How to Hire Freelancers Successfully

Many companies hesitate to hire freelancers. The usual concerns: too expensive, too complicated, too high a risk of false self-employment. Yet freelancers bring exactly the know-how your team lacks, for as long as a project needs it. Hybrid teams of permanent employees and freelancers in particular tend to work very efficiently.

In this guide, you’ll learn when hiring freelancers pays off, how to hire them step by step, including remotely, and how to make the collaboration a success.

You’ll also find all the information in our detailed e-book.

What Does It Mean to Work With Freelancers?

Freelancers are self-employed workers who carry out assignments for companies. The work is usually set out in a service contract that defines the general conditions. These are often points such as hourly rates or tasks that the freelancer has to fulfill.

Freelancers are typically responsible for special projects or dedicated tasks.

Why Work With Freelancers?

For a long time, companies brought in freelancers mainly when employees were absent or a project exceeded their own capacity. Today, many companies use freelancers deliberately for projects because they bring know-how and speed. And contrary to many assumptions, freelancers can actually be less expensive than permanent employees.

Research suggests that this can pay off: A study by Andrew Burke and Marc Cowling (Small Business Economics, 2020) found a link between the use of freelancers, sales growth and new jobs for permanent staff. The link only appeared once freelancers made up around 11 percent of the workforce. The authors themselves stress that this threshold needs further research.

Freelancers Bring External Knowledge Into the Company

By constantly changing and working with different companies, freelancers often bring a different perspective and new ideas to a project. Because they focus on one field, they gain a lot of experience in a short time. They are rarely caught up in company routines, so they look at problems with fresh eyes.

Freelancers Ensure Economic Efficiency

Freelancers manage themselves, so there are usually no other costs outside the hourly rate. You only pay for the work you actually need. When the project ends, the collaboration ends too, with no long-term financial commitments.

Freelancers Have Good Adaptability

With constantly changing clients, freelancers can quickly adapt to new environments and situations. They work independently, need little guidance and usually get up to speed quickly.

When Hiring Freelancers Pays Off (and When It Doesn’t)

Freelancers are not the right fit for every task. These are typical situations where they pay off:

• You lack expertise: A cloud migration, a new app or a security audit calls for know-how your team doesn’t have in-house. The IT skills shortage doesn’t make this any easier: according to Bitkom, Germany is short of around 79,000 IT specialists in 2026. That is down from 149,000 in 2023, yet 78 percent of companies still see a shortage.
• A deadline is looming: A launch is coming up or a client order has to be delivered fast. You can usually find a freelancer faster than a new permanent hire.
• The project is clearly scoped: A new product or an innovation project runs alongside day-to-day business. Your core team stays focused on the core business.
• Your team is at capacity: Freelancers take on defined work packages and take pressure off your employees before overload becomes a problem.

Freelancers are less suitable for roles of long-term strategic importance, such as a team lead who is meant to build up knowledge over years. The same goes for tasks that require close, permanent integration into your team. A permanent hire is usually the better choice here.

A quick check helps: Is the task limited in time? Does it need know-how you don’t have in-house? Can your business carry on smoothly once the freelancer leaves? If you can answer yes to all three, a freelancer is likely a good fit. Whether employee leasing would suit your project better is covered in our comparison of employee leasing and freelancers.

How Much Does an IT Freelancer Cost?

According to freelancermap’s Freelancer-Kompass 2026, the median hourly rate of IT freelancers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland is 95 euros. Depending on the field, it ranges from 90 euros in software and web development to 120 euros for SAP and ERP. The hourly rate also covers the freelancer’s own costs, such as insurance and equipment.

The hourly rate may sound high at first. In return, you don’t pay for training, vacation, public holidays, sick pay or equipment.

In our guide, we go into more detail about the costs, explain how they are made up, and compare them with permanent employees.

How to Hire Freelancers Step by Step

1. Define your needs: What task needs doing, which skills do you need and for how long?
2. Write a project description: A clear description attracts the right freelancers.
3. Choose a channel: Search via an open or closed platform, your network or an agency.
4. Screen candidates: Hold interviews, on site or via video, and check references.
5. Sign a contract: Put tasks, pay, duration and confidentiality in writing. Our freelancer contract guide covers the details.
6. Plan the onboarding: Have access, contact persons and communication channels ready on day one.
7. Wrap up properly: Secure knowledge and documentation before the project ends.

Write the Right Project Description

A good project description aims to attract the right freelancers to the project. For this, it is important to have a precise idea of the task.

The most important components are:

1. Project title
2. Project details (task and requirements)
3. Pay, project duration and deadlines
4. Area of expertise and required skills
5. Location of the work (on site, hybrid or remote)

Open vs. Closed Freelancer Platforms

Open Freelancer Platforms

On open platforms, freelancers can usually sign up without any obstacles. The selection of freelancers is larger, but they are not verified. Thus, no quality standard is guaranteed.

Closed Freelancer Platforms

With closed platforms, freelancers must first go through an application process. The selection of freelancers is significantly smaller, but they are first checked and the quality is usually higher. In addition, consultants are often available on this type of platform.

You can find a detailed explanation and a list of examples here.

Hiring Freelancers Remotely: 5 Best Practices

Many IT freelancers work remotely and handle the entire selection process online. When you hire remotely, you are not limited to candidates from your region and can focus entirely on their skills. This also adds diversity to your projects: people for whom a daily commute is hard, for example due to a physical disability, get an equal chance.

Remote hiring has its pitfalls, though:

• No personal impression: Body language, a handshake and small talk fall away. Video only gives a limited picture of how you work together day to day.
• No team feedback: In the office, you can quickly introduce a promising candidate to your colleagues. Remotely, that takes a second call.
• More effort: An open job posting can attract a flood of applications from all over the world. If freelancers are based abroad, different rate levels, tax systems and legal questions come into play.

Set Your Criteria

To avoid drowning in applications, decide up front what matters, for example language, time zone or region. This lets you narrow down your search.

Set Clear Expectations

Qualifications, experience, tasks, the role in the project and the project duration should be clear before you start searching. Put everything in your project description. The clearer the description, the better the applications will match.

Prepare the Video Interview

Show candidates what the collaboration will look like, even via video: Who are the contact persons, how do you coordinate, which tools do you use? Bring the project team into a second call. That gives you the team feedback that is otherwise missing in remote hiring.

Pay Fairly

If you search nationwide or internationally, you compete with many other clients. In-demand specialists can pick their projects. Besides the rate, interesting tasks and respectful treatment matter to them. So research the usual hourly rates in the region where you are searching.

Rely on Vetted Candidates

The market is big, and not every freelancer delivers what their profile promises. Check references and past projects. Or use a closed platform or an agency that vets candidates in advance.

Work With Freelancers: Approach Onboarding the Right Way

Prepare a Quick Start

Freelancers often work in hybrid teams, i.e., together with permanent employees. For the project to get going quickly, have everything they need ready on day one: the project goal, contact persons, project processes and access to systems and data. Treat the freelancer as an external partner, not like an employee. Otherwise you risk false self-employment (more on this below).

Be Communicative

A good start depends on good communication. Make sure that the freelancer’s concerns can be taken into account and be open to criticism. Often it is also useful to have a contact person who is a direct link between the company and the freelancer.

Learn From Each Other

Freelancers often bring experience and knowledge to the company. At the same time, freelancers gain new experience with each company. It is important to understand already during the onboarding that both parties can learn from each other and are open to it.

Document Experiences

Although project documentation usually takes place in the course of or towards the end of a project, it makes sense to agree on essential information at the beginning that is important for the documentation. This also makes it easier to work with freelancers for future projects.

For a step-by-step approach, see our freelancer onboarding guide.

What Does False Self-Employment Mean?

A falsely self-employed person is a freelancer who, from a contractual point of view, provides services for an external company, but actually works as if in a classic employment relationship. Under Section 7(1) of Book IV of the German Social Code (SGB IV) (in German), indicators of such employment are working under instructions and being integrated into the instructing party’s work organization.

The risk lies mainly with the company. If the German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) finds false self-employment, it can claim back social security contributions. If you are unsure, you can have the status checked through a status determination procedure at the clearing office of the Deutsche Rentenversicherung (page in German). Based on his experience, however, Sören Elser, founder and managing director of ElevateX, advises against applying: once a freelancer is already on an assignment, there is a risk that the German Pension Insurance will classify them as an employee.

Our detailed guide includes a checklist to help you avoid false self-employment.

Work With Freelancers: Problems and Solutions

“Freelancers Are at Risk of False Self-Employment.”

Make sure that freelancers work in a results-oriented way and do not have fixed working hours. In this respect, they differ significantly from permanent employees. In addition, freelancers are not bound by instructions but are responsible for the agreed task.

“Communication With Freelancers Is Difficult.”

It is helpful to check the language skills of possible project partners in advance. Furthermore, you should define fixed communication channels (email, Microsoft Teams, phone, etc.).

“Freelancers Are Not Suited for a Longer Project Duration.”

Freelancers can also work with a company for longer periods of time. As a rule, this also has a positive effect on the hourly rate, since longer projects provide more security for the freelancer. For this reason, you should specifically look for partners who are ready for a longer collaboration. In addition, keep in mind the risk of false self-employment mentioned above.

“Freelancers Deliver Poor Quality Work.”

As a rule, freelancers deliver good work. After all, they have contractual obligations too. Nevertheless, it can help to set clear expectations at the very beginning of the collaboration. A positive working environment and good communication also ensure higher productivity and fun during the collaboration.

“Freelancers Don’t Pay Attention to Privacy.”

Experienced freelancers usually know exactly how to handle sensitive data. That includes using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) and avoiding public networks. Still, put confidentiality and data protection in the contract.

In our blog, we have explained and summarized further problems and possible solutions. Read the full story here.

The Offboarding: Ending the Collaboration the Right Way

Communicate Project End Early

Since freelancers often have to acquire new projects while projects are still running, it is helpful to announce the end of a collaboration early on. This helps the freelancer with planning and leaves a positive impression.

Ensure Knowledge Transfer and Documentation

Take away content and lessons learned from the collaboration. Documenting the project’s progress and lessons learned can also make future partnerships easier.

Clarify Contractual Details

In a final conversation, any last ambiguities are clarified, and a final exchange takes place. Finally, the freelancer submits an invoice, which should be paid promptly by the company. The last impression counts just as much as the first.

Maintain Contacts

Even after project completion, it makes sense to continue maintaining business relationships. This way, later collaborations can take place more smoothly. A network can also be formed, which helps to find and onboard freelancers more easily in the future.

Our freelancer onboarding guide also shows what a structured offboarding involves.

Conclusion

Working with freelancers is fraught with many prejudices that can be refuted with proper information. Freelancers pay off especially when you lack expertise, a deadline is looming or a project is clearly scoped. With a clear project description, careful selection, including via video, and good onboarding, the collaboration gets off to a good start.

Hybrid teams of freelancers and permanent employees in particular often ensure high productivity and satisfaction.

You’ll find even more tips in our free e-book.