Top Questions

Guru.com provides you with the easiest way to find freelance work online and across the world. Start Now!

Create a Profile
Show and tell! Knock their socks off with a profile that sells your strengths to potential Employers and showcases your portfolio.

Win Projects
Search for projects that are right up your alley. Then submit proposals that compel Employers to hire you.

Get Paid
Getting paid is quick and simple. We even offer SafePay for guaranteed payment protection.

Need more information? Take the tour and read comments from Freelancers using Guru.com to grow their business.

There is no fee to register. The cost of our service to locate leads and secure work depends on your membership level.

• Membership level – Select a membership level for every profile you post.
• Basic membership is free.
• Guru membership fees range from $9.95 to $34.95 per month.
• Guru Vendor membership fees range from $12.94 to $45.44 per month.
• Annual memberships can be purchased at a 50% discount.
• An additional 20% discount is offered when upgrading more than one profile at a time.

    Review our Membership Comparison Chart for more information.

• Project fee – We charge all Freelancers either a 4.5% or 9% project fee based on profile membership type. The fee is subtracted from the Employer’s payment.

• Guru and Guru Vendor members pay a 4.5% project fee.
• Basic members pay a 9% project fee.

• Payment processing fee – We also charge all Freelancers a 2.95% payment processing fee to cover the costs of payment processing, credit card fees, and PayPal fees. The fee is subtracted from the total amount of the Employer’s payment.

• Transfer method fees – You may be charged a small processing fee depending on the transfer method you’ve selected when transferring funds from your cash account.

Our matching and project management services are FREE for Employers because Freelancers help to defray costs in two ways — through transaction fees and memberships.

1. Freelancers pay a 7.45% or 11.95% transaction fee. This fee is based on the Freelancer’s membership level and is deducted from the Freelancer’s payment for the project.
2. Freelancers can also purchase memberships to receive privileged access to projects and Employers. Freelancer profiles displaying the Guru or Guru Vendor icon paid a subscription fee to obtain this special access.

To update your profile,

1. On the top right of the page, click your name and click “View / Edit My Profiles.”
2. Use the links in the Profile Completeness section to make changes to your profile.

To best represent yourself to Employers, be sure to complete all sections of your profile.

You can upgrade one or more profiles to Guru or Guru Vendor status at any time. Your membership expiration date is listed on the My Profiles page. To avoid membership lapses, you can opt in to auto-renewal when upgrading.

• When you pay for a Guru or Guru Vendor membership, your fee only applies to the profile(s) you select.
• You can renew your membership one month before its expiration date.
• You will receive reminder emails two weeks and again one day before your membership expires.

To upgrade your membership,

1. On the top right of the page, click “My Profiles.”
2. Click the “Upgrade” link.
3. Select a membership option for each profile and click the “Continue” button.
4. Select a payment option and click the “Continue” button. If you opt in to auto-renewal, you will automatically be prompted to pay via credit card.
5. Follow the on-page instructions to complete the transaction.

Searching for projects is the primary way Freelancers find work on Guru.com. You can search for projects by Project ID, keyword or skill category. Additionally, you can filter your results by budget, location and more.

To begin searching, on the top navigation bar, enter keywords or a Project ID in the Find Projects box and click “Go.”

Upon finding a solid lead, your next step is to submit a proposal.

To apply for a project, the skill category of your profile must match the skill category of the project. You can create multiple profiles if you want to apply for projects in different skill categories.

We have tighter restrictions on how Basic members qualify to apply for a project.

To apply for a project as a Basic member,

• The skill category of your profile must match the skill category of the project.
• The project cannot be posted as a “Subscribers Only” project.
• You must have bids available. (Basic users are limited to 10 bids every 30 days.)

To conduct a search that will return only those projects for which you can apply,

1. On the top navigation bar, enter keywords or a Project ID in the Find Projects box and click “Go.”
2. Click “Settings” at the bottom of the left-hand column.
3. Select the “Show only projects I can apply for” check box.

Employers consider many factors when selecting Freelancers to work on their projects. A solid proposal and a complete profile are the keys to convincing an Employer to hire you over your competition.

Your proposal, tailored to a project’s exact requirements, should include cost and time estimates, descriptions of your applicable skills and experience, implementation plans, and an hourly rate if needed.

Your cost and time estimates will likely be the first thing to get the Employer’s attention and get you short-listed. The body of your proposal and whether you have directly addressed the Employer’s needs can give you a further edge over your competitors. Finally, the details within your profile could completely tip the scales in your favor. Be sure to complete your profile before submitting proposals.

Freelancers receive a limited number of bids with their membership. The bids are limited to ensure that Employers receive an optimal number of the most qualified proposals. If you have used up all of your allotted bids you can still apply for projects to which you are invited by the Employer. Your bid will, however, count toward your total and will be carried over to the next 30-day period.

• Guru and Guru Vendor profiles: 100 bids for each upgraded profile. Guru and Guru Vendor members can purchase Bid Pax to supplement their allotted number of bids.
• Basic profiles: 10 bids for all Basic profiles combined (only one Basic profile can be active at a time).

Any bids spent from your membership allowance are replenished again in 30 days. For example, if you use one bid today, you will gain one bid in 30 days.

To view the total number of bids you have left per profile,

1. On the top right of the page, click your name and click “View / Edit My Profiles.”
2. Find the profile and find the “Bids left” text. The orange number is the number of bids left for that profile.

To view your bid replenishment calendar,

1. On the top right of the page, click your name and click “View / Edit My Profiles.”
2. On your profile listing, find the “Bids left” text and click the orange number.
3. On the Bidding History and Availability tab, review the calendar and chart for your bids spent and replenish dates.

You have several options for communicating with Employers before and after you are awarded a project; direct contact, Project Messages, and Project Q&A.

When you’re awarded a project, we send you a “Project Award Offered” email. We also change the status of the project to “My Project” and add it to your My Projects page.

Congratulations! You’ve been awarded a project. How do you know? Well, when you’re awarded a project, we send you a “Project Award Offered” email. We also change the status of the project to “My Project” and add it to your My Projects page.

Your next step is to accept or decline the award.

To accept or decline the Project Award,

1. On the top navigation bar, click “Projects.”
2. Click the project’s “Respond to Award” button.
3. Click the appropriate button to accept or decline the award.

If you accept the award, your next step will be to create a Project Agreement and await the Employer’s approval of the agreement. Once the Project Agreement is in place, you’ll either create a SafePay request or begin working on the project.

Note: Do not begin working on a project until the Employer officially awards you the project through Guru.com. Without the official award, you do not have the necessary information to bill the Employer through Guru Invoicing or SafePay.

A Project Agreement serves as a work contract between you and your Employer. The agreement allows both parties to define a project’s scope, timeline, deliverables, deadlines and payment terms. Avoid ambiguity and prevent disputes by setting clear expectations in your Project Agreement.

A Project Agreement consists of three main sections — the comprehensive project plan, project delivery date and total project value, and the payment schedule. The documents you upload as your project plan are critical. You can upload a simple legal contract or a thorough document covering scope, milestones, payment, ownership, confidentiality, contract termination and dispute resolution. When deciding between a simple and a thorough document, keep in mind that if a dispute arises, the burden of proof falls on you, the Freelancer.

You can also check out these sample project plans: Sample 1, Sample 2, Sample 3, Sample 4, Sample 5.

You certainly can. However, to use the Work Room tools, the Employer will have to post the project to Guru.com. If you don’t need the Work Room tools and simply need to bill the Employer, use the New Project Title option when creating a Guru Invoice.

In a contract work relationship, as opposed to a standard employment situation, the ownership of the work products should be specifically defined in writing.

Unless specifically designated otherwise, the creator of the work (the Freelancer) is usually considered the owner. If, however, an item is considered a work “made for hire,” then the requestor (Employer), not the creator (Freelancer), is considered the owner. If the project is not designated as a work “made-for-hire” (according to the U.S. 1976 Copyright Act) or if there’s no written transfer of ownership, all rights relative to the project work belong to you, the Freelancer.

Projects such as logo designs, illustrations, ecommerce websites, and computer programs are not considered works “made for hire.” Employers do not own the rights relative to these projects and cannot reproduce or use the work completed outside the initial project scope. If an Employer wants to gain ownership and copyright protection for works not declared as works “made for hire,” he or she must request that the Freelancer sign a written transfer of copyright ownership. This document should be part of the Project Agreement discussed with and completed by the Freelancer before beginning any work.

Using either Guru Invoicing or SafePay; your Employer pays Guru.com, funds are added to your Guru.com cash account, you request a transfer, and Guru.com transfers the funds to your PayPal, bank, or Prepaid MasterCard account.

SafePay provides all the benefits and security of Guru Invoicing with an added Payment Protection Guarantee and access to dispute resolution services.

	Guru Invoicing	SafePay
Payment Protection Guarantee— With SafePay, you avoid the risk of completing project work for an Employer who does not intend to pay.	—
Reduce risk with dispute resolution — You gain access to our Mediation and Arbitration services if a dispute arises.	—
Information Security— We are a VeriSign Secure Site and all transactions performed through Guru.com are conducted in an encrypted Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) session.
Keep track— Easily access a report of all payments received.
Easily bill your Employers- Generate SafePay requests or Guru Invoices online quickly. Employers receive them immediately.
Get paid conveniently- Get paid via the payment method you select – direct deposit, PayPal, prepaid MasterCard, or wire transfer.
Improve your quote’s position – As you accumulate payment stats, your Total Marketing Score and your visibility improve.
Leave feedback— You can rate the Employers with whom you worked.
Attract future work — Add credibility to your Guru.com profile by accumulating earnings statistics, feedback and a list of completed projects.

Within 60 days of being paid, you have the opportunity to leave feedback for the Employer. Feedback consists of ratings and written comments that are publicly displayed on Freelancer profiles and in the Employer Statistics section of each project. Public feedback allows Freelancers and Employers to judge each others’ reputations on Guru.com prior to submitting proposals or hiring.

The Feedback window closes 60 days after you are paid through either SafePay or Guru Invoicing. Be sure to leave ratings and comments before the window closes.

Once you have left feedback, it cannot be modified. Additionally, we do not assist with disputes over feedback ratings and comments.

To leave feedback,

1. On the top navigation bar, click “Payments,” and click “Manage Feedback.”
2. Find the appropriate record and click “Leave Feedback.”

Note: The feedback you leave an Employer will not immediately display within the Employer’s Guru.com account. Like you, Employers have the option of blocking or publishing the feedback they receive.