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After the 2020 pandemic, freelancers are making up a larger portion of workers than ever before in companies all over the world.
But finding a freelancer that can capture your vision and work well with you on a substantial project can sometimes become more stressful than the project itself. Business owners need to be able to easily connect with creative freelancers, even if they are working on a tight deadline.
Design is one of the most important creative industries, which is why it is so essential to connect the right freelance designers to the businesses in need of their talent.
Designhill.com is one place to connect and hire freelance designers. But Designhill is only one of the many websites made for freelancers in creative industries. This guide will give you a better idea of whether or not Designhill is the best option for you.
Rather than making you look at dozens of designs to find the best for your brand, DesignBro simplifies the process by screening the graphic designers.
Because you don't pay for designs you do not need, DesignBro's price is lower than what you would pay at Designhill.
To learn more, you can register with DesignBro, read our comparison of DesignBro and Designhill, or read our full DesignBro review.
Designhill is a design-oriented marketplace boasting over 120,000 memberships from designers around the world. The website is geared toward connecting designers and like-minded creative professionals so they can work together efficiently, even if they are in different areas of the world.
When you are looking at Designhill competitors, you should pay attention to the type of culture the design marketplace is looking to build regarding the community.
For example, Designhill features blog posts and community discussions regularly that invite designers of all experience levels to voice their opinions and learn new tricks and techniques. Some other sites only focus on job postings or freelancer bios.
It is also important to note whether or not you can filter your searches just to find designers. The freelance market includes every creative industry now, so it's useful to be able to filter down the results to find graphic designers for your business.
You should also pay attention to the level of expertise the freelance designers on competing sites generally have.
Costs for finding and temporarily employing a freelancer vary significantly among sites. Some sites will upcharge the price so they take a significant portion of the earnings, while others may charge a fee for searching on the site in the first place.
Finding a freelancer for your unique design needs can be a tricky process. Before making a decision and hiring an independent contractor, consider these questions:
If you're looking for top-tier talent in design or financial industries, Toptal may be the right choice for you. Toptal is an exclusive freelance site that claims to host the top 3% of freelance talent in multiple industries.
Toptal does not just work with designers, though. They also market successful freelancers who are knowledgeable in project and product management, finance, and software development.
Unlike Designhill, Toptal connects you with a representative who will help you find the right freelancer for you. Toptal's personalized service can be useful, but the selection of design freelancers is smaller than what you'll find on Designhill.
Toptal is a great option for businesses or individuals looking for specific design needs from professional designers.
OnlineJobs.ph is a virtual job board featuring creative freelancers from the Philippines. Currently, it is the largest database of Filipino workers.
Hiring a freelancer through OnlineJobs.ph is much more affordable than using several other competitors. The agency does not take a commission out of the worker's rates, so it is cheaper to hire an independent contractor through this site than through many others.
Similar to Designhill, OnlineJobs.ph allows you the option to browse through freelancers and connect with the ones who seem like they may be a good fit. Not all freelancers are design-oriented, but the site is easy to use because of how simple it is to connect with Filipino freelancers you are interested in hiring.
If this is your first time hiring a freelancer, OnlineJobs.ph makes the process easy and straightforward throughout the whole interaction.
Similar to Toptal, DesignBro is a high-quality freelance network of experienced and thoroughly vetted freelancers. DesignBro has a 5% acceptance rate of designers, guaranteeing you will find a very skilled designer to hire.
Like Designhill, DesignBro encourages business owners to host design competitions for interested freelancers on the site. Contests let you see a variety of work from freelancers all over the country, which could help you decide for your independent contracting needs.
DesignBro also only hosts freelancers who are skilled in graphic design or other aspects of the design industry.
DesignBro is the network most closely related to Designhill for its rates and focus on only freelance designers.
99Designs get its name from the design contests that they regularly host on the site.
If you have a rough idea of what you're looking for in design but aren't quite sure how to explain it, 99Designs is a great choice for you.
The website instructs business owners to host a contest among crowdsource designers that will bring about ideas that might match your vision. You have to pay a fee to host the competition, but no additional costs get added as the contest goes on.
You offer vague guidelines for what you are looking for in a design and freelancers on the site can apply to the contest by submitting designs you may like. Then, you pick the best design.
The 99Designs design contests give you many crowdsourced options for designs at a fixed price. 99Designs is an excellent option for businesses that aren't exactly sure what they are looking for or don't want to commit to a single freelancer.
Crowdspring encourages designers to practice and apply to competitions on the site regularly. Exclusive and high-paying competitions will only show designs from the most experienced freelancers, whereas more general competitions can bring in up to 90 designs.
Designers submit finished designs, not proposals, for each competition.
One drawback is that freelancers are only paid well from Crowdspring when their design gets picked, so they may spend more time applying to various competitions than they would if chosen singularly for a specific project.
You can use the 1-to-1 option to work with only one designer, but the cost for doing so is a bit steep.
Crowdspring is a useful resource in general for businesses who need ideas on designs, but the quality of the designs will likely not be as high as it would from other freelancing sites.
Fiverr is a very popular option for hiring freelancers at low rates and under a quick deadline.
It doesn't cost much to join Fiverr as a freelancer, and businesses or individuals can use the site to find work for a wide variety of jobs. Some jobs pay as little as $5 for a predetermined project to be completed.
Fiverr is a good option if you have a simple and easily-understood idea for a project. It won't be easy to find an experienced or specialized designer on the site, but you can filter the results to assist you in the search.
Designhill is entirely focussed on design and attracts more design talent from around the world, which is why it's a better option than Fiverr for a specific design project.
Another Designhill competitor is Hatchwise, a freelance agency that uses crowdsourcing for designs. Hatchwise uses competitions to bring in at least a set number of designs for every proposal from a business or individual.
The cost to use the site is more expensive than others that employ a similar set-up, but users have said there are often more submissions than expected for most competitions.
The quality of designs from Hatchwise users may vary. As a freelancer, it's not the best agency to use to find work. Significant payoffs only happen when your design is picked out of all the others for competition. While having a large number of freelancers is useful for variety, it doesn't always guarantee quality designs for the businesses hiring.
Hatchwise is a good choice for people looking for multiple options of designs for an idea. Designhill guarantees a more personal relationship with the freelancer hired, which can lead to a higher quality of work produced.
Upwork is a general freelancing agency that hosts freelancers who specialize in a variety of creative agencies.
Similar to other sites, Upwork users can create a profile for themselves that highlights their expertise and experience. As a business or individual looking for a freelancer, you can filter and browse through the profiles and resumes to find a designer who you think would be a good fit for your vision.
You can also create job posts, where freelancers interested in the description can submit a proposal. You can use the proposal process as a pre-interview for the position by including specific questions for the applicants that will give you more insight into their capabilities and style.
Hiring on Upwork can be a lengthy process and does not always guarantee quality results. Designhill is a better option for design projects because the entire site focuses on designers and the design industry.
Freelancer is one of the largest freelance agencies for entrepreneurs. Since it has been around for so long, it has set the stage for the various ways freelancers can get connected with entrepreneurs for creative work.
Freelancer allows you to post jobs and also host competitions to help you find the right freelancer for you. However, since the agency is so popular, every competition or job post is sure to attract at least a handful of contractors that won't be worth your time.
There's a lot of effort that goes into sifting through proposals and applications. What's more annoying than that is how Freelancer is known for charging their users for every action they make on the site. A full breakdown of the fees is found in our lengthier review.
Freelancer might work for independent contractors, but it's a hassle to deal with as an employer looking to hire. Designhill is more focused and quality-controlled, making it a better choice.
DesignCrowd is another agency that uses competitions to find designs that meet your needs. As a large and well-known agency, there are always dozens of designs to choose from for any given project.
However, the volume of users on the site can also lead to minimal screening of freelancers. Competitions are open to all freelancers, so you will likely receive some submissions that won't be worth your time in pursuing.
DesignCrowd has an interface that can be a bit complicated at first, but once you have used the site for a while, it becomes easier to use. The varying fee structure starts at $99, which is more expensive than other agencies who do the same thing.
DesignCrowd is an expensive option for finding designs that may or may not be close to your vision.
If you find yourself in a pinch, 48hourslogo is likely the quickest way to get a custom logo that will work for you. Just like the name implies, 48hourslogo can have your idea made into a professional logo and ready for you to place on a business card or post on social media in just 48 hours.
However, the cost to do so isn't cheap. For a logo design only, they charge a $29 fee plus $99 for the design you choose. The upside is that the site guarantees a higher quality than other logo makers that feature quick turnarounds.
If you are not in a rush, 48hourslogo is not worth the expense. You can find better or more creative quality designs from a freelancer you connect with through Designhill or another competitor.
Designhill is an excellent choice for businesses searching for a designer for a specific project. The personable aspects of the site make it an accessible bridge for communication between you and the designer at all times.
But if Designhill does not work for what you are looking for, it's essential to find a freelance agency that meets your needs. You need to be able to confidently find and communicate with a freelancer regarding your design ideas and projects.
Make sure the agency checks all your boxes and does not take advantage of you or the designer by overcharging! You'll be happy you took the time to research agencies when you find the one that works for you.