In the current scenario, you will come across multiple startups relying on the best crowdsourcing platforms to get off the workload themselves.
Gathering a well-skilled team can be difficult initially if you have just started working on your small business or startup.
With the help of the best crowdsourcing websites, you can get your startup into the mainstream, helping to cut costs most effectively.
When startups have little to no money to spend on multiple resources, they turn to a platform they can use to get the maximum help with little effort.
On a large scale, these crowdsourcing websites have come to the rescue by providing a solution to low-cost graphics design, usability testing, software testing, etc.
Many such platforms in the market are now competing with each other to sell their product. From designing to providing stock-free images on the site, you can get it all just a click away.
To get you to access such sites more easily, we have created a list of the best crowdsourcing websites to give your startup a push start.
Best Crowdsourcing Platforms – Our Top Pick
1. Designhill
Deisgnhill.com is our pick today, one of the best crowdsourcing platforms.
It connects you to over 1000+ designers from around the world that are up and about in helping startups get the best service at the lowest cost possible.
Not only just designing some posters or content is what the site offers. It has logo design, card design, website design, and more options.
You can hire a designer, start a contest, buy a design gig, shop at a print shop, and use the AI logo maker for low-budget easy logos with the least effort put up.
It has many options to select from and complete your work faster and more efficiently. Whether you have a startup that needs a logo or you are a small t-shirt design business, you can hire a designer specifically for this and get started.
Furthermore, it is a great platform for designers with exceptional skills and showcases their talent among the largest designer platforms in the world.
Simply sign up on the site and create your account. Put in your requirements and connect with the right designer to finish your work quickly.
Pros:-
- You can easily get a free consultation to get started with
- Tons of options and features are available
- Cheapest content package and is affordable too
- Easy to use and navigate
- Support Is Competent and Readily Available
Cons:-
- Filtering and organizing the entries can be tedious
- Translations are not refined properly
2. uTest
uTest is another brilliant crowdsourcing platform that allows freelance software testing and provides feedback.
We know that every business, whether a startup or any other small business, must test its software before launching in the market.
You may not have the best technical team yet to perform the testing part. Hence you can find freelance testers from the platform and get genuine feedback.
Over 1000 testers on the site are available from over 150 countries worldwide. They can help you test software, games, apps, mobile software, etc.
One of the most interesting aspects of this crowdsourcing website is its massive community of passionate people from all over the globe. You can connect with them and get your queries solved within no time.
If you are new to this, you can go through the articles mentioned on the site to get acquainted with it to the earliest.
It has a special forum where you can select the topic you wish to be on and start with the discussion. Tell people about you and introduce yourself if you are a freelancer or post your project.
Pros:-
- It covers over 150 countries
- Easy to test software, apps, games, etc
- A massive community of testers
- Get your queries solved through the forum from around the world
- Easy to use and be a part
Cons:-
- Some projects do not have clear instructions
- It cannot be taken as full-time work
3. Flickr
If you are looking for a platform where you can get free high-quality images and use them without worrying about ownership, well, Flickr.com is the right platform for you.
There are millions of images available on multiple topics and tags.
Well, if you have a blog or a startup that requires some of the best images you can find, you can get them here. This crowdsourcing platform is a dream come true for every artist and photographer.
The platform gives you about 1TB of free space to upload pictures from your systems, smartphones, etc., and decide whether to share them with the general masses.
If you get the pro version, you will have ad-free browsing, unlimited storage, and much more. It also supports online photo editing tools that are very basic for you.
All you need to do is search for the type of image you want and type in the search box. Select from the millions of images on the screen, and click the download icon.
That is all you need to do, and the image can be used anywhere you want. Also, if you wish to join the community and upload your images, create an account and get going.
Pros:-
- 1TB of free storage space
- Download as many photos as you need for your work
- Easy to use and navigate
- Allows smooth uploading of photos on the site
- Traffic statistics.
Cons:-
- The free version has loads of ads in between
- The user has no control over the layout of the profile page.
4. Upwork
Upwork is one of the largest and best crowdsourcing platforms, with millions of freelancers worldwide.
It covers every other industry you can think of, such as writing, software, design, testing, etc.
You can finish your work quickly by completing your project online. Within minutes you will have hundreds of requests from multiple freelancers and agencies willing to take up your work.
People have used it for years and have hired many people for their businesses. It can be a writer, designer, developer, etc., dispensing what you need and what the project is all about.
Apart from other platforms such as freelancers, people per hour, etc., Upwork has been the biggest name in the freelancing industry, leaving all the other names behind.
With affordable rates and flexible hours, you can use either freelance hourly or project-based. It all depends on the requirements you have.
Furthermore, if you are an employer, post your requirements and more details on your project so that other freelancers can bid on it and get the project.
Below is the summary of the main Pros and Cons of Upwork that make it add to the Best Crowdsourcing Platforms list.
Pros:-
- Great interface to work on
- Easy to use
- Millions of freelancers are available on the site
- A great number of projects are available
Cons:-
- Poor support system
- Issues with profile confirmation
5. 99designs
99designs is another design-based crowdsourcing website where designers and clients work together and help each other grow.
You can get all your design needs from here, such as t-shirt design, logo, website design, graphics design, and more.
This platform has over a million freelancers ready to work with you to create the best and most attractive designs.
You can start by posting down your requirements and simply creating a brief of what you need. Further, you can choose to hire a designer or hold a contest.
After this, you can choose your designer if you are satisfied and make the person a part of your team for long-term association. This is how you can take things forward through this platform. It is believed that over 900,000 users visit the site.
You can make your profile and enter your skill set if we speak about freelancers. Create your best portfolio and start reaching out to more people.
As soon as you get more reviews for your work, people can reach out to you more, and likewise, you will get tons of projects. Furthermore, you can register from among the 90+ categories on the site.
Below is the summary of the main Pros and Cons of the 99designs that makes it add to the Best Crowdsourcing Platforms list.
Pros:-
- Intuitive design posting process
- Money-back guarantee
- Option to run a blind contest
- Millions of freelancers available to hire
- 90+ categories to choose from
Cons:-
- I can’t review resumes, portfolios, or employer feedback
- Designers who do not win the contest get zero benefits
6. Kaggle
Kaggle is here to help all machine learning engineers and data scientists connect with users worldwide.
Like other platforms, this will allow you to connect with your fellow developers or users looking to gain some input or get their technical aspects done by the experts. These engineers work on multiple projects and share them on the site.
You will find over 19,000 public datasets and 200,000 public notebooks that anyone can use to analyze their theory or software further.
To add more to this, there are several data science contents that one can participate in to learn more and grow your skills altogether.
In the notebook section, users have made tons of analyses on multiple topics, and you can check them out one by one to gain more knowledge.
In the dataset section, you will get the datasets for all the analyses everyone has ever made and uploaded to you.
You can register or sign in on the site if you want to participate. Participate in the contest or create your datasets; you can do it yourself. It also has small micro-courses on multiple programming languages.
Below is the summary of the main Pros and Cons of Kaggle that makes it add to the Best Crowdsourcing Platforms list.
Pros:-
- Micro courses to learn data-science
- Good for beginners
- Find good project resources available
- All the courses are free to grab
- Massive datasets are available for those who want to learn
Cons:-
- The user interface isn’t the best
- Content isn’t for pro learners
7. Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk)
Amazon Mechanical Turk, also known as MTurk is one of the biggest and best crowdsourcing platforms where businesses outsource their projects or tasks to a larger workforce virtually.
Similar to the freelancing sites, the difference is that the site covers even the smallest of the tasks, such as simple data validation and research, to more subjective tasks like survey participation, content moderation, and more.
If your business has some repetitive task that needs manual intervention, having a large workforce would do good. MTurk is the right platform where you can get suitable people from around the globe to help you complete the task.
These tasks give enough time for all the internal employees to concentrate on more important tasks. Furthermore, the workforce on this platform is virtually managed and needs the least monitoring.
Furthermore, MTurk can be used to create large datasets for your MLand AI projects that require huge data. Also, feedback is necessary when developing such projects based on ML, which this crowdsourcing platform can achieve.
Furthermore, the overhead costs of every company or business may decrease, too, while achieving results much quicker.
Below is the summary of the main Pros and Cons of Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) that makes it add to the Best Crowdsourcing Platforms list.
Pros:-
- Increases efficiency of the businesses
- Increase flexibility
- Reduction of overhead cost
- Building datasets for ML and AI
- Provides huge workforce
Cons:-
- Customer service is horrible
- It does not work for every country
8. TopCoder
TopCoder is an exceptional platform that features coders, developers, designers, and programmers from around the globe.
Currently, over 1.5 million such talents are on the site that will help you build your project no matter whichever stage you are on.
Either be it from scratch or simply in the end phase. The freelancers here are willing to use their expertise and skills to complete your project.
Some of the most interesting aspects of TopCoder is that you can expect on-time delivery, which is a lot better than hiring a technical team altogether.
You will be asked to pay the price for the result rather than the number of hours the coder has worked on.
The site has basic coders and professional programmers with expertise in machine learning, data science, AI, etc.
The most important aspect of the projects is security at all costs. If you are a startup, you would never want your idea to be in the market before you launch.
Hence, the site keeps complete security of the situation. You can easily interact with people worldwide and get the best out of the money you want to invest in the technical team.
Pros:-
- User-friendly platform
- Cost-effective and fast
- A huge pool of developers is available
- A good number of contests are available to test your skills
- It is free and great to start with
Cons:-
- The site freezes sometimes
- UI is a bit cluttered and hard to navigate
9. CrowdSpring
Crowdspring is one of the best crowdsourcing websites you would come across. It features everything from the website’s design to product & packaging design.
Some of the most popular categories on the site are Logo, Naming & Branding, Web, Mobile design, etc.
Any buyer can easily set up their design need without creating an account or choose the package. Crowdspring has over 220,000 designers from around the globe to get the job done.
Once you have submitted your requirement, the designers will submit their concepts, and you can review them according to your need. After proper feedback, you can choose one for yourself and be done with it.
Besides this, the site allows you to select one designer by yourself, or the team can recommend one. Discuss the project’s price and use the tools on the site to manage everything.
The most interesting aspect of the site is that the team provides a money-back guarantee if you are not happy with the design or you do not receive at least 100 entries for the project you have posted.
Every project includes industry‑leading, customized, dynamic legal contracts and policies that protect your intellectual property.
Below is the summary of the main Pros and Cons of CrowdSpring that make it add to the Best Crowdsourcing Platforms list.
Pros:-
- Cost-effective design solutions
- Millions of designers are available
- Money-back guarantee
- 24*7 support
- Private collaboration
Cons:-
- Payment delay issues
- No designer ratings
10. CadCrowd
If you want to get your Cad projects the best result, you can try looking for the best designers from the Cad Crowd crowdsourcing platform.
You can easily hire any 3D Modeler, 3D Designer, or CAD Services freelancer for your projects at the most cost-effective prices.
You can also get a free estimate of your requirements to choose your design accordingly.
Some popular services from the site are CAD, Design contests, 3D CAD Design, Architectural, etc. Simply out your requirements and choose a designer likewise. You can also host a contest and reward the project to the one with the best idea.
Otherwise, you can hire a freelancer based on hourly projects if you are looking for a long-term association. You will easily find over 30,000+ designers on the site ready to take up your projects.
While choosing a designer directly, the Cad Crowd official team selects for you according to their best in-house designers. It ensures that the quality is top-notch and you are not disappointed with the result.
Furthermore, the prices are highly affordable, especially for startups that cannot afford a design team and get their work done through crowdsourcing websites.
Below is the summary of the main Pros and Cons of the CadCrowd that makes it add to the Best Crowdsourcing Platforms list.
Pros:-
- Easy to use and navigate
- User-friendly design
- Provides flexibility to the designers onboard
- No fee from the designers
- Great support from the team
Cons:-
- Only PayPal is allowed for payment for contests
- Lesser number of contests
📗FAQ
What are crowdsourcing platforms?
A crowd-sourcing platform, also popular as a crowdfunding site, is an online platform where small entrepreneurs and businesses can collect funds to help their businesses and projects.
Crowdsourcing involves getting information, knowledge, services, and goods from a larger group.
These people offer their ideas and services in response to multiple online requests from websites, social media platforms, smartphone applications, and dedicated crowd-sourcing platforms.
What are the 4 types of crowdsourcing?
Crowd jobbing, crowdfunding, crowd wisdom, crowdsourcing, and forecasting are four major types of crowdsourcing these days.
What is an example of crowdsourcing?
A company or entrepreneur may require services from content writers, copywriters, web developers, social media strategists, step writers, and more.
They post their requirements on different outsourcing platforms, and freelancers from different fields respond according to their specialties and offer their services at specific prices, packages, or salaries.
Crowdsourcing can be highly beneficial for both businesses and employers as it offers flexibility.
What are some typical applications of crowdsourcing?
AI Training Data, Web Designing, SEO Text Creation, Content Writing, Copywriting, Tagging and Categorization, Web Research, Essay and Article Writing, Blogging, etc., are among the most popular, typical crowdsourcing applications.
What are two good examples of crowdsourcing?
Waze and My Starbucks Idea are two amazing examples of crowdsourcing. Waze is a popular platform that allows users to report traffic jams easily and improves the navigation and routing experience for others to ensure they take the best route.
Waze Measures drivers’ speed and determines traffic jams, and uses them as crowdsource information. On the other hand, My Starbucks Idea is also an exciting platform to track their active customers and improve overall customer management through market research results.
Which company uses crowdsourcing?
As many as 80% of global brands, including McDonald’s, Dell, Coca-Cola, Boeing, Unilever, etc., use crowdsourcing for various purposes, including logos and graphic design, answering common questions, and improving overall customer satisfaction.
Is Uber an example of crowdsourcing?
Yes, Uber is not only an example of crowdsourcing but is one of the most successful crowdsourcing companies in the world. Uber uses crowdsourcing to improve its food delivery and cab services in different parts of the world.
What are the types of crowdsourcing platforms?
Crowd wisdom, crowdfunding, crowd jobbing, crowdsourcing and innovation, crowdsourcing and forecasting, crowd control, crowd auditing, crowdsourcing and authenticity, crowd curation, and crowd care are some of the major types of crowdsourcing and are used for different types of services and purposes by businesses around the world.
What are the benefits of crowdsourcing?
Unbelievable diversity of thinking and planning is one of the major advantages of crowdsourcing.
Other useful benefits include creating solutions to turf problems, more marketing buzz, effective and faster problem-solving, reduced management burden, and customer-centric data.
What is crowdsourcing in social media?
Crowdsourcing is a very simple and highly effective process of collecting ideas, opinions, services, support, and other types of contributions from many people active on social media Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc.
What are the pros and cons of crowdsourcing?
Cost-effectiveness, Hands-off approach, Fresh perspective, brand promotion, and new hires from completely unexpected places are some of the major pros of crowdsourcing.
And if we talk about crowdsourcing cons, some of the most common are confidentiality, plagiarism, intellectual property rights, chances of hiring inexperienced individuals, and massive potential for failure.
What is the danger of crowdsourcing?
When you use crowdsourcing for your business, there is a high chance that individuals from outside may have a certain level of access to important things like web content, software source code, and other intellectual property that can harm your business.
Receiving low-quality work is also how big danger associated with crowdsourcing along with intellectual property rights infringement. However, you can deal with these problems with better planning.
What are the challenges of crowdsourcing?
Sourcing the right crowd, maintaining service or product quality, keeping your vision clear, and managing the crowd is among the most common challenges of crowdsourcing, especially in this era where everything is visible and easily accessible to everyone.
What are some disadvantages of crowdsourcing?
Confidentiality, the potential for failure, intellectual property rights infringement, plagiarism, and receiving low-quality work from amateurs are some major disadvantages of crowdsourcing.
What is a crowdsourcing campaign?
Crowdsourcing marketing is one of the most effective and, at the same time, full of risks promotional strategy that involves gathering information from how targeted audience.
The information collected is used for better product development and improved advertising efforts. A crowdsourcing campaign allows users and customers to help their favorite brands with valuable ideas and how they should change their approach in various departments to improve the overall business.
Final Thoughts
Well, these are some of the best crowdsourcing websites or platforms that we can think of. There are more than just these for creativity, design, freelancing, etc., that you can look for if you have already used them before.
All you need to do is be clear about the requirements for your business or the project. These crowdsourcing platforms are highly useful and also cost-effective if you are starting up.
Moreover, all your work is done much quicker than hiring a permanent team to do the job, which takes months. Here you choose the design or the designer you love and pay for it.
There are certain sites where you even get your money back if you are not satisfied with the result of the design.
