Search filters
Switch each filter on or off and drag them into the order visitors see on the search page.
1Listing type
2Category
3Delivery time
4Freelancer country
5Price range
What is it?
Your own freelance marketplace
A multilingual WordPress theme with project posting, freelancer bidding, escrow payments and member accounts built in, with no marketplace plugin or stack of add-ons. Choose a design, import the demo projects and the post-bid-hire loop is already running.
Make money
Earn on every hire
You're the marketplace owner, so you take a commission you set yourself on every project. No platform takes a cut.
Sell freelancer memberships and pricing plans, and charge for featured freelancers and projects, all from the admin.
Project Posting & Briefs
Clients post a project with a budget, deadline and requirements. Freelancers browse the board and find the work that fits, just like Upwork or PeoplePerHour.
- Clients post their own briefs
- Budget, deadline & category
- Public project board
Freelancer Bids & Proposals
Freelancers submit competitive bids with a price and proposal. Clients compare pitches, ratings and portfolios, then award the project to the freelancer they trust.
- Competitive bids & proposals
- Compare ratings & portfolios
- Client awards the work
Escrow & Milestone Payments
The client funds the project into escrow up front, and payment releases milestone by milestone as work is delivered. That protects both sides and gives your marketplace real trust.
- Funds held safely in escrow
- Milestone-based releases
- Dispute-ready workflow
Elementor-Ready Marketplace Templates
Elementor-friendly: Easily customize and design your marketplace pages using the free Elementor plugin.
Project boards, freelancer cards and bid panels are all Elementor blocks, so you compose your marketplace visually, screen by screen.
View Live Demo150+ Pre-Built Marketplace Blocks
Build a converting freelance marketplace faster using our Elementor block system. Pick, drag and drop pre-designed blocks into place.
Explore Our ThemesEarn a Commission on Every Project
You own the marketplace, so you take a cut of every project awarded. Set your own commission percentage in the admin and the theme handles the maths on every payout.
- Set your own % cut
- Applied automatically per project
- No platform taking a share
Freelancer Memberships & Plans
Sell monthly membership plans. Cap bids on free accounts and charge for unlimited proposals, verified badges or priority placement. Recurring revenue on top of your commission.
- Free & paid freelancer plans
- Pricing tables built in
- Recurring plan revenue
Featured Freelancers & Advertising
Let members pay for featured freelancer profiles, homepage placements and urgent-project badges, plus advertising space you control from the admin.
- Paid featured placements
- Homepage & category slots
- Built-in ad spaces
Search Projects & Freelancers
Full AJAX search with category, budget, skill and rating filters, so clients find the right freelancer and freelancers find the right project in seconds. You configure it all from the admin.
- Instant AJAX search
- Budget & skill filters
- Custom search fields
Two-Way Reviews & Ratings
Clients and freelancers rate each other after every project. It is the trust system that keeps good freelancers winning work and clients coming back. Moderate everything from the admin.
- Reviews on both sides
- Freelancer rating averages
- Moderate from the admin
Members Area, Profiles & Messaging
Clients and freelancers each get their own members area with projects, bids, milestones, earnings and private messages. New accounts verify by email or SMS before their features open up.
- Personalised members area
- Private messaging
- Email & SMS verification
AI Site Builder
Describe your marketplace niche and let AI set up the site for you, with pages, categories, demo projects and a design to match. You can edit all of it afterwards.
- Describe your niche
- Pages & demo content generated
- Edit everything after
Escrow Checkout & 30+ Gateways
Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay and dozens of regional options. They are free to download and connect, so clients can fund projects into escrow in their own currency.
- 30+ free gateways
- Multi-currency options
- Tax settings built in
Stats & Admin Dashboard
A clean admin for everything. Projects, bids and members sit on one side and project value and commission stats on the other, so you always know what your marketplace is earning.
- Project & commission stats
- Manage projects, bids & users
- 300+ admin options
Responsive & Mobile-Friendly
Clients and freelancers work from everywhere, so posting projects, bidding, messaging and the dashboards are all built to work perfectly on any screen size.
- Works on any screen size
- Touch-friendly browsing
- Mobile bidding & messaging
30 ready-to-use designs
Browse all 30 designs One theme. Every kind of freelance marketplace.
Choose a starting point for your freelance marketplace. Make it yours in minutes.
Design & creative talent
A marketplace where brands hire graphic designers, photographers and video editors, and pay them through escrow.
Web developers
WordPress, Shopify and custom builds.
AI talent
Prompt engineers and automation experts.
Marketing & SEO
SEO, paid ads and email experts.
Home services
Cleaners, gardeners, handymen and decorators, hired for jobs around the home.
Video creators
Editors, animators and YouTube creators, paid by milestone.
Business advisors
Consultants, strategists and fractional CFOs.
Coaches & tutors
Tutors, language teachers and fitness coaches.
Writers, voice & music
Copywriters, voice actors and musicians.
Every design includes project briefs, proposals and freelancer profiles.
- Fully responsive designs
- No plugins required
- Easy to customise
Free guide
The Freelance Marketplace Playbook
How to plan, build and grow a marketplace where clients hire freelancers, and you earn on every job. 39 pages, from choosing a niche to your first 90 days.
The admin area
One admin area runs your entire marketplace.
Project approval, search filters, freelancer payouts and member checks are all set from one dashboard instead of a stack of marketplace plugins.
Open the admin demoCustom fields
Add the details your projects need, like a price range, payment methods or languages spoken.
Price rangeprice_range
Establishedestablished
Payment methodspayment_methods
Appointmentsappointments
Languages spokenlanguages_spoken
One dashboard
New projects, members and comments over 7, 30 or 90 days, a to-do list of projects waiting for approval, and every other screen one click away.
Approval & expiry
Hold new free projects for review, and choose what happens to a project when its time runs out.
Review pending projects2 projects are awaiting approval2
Yes, hold new FREE listings for review
Paid listings go live the moment payment is completed.Set to unlisted draft
Verified members
Ask clients and freelancers to confirm their email or phone before they can post, or upload a photo ID for a Verified badge.
Email verification
Members confirm their email address by clicking a link we send them.
SMS verification
Members confirm their phone number with a 6-digit code.
Photo ID verification
Approved members get a Verified badge.
Site generator
Connect your own AI account, describe your marketplace, and the generator lays out the pages. Ask for changes in plain English or move the blocks yourself.
Works with your own AI account
AssistantAdd a row of top-rated advisors under the hero.
Automatic emails
Every email the site sends is ready to go. Edit the wording of any of them, or switch one off.
Manage emailsAll 70 on
Welcome / Account createdSent to a member when they create an account
New proposal · to clientWhen a freelancer sends a proposal
Milestone released · to freelancerWhen the client releases a milestone payment
New private messageWhen a member receives a message
Social proof
Pop-ups and bars that show visitors what is happening on your marketplace, such as new projects, bids, sign-ups and how many people are browsing right now.
Recent activityBids and new projects as they happen
Sign-upsNew members and subscribers
Live activityPeople browsing right now
Countdown timerA deadline offer or top bar
Announcement barA promotion pinned to the top
Inline social proofSales and viewer chips on listings
New project: Brand Identity for a Coffee RoasteryLogo & Brand Identity · just now
SMS & payment gateways
Text members through Twilio, Vonage, MessageBird or Plivo, and take payments through PayPal, Stripe and 140 more gateway plugins.
Members choose email, SMS or both for their notifications.
TwilioVonageMessageBirdPlivo
Uses your own account with the providerSend test
+140 more
Everything, built in
No extra plugins to buy or configure
These are the plugins most freelance marketplaces end up installing. With the Freelancer theme they are already there, switched on from the admin area.
Elementor editing
By PremiumPress
Restyle project pages, headers and landing pages in the free Elementor page builder.
Needs: Free Elementor pluginElementor-ready
150+ marketplace blocks
By PremiumPress
Search heroes, project boards, freelancer rows and category strips.
Find it: Block ExplorerBuilt in
11 languages
By PremiumPress
English plus 10 language packs. Every label can be translated.
Switch on: Settings › LanguageBuilt in
146 payment gateways
By PremiumPress
PayPal, Stripe and 144 more free gateway plugins for your own merchant account.
Switch on: Checkout › GatewaysFree add-ons
Email & SMS verification
By PremiumPress
Members confirm their email or phone before they can post.
Switch on: Users › Verification & LoginBuilt in
Search & filters
By PremiumPress
Category, delivery time, freelancer country and price filters, in your order.
Switch on: Design › Search Page DesignBuilt in
Escrow & payouts
By PremiumPress
Clients release milestones. You keep a commission and pay freelancers the rest.
Set up: Checkout › PayoutsBuilt in
Plans, memberships & ads
By PremiumPress
Sell project plans, member subscriptions and banner ad space.
Switch on: Projects › Pricing PlansBuilt in
Two-way feedback
By PremiumPress
Clients and freelancers rate each other after a completed job.
Switch on: Projects › Setup & ExpiryBuilt in
Freelancer Theme vs the alternatives
A one-time theme that does what a hosted freelance platform, or a marketplace theme plus a stack of paid plugins, charges you for, without taking a cut of your projects.
| Freelancer Theme | Hosted freelance platform | Theme + plugin stack | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $99 one-time | Free, but takes fees | $60 + paid add-ons |
| Commission on projects | Yours, you set it | Platform keeps it | Varies |
| Unlimited installs | Yes | — | 1 site |
| Bidding, escrow & milestones | Built in | Yes | Add-ons |
| AI site builder | Yes | — | — |
| Monthly fees | None | Client & freelancer fees | Add-ons |
| You own the platform | Yes | Hosted / rented | Yes |
Step-by-step guide
How to build a freelance marketplace website with WordPress
Six simple steps to your own freelance marketplace. Clients post projects, freelancers bid, and you earn a commission on every hire. Bidding and escrow are built in, and no coding is required.
- 1
Add the Freelancer Theme
Add the Freelancer Theme under Appearance → Themes on any WordPress hosting and activate it. The whole marketplace engine ships inside the theme.
- 2
Activate your marketplace licence
Your licence key switches on updates and support, and stretches across every marketplace site you own.
- 3
Import the demo marketplace
Importing the demo gives you a populated marketplace with sample projects, categories and freelancer profiles. You reshape that rather than start from a blank site.
- 4
Set up your project categories
Add the freelance categories your marketplace covers, or let clients post projects in any category.
- 5
Enable bidding, escrow and payments
Turn on freelancer bidding, escrow/milestone payments and your commission rate.
- 6
Customise the design with Elementor
Shape your marketplace pages with the 150+ Elementor blocks, such as project grids, profile cards and hero sections. Then open for business.
Questions
WordPress Freelancer Theme FAQ
The questions we hear most before people buy. Still unsure? Our support team is happy to help.
How do I build a freelance marketplace website with WordPress?
Install the WordPress Freelancer Theme, import the demo marketplace and set your project categories and commission rate. Client accounts, freelancer bidding and escrow payments are all part of the theme, so the marketplace mechanics work from day one. No coding is needed.
Can I build a site like Upwork or PeoplePerHour?
Yes. The Upwork model is exactly what the theme implements. Clients post projects, freelancers bid on them, and work is paid through escrow with milestone releases. You, as the platform, take a commission on every job.
Can freelancers bid on projects and get paid securely?
Yes. Clients post projects, freelancers bid, and payments are handled securely through escrow with milestone releases. Your commission is taken automatically.
Can I customise my freelance marketplace website with Elementor?
Yes. Project pages, freelancer profiles and landing pages are all editable in the free Elementor plugin, with 150+ ready-made blocks to assemble your marketplace pages from.
Does the freelance marketplace theme come with demo content?
Yes. One click installs the demo marketplace, complete with sample projects, categories and profile pages. You can watch the post-bid-hire flow working before any real clients arrive.
Can I build a freelance marketplace website without writing code?
Yes. Projects, bids, escrow rules and commission rates are all managed from the admin area, and page design is drag-and-drop in the free Elementor editor. Video tutorials cover the whole setup.
Is the freelance marketplace theme mobile responsive?
Yes. Freelancers browse and bid from their phones, so project listings, profiles, messaging and the members area all work on small screens.
Can I use the WordPress Freelancer Theme on more than one site I own?
Yes. One User License runs unlimited marketplaces you own, so a design-gigs site and a developer-jobs site can share a single licence. Client and commercial builds are what the Developer License covers.
Can I download the freelance marketplace theme for free?
No. A marketplace that holds client funds in escrow is no place for a nulled theme. Those copies often hide malware and never get security updates. The genuine theme is a single purchase with 6 months of support and a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Can I get a refund if the freelance marketplace theme isn't right for me?
Yes. You have 14 days and a full money-back guarantee. That's enough time to import the demo, post a test project and run a bid through escrow before deciding.
Do I get free updates for the WordPress Freelancer Theme?
Yes. The first 6 months of updates and support come with the purchase, keeping the marketplace engine current with new WordPress releases. Extending afterwards is optional at $49 per 6 months.
Do I need any paid plugins to run a freelance marketplace website?
No. Bidding, escrow, memberships and payments ship inside the theme, and the plugins it pairs with are free. Elementor is the main one. Hosting and a domain are the only running costs, and the post-6-months support renewal at $49 per 6 months is optional.
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Launch your WordPress freelance marketplace today.
One-time $99 · unlimited installs · bidding, escrow & commission built in · AI builder · 14-day money-back guarantee.