Our take first
- Pay-per-lead marketplaces charge you whether or not you win. Thumbtack and Bark both bill to reach a lead, and several designers usually get the same request.
- Freelance marketplaces take a cut of every job and put you against designers worldwide, which pushes prices down while you build reviews.
- The cheapest clients to win are the ones who need a site and haven't hired anyone. A business that registered with the state last week and has no website is exactly that. More on that below.
The lead sources compared
| Source | How you pay | Competition | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ReferralsPast clients and partners | Free, or a referral fee you choose to offer | Low: you're usually the only one recommended | Designers with happy past clients; hard to scale on purpose |
| UpworkFreelance marketplace | A service fee taken from your earnings, plus Connects to submit proposals | High: many proposals per job, from everywhere | Custom projects and remote clients while you build a portfolio |
| FiverrFreelance marketplace | 20% of every order, including extras and tips | High: buyers browse and compare on price | Productized, fixed-price packages |
| ThumbtackPay per lead | Charged when you're matched with or open a lead, hired or not; pros report $10 to $100+ per lead; no subscription | Medium: several pros see each request | Local small-business sites |
| BarkPay per lead | Credits to respond to a lead (Bark lists about $2.35 a credit, with the credits per lead set by the job and shown up front), won or not | Medium to high: several pros can respond | Quick local projects |
| Local SEOGoogle Business Profile and your site | Free apart from your time | Low once you rank; takes months | Designers serving one city or region |
| Cold outreachEmail, calls, LinkedIn | Your time plus email or data tools | Depends on who you contact | Agencies with a repeatable process |
| New-business listsLike FiledToday | A monthly subscription: FiledToday's web designer plans are $49, $99 or $199 a month for 25, 50 or 120 leads every weekday | Low: brand-new businesses haven't been pitched yet | Designers and agencies who call or email daily |
Fees from each company's own help and pricing pages or published reports, checked November 6, 2026. Marketplaces change their fees; check the current terms before you sign up.
Marketplaces: Upwork and Fiverr
Both bring buyers to you, which is their value, but both take a cut and put you in a global price comparison. Fiverr works best for packages a buyer can order without a call ("five-page small business site, $X"); it keeps 20% of each order. Upwork works best for custom builds you win with a proposal; it takes a service fee from what you earn and charges Connects to apply, so a low win rate costs real money.
Pay-per-lead: Thumbtack and Bark
These sell you the chance to quote a local customer who asked for help. You pay to reach the lead, not to win it, and the same request goes to several pros, so speed matters: the first designer to reply often wins. Track your cost per won job, not cost per lead; a $30 lead you close one time in ten is a $300 client.
What you control: referrals, local SEO and outreach
- Referrals: ask every happy client for one introduction, and partner with people who meet new businesses first: accountants, insurance agents, business bankers and sign shops.
- Local SEO: a complete Google Business Profile, reviews, and pages for the cities and industries you serve. Slow to start, close to free once it works.
- Outreach: the reply rate depends almost entirely on the list. A business with an old site may not want a new one; a business with no site at all needs one.
The easiest client: a new business with no website
Every new business needs a website, and the first designer who calls usually gets the job. In Florida, thousands of businesses register with the state every week, and most of them have no website yet.
FiledToday's web designer plans send new Florida businesses with no website we could find, every weekday morning, each with the owner's name and phone number and the matching .com domain if it's still available. Plans run from 25 leads a day for $49 a month to 120 a day for $199, month to month. One $1,000 site pays for months of leads.
See the web designer plans, or get a free week for your county.
This guide summarizes publicly posted fees and our own product. We are not affiliated with any marketplace listed.
Common questions
What is the best way for web designers to find clients?
Referrals close best but don't scale. For steady new work, the two strongest options are local SEO, which takes months, and direct outreach to businesses that need a site now. Brand-new businesses with no website are the easiest outreach because they need one and nobody has built it yet.
Is Upwork or Fiverr better for web designers?
Fiverr suits fixed-price packages that buyers browse and order; it keeps 20% of every order. Upwork suits custom projects you bid on with proposals; it takes a service fee from your earnings and charges Connects to apply. Both are global and crowded, so expect to compete on price at first.
Do Thumbtack and Bark charge per lead?
Yes. Thumbtack charges when you're matched with or open a lead, whether or not you're hired, and pros report $10 to $100 or more per lead. Bark charges credits to respond to a lead, shown before you respond, also whether or not you win the job.
How do I find new businesses that don't have a website?
Florida publishes every new business filing each day, but the files don't say whether a business has a website or include a phone number. FiledToday checks each new business for a website and finds the owner's phone, and its web designer plans send 25 to 120 of them every weekday.
Updated November 6, 2026 · By Ben Thalmann, founder of FiledToday