10 Best Websites to Find Jobs That Pay Hourly
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10 Best Websites to Find Jobs That Pay Hourly

That moment came back to me when I logged into my bank app to see just $42 left in my account. In four days, I needed to pay rent. And I was unemployed from my office job. Freelance life would earn me easy money, but it didn’t.

I spent two weeks applying to random jobs but received no response. Finally, I stopped wasting my guess. I tried everything from every hourly job website out there. I created accounts, applied, and messaged. I noted which one was working and which one was a waste of time.

Some were useful in giving me steady work while some weren’t. However, some of them surprised me. These are the best hourly jobs websites that proved to work for me.

Why Hourly Pay Works Better

Fixed priced project seems to be very straightforward until your client starts to ask for five free modifications. Hourly rates put an end to all those problems once and for all. You track your time, and you are paid for it.

 

Hourly payment also solves some planning issues. Having hourly rates known and known how many hours you are going to work, you can estimate your weekly earnings.

Best Websites To Find Hourly Jobs

  1. Upwork

This was where I started with hourly work. And this is where most of my money is coming from even today.

Upwork screenshots you randomly during the work process. At first, it seemed weird. However, it is what clients believe. This allows new freelancers to get hired easily even with zero reviews.

My first hourly job here was data entry with $8 per hour. Although the job was tedious, the payments were never late. With some positive reviews, I started taking virtual assistant jobs with $15-$20 per hour. After that, I got project-based work with pay of around $25 per hour.

Tip: Stop applying to all the jobs you see. I was sending 15 messages per day and getting no response at all. When I began sending just 5 messages, the responses were much better.

  1. Indeed

Many consider Indeed as being for full-time jobs only. It actually has a very good hourly pay category but is well-concealed behind the filters.

One can find a remote support job for as much as $12 per hour there. One cannot even find it by searching for freelance jobs.

Below are the steps on how to find hourly-paying jobs on Indeed. Just search for the skill or position and then click on the filter options panel on the left side. Just select “Pay: hourly.”

  1. FlexJobs

I had been avoiding this website for months due to the little fee it charges. But after being scammed twice at free job websites, one which asked me to pay the setup fee, Flexjobs seemed like the right place to look for a job. The thing about this website is that every job listed is reviewed by people.

During my first week, I came across a job where I could earn $17 per hour for doing some proofreading.

  1. Snagajob

For people who prefer manual work such as those done in retail and warehouse positions, this website is highly recommended.

One of my friends got himself employed at a coffee shop through Snagajob in just three days, paying $13 an hour and tips. This website provides more opportunities for in-person work than remote.

  1. Wonolo

Wonolo means “Work Now Locally”. It fits its name. You just need to take shifts similar to ordering food through apps. Warehouse work, help at events, and delivery shifts are quite popular on this site.

I used Wonolo when I was having tough times with my budget. In a single week, I got three shifts which paid $14 – $16 per hour.

The best thing about some of these shifts is that you get paid instantly after completing them. It is very helpful when your budget is low.

  1. Instawork

However, Instawork is more about food services and special events. I tried it in that same quiet month, and was able to find catering work within 2 days after registering.

It paid me $15 per hour and money transferred into my bank account the very next day.

  1. Freelancer.com

This site works on a gamble. Some people quote extremely low rates only so that they can get work. This affects the overall rate of payment.

I was able to find work for $10 per hour within 2 weeks of consistently placing bids. The bidding process takes longer compared to Upwork but is worth trying out.

  1. Fiverr Hourly Work

Fiverr’s main focus has always been to provide flat rate services. Recently, however, it has also started providing its users the option of charging per hour for coaching and technical support services.

I made twenty dollars an hour on Fiverr while troubleshooting minor technical issues for shopkeepers just because I offered them patience.

  1. ZipRecruiter

Initially, I did not have high hopes from ZipRecruiter, as the website was more focused on full-time job postings. However, their one-click apply process is actually very quick. One can apply to multiple hourly positions in just one sitting.

I got three interview calls within a single day from this website. The job positions were for warehousing and office work, ranging from $14 to $18 per hour.

  1. Craigslist

Yes, indeed. Local Craigslist ads can be relied on even today for real work, such as movers, event staffing, and pet sitting jobs.

I got a one day mover job for 18 dollars per hour, paid in cash on the very same day.

Just one warning here. Always meet in a public place if it’s a job that requires physical presence. Never pay upfront for holding the job for you. It’s always a scam.

What Weekly Pay Could Realistically Look Like

It is something that is not mentioned in other similar articles, so I will highlight it. Here is how it may look based on my own calculations:

10 hours on Upwork with hourly rate $15 equals to $150. Two shifts on Wonolo with 4 hours per shift with hourly rate $15 equals to $120.

It totals to $270 earned in one week from only two sites.

It is not a promise, but rather a demonstration of what happens when you start monitoring your activity.

Staying Organized Across Multiple Job Sites

When I started using three or four hourly jobs at once, it quickly got complicated.

I made myself a small spreadsheet that had four columns: name of site, hourly rate, hours worked, and pay date. It took me less than five minutes to make and helped me not miss out on any two different payments.

I also stopped looking into every single application every day. I just chose two specific days of the week on which to do that and settled on Monday and Thursday.

The timing of the payments is important as well. Upwork sends the payments via direct deposit or PayPal on a regular basis every week. In turn, Wonolo and Instawork pay you to your bank account most of the time the same day. The timing of the Snagajob payments is determined by the employer only. You have to find out about it beforehand since it may take some extra time to get the money.

The one thing which I have not heard of before starting the work online is that with the time your hourly rate will grow just because of the trust and nothing else. Your hourly rate increases naturally when people see your history of good reviews. This happened to me twice within six months – once on Upwork and once on Wonolo.

Common Mistakes I Made

Over-applying. Once, I had applied to 40 different jobs within one day but received no responses. The effectiveness of applying to several carefully selected and thought out jobs is incomparably higher than the mass application.

Neglecting my profile photo and bio. At first, my profile photo was blurred and the description said virtually nothing about my expertise. Very few people opened my profile page. Once I’ve put up a clear photo and written an honest statement of my skills, everything got much better.

Not monitoring my working hours. I have been paid less than required twice because I have forgotten to start the time tracker. Nowadays, I always make sure that the time tracker is on before starting a job.

Taking for granted each urgent job posting. There are numerous scams among the hourly jobs; sometimes, such offers are either fake or promise unpaid internship. It is better to ignore such posts.

Pricing my services too cheaply because of fear. At first, I was charging very little because of fear that my services will not be paid. This attracted customers that were always willing to order from me and be available at all times for virtually no money.

A Simple Way To Get Started

Do not expect the first week to be easy for you. It took me about two weeks on all platforms combined to earn less than $100. When I started focusing on two platforms, my earnings became consistent after that.

This is the precise method that helped me.

  1. Choose two platforms and not more, and start working on them simultaneously, e.g., Upwork and Snagajob.
  2. Make a brief honest biography. Do not use any fancy phrases but just mention what you can actually do.
  3. Apply to about five job posts a day, not to fifty of them.
  4. Count every hour since the first day of work even the smallest ones.
  5. Try each platform for about two weeks to make sure it works for you.

And the last advice that most people forget about.

Always keep the records of your payments. As soon as your income from several platforms starts coming in, the tax report time will confuse you. Now I am keeping all payments’ proofs in one folder per week.

Conclusion

None of these websites offering hourly jobs will be your magical solution. Slow periods, where you have unanswered emails and clients dropping off without notice, are an inherent part of hourly jobs regardless of the website you select.

There are some differences among these websites to find hourly jobs. However, after I decided to focus on only two or three websites matching my skills, my experience changed dramatically. If you are a beginner and just starting with your search for hourly jobs, select one website offering remote work and another one offering local work from this list. Dedicate yourself for two weeks to see what works.