Elance and oDesk are both well known popular sites for online freelancers. You can have a successful freelancing career in either one of them. However, you should know the pros and cons of each site so you know which one will best suit your needs. They are not the same, after all.
A decision on whether you want to join Elance or oDesk should be made at the start because once you start your freelancing career on either one of them, it is hard to switch because you have to start over, in a way. You need to look for assignments like a new member because you will not have any feedback from one site “carry over” to another. Therefore a wise choice at the onset should potentially save you a lot of time and effort in planning a switch.
When you join the sites, each has its own type of membership and costs. oDesk is completely free to join. There is no concept of premium memberships at all. Thus the whole site is flat – everyone is essentially at the same level and you cannot pay to upgrade to something better.
Elance, on the other hand has a more complex membership level, with 4 different membership levels, starting from free to big business membership. The free membership is very limited in terms of what it allows you to do.
Therefore if you are completely new and want to try out freelancing, oDesk provides an easier way to do it.
That being said, you should also be aware of the fees. oDesk charges a higher fees of 10%, as compared to 8.75% charged by Elance. Again, Elance gives you a discount for assignments exceeding $10,000 but they are not as common. If you are comparing both these sites just based on fees, you should consider both the membership levels and the flat fees they take from members.
In terms of applying for a job, both sites have essentially the same system. However, Elance, being older than oDesk, tends to have bigger and higher paying assignments. Most businesses have heard about Elance when it comes to freelancing but oDesk is fast catching up. That being said, it should be noted that since Elance is older, there is a higher competition in terms of who apply for the job. oDesk is relatively new and therefore lower in competition and thus easier to get a job.
You should also be aware of the types of payment systems offered by both these sites. This is especially so for foreign workers. The fees in this process should also be considered. If you are in the Us, you can simply get an ACH transfer. Paypal is a great option to withdraw your money.
