People Per Hour Review: Is it really worth it?

PeoplePerHour.com (PPH) is probably the most popular freelance marketplace in the UK. As a business, you gain access to a pool of international and domestic talent, and as a freelancer, you can sell services and bid for projects of all types, ranging from writing and design to programming and consulting.

Founded in 2007, Peopleperhour has faced fierce competition from other freelance marketplaces such as Fiverr that have sprung up since then.

With this in mind, here is my honest review of PeoplePerHour. In this review, I talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the platform, drawing on my experiences as both a buyer and seller on PeoplePerHour.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this review are my own based on my personal experiences with PeoplePerHour. This review presents a biased perspective stemming from my individual dealings with the company. I recommend doing further research on Trustpilot and other review sites, and ultimately making your own informed decision about PeoplePerHour as a company.

My Freelance Experience

After seeing a Facebook ad that caught my attention back in 2012, I decided to join PeoplePerHour. Being a freelancer myself, I thought it would be a good idea to experiment with some side projects to earn some extra money during slower periods.

The signup process was quick, as was the verification, and I was able to post my first ever “Hourlie” (now called offers) on the same day.

I started small by offering WordPress theme customisations at a low price, a tactic to attract buyers and build feedback faster. My plan worked, and within months my Hourlies were selling like hotcakes.

To date, I have over £27,000 after fees, completed 445 projects, and received 434 5-star reviews. My Hourlie prices ranged from £35 to £60, and on average, I was able to complete small tasks within 1/2 hours max.

As my own business became busier and more demanding, I became less active on PPH, and I could no longer offer these services. I rarely take on any extra work these days, but my profile remains active, and I am still a CERT5 user.

PPH commission fees have always been on the high side compared to competitors, but not high enough to put me off, and because withdrawals were processed on the same day, I was happy enough with the setup.

Roll on 2021, due to the constant lockdowns, I had a quiet period where I could take on some extra work, and I thought, why not go back on Peopleperhour and look for easy projects I know I would be able to complete quickly. I bagged a couple of small projects in a matter of days, but let me be clear, it was not as easy as I have made it sound, it took several proposals before getting noticed. Businesses looking for freelancers receive hundreds of proposals, and unless you sell yourself and stand out with a detailed proposal, your chances of getting work are very slim.

The Disappointment

Because I hadn’t used the platform for quite some time, I wasn’t aware that PPH had changed and increased its commission fees.

When it came to invoicing for the first project, I noticed that a huge chunk had been taken off my earnings. I was confused, very confused, and after speaking to PeoplePerHour customer service, I learned that several changes had been made. During my hiatus, the company increased commission fees and introduced a two-week holding period to withdraw funds.

The project itself wasn’t a big earner as I don’t look for time-consuming tasks. Instead, I look for micro-projects that I know I can turn around in under a day. For this particular project, I charged £240, and PeoplePerHour took £48 in commission. That is 20%, an increase of 15%. I used to pay between 5% and 7.5%.

To make matters worse, I could not withdraw my earnings on the same day. I was told that I had to wait two weeks. Three weeks later, I was able to withdraw my money.

For me, this signalled the end of what has been a reasonably good working relationship with the platform. 20% is just way too high and it is hard to compete with others undercutting you.

What Services Can Freelancers Offer on Peopleperhour?

As well as being able to bid on projects posted by businesses, freelancers can offer fixed-priced ‘Offers’ (formerly known as Hourlies) where you charge a fixed fee in exchange for a service, similar to what Fiverr does with gigs. You can also include add-ons to Offers which is a good way to upsell additional services.

Peopleperhour Fees For Freelancers

There is no registration/signup fee, or fees to search for projects or to post an offer. Instead, you are charged a lifetime commission fee based on your earnings made from each customer you work with—the lower the earnings per customer, the higher the commission.

• Over £5000-lifetime billing per buyer: 3.5% (excl. VAT) service fee
• Between £250 and £5000-lifetime billing per buyer: 7.5% (excl. VAT) service fee
• Below £250-lifetime billing per buyer: 20% (excl. VAT) service fee

Peopleperhour Pros & Cons For Freelancers

Read more Peopleperhour reviews on Trustpilot

My Experience As A Buyer

As a buyer, you do not pay any fees to post jobs on Peopleperhour, which is one of the very few positives. All fees are passed on to freelancers.

As a business owner myself, I need an extra pair of hands to help with projects from time to time, so I used to post jobs on Peopleperhour in the hope of finding someone suitable.

Most of the time things can get pretty overwhelming by the sheer number of proposals you receive. There have been many times when I have only looked through the first thirty proposals and ignored the rest and this is one example of what you are up against if you are a freelancer, hiring parties don’t bother go through every single proposal, there is just way too many.

What you will find with Peopleperhour is that you get a lot of generic proposals that include absolutely nothing that demonstrates how the freelancer can help you and your project. Instead, they mass post proposals with very low bids hoping that their low prices will persuade you to award them the job. Generic and spam proposals are a problem, I call them proposal farms, and it’s something that Peopleperhour should clamp down on as it ruins the experience and also ruins opportunities for genuine, talented freelancers.

Recommendations For Sellers& Buyers

For Sellers: Pay close attention to fees if you want to use People Per Hour to earn extra cash as a side hustle. Make sure you pass on commission fees to your customers and always keep an eye on fee increases, as this is something the company has a bad habit of doing.

For Buyers: Do not be fooled or persuaded by low bids or fixed offers. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Research the freelancer, ask for references and examples of previous work and interview them if need be. I have seen so many people having to relist their jobs because the freelancer they initially hired failed to meet simple standards or just wasn’t up to the job.

Final Words About Peopleperhour

You have abundant options for alternative freelancer marketplaces, but PeoplePerHour has a distinct advantage over its global competitors – it has a large UK user base. If you want to collaborate with someone local, PeoplePerHour is likely one of the best choices to connect you with UK-based talent.

New projects are constantly being added to the platform so there is no shortage of work, but because of the number of proposals, each job receives it could take days or weeks before you hear anything back – if you are lucky enough.

It would be beneficial if PeoplePerHour implemented changes to reduce proposal flooding on jobs. Potential solutions could include capping the number of proposals each job posting can receive or giving the hiring party the option to limit how many people can submit proposals. This would help improve the experience for both clients and freelancers using the platform.

Sadly, my love affair with Peoplehour has ended but if you can stomach high fees then give Peopleperhour a try.

Read more: People Per Hour alternatives