start: $50K
How many people on the team: 7
SkillSoniq, the world's first AI-powered recruiting app, connects companies with skilled freelancers on a trial basis, saving companies 60%+ in hiring costs and earning $350,000+ in gross revenues in its first year, with a current average of $40,000 a month, and plans to raise a second round of seed funding to achieve escape velocity and continue to form a world-class company.
8. Mylance ($216K/year)
Bradley Jacobs, founder of Mylance, came up with the idea for his business after experiencing the freedom and financial success of working as an independent consultant. He saw a growing market of individuals who wanted to monetize their expertise and work flexibly, so he started Mylance to provide a comprehensive platform for self-employed professionals. Through organic social media marketing and customer word of mouth, Mylance has attracted and retained customers, growing to $40k/month in revenue.
How much money it makes: $216K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 0
Mylance, founded by Bradley Jacobs, is an end-to-end software platform for self-employed individuals and independent consultants, growing to ~$40k/month in revenue with 3 main value-adds: actionable guides, a vetted community, and lead generation software.
9. Uplink ($192K/year)
Hi, I'm Manuel, the founder of Uplink, a network for IT freelancers in Germany. After working as a freelancer myself and being frustrated with traditional IT recruiters, I came up with the idea of creating a community and job placement platform that was simple, fair, and transparent. I started by reaching out to freelancers and companies directly and built the platform from there. We now have over 1,000 members and are seeing steady growth in our monthly revenue.
How much money it makes: $192K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 2
Uplink, a German network for IT freelancers, has surpassed 1,000 members and offers job placements for companies with a simple process that charges a commission of 10% to freelancers for the first six months of working with a client through the platform.
10. Refrens ($120K/year)
Naman came up with the idea for Refrens after struggling to find and engage with freelancers for his previous startups. Recognizing the challenges freelancers faced in payment collection, he saw an opportunity to address these issues.
In 2018, he launched Refrens.com, focusing initially on streamlining invoicing to reduce delays and inefficiencies. The platform expanded beyond invoicing to include features like quotations, expense tracking, and tax reporting, aiming to support freelancers comprehensively.
I met a lot of good freelancers during my course of growing multiple startups but finding them and interacting with them was tough. It looked like a good market to solve problems for. — Naman (Source)
How much money it makes: $120K/year
Discover how Refrens, a billing platform that facilitates seamless payments and client acquisition for B2B service providers, grew from a basic tool to generating $120K annually through targeted SEO, email marketing, and user-centric design improvements.
11. Codemap ($84K/year)
Sasa Janicijevic, the founder of Codemap.io, came up with the idea for his business after experiencing the frustrations of traditional coding and software development while working on his previous startup. After discovering the world of no-code development, Sasa saw an opportunity to create a marketplace that connects founders and organizations with pre-vetted no-code experts, allowing them to build their products faster and at a lower cost. Since launching in October 2020, Codemap has attracted dozens of expert applications and client projects, proving the strong demand for their services in the rapidly rising no-code industry.
How much money it makes: $84K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1K
How many people on the team: 3
Codemap.io is a freelance & agency marketplace for no-code, low-code, and automation, enabling anyone to hire no-code experts to build their products, MVPs, and apps up to 10x cheaper and faster than with traditional development, with 900+ clients, close to $2,000,000 in created projects, and 110+ hires made, all achieved in less than 6 months.
12. No Code MBA ($72K/year)
Seth Kramer, founder of No Code MBA, came up with the idea for his business when he saw the growing trend of no-code tools and realized there was a need for a platform that taught people how to use these tools to build businesses. After pivoting from his previous business, ConferenceTap, he started creating video lessons and offering both free and paid courses on building apps using no-code tools. With over 400 paid members and organic growth through content sharing, No Code MBA is quickly becoming the go-to community for entrepreneurs looking to build businesses without code.
How much money it makes: $72K/year
How much did it cost to start: $200
How many people on the team: 0
No Code MBA founder, Seth Kramer, has built a training platform for entrepreneurs who want to learn how to launch their very own businesses and build apps using no-code tools, recording over 150 real-world video lessons which have resulted in over 400 paid members in just 6-months and a focus on growing the No Code MBA community.
13. Assure Shift ($69.6K/year)
Debendra Prasad noticed how fake and unprofessional moving companies plagued the industry, so he founded AssureShift in 2017 to offer verified, reliable movers. Today, AssureShift has a network of 700-800 packers and has served over 50,000 customers across India, generating $250K annually.
How much money it makes: $69.6K/year
How much did it cost to start: $9.7K
How many people on the team: 14
AssureShift founder Debendra Prasad shares insights on building a successful web development and digital marketing company that offers a lucrative online moving companies directory, currently serving over 50,000 customers across approximately 23 cities and a yearly revenue of around 1 Cr ($250K).
14. SinOficina ($36K/year)
Chris's eight year old suggested him the idea of "food named states". A photo series based on this idea went viral on Instagram, and a couple years later, Chris started developing a Shopify store for t-shirts based on the same concept.
How much money it makes: $36K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 0
SinOficina is an online coworking space for Spanish-speaking freelancers and entrepreneurs that generates $3,000 per month in revenue, which founder Bosco Soler built by sharing his journey with his audience, delegating tasks, collaborating with formidable people and using WordPress, Slack, Mailchimp, Airtable, Crowdcast, Zapier and Notion.
15. Shaadivaale ($24K/year)
Shaadivaale was founded in 2018 by an entrepreneur who had a difficult time finding suitable vendors for their own wedding. Recognizing the need for a platform where clients and vendors could easily connect, they launched Shaadivaale to help people find wedding vendors and to support vendors in growing their businesses. Since its inception, Shaadivaale has gained over 500 registered vendors and has seen success in terms of sales and customer retention.
How much money it makes: $24K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 5
Shaadivaale is a successful wedding planning service in India, started in 2018 as a side business with a job, which now has over 500 vendors registered and plans to get into offline and real luxe wedding planning while staying true to their vision of providing a platform for clients and vendors to find each other.
16. FVA Business Consultancy ($12K/year)
Julmar Grace Locsin, founder of Filipino Virtual Assistance, came up with the idea after experiencing the challenges of transitioning from office jobs to freelancing. Recognizing the potential for freelancing to improve the lives of individuals and families, Locsin and her husband launched FVA to provide training, coaching, and services to empower freelancers. Since its inception, FVA has trained over 25,000 students and aims to become the top online academy in the world.
How much money it makes: $12K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 14
Filipino Virtual Assistance by FVA Business Consultancy, founded by Julmar Grace Locsin, offers online and offline training to empower marketers, enable businesses, and equip freelancers which has trained 25,000 students from their 31 courses, has 16 coaches assigned from different territories, and fifteen in the FVA team for global digital leadership that will impact the world through digitalization, one life at a time.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
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