Executive Summary
We analyzed 44 freelancing communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.
The big picture: freelancing communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.
Source: Hive Index community database · Updated periodically
- Communities
- 44
- Platforms
- 9
- Avg members
- 65K
- Median members
- 3K
Where Freelancing Communities Are Hosted
- Independent Platforms: 9 communities (20%)
- WhatsApp: 8 communities (18%)
- Slack: 6 communities (14%)
- Reddit: 5 communities (11%)
- Skool: 5 communities (11%)
- LinkedIn: 3 communities (7%)
- Circle: 3 communities (7%)
- Discord: 2 communities (5%)
- Facebook: 1 communities (2%)
- 9(20%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 8(18%)
WhatsApp - 6(14%)
Slack - 5(11%)
Reddit - 5(11%)
Skool - 3(7%)
LinkedIn - 3(7%)Circle
- 2(5%)
Discord
Format mix
- 16(36%)Chat communities
- 15(34%)Forum / feed-based
- 8(18%)Private membership
- 5(11%)Other platforms
Chat communities is most common (36%), but forum / feed-based is also well represented (34%).
Independent Platforms leads, but WhatsApp and Slack also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 2 communities (5%)
- Small: 2 communities (5%)
- Medium: 7 communities (16%)
- Large: 8 communities (18%)
- Huge: 5 communities (11%)
- Massive: 4 communities (9%)
- Gigantic: 0 communities (0%)
- 2(5%)Tiny<20 members
- 2(5%)Small20-100 members
- 7(16%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 8(18%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 5(11%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 4(9%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 0(0%)Gigantic1M+ members
16 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 32 communities (73%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 12 communities (27%)
The average is much higher than the median (65K vs 3K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.
How Freelancing Differs From Other Categories
Freelancing is less free-to-join, smaller, more platform-diverse, more chat-heavy, and more paid or gated, compared with typical Hive Index topics.
| Metric | Freelancing | Hive Index average |
|---|---|---|
| Free to join | 73% | 85% |
| Median members | 3K | 25K |
| Average members | 65K | 657K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 27% | 15% |
| Live chat | 61% | 41% |
| Discord share | 5% | 18% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Live Chat: 27 communities (61%)
- Forum: 26 communities (59%)
- Online/Offline Events: 11 communities (25%)
- Requires Application: 9 communities (20%)
- Job Board: 7 communities (16%)
- 61%Live Chat
- 59%Forum
- 25%Online/Offline Events
- 20%Requires Application
- 16%Job Board
Niche Features
- Pairing: 6 communities (14%)
- Newsletter: 5 communities (11%)
- Courses: 4 communities (9%)
- Paid Community: 3 communities (7%)
- Member Perks: 2 communities (5%)
- 14%Pairing
- 11%Newsletter
- 9%Courses
- 7%Paid Community
- 5%Member Perks
Live Chat appears on 61% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 1K
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Platforms | 9 | 20% | 12 | 1% |
| 8 | 18% | 1K | 78% | |
| Slack | 6 | 14% | 155 | 11% |
| 5 | 11% | 26 | 2% | |
| Skool | 5 | 11% | 23 | 2% |
| 3 | 7% | 10 | 1% | |
| Circle | 3 | 7% | 7 | 0% |
| Discord | 2 | 5% | 91 | 6% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
WhatsApp gets 78% of clicks but only 18% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 1K(95%)Chat communities
- 41(3%)Forum / feed-based
- 30(2%)Private membership
- 10(1%)Other platforms
Most-clicked features
- 1K(97%)Live Chat
- 151(10%)Forum
- 124(8%)Online/Offline Events
- 107(7%)Requires Application
- 76(5%)Pairing
- 73(5%)Job Board
Most-clicked size ranges
- 162(11%)Large
- 55(4%)Huge
- 33(2%)Medium
- 23(2%)Massive
- 4(0%)Small
Top-clicked listings
- 345(23%)Freelance Opportunities
- 249(17%)Paid Projects
- 197(13%)Freelance Hub
Most clicks go to chat communities and forum / feed-based communities.
Trends
Founded year
- 2011: 2 communities (18%)
- 2013: 3 communities (27%)
- 2015: 1 communities (9%)
- 2018: 1 communities (9%)
- 2020: 2 communities (18%)
- 2022: 1 communities (9%)
- 2023: 1 communities (9%)
33 communities have no founding year on file.
Most listed groups were founded around 2013.
Community Quality & Ratings
Only 3 communities have ratings so far, so read this as a small sample.
4.2 average rating across 3 communities.
Methodology & FAQ
Methodology
This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Freelancing. We exclude removed or suppressed listings. Member counts, traffic, features, reviews, and ratings may vary by source and are updated periodically.
Updated periodically
FAQ
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