Whether you’re looking for work or ways to boost your productivity, this list of freelancing apps can help.
#1. Best Freelance App to Find Work for Beginners: Fiverr
Fiverr is an ideal platform for beginners looking for their first freelance job. Instead of submitting proposals to clients, you create gigs and wait for clients to come to you.
Think of gigs as turnkey services that offer a specific task that clients can purchase, like editing a certain number of words or photoshopping a certain number of images.
You set your own price, availability, deliverables and more.
Fiverr is a great platform for getting your foot in the door because this productized format makes it easy to offer small, one-off tasks that clients are willing to hire a beginner to complete. As you build a reputation, you can then transition to platforms with bigger, more lucrative contracts (such as Upwork, discussed below).
Learn more: The ultimate beginner’s guide to making money on Fiverr.
#2. Best Freelance App to Find Work for Professionals: Upwork
Upwork provides robust job opportunities, from one-off projects to consistent roles with companies large and small. You’ll find opportunities across nearly every industry, from freelance writing to programming and everything in between.
As with many traditional freelance sites, on Upwork you create a profile and submit a proposal for each job. The more ratings, reviews and experience you have on the platform, the better your chances are of winning contracts and commanding top dollar.
Upwork is ideal for experienced professionals in the beginning stages of their freelance careers — especially those with an established skillset and a proven record of results.
Learn more: Not sure if Upwork or Fiverr is the ideal starting place? Check out our guide to Upwork vs. Fiverr. We’ve also written extensively on Upwork, including a beginner’s guide to getting started on the platform and a deep dive on producing a winning Upwork proposal with no experience.
#3. Best Freelance App to Find Work for Specialized Talent: Toptal
Toptal is where large companies look for specialized talent in high-paying fields like software engineering, website design and finance.
Those who want to join the Toptal platform must complete a series of screenings and tests. If you’re accepted, you can leverage the platform as your own virtual staffing agency.
Employers on Toptal can search for your profile and hire you for roles, which range from short-term projects to full-time positions.
#4. Best Freelance Expense Tracking and Accounting App: Quickbooks Self-Employed
Quickbooks Self-Employed is a simple and easy-to-use app that allows freelancers to track costs and maximize their tax deductions.
It’s designed for sole proprietors and single-member LLCs that take draws from their business earnings. Note that you’ll have to upgrade to Quickbooks Online if you’re an S-Corp and you pay yourself a salary.
Helpful features of the app include:
- Automated mileage tracking.
- Integration with tax filing software.
- Estimated self-employment taxes.
- Ability to send and track invoices to clients.
The current cost is $20 per month.
#5. Best Freelance Project Management App: Trello
Trello is great whether you’re managing projects yourself, with a client or with a small team. You can create boards for separate projects or clients, assign tasks, set deadlines and keep track of progress.
Trello also offers powerful integrations with hundreds of other apps, including Slack, Google Drive, Evernote and more, which allows you to adapt to a client’s communication style and suite of tools if needed.
You can do a lot with the free version of Trello, and depending on the complexity of your business, you may not even have to upgrade. A $5 per month plan provides you with more customization options, such as custom fields and restricting what others can see (which is nice if clients view your boards).
Learn more: See how The Ways To Wealth’s editorial team uses Trello to manage the content pipeline and day-to-day workflow of this website.
#6. Best Time Tracking App: Toggl
Toggl is a time-tracking app with a generous free tier of service that may not even require an upgrade down the road.
It’s simple to use and allows you to generate reports and track billable hours to maximize every minute you spend working with a client.
While most people use the Chrome extension to help track time, Toggl has iPhone and Android apps that make it easy to track your hours on the go.
#7. Best Freelance Scheduling App: Calendly
Calendly is the ideal combination of easy-to-use and free-to-use. While there are premium plans, the free version is enough to do the basics, such as providing clients with time slots you’re available to meet, syncing with your Google Calendar, and automated event notifications to ensure your clients show up when scheduled.
While a paid plan (starting at $8 per month) provides more customizations — such as different meeting types — the generous free version is certainly enough to help get freelancers going.
