Jobbers.io vs Truelancer: South Asia Platform Comparison

By the Jobbers Editorial Team · Published October, 2026 · Reading time: about 11 minutes

If you freelance from Delhi, Lahore, Dhaka, Colombo or Kathmandu, you have probably heard of Truelancer. It is one of the few marketplaces built in South Asia rather than imported into it, and for a lot of people in the region it was the first place they ever got paid online. So when freelancers ask us how jobbers.io compares, we understand the question isn’t really “which site is bigger?” It’s “where do I keep more of what I earn, and where will I actually find clients?”

Important notice: Platform fees, membership prices, tax rates and regulations change often. The figures in this article reflect information available on October, 2026, gathered from official sources and reputable third-party publications. Truelancer’s own fee page could not be accessed directly while we were researching, so the Truelancer fees below come from third-party sources and should be treated as indicative. Before you sign up, pay for a membership, or make any tax or legal decision, please verify every number and condition directly with the platform and with the relevant authority or a qualified professional. This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.

The short answer

Truelancer is a bidding marketplace that holds client money in escrow (it calls this “Safe Deposit”) and takes a percentage of what freelancers earn. Third-party reviews put that service fee at roughly 8% to 10% depending on your membership plan. Jobbers takes no commission at all on completed work. Freelancers and clients discuss and agree payment terms directly between themselves, and Jobbers makes its money from paid credits used to send proposals, not from a cut of your invoice.

That difference shapes almost everything else. If you want the platform to sit in the middle of the money, Truelancer’s escrow model gives you that. If you would rather keep 100% of the agreed fee and handle payment terms yourself, Jobbers is built for that.

Why South Asia needs its own comparison

South Asian freelancers aren’t a niche. The World Bank’s 2023 report Working Without Borders estimated that there are between 154 million and 435 million online gig workers worldwide, equal to roughly 4.4% to 12.5% of the global labour force, and found that demand for online gig work has been rising faster in developing countries than in rich ones. The Online Labour Observatory run by the ILO and the Oxford Internet Institute has consistently shown India, Pakistan and Bangladesh among the largest suppliers of online freelance labour.

India’s own government think tank has put numbers on the domestic side too. NITI Aayog’s report India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy (June 2022) estimated 7.7 million gig workers in India in 2020–21, about 1.5% of the workforce, and projected 23.5 million by 2029–30. Note that this figure covers all gig work, including delivery and ride-hailing, not just online freelancing.

Here’s the practical problem we hear about over and over: freelancers in the region often compete on price against each other, and then lose another 10% to 20% of an already-tight rate to platform fees, currency conversion and withdrawal charges. On a $300 project, that can be the difference between a good week and an average one. That’s why fee structure matters more here than almost anywhere else.

Truelancer at a glance

Truelancer was launched in September 2014 in New Delhi by Dipesh Garg and Rajshekhar Rajaharia, according to Inc42. It works like most classic bidding marketplaces: clients post projects for free, freelancers send proposals, and the client’s payment is held in Safe Deposit until the work is approved. Truelancer also lets freelancers list fixed-price services, and it runs a separate AI data services arm at ai.truelancer.com.

On fees, here’s what we could establish:

Freelancer service fee: third-party reviews such as Flexiple report a service fee of 8% to 10% on billed work, depending on membership. Some sources describe a wider 3% to 10% range. Check the current figure on Truelancer’s Fee & Charges page.
Proposals: free accounts are reported to get around 20 proposals per month, with paid memberships raising that limit and lowering the service fee.
Clients: clients are reported to pay no platform fee, only payment processing charges that depend on the payment method.
Memberships: paid plans exist and renew automatically. On Trustpilot, reviews are mixed: plenty of freelancers say they like the platform, while others complain about unexpected membership renewals, slow support, and paid upgrades that didn’t bring work. As always, individual reviews are opinions, not verified facts.

One thing in Truelancer’s favour that’s easy to overlook: it supports withdrawals to Indian bank accounts in INR, and its user base has historically been concentrated in South Asia, which helps if you want clients who understand your market and your time zone.

Jobbers at a glance

jobbers.io is an international marketplace for freelance jobs with a simple principle: the platform does not take a commission on the work you do. Here is how it actually works, without the marketing gloss:

0% commission: whatever you and your client agree, you keep. Jobbers doesn’t take a percentage of the project.
Payment terms are negotiated directly: freelancers and clients discuss how and when payment happens — milestones, upfront deposits, bank transfer, Payoneer, Wise, whatever suits both sides.
Proposals use paid credits: sending proposals isn’t free. Jobbers earns its revenue from credits, which is how it can stay commission-free. That means you should be selective and send proposals to jobs you genuinely fit.
No built-in escrow: because Jobbers isn’t in the middle of the payment, there’s no Safe Deposit-style holding account. You are responsible for agreeing safe terms with each client. We’d rather say that plainly than have you discover it mid-project.

Side-by-side comparison

Feature	Jobbers.io	Truelancer
Commission on freelancer earnings	0%	Reported 8%–10% depending on plan (verify on official page)
Client platform fee	No commission	No platform fee reported; payment processing charges apply
How proposals work	Paid credits	Monthly allowance (around 20 on free plan, reported) plus paid memberships
Payment handling	Agreed directly between freelancer and client	Held in Safe Deposit (escrow) until approval
Founded / base	International marketplace, operated from France	2014, New Delhi, India
Best suited to	Freelancers who want to keep their full rate and negotiate their own terms	Freelancers who want platform-held payments and India-focused clients

What the fee difference looks like in real money

Let’s take a simple example. Say you’re a WordPress developer in Pune or Karachi and you land three $400 projects a month.

At a 10% service fee, you’d hand over $120 a month, or $1,440 a year.
At 8%, it’s $96 a month, or $1,152 a year — and you’d normally be paying for a membership to get that lower rate.
On a 0% commission platform, the full $1,200 is yours. Your costs are the proposal credits you spend and whatever your payment provider charges.

That arithmetic doesn’t mean commission-free is automatically better for everyone. Escrow has real value, especially with a new client you’ve never worked with. The point is to know what you’re paying for and decide whether it’s worth it for you.

Getting paid in South Asia: things neither platform handles for you

Whatever platform you choose, the tax side is your responsibility. A few points that come up most often in our inbox:

India: services exported to clients abroad can qualify as “zero-rated supplies” under GST, generally by filing a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) if you’re GST-registered. Registration thresholds and conditions are set out on the CBIC GST portal. Keep your bank’s foreign inward remittance records — your accountant will ask for them.
Pakistan: according to coverage of the Federal Budget 2026–27 (presented June 12, 2026), the concessional 0.25% final tax on IT export proceeds for freelancers registered with the Pakistan Software Export Board was extended to June 30, 2029, with a higher default rate for non-registered exporters. Conditions apply, including receiving funds through banking channels. Confirm the current rules with the Federal Board of Revenue.
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal: each country has its own rules on foreign earnings and IT services, and they’ve changed several times in recent budgets. Check with your national tax authority (Bangladesh’s National Board of Revenue, for example) before assuming anything is exempt.

A quiet advantage of negotiating payment directly, as you do on Jobbers, is that you can choose the channel that works best for your local tax and banking rules rather than being locked into a platform’s withdrawal method.

How to protect yourself on a no-escrow platform

Since Jobbers lets you and the client agree payment directly, here’s what experienced freelancers in our community tend to do:

Ask for a deposit. 30% to 50% upfront is common for new clients, especially on fixed-price work.
Split work into milestones. Don’t deliver the full project before any money has moved.
Put the scope in writing. Even a short email summarising deliverables, deadlines and payment dates protects both sides.
Use traceable payment methods. Bank transfers and established payment services leave a record that’s useful for both disputes and tax filing.
Trust your instincts. A client who pushes you to start “today” with no written brief and no deposit is a red flag on any platform.

So, which one should you choose?

Honestly, many freelancers in the region use more than one platform, and that’s a sensible approach. Here’s how we’d think about it:

Choose Truelancer if you’re just starting out, want the platform to hold payments for you, and are comfortable paying a percentage of each project for that protection.
Choose Jobbers if you already know how to scope work and agree terms, want to keep 100% of your rate, and prefer to pay a predictable cost per proposal rather than a cut of every invoice.
Use both if you want to diversify. Spreading your client sources reduces the risk of losing income when one platform changes its rules — which, as anyone who lived through the 2025 fee changes elsewhere in the industry knows, does happen.

If you’d like to see what’s available right now, you can browse current freelance jobs and set up a profile on jobbers.io in a few minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Jobbers.io really commission-free?

Yes. Jobbers.io does not take a commission on the payment agreed between a freelancer and a client. The platform earns revenue from paid credits used to submit proposals, so sending proposals is not free, but your project earnings are not reduced by a platform percentage.

How much does Truelancer charge freelancers in 2026?

Third-party reviews report that Truelancer charges freelancers a service fee of roughly 8% to 10% of billed work, depending on their membership plan, and some sources mention a wider 3% to 10% range. Truelancer’s official Fee & Charges page is the only reliable source for the current rate, so check it before you accept a project.

Does Truelancer charge clients a fee?

According to third-party sources, Truelancer does not charge clients a platform fee, but clients pay payment processing charges that vary with the payment method used. Verify the current terms on Truelancer’s website.

How do payments work on Jobbers.io?

On Jobbers.io, the freelancer and the client discuss and agree payment terms directly, including the amount, schedule and payment method. Jobbers.io does not hold funds in escrow, so freelancers should use deposits, milestones and written agreements to protect themselves.

What is Truelancer Safe Deposit?

Safe Deposit is Truelancer’s escrow-style system. The client funds the project in advance, Truelancer holds the money, and it is released to the freelancer once the client approves the work.

Which platform is better for freelancers in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh?

It depends on what you value. Truelancer suits freelancers who want platform-held payments and a South Asia-focused user base. Jobbers.io suits freelancers who want to keep 100% of their agreed rate and negotiate payment terms directly with clients. Many freelancers use both to diversify their income.

Are proposals free on Jobbers.io?

No. Jobbers.io uses paid credits for proposal submissions. This is how the platform funds itself without taking a commission on completed work, so it is worth sending fewer, better-targeted proposals.

Do Indian freelancers pay GST on work for foreign clients?

Services exported to clients outside India can generally be treated as zero-rated supplies under GST, usually by filing a Letter of Undertaking if you are GST-registered. Rules and thresholds can change, so confirm your situation on the CBIC GST portal or with a chartered accountant.

What tax do Pakistani freelancers pay on foreign earnings in 2026?

Coverage of Pakistan’s Federal Budget 2026-27 reports that the concessional 0.25% final tax on IT export proceeds for PSEB-registered freelancers was extended to June 30, 2029, with a higher default rate for those who are not registered. Conditions apply, so confirm with the Federal Board of Revenue or a tax adviser.

How can I stay safe when working without escrow?

Ask new clients for an upfront deposit, split larger projects into paid milestones, agree the scope and payment dates in writing, and use traceable payment methods such as bank transfers or established payment services. Be cautious of clients who refuse any written agreement or deposit.

Sources

About the authors: This comparison was written and fact-checked by the Jobbers Editorial Team, which covers freelance platforms, cross-border payments and freelancer taxation across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. We update our comparisons when platforms change their fees or terms. Spotted something out of date? Let us know through jobbers.io and we’ll review it.

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