Freelance market became highly competitive

[27mdmo7sn]

After exceeding 8 years experience as a software developer, and being top rated on platforms like Upwork

I spend months without getting any single job
there's big challenges in fetching a new jobs

- A lot of people have the same skills and crowd the market with a lot of offers in opposite to less demand.
- The rapid growth of generation tools & AI which encourage the client to build the project by himself without depending on freelancers.

What's your special plan, strategy you follow to standout in this market?

 

[XBJUANR3]

I believe the only way to stand out now is by showing real results and niche expertise instead of just offering common skills.

 

[TechnoTycoon]

- A lot of people have the same skills and crowd the market with a lot of offers in opposite to less demand.
- The rapid growth of generation tools & AI which encourage the client to build the project by himself without depending on freelancers.

I would say both is correct. There is a immense amount of competititon because of same skilled person and there is a great pressure from AI and AI tools. The situation is also getting worse day by day.

 

[Welthon]

People love to buy. Find a partner who has the skills to create offers and marketing skills. And work together, sell a product or service.

 

[r2150523]

"There are an estimated 1.57 billion freelancers worldwide, representing roughly 46.7% of the global workforce"

I quit this niche cause it's full of students and people ready to do the job for 10% negotiable price.
I think SaaS is less competitive and could be a good alternative.

A good idea can be servicing people locally like managing their social media, ads, sites etc.

 

[inxlog]

After exceeding 8 years experience as a software developer, and being top rated on platforms like Upwork

I spend months without getting any single job
there's big challenges in fetching a new jobs

- A lot of people have the same skills and crowd the market with a lot of offers in opposite to less demand.
- The rapid growth of generation tools & AI which encourage the client to build the project by himself without depending on freelancers.

What's your special plan, strategy you follow to standout in this market?

checkout the rated gig/task and make clone of it to get on rank list with your freelance task for orders, purchasing or having chat with mentors on interest niche could expose to generate sales.

 

[tigerK15R]

After exceeding 8 years experience as a software developer, and being top rated on platforms like Upwork

I spend months without getting any single job
there's big challenges in fetching a new jobs

- A lot of people have the same skills and crowd the market with a lot of offers in opposite to less demand.
- The rapid growth of generation tools & AI which encourage the client to build the project by himself without depending on freelancers.

What's your special plan, strategy you follow to standout in this market?

Upwork is actually a well known platform for penny-pinching clients. Sometimes you can get big and reliable clients, but most of the times they are all just small and useless bootstrapped startups trying to find the cheapest workers. You should only use this as a side income thing, and get a real employment contract irl (depends on your country but linkedin may still work well to find this kind of job).

 

[PROXYWARS]

"There are an estimated 1.57 billion freelancers worldwide, representing roughly 46.7% of the global workforce"

I quit this niche cause it's full of students and people ready to do the job for 10% negotiable price.
I think SaaS is less competitive and could be a good alternative.

A good idea can be servicing people locally like managing their social media, ads, sites etc.

BINGO! Think amazon marketplace rather then lets say freelancer. Same product same deal SAAS, just waaaay more money!

 

[27mdmo7sn]

People love to buy. Find a partner who has the skills to create offers and marketing skills. And work together, sell a product or service.

It's not necessary issue of marketing & sales skills, the market itself became highly competitive

"There are an estimated 1.57 billion freelancers worldwide, representing roughly 46.7% of the global workforce"

I quit this niche cause it's full of students and people ready to do the job for 10% negotiable price.
I think SaaS is less competitive and could be a good alternative.

A good idea can be servicing people locally like managing their social media, ads, sites etc.

Agree, the competition may be less
however, it's a bigger scale, you may need founder who experienced in marketing & business
and investment for making ads to bring users

 

[Rina Taylor]

I'm working full-time and taking on some extra projects on Upwork during evenings and weekends. Recently, the service fee increased to 10% – which feels quite heavy, especially for smaller jobs

 

[27mdmo7sn]

Upwork is actually a well known platform for penny-pinching clients. Sometimes you can get big and reliable clients, but most of the times they are all just small and useless bootstrapped startups trying to find the cheapest workers. You should only use this as a side income thing, and get a real employment contract irl (depends on your country but linkedin may still work well to find this kind of job).

Yes I already have real employment contract (job)
We're talking about side income here

BINGO! Think amazon marketplace rather then lets say freelancer. Same product same deal SAAS, just waaaay more money!

Yes, I'm motivated for something like this
but it needs a lot of time for building brand & budget for marketing and so on..
it's a business not quick money from projects like freelancing.

I'm working full-time and taking on some extra projects on Upwork during evenings and weekends. Recently, the service fee increased to 10% – which feels quite heavy, especially for smaller jobs

Agree, it's another challenge [Upwork fees and payment for applying for job / paid connects]

This is a very real and common challenge many top-tier freelancers are facing. You're right—the market is saturated with generalists, and AI is rapidly consuming the lower end of the work.

The solution isn't to compete harder in that same crowded market; it's to change the game you're playing. The strategy to stand out in 2025 is to evolve from being a "freelancer for hire" to becoming a "specialist consultant who sells solutions."

Here’s a plan that works:

1. Niche Down Aggressively (and then niche down again)
Stop being a "software developer." Start branding yourself as "the expert developer for e-commerce stores using Shopify" or "the go-to guy for API integrations for SaaS companies." When you are a specialist for a specific industry, you have very little competition. You can charge 3x-5x more because you don't just understand the code; you understand the client's specific business problems and goals.

2. Productize Your Services
Stop selling your time (e.g., "$X per hour"). Start selling a packaged solution with a fixed price and a clear outcome.

• Instead of: "Web development services"
• Offer: "The 'Website Speed Audit & Optimization' Package for $1,500."
• Instead of: "Custom coding"
• Offer: "The 'CRM to Accounting Software' Integration Package. "This shifts the client's focus from your hours to the value you are delivering. They love the price certainty, and you escape the trap of being compared on hourly rates.

3. Build Your Own Authority Platform
Freelance platforms like Upwork are designed to treat you like a commodity in a race to the bottom on price. To truly stand out, you need to build your own brand. Start a simple blog or a LinkedIn newsletter where you share your expertise within your chosen niche. Write articles like "The 5 Most Common Tech Mistakes Shopify Store Owners Make." Clients who read your content will come to you because they already see you as the authority, not just another name on a long list of bidders.

The strategy isn't a secret trick; it's a fundamental business shift. Stop being a commodity and become a brand. It's more work upfront, but it's the only sustainable way to command high rates in this market.

Thanks for this detailed and comprehensive comment, will consider these points for sure for a better sustainability in this market.

 

[Vainly]

I’ve had no issues just reaching out to local businesses via telephone and email. The business is there just got to hustle for it

 

[themoroccansniper]

"There are an estimated 1.57 billion freelancers worldwide, representing roughly 46.7% of the global workforce"

I quit this niche cause it's full of students and people ready to do the job for 10% negotiable price.
I think SaaS is less competitive and could be a good alternative.

A good idea can be servicing people locally like managing their social media, ads, sites etc.

I think SaaS is one of the most competitive fields worldwide, would be interested to see impact of AI on the SaaS market

 

[Deleted member 15724]

Thanks for this detailed and comprehensive comment, will consider these points for sure for a better sustainability in this market.

Ironically, you are responding to an AI reply lol.

 

[27mdmo7sn]

I’ve had no issues just reaching out to local businesses via telephone and email. The business is there just got to hustle for it

The purchasing power is very week in my country
that's why I target global market instead of local market

 

[NirvanaWolf]

It's been like this for 10 years now and will get more competitive as internet reaches more parts of the third world.

 

[MediaForgePR]

Your concern is highly legit. The evolution of AI is a great threat. Also we need to make more research to find unique ideas to solve different problems.

building your own personal brand might keep yourself off the ground as well.

 

[r2150523]

Agree, the competition may be less
however, it's a bigger scale, you may need founder who experienced in marketing & business
and investment for making ads to bring users

Depends. If you make some simple tools like automation of social media, you can make money within a month or less. You can easily turn something like that into an SMM panel.
There are different types of everything. Some projects are about more engineering, some projects require bigger budgets. No size fits all.

 

[DevWaveJourney]

"There are an estimated 1.57 billion freelancers worldwide, representing roughly 46.7% of the global workforce"

I quit this niche cause it's full of students and people ready to do the job for 10% negotiable price.
I think SaaS is less competitive and could be a good alternative.

A good idea can be servicing people locally like managing their social media, ads, sites etc.

Freelancing is cool, but with all the competition you will find around, but you have to keep improving and updating your services in order to get your clients trust.

 

[sipoa]

After exceeding 8 years experience as a software developer, and being top rated on platforms like Upwork

I spend months without getting any single job
there's big challenges in fetching a new jobs

- A lot of people have the same skills and crowd the market with a lot of offers in opposite to less demand.
- The rapid growth of generation tools & AI which encourage the client to build the project by himself without depending on freelancers.

What's your special plan, strategy you follow to standout in this market?

hosting own service providing for freelance with matched process could remit earning, freelance client are benefiting from hosted gig/tasks to increase self income pool to share.