From Gigs to hours: Getting paid hourly on Fiverr

The hourly work option is an addition to your current fixed-price model, giving you more flexibility to accommodate any project and build long-term client relationships.

It allows eligible freelancers and agencies to work and get paid on an hourly basis. By offering hourly rates, you can expand your service offerings and attract clients with diverse project needs. This feature also provides flexibility for projects where the scope might change as they unfold.

Overview

Hourly work is ideal when the project scope is unclear or likely to evolve, when the client wants to secure your availability for a long-term project, or when the time estimation exceeds 8 hours. For projects less than one working day, a fixed-price service is recommended.

Before you begin

• The hourly work option is available to freelancers at Level One and above.
• The custom hourly offer must have a minimum time estimation of 8 hours.

How Hourly works

When working on an hourly order, you'll manage your hours and project progress directly through the Fiverr order page.

• Set your rate: You can set or change your hourly rate on your freelancer page.
• Custom offers: Use hourly rates when creating a Custom Offer based on a client's request.
• Automatic payments: Track your hours and receive weekly automatic payments.

Setting up your Hourly rate

You can set your preferred hourly rate on the dedicated hourly rate setup page in your freelancer profile.

1. On your freelancer profile, locate the Set your hourly rate option in the left-hand sidebar.

   

    

2. Enter your desired hourly rate (e.g., 25.00) and click Save.

   This rate is optional and will be visible on your profile and in the search results when the "hourly rate" filter is activated.

   To change your hourly rate, click on Change under the Hourly rate section, enter your new rate, and click Save. You can also delete your current hourly rate here.

   

    

How to create a custom Hourly offer

When sending a Custom Offer to a client through your inbox, you can choose the offer type.

1. Select the Gig for which you'd like to create an hourly custom offer.
2. Click Hourly to create a custom hourly offer.
3. Set up the offer, including the hourly rate.
   • Optional: Add a weekly hour limit.
4. Provide the client with an estimated total number of hours for the project (minimum of 8 hours).
   • Optional: Set a Custom Offer expiration.
5. Click on Send offer.

Important: It’s recommended to communicate the expected weekly hours to the client to increase transparency. The client can change the weekly limit once the order is placed. Providing a time estimation helps increase client trust.

How to report your working hours

You will be able to report the hours you worked manually on the order page.

Hours must be logged each week by Sunday, 23:59 UTC.

1. In the activity tab, click the Report hours button.
2. In the How many hours did you work section, select the total time you worked (including both hours and minutes).
3. Briefly describe what you accomplished during those reported hours.
4. Add a more detailed description of your work and attach any relevant files to provide additional context for the client.
5. Click the Submit hours button.

Provide as much detail as possible: Include a detailed description of the tasks performed, attach deliverables, supporting documents, and screenshots, as this will increase transparency with the client and help us protect your work if the client files a dispute.

Feedback

Clients will be able to leave a review during an in-progress hourly order when two conditions are met:

• At least four weeks of work have been done.
• The freelancer has reported at least 10 hours of work.

You will be able to respond to the feedback once the client has left it.

Payments and disputes

• The client has 7 days (until next Monday) to approve or dispute the report. Starting from the second week, they can enable automatic approval.
• If your client doesn't approve or dispute within 7 days, your report will be auto-approved, and your payment will follow within the next 7 days.

• Once your client approves the report, your funds will be added to your balance within 14 days or 7 days, if you have a Seller Plus subscription or are a TRS or Pro freelancer.

  If the client disputes the weekly report, you must accept or decline their request within 48 hours. You can offer a full or partial refund through the Resolution Center. If you don't respond within 48 hours, the weekly report is automatically canceled. Learn more with partial refunds.

  Hourly orders come with Fiverr-backed protection, ensuring you will be paid for every hour of work performed, as long as your reported hours meet our Hourly protection policy.

  Learn more with the Hourly payment protection policy.

Suspended Orders

An order will be suspended if the client’s payment method is not successfully processed. Once the client updates the payment method, the order will resume, and you can continue working.

While they update their payment method, stop the work you are doing.

If the client doesn’t update their payment method within 7 days, please contact our Customer Support.

Ending an Hourly order

You or the client can end an order by clicking the sidebar and selecting 'End order'. Once the order is ended, you'll have 24 hours to log any remaining hours, which will then require the client’s approval the following Monday.

FAQs

• What happens if the client’s payment doesn’t go through?
• Once the client ends the order, you will have 24 hours to log in any additional hours you have worked on. The client will be charged the following Monday.

• Hourly rates follow a weekly billing cycle, which ends every Sunday:

  • Once your client approves your weekly report: Your funds will be available within 7 days.
  • If your client doesn't approve or dispute within 7 days: Your report will be automatically approved, and your payment will follow within another 7 days.
  • Overall timing: You'll receive your funds 7–14 days after the billing cycle ends, depending on how quickly your client takes action.

  Note: If the client doesn't manually approve the first week's report, you'll still be compensated. However, the hourly order will be paused for 3 months, unless the client returns and reactivates it. If the client doesn't take any action after auto-approval, the order will be paused for 3 months and then auto-complete.

• To enhance transparency with clients, it's important to: include a detailed description of the tasks performed, attach deliverables, supporting documents, and screenshots, and utilize an external tracking system for added clarity. This allows you to add the number of hours worked down to the minute. Please keep in mind that this is a beta version, and a built-in tracking system may be available in the future.
• The hourly pricing model is an optional addition to your current fixed rate model. If it isn’t relevant to your expertise or services, you don’t have to adopt it.
• Not to worry, it’s just another way to work and expand your services.
• For help determining your rates, refer to this article. And remember that once you set it up, you can always change the rate in the custom hourly offers as needed.
• For now, you can only work by the filter, and the client can set a weekly limit.
• You can only set up one hourly rate for all of your services, and this rate will be displayed on your profile. However, should a client inquire about your services, you have the flexibility to send a custom hourly offer based on their unique requirements.
• You can change your hourly rate directly from your profile. You can also change the rates outlined in custom hourly offers.
• Hourly orders come with Fiverr-backed protection, ensuring freelancers will be paid for every hour of work performed. Clients are billed automatically once a week, and can request refunds on a week-by-week basis—not for the entire order. Learn more with Hourly payment protection policy.
• Yes. Clients can see and choose hourly rates when they:
  • Filter marketplace search results to show only freelancers with hourly rates.
  • Create a brief with the option to select hourly rates.
  • Visit your Gig or profile page.