Fiverr is one of the biggest online platforms for freelance work in 2024, with over 4.2 million active buyers according to its Q3 2023 report. Hosting all these people costs money. So how much money does Fiverr take from its users?
⚡ No Time? Here’s the Quick Read ⚡
How Much Does Fiverr Take from Sellers
Fiverr takes a 20% commission from all seller earnings on the platform. Every time I make $100 on the platform, I can withdraw $80. This is a flat-rate commission which doesn’t change whether you earn $5 or $50,000.
How Much Does Fiverr Take From Buyers?
Fiverr takes 5.5% in service fees from buyers for all orders. For orders less than $75, there is an additional $2.50 small order fee. Again, like seller fees, this is a flat-rate commission which doesn’t change whether you purchase a gig worth $5 or $50,000.
Why Does Fiverr Take So Much?
Put together, Fiverr makes 25.5% on all orders, plus an extra $2.50 on any order under $75.
Fiverr is a business, so it needs to make its own money. Not just to cover its operational costs, but also to keep its shareholders happy. And, of course, as a business, generating revenue and profits is also one of its most basic goals.
Is Fiverr Free For Sellers?
Yes and no. As we already saw, all sellers will give 20% of their earnings to Fiverr. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it is free to open a buyer or seller account. No seller has to pay Fiverr until they have successfully completed a gig.
There are no upfront costs. You don’t need to pay to set up your account, and you won’t pay Fiverr any money if you don’t buy or sell a gig. This makes Fiverr a good option for new freelancers with tight budgets – sellers don’t pay Fiverr a dime until they make money.
Why Does Fiverr Take A Cut Of Your Earnings?
Fiverr’s primary business model since it first launched in 2010 is a fees-based transaction model. Simply put, users can use the platform for free until they buy or sell a gig on the platform.
Sellers pay the most (20%), while buyers pay a more nominal fee (5.5%). Without these fees, Fiverr would not have a profitable business model and would not be able to cope with the expenses of running their business.
Many sellers do find the 20% steep, especially when their prices move towards the hundreds or thousands of dollars. It’s one thing to pay 20% on a $5 gig (or $1 in commissions), quite another to pay 20% on a $10,000 gig (a whopping $1,000!).
Despite complaints, Fiverr has never changed its commission structure. One positive point about Fiverr fees is that they are very consistent, which makes them easy to calculate. Other platforms, on the other hand, may have more complex schemes which need more mental gymnastics to calculate.
Pro-Tip: If you want to skip the calculations, check out the Fiverr Fee Calculator! It’ll tell you exactly how much seller and buyer will pay in fees for any order amount you feed it.
Fiverr Also Charges Fees on Tips
This is a controversial subject that upsets many buyers and sellers who believe that the full tip should go to the seller, rather than being “shared” with Fiverr.
Fiverr’s entire business model is based around fees on transactions. The bottom line here is that – unfortunately – Fiverr sellers will pay a 20% commission on their tips, just as sellers will pay 5.5% and potentially $2.50 small order fee.
Buyers should know that tips aren’t obligatory. If you don’t want to leave a tip, you don’t have to – although sellers will appreciate your gesture!
How Can I Avoid Fiverr Charges?
You can’t, at least not without breaking Fiverr’s Terms of Service. All of Fiverr’s fees are based on transactions. If you want to buy or sell on Fiverr, you must pay through Fiverr, which means that you will be charge a fee.
Without these fees, Fiverr doesn’t get any commission. Without commissions, Fiverr can’t maintain or update its website, pay its staff, and pay for the many other business expenses it has. If Fiverr detects users trying to take others off the platform, then they will disabled their account(s) because they are violating the Terms of Service.
One quick note here: Fiverr account bans are permanent. When talking about orders with buyers or sellers on Fiverr, you shouldn’t mention payment methods other than Fiverr. You also shouldn’t try to redirect people to email or any other form of communication outside the Fiverr platform.
Obviously, Fiverr wants to protect its business model with these restrictions. Even if you don’t fully agree with them, it’s definitely worth considering that Fiverr provides a safe escrow system. Going off-platform means you lose that protection. You may lose your money to a scammer who doesn’t care about the rules, only free work or your money.
Why Does Fiverr Charge Buyers a Fee?
Fiverr charges buyers 5.5% (plus a $2.50 small order surcharge for orders under $75). It doesn’t matter whether you buy from a $5 new seller or a $15,000 Pro-Verified seller in the Enterprise catalog – the rate stays the same.
Considering that Fiverr already gets 20% of all orders from sellers, this might seem greedy. However, you are using the platform, which is providing you a safe environment and easy access to tens of thousands of sellers who can help your business to grow.
You only need to share your payment deals and personal information with Fiverr, so your data is safe and secure. If things go wrong, Fiverr’s Customer Support can help. Fiverr helps buyers to save time and money – and 5.5% is a reasonable fee for all the support and infrastructure you get access to.
Other Fees on Fiverr
It’s not just Fiverr who will charge you fees! When it comes to withdrawing your money as a seller, you will also need to take into account the fees your bank charges. Wire transfers come with fees. Fiverr does have a variety of options, each with their own fees. Depending on where you live and the exchange rate between the US dollar and your local currency, these fees will vary.
- PayPal
- Direct Deposit
- Local Bank Transfer
- Fiverr Revenue Card
How Do Fiverr Fees Compare to Upwork?
As you can see from the table below, Fiverr has the most straightforward and easy-to-understand commission and fee structure of all the major online freelance platforms.
| Freelance platform | Seller Fees | Buyer Fees | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | 10% or $5, whichever is greater (fixed price projects) 10% (hourly projects) | 3% or $3, whichever is greater (fixed price projects) 5% transaction fee one-time $4.95 fee for new contracts | Fixed fees |
| Fiverr | 20% flat rate fee | 5.5% flat rate (plus $2.50 additional charge on orders less than $75) | Fixed fees |
| PeoplePerHour (PPH) | Less than $350 – 20% $350 to $7,000- 7.5% Over $7,000 – 3.5% | 10% of order plus £0.60 GBP (<$1) | Seller commissions are based on lifetime earnings per buyer |
| Upwork | 10% flat rate fee | 5% on all payments and a one-time fee of $4.95 per contract | Fixed fees |
Also remember that some platforms like Upwork come with hidden fees such as connects (which freelancers need to purchase in order to bid on jobs advertised by clients).
Whether you’re considering using Fiverr or another freelance platform, you should carefully check all the associated costs.
What I like about Fiverr’s fees is that there are no hidden costs and everything is easy to understand and upfront. Things like Seller Plus are optional and purchased separately. If you just want to buy or sell, then Fiverr is a WYSIWYG platform.
Fiverr’s fees are a little higher compared to other platforms, but remember: these fees are often low because associated costs may have been hidden.
What Else Does Fiverr Charge For?
Fiverr doesn’t exclusively make money from fees anymore. It has grown substantially! Here are other services Fiverr offers that you can pay money for. They are all optional and are not required to sell or be successful on Fiverr – although they can help!
Promoted Gigs
Fiverr’s Promoted Gigs program is an in-house paid ads program. You need to be eligable and invited to use this feature. One you pay, Fiverr will display your gig in prominent positions on gig listings as well as in the Fiverr inbox. It may also be intergrated into Fiverr Neo in the future.
Fiverr Workspace
Formerly known as AND.CO, Fiverr Workspace could be described as a freelancer’s toolkit. It includes useful tools that help freelancers with invoices, time tracking, contracts, and more. However, this isn’t meant to be used with Fiverr (although unsurprisingly, Fiverr does integrate into Fiverr Workspace).
Fiverr Learn
Fiverr has also dipped its toes into the eLearning world with Fiverr Learn. This platform focuses on helping beginners to build new skills that are incredibly useful in the world of online marketing and digital work. The courses are often taught by industry experts.
Is Fiverr Worth It Or Is It Too Expensive?
I think so, yes. The biggest value of the platform for me is the visibility it gives me. I don’t need to do any marketing or maintain a website. I just post a gig and buyers come. This saves me money on marketing myself and frees up my time for other projects (like this one!).
Ultimately, you need to decide for yourself whether Fiverr’s fees are worth it for you as a buyer or seller. 80% of something is still better than 100% of nothing, and you can always set your own prices – which effectively means you can pass fees onto your buyer.
Fiverr will always take 20% from all your earnings as a seller and it will always take 5.5% from buyers for every transaction. It doesn’t matter how much you make, the rate stays the same. Despite the high fees, Fiverr does offer a lot of value.
The question is whether that value is attractive to you. In the meantime, you have nothing to lose if you try Fiverr. If you never make a sale, you’ll never have to pay a fee.
