The life of a freelancer is all about ups and downs. Sometimes there's plenty of work and it takes up all your time. Other times there's very little available, and finding new opportunities becomes a struggle. The way through is to use every channel open to you. On ComeUp, you can find remote freelance work by turning your skills into services clients order directly.

What is ComeUp?

ComeUp is a marketplace where freelancers sell their services online. More than 1.3 million orders have been completed on the platform, from clients around the world. The free plan lets you sell without paying anything upfront, while ComeUp Plus plans replace the commission with a flat €1 per order.

Every job on ComeUp is remote by design. There is no on-site option, so the question of relocating or commuting never comes up.

How to find remote freelance work on ComeUp

Create a freelancer account, then create a service. That is the whole mechanism. The hard part is not the setup, it's building a service that actually sells, which is what most of this guide is about.

Account creation requires an ID document. The check is quick, and it is the reason clients on ComeUp know there is a real, identified person behind every profile.

Why ComeUp?

The model differs from the platforms built around bidding. On those, you compete for a project by undercutting other freelancers, and the pressure pushes prices down until the work is barely worth doing. Here, clients come to a listing you wrote, at a price you set.

Choose your prices

You set a price for your service, so there is no negotiation to win before the work begins. Price for your experience, the technical difficulty, the complexity of the brief and the output you deliver. There is no hourly rate field, but nothing stops you from estimating the hours a job takes and pricing from an hourly target.

Choose your delivery times

You also set your own delivery time. If you want to leave room, you announce a longer deadline. If you can turn work around quickly, you can offer express delivery: the client pays a little more and receives the work sooner, and you decide how much sooner. The one rule that matters is not to announce a deadline you can't hold.

For briefs that don't fit a standard listing, custom offers let you agree on scope and price with the client before anything starts.

What can I sell on ComeUp?

There are eight main categories: graphic design, writing, audiovisual, web development, social media, business, coaching, and everyday life. Each contains many subcategories. The only real constraint is that the work has to be deliverable remotely.

Use your real experience

Sell what you are genuinely good at. A developer who starts offering copywriting with no track record will struggle, and so will a designer suddenly pitching data analysis. This sounds obvious, but the temptation to widen your offer when sales are slow is strong, and it usually backfires: the listings that sell are the ones where the buyer can tell you have done this before.

Find your niche

A service behaves like a product. If everyone offers the same thing, you are competing on price alone, which is the one competition nobody wins.

The more precise your positioning, the better. A video editor who also understands marketing should say both things: that combination is exactly what a company looking for a promotional video wants, and there are far fewer people offering it than there are offering "video editing". Same for a writer who knows cryptocurrency, or a developer who specialises in Shopify migrations. Narrow your offer, then show the work that proves it.

Position yourself where AI has not gone

This is the single biggest shift of the last two years, and it decides where the work goes.

AI has absorbed the tasks that were purely mechanical: basic transcription, generic descriptions, simple retouching. Competing there means competing with something that never sleeps and costs almost nothing. What clients still pay a human for is judgment, originality, and accountability for the result.

Two positions are working well right now. The first is expertise AI cannot fake, where being wrong has consequences and someone has to answer for it. The second is helping clients use AI properly, which many businesses want and few know how to do.

Getting your first orders

Watching the platform's training videos is optional but worth the time. Beyond that, five things matter.

Build a professional profile

As a freelancer you are always selling yourself. Write clearly, describe your actual experience, and back up any claim about results with a number. List the software you know. A client scanning ten profiles will stop at the one that reads like it was written by a professional.

Write the best service listing you can

Your listing is your product page, and it deserves the same care. Spend real time on it. Does the offer deliver enough value at that price? Is it something buyers actually need, or something you assume they need? What could you offer as a paid option alongside it?

Keep improving it after publication. If the same question keeps arriving in your messages, the answer belongs in the description.

Show samples

The description convinces people you understand the job. Samples convince them you can do it. A video editor shows videos, a developer shows sites they built, a writer shows extracts, a designer shows designs. In creative fields especially, no amount of description replaces seeing the work.

Prospect to unlock your first sales

Every experienced seller on the platform will tell you the same thing: the first orders are the hardest, because ranking and reviews only come after them, and both are what bring the next ones.

The fastest way out of that deadlock is people who already know your work. Contact past clients and invite them to order through your listing. A handful of orders lifts you in search results, and from there the platform starts working for you. Prospecting feels like a detour when you would rather be working, but it is what makes the following months easier.

Turn clients into repeat clients

One order is a start. A steady income comes from clients who come back. Deliver completely, answer questions properly, and treat each order as the beginning of a relationship rather than a transaction.

There is a second benefit that is easy to underestimate: satisfied clients recommend you. A referral arrives pre-convinced, and you skip the comparison stage entirely.

Other ways to find remote freelance work

Use more than one marketplace

ComeUp is worth your effort, and so is not depending on it alone. Selling on two or three platforms protects you from a suspension, a policy change or an algorithm update wiping out your income overnight. Once you have loyal clients, you can point them toward whichever platform costs you the least.

When choosing a second platform, look at the model (bidding or fixed listings), where the clients are, which languages dominate, and what the fees really are on both sides.

Job boards

Regular job sites list freelance and contract roles too. The drawback is the timeline: applications, interviews and waiting, often for weeks, with no guarantee at the end.

Social media and your own network

Prospecting matters whether or not you sell on a marketplace. LinkedIn lets you reach specific roles, industries and countries directly.

Beyond social media, talk to the people already around you. Former colleagues, old clients, friends who run businesses. And use niche communities: designers have design communities, developers have forums, writers have groups. Those are places where a recommendation carries weight.

Conclusion

ComeUp gives you remote work without bidding for it: you set your prices, you set your deadlines, and clients order what you have published. Whether you work in design, video, development, writing, social media, coaching or virtual assistance, the mechanics are the same.

The freelancers who do well here are not the cheapest ones. They are the ones with a clear specialism, a listing that proves it, and the patience to get through the first few orders.

A flat €1 commission per order, whatever the order value See ComeUp Plus plans

FAQ

Which platform has the lowest fees overall?

You need to look at both sides. With a ComeUp Plus subscription, the flat €1 commission gives the lowest total cost of the comparison, around 5.3% on a €500 order including client-side fees. Platforms advertising 0% for freelancers usually charge the client 15% to 20% instead.

Why do client-side fees matter to a freelancer?

Because the money comes from the same pot. A client with a €1,000 budget who pays 5% in platform fees only has €950 left for your work.

Can I use several platforms at the same time?

Yes, and it is recommended while you build a reputation. Relying on a single platform is risky: a suspension or an algorithm change can cut off your entire income overnight.

How long does it take to get a first order?

Usually a few weeks of consistent effort. The first order is the hardest, because it unlocks the reviews and the ranking that bring the following ones.

Do I need a registered business to sell on ComeUp?

No. You can start selling as an individual, and register a business later if your activity grows enough to require it. The rules depend on your country of residence.

Is ComeUp Plus worth it when you are just starting out?

It becomes worthwhile from roughly €60 in monthly sales. Below that, the free plan at 20% costs you less. There is no reason to subscribe before your first orders arrive.