In June 2026, Hacker News’ freelancer thread had 27 people seeking work and 1 client looking.
Finding a freelancer is easy. Picking one who will do good work is where it goes wrong.
Three proven freelancers, ready for your next task
For founders and marketing leads at small companies. Describe the task in five minutes. Hiresignal finds freelancers outside the marketplaces, reads their past work, emails them from your inbox and sends you the top 3 with a small paid trial task.
There are plenty of freelancers. Knowing who will do good work is the hard part.
Marketplaces show anyone who applies, including brand-new accounts and AI-written proposals. Vetted networks fix that with a markup: Toptal’s is estimated at 30 to 50% (GTM 80/20, Aug 2026).
A buyer on Hacker News paid a bit more than $3k to freelance artists, and about 70% of the early work wasn’t worth it.
A bad pick costs the fee, weeks of rework and another round of hiring.
From a five-minute brief to three people worth trying
You describe the task. Hiresignal finds freelancers whose past work matches it, reaches out from your inbox, and sends you the three worth a paid trial.
Brief
Your brief from the five-minute intake
A Webflow designer with B2B SaaS pages in their portfolio, $2,000 to $3,500, live in three weeks.
Looks rightEdit
Your top 3, with the reasons for each
Each pick comes with samples close to your task, a confirmed rate and start date, and a small paid trial task. You pay the freelancer directly, with no markup.
16matched
9replied
3worth trying
Three designers worth a paid trial. All three can start within ten days.
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Pick 1
Webflow designer · B2B SaaS pages
Redesigned two SaaS landing pages this year. $3,000 fixed, can start Monday.
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Pick 2
Product designer · Figma to Webflow
A portfolio of pricing and signup pages. $2,600 fixed, free in ten days.
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Pick 3
Freelancer you’ve hired before
Delivered your 2025 pricing page on time. $2,200, free next week.
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Trial
Suggested trial task
Redesign just the hero section, paid at $300, due in four days.
Outside the marketplaces
Licensed professional data, personal portfolio sites, your past freelancers and your own applicants.
From your inbox, with your approval
Every email goes out from your Gmail or Outlook after you approve it, with an opt-out.
A small paid trial first
No profile proves someone will deliver, so each shortlist ends with a trial task before a bigger job.
Where it looks, and where it never does
Hiresignal searches outside the marketplaces. It never sources from Upwork, Fiverr, Dribbble, Contra or GitHub, whose terms rule that out.
Where it looks
- Licensed professional data
- Personal portfolio sites
- Freelancers you’ve hired
- People who applied to you
For each task
- Hiresignal agentreads the work
What you get
Three people worth trying
- SLShortlist of 3Samples, rates, dates
- TTTrial taskSmall and paid
- INOutreachFrom your inbox
Never from Upwork, Fiverr, Dribbble, Contra or GitHub
How small teams find freelancers today
Upwork already gives clients a free AI shortlist, and vetted networks fix quality with a markup. Hiresignal looks outside the marketplaces for a flat fee, and you pay freelancers directly.
| What you get | Upwork and FiverrMarketplaces | Toptal and MarketerHireVetted networks | ReferralsFriends and Slack groups | HiresignalFinds and screens for you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who you see | Anyone who applies, new accounts included | Their own vetted network | Whoever your network knows | People with proven work for your task |
| A shortlist | Uma, free within six hours (Upwork) | Matching in 48 hours (MarketerHire, reported) | When someone answers | Top 3 within 48 hours (our aim) |
| What it costs you | Marketplace fees | Markup estimated at 30 to 50%, or $5,000 a month and up | Free | A flat monthly fee, no markup |
| How you pay the freelancer | On the platform | Through the network | Directly | Directly |
| Small one-off tasks | Yes | Built for ongoing work | If someone is free | Yes, any skill |
Get 3 names for your next task
We’re opening early access for founders and marketing leads at small companies who hire freelancers several times a year.
Who it’s for
- US startups and small businesses, 5 to 50 people
- Hiring freelancers for marketing, design or dev, 3 or more times a year
- No in-house recruiter
Common questions
You describe a task in five minutes. It finds freelancers with proven work for that task outside the marketplaces, reads their work, emails them from your inbox, checks their rate and availability, and sends you the top 3 with a small paid trial task.
Licensed professional data, personal portfolio sites, freelancers you’ve worked with before, and people who applied to you directly.
Their terms don’t allow bots or scraping, and Upwork already offers clients its own free shortlist. So we never source from Upwork, Fiverr, Dribbble, Contra or GitHub. We look where they don’t.
Yes, from your own Gmail or Outlook, and each message goes out after you approve it. Every email has an opt-out.
We aim to show 10 to 20 matched freelancers with work samples on day one, and your top 3 with confirmed rates within 48 hours.
Nobody can promise that from a profile. We read their past work against your task, ask how they’d approach it, and suggest a small paid trial before a bigger job.
Directly, on terms you agree with them. There’s no markup on their rate, and no escrow, so the agreement is between you and them.
Founders and marketing leads at US startups and small businesses with 5 to 50 people, who hire freelancers for marketing, design or dev a few times a year.
We’re setting the price with our early-access teams. Join the waitlist and you’ll see it before you commit to anything.