What are the best free self-employment platforms to start with and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

Self-employment platforms are one of the most important ways to help freelancers to enter the world of self-employment through the Internet and get opportunities to work with people from all over the world in various fields, some of which have advantages that may make them suitable for one category of independents and not others.

Entrepreneurship platforms are divided into several types, some of which offer independent services to be purchased by customers and others offer clients different projects in which they seek independent work and work.

We will review a number of self-employment platforms with the advantages and disadvantages that make you choose the right platform for you more especially if you are at the beginning of your entry into self-employment.

Upwork platform

Upwork is one of the most popular foreign self-employment sites in the United States.

The principle of the work of the site Upwork is similar to the independent site through the inclusion of projects by clients in various fields, after which independents to submit their offers for the implementation of these projects, mentioning in their presentation a description of how they implement the project and what they will provide to the client in addition to specifying a period of time for the implementation of the project and of course determine a budget for the implementation of the project.

Upwork deducts a commission of 20% for the first $ 500 of the independent profit with each customer, then the rate of 10% profit between $ 500.1 to $ 10,000 and if this number exceeds the site commission only 5% deducted from the profits of the independent.

Upwork features

• There are very many projects every day in various fields.
• Access to high-budget projects.
• Support the work of the clock system or set a fixed price for the project
• Support withdrawal of profits through several different means: Paypal, Payoneer, US bank account, bank account in any country.
• The presence of a special application for smart phones and a special program on personal computers on various systems.

Upwork site cons

• Need to learn English in a way that allows independent communication with customers.
• The difficulty or impossibility of registering in certain areas due to the presence of a large number of independents.
• Difficult to start it for new independents because of recent laws that spend about $ 5 per month in order to bid on projects.
• Rigor and great emphasis on independents to adhere to site standards
• Failure to support all Arab countries, especially those subject to the embargo from the United States of America.
• Withdrawal of profits must be on a withdrawal method with the same email and the same name as the account holder.

Fiverr platform

A foreign site for micro services similar to the site of Khamasat (built site Khamasat Arabic version of it initially), depends on the provision of small services where independent review of their services so that the value of each service starts from only $ 5 and customers can buy these services, whether one or more services that.

The site allows independents to view their services in 9 main sections and includes more than 150 different fields including:

Graphics & Design, Digital Marketing, Writing & Translation, Video & Animation, Music & Audio, Programming & Tech, Business, Lifestyle, Gaming.

The price of one service starts at $ 5 and can be much higher, with some addition of upgrades to the service that allow the freelancer to perform several tasks for a higher fee.

Fiverr deducts a commission of 20% for each sale made by the freelancer, eventually getting the seller $ 4 for each sale and gets a $ 1 commission for the services he provides to the freelancers.

Site features Fiverr

• Different ways to withdraw profits include: Paypal, Payoneer, a local bank account or an account in the United States.
• The website interface is easy and simple.

Cons of Fiverr

• Not supporting all Arab countries.
• Competition is particularly difficult at first because of the large number of services and independents.
• The period of suspension of profits before withdrawal is rather long and amounts to 14 days.
• Strict rules may suddenly close your account without any notice.