For an ongoing virtual assistant, Upwork is the better fit of the two. It has hourly contracts with weekly billing, a time tracker and a hiring flow that starts from your own job post. Fiverr is built for buying a defined task at a set price, so it suits one-off jobs more than a standing role. Both take a percentage of every payment for as long as you work together, and that is the point where neither fits a long-term hire well.
Every fee and rule below comes from Upwork's and Fiverr's own help and legal pages, linked in the text and checked Oct 2026.
Upwork vs Fiverr at a glance
| Compare | Upwork | Fiverr |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Jobs you post and freelancers apply to | Packaged services (Gigs) you order |
| Contract types | Hourly, or fixed-price with milestones | Fixed-price orders, plus hourly orders for work of 8 hours or more |
| Client fee | Up to 7.99% of every payment on the Basic plan | 5.5% of every purchase, plus $3.50 under $200 |
| Freelancer fee | 0% to 15% of earnings | 20% of every order |
| Paying outside the platform | Not allowed in the first two years unless you pay a conversion fee | Not allowed |
How hiring a VA works on each platform
Upwork: you post a job and screen the applicants
You write a job post with a title, skills, scope and budget. A standard post costs nothing until you hire. Freelancers send proposals, you can invite people yourself, and you interview before you send an offer (How to post a job, checked Oct 2026).
The screening is your work: each proposal is a pitch, and you decide who is worth a call. On the Basic plan you may not share contact details before a contract starts, so selection happens inside Upwork.
Fiverr: you order a service from a listing
Fiverr turns the process around. Freelancers publish Gigs, most with Basic, Standard and Premium packages. You search, compare profiles and reviews, and order, or you ask for a custom offer when no package fits (How Fiverr works for clients, checked Oct 2026).
That works when you can describe the output in one sentence, such as cleaning a spreadsheet. A VA role is the opposite. The task list changes every week, and you are choosing a person to work with for months.
Fiverr does offer hourly orders for ongoing work of at least 8 hours. You agree a weekly hour limit in a custom offer and pay a $5 initiation fee (Hourly orders for clients, checked Oct 2026). Fiverr's Payment Terms describe them for eligible buyers and Pro clients, so confirm that your account has the option.
What Upwork and Fiverr charge (checked Oct 2026)
Upwork fees
- Client Marketplace Fee: charged on all payments to freelancers. Upwork's help center puts it at up to 7.99% on the free Basic plan, so check the rate on your own account. Eligible US clients who pay from a bank account pay 3%. The fee is not refunded, even when a payment is.
- Contract Initiation Fee: $0.99 to $14.99, charged once for each new Marketplace contract, including a new contract with someone you hired before (source).
- Freelancer Service Fee: the freelancer pays 0% to 15% of earnings. The rate is shown before the contract starts and stays fixed for that contract (source).
Fiverr fees
- Buyer service fee: 5.5% of the purchase amount, plus a $3.50 small order fee on purchases under $200. Every payment inside an order, such as an extra or a tip, carries its own fee (source).
- Hourly orders: a $5 order initiation fee, then 5.5% on top of the hourly rate.
- Seller side: the freelancer earns 80% of the purchase amount, so Fiverr keeps 20% (Fiverr Payment Terms, last updated September 2026).
The freelancer's fee is not on your invoice, but it reaches you through the rate. Upwork's help page shows freelancers the sum: to take home $20 an hour at a 10% fee, charge the client $22.22.
What the fees add up to for a part-time VA
Take a VA billed at $10 an hour for 20 hours a week. That is $200 a week, or $10,400 over 52 weeks. The rate is an example for the arithmetic, not a market figure.
| On $200 of work a week | Upwork (Basic plan, hourly contract) | Fiverr (hourly order) |
|---|---|---|
| Your fee per week | Up to $15.98 (7.99%) | $11.00 (5.5%) |
| Your fee per year | Up to $830.96 | $572.00 |
| One-time fee | $0.99 to $14.99 | $5 |
| Freelancer's fee per week | $0 to $30 (0% to 15%) | $40 (20%) |
| Platform's total share per year, before one-time fees | Up to $2,390.96 | $2,652.00 |
At Upwork's 3% rate for eligible US bank payments, your fee is $6 a week or $312 a year. None of these fees end: week 60 is charged like week 1.
Payment protection and disputes
Both marketplaces do this part well, and it is what the fees pay for.
Upwork. On a fixed-price contract you fund a milestone before work begins. Upwork holds the money as project funds (it used to call this escrow) and releases it when you approve the work or the review period ends (source). On an hourly contract the freelancer logs time in a work diary, you are invoiced every Monday for the previous week, and you can file a dispute until Friday of that week (source). Hours logged with Upwork's desktop time tracker come with screenshots of the work.
Fiverr. You pay when you place an order, and the freelancer is credited once the order is complete. If an order is canceled, Fiverr's Payment Terms say the money goes back to your Fiverr Balance. They also say an order cannot be canceled over quality when the service was delivered as described. On hourly orders you are charged every Monday, the payment is held until you approve the weekly report (you get 7 days by default), and a dispute can only be about the hours reported, not the quality of the work.
Can you move your VA off the platform later?
Upwork's terms require all work and payments to stay on Upwork for the first two years after you find a freelancer there. You can leave earlier by paying a Conversion Fee: 13.5% of the freelancer's hourly rate multiplied by 2,080 hours. At $10 an hour that is $2,808, before any discount for a long relationship or fees already paid. Leaving without paying is a terms violation that can end in permanent account suspension (What is the Upwork Conversion Fee?, checked Oct 2026).
Fiverr's Payment Terms say a buyer may not pay a seller by any method other than through the site. Its off-platform policy permits third-party communication tools only after an order has been placed (checked Oct 2026).
Which is better for hiring a virtual assistant?
Choose Upwork when:
- you want a VA for set weekly hours and expect the role to last months
- you want tracked time, weekly invoices and a dispute process
- you have time to read proposals and run the interviews yourself
Choose Fiverr when:
- the job is a single defined task with a clear output
- you want a price and a delivery time before you talk to anyone
- you do not need the same person next month
When neither Upwork nor Fiverr fits
Both are payment marketplaces. That model earns its fee on a project with a stranger, where held funds and a dispute process protect you. It fits less well once you have a VA you trust on 20 or 40 hours a week, because the fee grows with every hour. There are two other routes.
Hire direct. On a direct-hire platform you pay to find and screen candidates, then pay your VA yourself. DonutJobs works this way. The free plan covers one job post and up to 10 applications, and free posts are reviewed before they go live. Paid plans start at $99 a month with no commitment, or $55 a month on a six-month term, and there is no percentage on what you pay your hire (DonutJobs pricing). A full year on the $99 plan is $1,188, the same at 10 hours a week or 40.
The trade-off: DonutJobs does not hold funds or settle payment disputes. You agree terms with your VA and pay through your own method, such as Wise or Payoneer.
What you get in place of escrow is evidence before the first call. Candidates can take up to four checks: internet speed, English, typing speed and a recorded voice sample. Results show on the profile and you can filter by them. The checks are optional, so not every profile has them.
| DonutJobs candidate pool, as of 5 Oct 2026 | Value |
|---|---|
| Candidate profiles | 26,968 |
| Profiles with a "Virtual Assistant" skill tag (self-reported) | 14,456 |
| Profiles with the internet, English and typing checks all completed | 8,724 (32% of all profiles) |
| Median English test score, on a 0 to 100 scale | 73 (n = 10,919) |
| Median typing speed | 31 WPM (n = 12,782) |
| Median time from a job going live to its first application | 17 minutes (1,428 of 1,477 jobs received one) |
Source: DonutJobs app database, aggregate counts, snapshot of 5 Oct 2026.
If Upwork's fees are the sticking point, our Upwork alternative for recurring VA roles page sets the two side by side, including when Upwork is the better call. The Fiverr alternative for an ongoing VA page does the same. You can also browse virtual assistants by role or read how to hire a virtual assistant.
Use a managed service. A provider recruits, contracts and manages the assistant for a monthly fee. It costs more and takes the screening off your desk. DonutJobs offers managed virtual assistants, and our comparison of virtual assistant companies covers more providers.
Frequently asked questions
Is Upwork or Fiverr better for hiring a virtual assistant?
Upwork, for ongoing work. It has hourly contracts with weekly invoices, a time tracker and a hiring flow built around a job post you write. Fiverr is the better pick for a single defined task that you can buy as a fixed-price order.
Is Fiverr or Upwork cheaper for clients?
The client fees are close. Fiverr adds 5.5% to each purchase, plus $3.50 on purchases under $200. Upwork charges up to 7.99% on its Basic plan, or 3% for eligible US clients who pay from a bank account, plus $0.99 to $14.99 once per new contract. The bigger gap is on the freelancer side: Fiverr keeps 20% of every order, while the Upwork fee runs from 0% to 15%. Checked Oct 2026.
Can I hire a virtual assistant by the hour on Fiverr?
Yes, through hourly orders. You agree a weekly hour limit in a custom offer, pay a $5 initiation fee, and are charged every Monday for the hours logged, plus a 5.5% service fee. The Fiverr Payment Terms describe hourly contracts for eligible buyers, so check that your account offers them.
Can I hire my Upwork freelancer directly?
Not in the first two years, unless you pay the Upwork Conversion Fee. The fee is 13.5% of the hourly rate multiplied by 2,080 hours, which comes to $2,808 at $10 an hour, before any discount. Taking the work off Upwork without paying it breaks the Upwork terms and can get your account suspended.
What else can I use to hire a long-term VA besides Upwork and Fiverr?
Hiring direct or using a managed service. On a direct-hire platform such as DonutJobs you pay a flat plan (free for one job post, paid plans from $99 a month), see English, typing and internet check results on the profiles of candidates who took them, and pay your VA yourself with no percentage on top. A managed service costs more and handles recruiting and management for you.