Freelancing in Pakistan has been around for more than a decade now.

With around 3 million talented freelancers working round the clock, freelancing is a flexible and rewarding way to make a livelihood in Pakistan—commonly referred to as the gig economy.  

The only prerequisite is a honed skillset and good communication skills. If you’re a decent writer, designer, or programmer, you can use freelance platforms to connect with clients looking for those skills.

In this read, we’ll explore the top 5 freelancing websites in Pakistan that allow freelancers to seek international projects.

Upwork

Most freelancers consider Upwork as top-of-the-top, and for good reasons.

It’s a leading online platform connecting freelancers worldwide, including Pakistan.

You can tap into a vast pool of projects across various industries and find work that aligns with your skills and experience.

Upwork is fairly different from many freelancing websites—so it’s a buyer’s market instead of a seller’s market.

To simplify that phrase, Upwork functions by letting you browse project listings, submit proposals outlining your qualifications and rates, and secure work based on client selection.

Now, you can choose between fixed-price projects, where you agree on a set fee upfront, or hourly projects, where you get paid based on the time you invest.

That’s one of the key reasons why freelancers in Pakistan prefer Upwork as their go-platform.

However, some freelancers do go the other way because of some drawbacks that come along with using Upwork, such as:

• The platform takes away 10% of your total earnings.
• All communication must take place within Upwork.
• You need to buy connects to send proposals.
• The platform is extremely competitive.
• Creating proposals is exhaustive.
• Scams reported.

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Despite that, there are over 18 million registered freelancers on Upwork—many who consider Upwork as the best freelance platform in Pakistan, and across the world.

Fiverr

The next popular freelancing platform for the Pakistani gig economy is Fiverr.

It’s fairly different from Upwork—it’s a seller’s market.

To explain that, Fiverr came up with a unique concept of gigs instead of long-term projects. These are small, well-defined projects that can be completed quickly.

So here, sellers (freelancers) put out their offered services as gigs and buyers (clients) can come and choose what fits their requirements.

Fiverr is ideal for freelancers who want to get started easily. Setting up a profile and offering your services is straightforward. You can showcase your skills and attract clients by describing your gigs in detail.

Moreover, Fiverr provides multiple payment options like PayPal, Stripe, and Bitcoin for added convenience.

However, there are certain downsides to working on Fiverr as a freelancer, such as:

• Fiverr offers promoted gigs—making it pay to win.
• The platform charges you 20% of your earnings.
• All communication must take place within Fiverr.
• Comparatively, low-paying projects.
• More competition than upwork.
• Scammers reported.

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Despite the shortcomings, there are around 380,000 active freelancers working on their gigs that bring clients and dollars regularly.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn isn’t your typical freelancing platform—but surprisingly has become the source of B2B leads.

It’s a professional social network where you can create a profile that showcases your skills and experience.

This profile acts as your online resume, allowing you to highlight relevant projects, past work experience, and educational qualifications.

You can even include a portfolio section to display your work samples, further solidifying your expertise.

Thus, with the functionality LinkedIn offers, it was primarily used as a recruitment platform for job seekers and had little freelancing scope until a couple of years ago.

Professionals created their LinkedIn profiles as a medium to communicate directly with business owners, decision-makers, and HR professionals by building personal brands.

So a typical LinkedIn freelancer creates content specific to the niche they are targeting, showcasing how they can solve their client’s problems by flexing their muscles (skillset)

Freelancers connect with potential clients and employers, join industry-specific groups, actively engage in discussions, build their professional network and increase their visibility to those seeking freelance talent.

Added to that, there are other benefits such as:

• There’s no limit or restriction in tapping your desired niche
• Lesser competition since people are still exploring it
• More authenticity because it’s a social network
• Communication can go outside the platform
• The platform doesn’t take your earnings
• Free courses for upskilling

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There are only two downsides to using LinkedIn as a freelancing platform:

The amount of people you can reach outbound and view profiles via targeted search has a monthly limit. You need to buy a paid Sales Navigator tool to tap into that.

And every lead is initially cold—since it’s a social platform where buyers are not actively looking to hire a freelancer usually.

Yet, LinkedIn is considered to bring in the highest amount of B2B leads, with around 1 billion members worldwide.

Guru

Guru is among the list of user-friendly freelancing platforms in Pakistan catering to a wide range of freelance services.

Signing up and creating a profile is simple, allowing you to start offering your skills to potential clients quickly.

Guru facilitates smooth communication with clients through its built-in messaging system.

Additionally, it offers invoicing tools to streamline the payment process, ensuring you get paid efficiently.

However, not many freelancers tilt toward using Guru because of the following reasons:

• Comparatively fewer payment options
• Not a vast pool of opportunities
• Lower pay rates

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However, Guru remains a good option for beginners due to its ease of use and features that simplify client interaction and project management.

PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour caters specifically to freelancers in Pakistan, offering a flexible pricing model that allows you to choose between hourly rates or fixed project prices.

So, with PeoplePerHour, you customize your offerings to suit the project and your earning preferences.

Additionally, PeoplePerHour facilitates direct payments to your bank account in Pakistan, eliminating potential issues with some international payment methods.

However, some freelancers don’t choose PeoplePerHour because:

• Not a vast pool of opportunities
• Slower payment processing
• Subscription fees

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However, the flexibility in pricing and direct bank deposits make PeoplePerHour an attractive option for Pakistani freelancers.

How To Get Paid Through Freelancing Websites In Pakistan

Now, locking a client and delivering the project with no hiccups is already an overwhelming thing to pull off—and that too repetitively.

But do you know what’s more challenging than that?

Bring your hard-earned money to your wallets from international clients.

To solve this, we can recommend you SadaBiz.

SadaBiz simplifies receiving freelance payments from freelancing clients across the world, simply & securely. Let us show you how SadaBiz works:

• Create a payment link with a few taps.
• Share that link with your client via any medium
• Clients can pay by their debit/credit card, Apple Pay, or even Google Pay
• Once you receive the money, you can withdraw the amount to your SadaBiz, or to your SadaPay personal wallet.

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That’s how easy it is—eliminating location barriers and helping you receive international payments across the globe via end-to-end, 100% secure transactions.

Also, SadaBiz offers fantastic customer support, fast processing times, and great exchange rates, including a Rs. 900,000 limit—so that you can conveniently bring in more work and more money. 💰

So double up your efforts in hunting for new, lucrative clients and deliver them flawless services while SadaBiz takes care of your payments.

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