How it works
Clients post projects; freelancers bid. You get a limited number of free bids per month and can buy more or subscribe for a larger allowance. There are also contests, where clients describe what they want, multiple freelancers submit finished work, and only the winner is paid — common in logo and design work.
Fees are taken as a percentage of project value or a minimum amount, whichever is greater, with the exact figures varying by project type and membership tier. Check the current fee schedule directly on the site.
The honest pros
The volume is real, and there is work in categories the more curated platforms don't cover well — data entry, admin, small technical tasks, translation. It's accessible: no screening process, so you can start bidding immediately. And for someone with no track record anywhere, it's a viable place to accumulate a first handful of completed projects and reviews.
Milestone payments provide reasonable protection when you actually use them.
The honest cons
Price competition is severe. Many projects attract dozens of bids within an hour, a large share from freelancers in much lower-cost markets, and clients who post there are frequently sorting by price first.
The bid economy adds friction — you're spending a finite resource on a low-probability outcome. And contests, in particular, are worth thinking hard about: you're doing complete work on the chance of being chosen. For a beginner building a portfolio that can occasionally make sense. As a business model it doesn't.
Client quality is variable, and there are more scoping disputes here than on the more curated platforms.
Who it suits
Freelancers early enough that any review is worth having, people in categories the platform serves well, and anyone based somewhere the prevailing rates are workable. If you have several years behind you, the Toptal screening process is a better use of the same effort. If you're targeting Western professional rates for strategic work, you'll get further faster on Upwork, or with PeoplePerHour for European clients.
If you use it
Bid on fewer projects, and only ones with a described budget, a detailed brief and a client with hiring history. Lead your bid with a specific observation about their project — most competing bids are copy-paste, so a single relevant sentence stands out enormously. Structure in the proposal template.
Hold a floor price (how to price a project) and accept that you'll lose most bids to someone cheaper. Winning the cheap ones is worse.
Compare all five marketplaces side by side in which marketplace suits you.