PeoplePerHour vs Fiverr (UK 2026): Which Is Better?

PeoplePerHour and Fiverr are two of the most popular freelance platforms for UK workers, but they work in very different ways. One is a UK-based marketplace with a fee structure that rewards loyalty; the other is a global marketplace where buyers come to you. If you're trying to decide where to spend your time, this comparison breaks down exactly how the two stack up for UK freelancers in 2026, including what you actually keep from a job on each.

This is part of our wider guide to the 20 best freelance websites in the UK. Here we go deeper on the two platforms most new UK freelancers end up choosing between.

Quick Verdict

If you want UK clients in your timezone and repeat work that gets cheaper over time, PeoplePerHour is the better fit. If you want a low-barrier start where buyers find you without pitching or paying to bid, Fiverr wins.

Most UK freelancers we speak to end up using both: Fiverr to build early reviews and a portfolio, PeoplePerHour to land higher-value local clients and bring fees down through repeat business.

At a Glance

	PeoplePerHour	Fiverr
Fees	20% → 7.5% → 3.5% (sliding, per client, plus VAT)	20% flat on every sale
UK focus	High: London-based, largely UK clients	Low: global, USD-based
How you get work	Proposals + Hourlies	Gigs: buyers come to you
Currency	GBP	USD (conversion fees apply)
Best for	Repeat clients, local work	Beginners, one-off creative gigs
Cost to get started	Proposals now cost: no free monthly credits since July 2026	Free to list gigs

Fees: Head to Head

This is where the two platforms differ most.

Fiverr charges a flat 20% on every sale, no matter how many times a client comes back. Earn £100, keep £80. It's simple and predictable, but it never gets cheaper, and 20% is one of the highest commissions in the industry.

PeoplePerHour uses a sliding scale based on what you have earned from each client:

20% on the first £250 you earn from a client
7.5% from £250 to £5,000
3.5% above £5,000

These rates are quoted before VAT, which PeoplePerHour adds to its fee for UK freelancers. The catch is that the scale works per client, so the savings only materialise when you build ongoing relationships. A freelancer doing lots of one-off small jobs effectively pays 20% on both platforms. A freelancer with a handful of regular clients can see their effective rate drop into single digits, something Fiverr can never match.

What you keep: worked examples

Here is the commission on the total you earn from one client, before VAT on PeoplePerHour's fee and before Fiverr's currency conversion:

Earned from one client	PeoplePerHour fee	You keep (PPH)	Fiverr fee	You keep (Fiverr)
£200	£40 (20%)	£160	£40 (20%)	£160
£1,000	£106.25 (10.6%)	£893.75	£200 (20%)	£800
£6,000	£441.25 (7.4%)	£5,558.75	£1,200 (20%)	£4,800

On a single small job the two are level. By £1,000 from the same client PeoplePerHour leaves you about £94 better off, and by £6,000 the gap is over £750. Spread that £6,000 across 30 one-off clients instead, though, and PeoplePerHour charges 20% on all of it, the same as Fiverr.

Winner: PeoplePerHour for repeat work; a tie for one-off gigs.

Client Base and UK Focus

PeoplePerHour is a London-based platform, and a large share of its clients are UK businesses. That means clients in your timezone, who pay in pounds, understand UK business norms, and are often happy to work with you long-term. For a UK freelancer that's a genuine advantage: fewer awkward late-night calls, no currency surprises, and clients who expect UK rates.

Fiverr is a global, US-centric marketplace. The upside is sheer scale, with millions of active buyers. The downside is that you're competing with freelancers worldwide, many of whom undercut on price, and transactions run in USD. UK focus here is low.

Winner: PeoplePerHour for UK freelancers who want local clients.

How You Actually Get Work

The two platforms have almost opposite models, and this matters more than the fees for a lot of people.

Fiverr: buyers come to you. You create fixed-price "gigs" (for example "I will design a logo for £50"), and buyers browse and purchase directly. There's no pitching, no proposals and nothing to pay to be listed. The trade-off: you're invisible until you rank, and ranking takes reviews, which takes early sales, a chicken-and-egg problem most new sellers find frustrating.

PeoplePerHour: you pitch for work, and pitching now costs. You respond to posted projects with proposals. Since July 2026 a free account no longer comes with free monthly proposal credits, so every pitch is paid for, either through a paid plan or by buying credits. Many older reviews still quote "15 free proposals a month"; that is out of date. In practice this means being selective: only bid on briefs that are priced in pounds, fit your skills and have a realistic budget. PeoplePerHour also offers Hourlies, pre-packaged fixed-price services that work much like Fiverr gigs and let buyers come to you without spending credits.

If you hate selling yourself, or don't want to pay to pitch, Fiverr's passive model is easier. If you're confident pitching and want to choose your clients, PeoplePerHour gives you more control, at a price. Either way, knowing how to find and win freelance clients makes a big difference to your hit rate on both.

Winner: Fiverr for a free start; PeoplePerHour for targeted, selective bidding.

Payments and Currency

For UK freelancers this is an underrated factor. PeoplePerHour pays in GBP, so what you quote is roughly what you bank.

Fiverr operates in USD. Even when a UK buyer pays you, the money flows through Fiverr's USD balance, and withdrawing to a UK bank account means a currency conversion on top of the 20% fee, plus whatever your withdrawal method charges. Over a year those losses add up, and they're easy to overlook when you're comparing headline commission rates.

Winner: PeoplePerHour for UK freelancers, on currency alone.

Getting Started and Competition

Fiverr is the lower barrier to entry: list a gig for free and you're live in minutes. But new sellers start with low visibility, and Fiverr's seller levels only open up as you build orders, reviews and a good success score. Expect the first few months to be slow.

PeoplePerHour vets new freelancers before approving profiles, so onboarding is slower, and with paid proposals there is a cost before your first job. In return the marketplace is smaller and less of a race to the bottom on price, and a well-targeted proposal puts you in front of a client straight away rather than waiting to be discovered.

Winner: Fiverr for a fast, free setup; PeoplePerHour for less brutal price competition.

Which Should You Choose?

You're brand new and want to start today for free → Fiverr. The free, passive gig model lets you build a portfolio and your first reviews without pitching or paying to bid.

You want UK clients and long-term, higher-value work → PeoplePerHour. The UK client base and sliding fees reward exactly this.

You want to maximise take-home pay → PeoplePerHour, provided you build repeat clients to unlock the lower fee tiers and avoid USD conversion losses.

You do quick, productised creative work (logos, edits, voiceover) → Fiverr, where buyers actively search for those gigs.

Honestly? Use both. Start on Fiverr to build credibility, list a couple of Hourlies on PeoplePerHour so buyers can find you there without spending credits, and save paid proposals for briefs you are genuinely well placed to win. Then move your best clients into ongoing relationships where PeoplePerHour's fees drop. Diversifying platforms is exactly what most sustainable UK freelancers do.

Whichever you pick, make sure you're negotiating your rates and contracts properly: a 3.5% fee tier means little if you're underpricing the work in the first place. If a client is slow to pay outside a platform, UK law lets you add late payment interest and a fixed fee. And if you're still weighing up your options, our roundup of the best freelance jobs in the UK shows which niches pay best on platforms like these.

Ready to sign up?

Fiverr: Join Fiverr: free to list gigs, buyers come to you.
PeoplePerHour: Sign up here: a strong UK client base, with fees that fall as you work with the same clients.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is PeoplePerHour or Fiverr cheaper?

For one-off jobs, both effectively charge 20%. For repeat clients, PeoplePerHour is much cheaper: its fee drops to 7.5% after £250 and 3.5% after £5,000 with the same client, while Fiverr stays at a flat 20% forever. On £1,000 from one client you keep about £894 on PeoplePerHour against £800 on Fiverr, before VAT and currency costs.

Does PeoplePerHour still give free proposals?

No. Since July 2026 a free PeoplePerHour account no longer includes free monthly proposal credits, so pitching for posted jobs costs money, through a paid plan or bought credits. Hourlies, which buyers purchase directly, are still a way to get work without spending credits.

Which is better for UK freelancers?

PeoplePerHour, in most cases. It is a UK-based marketplace, it pays in GBP, and its fees fall with repeat work. Fiverr is better if you want a free, passive start or specialise in productised creative gigs.

Can I use both platforms at the same time?

Yes, and many UK freelancers do. A common approach is using Fiverr to build early reviews and a portfolio, then moving higher-value and repeat clients onto PeoplePerHour to benefit from the lower fee tiers.

Does Fiverr charge UK freelancers extra fees?

Effectively, yes. Fiverr operates in USD, so UK freelancers lose money on currency conversion when withdrawing to a GBP bank account, on top of the flat 20% commission. PeoplePerHour pays in pounds, avoiding this.

Which platform is easier to start on?

Fiverr. You can list gigs for free in minutes and buyers find you. PeoplePerHour vets profiles before approval, and pitching for jobs now costs, so it takes more effort and some upfront spend to get going.

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PeoplePerHour vs Fiverr: Which Is Better for UK Freelancers? (2026)