Most of the sites listed here are free to use in their most basic form both for freelancers and employers, however some of the sites have fees for at least one party and most of the sites have paid premium features.
Each site is listed with its specialties and main language when not English.

1) odesk.com – general

2) Elance.com – general

3) freelancer.com – general


4) Envato Studio – general

5) 99designs.com – design

6) peopleperhour.com – programming, design, administrative tasks, accounting, PR

7) mediabistro.com – writing/editing, production, graphic design, publishing. NOT FREE FOR FREELANCERS: membership fees.

8) Guru.com – general

9) seoclerks.com – SEO

10) proz.com – translation, interpreting

11) designcrowd.com – design

12) topcoder.com – programming/development, graphic design, data science

13) crowdspring.com – logo design, naming design, graphic design, web design

14) TaskRabbit.com – house cleaning, IKEA assembly, donation pickup, event help, office help, pet sitting

15) clickworker.com – online marketing, e-commerce, media, information and directory services, SEO content, translation, web research, data categorization and tagging

16) freelancewriting.com – writing

17) freelance.com – general

18) getacoder.com – web design, writing, programming, legal

19) freelance-info.fr – French, consulting. NOT FREE FOR EMPLOYERS: access fees.

20) freelancewritinggigs.com – writing

21) scribendi.com – editing and proofreading

22) taskcity.com – programming

23) trabajofreelance.com – Spanish, general. NOT FREE FOR EMPLOYERS: contact fees.

24) fieldnation.com – general

25) ifreelance.com – proofreading,arts, data entry, graphic designing, photography, bookkeeping. NOT FREE FOR FREELANCERS: membership fees.

26) xplace.com – designing, programming, writing/editing, translating, marketing, photographing. NOT FREE FOR FREELANCERS: bidding fees.

27) freelancemap.com – software development, web, system administrator, telecommunications & mobile, IT consulting, SAP, Management consulting, Engineering, Distribution, OLAP & Business Intelligence, Content and media, Service and Support

28) yunojuno.com – general

29) legitonlinejobs.com – general

30) translatorbase.com – translator

31) project4hire.com – programming, translation, consulting, graphic design

32) genuinejobs.com – telecommuting

33) freelancesuccess.com – writing

34) freelanceindia.com – general

35) hoofdkraan.nl – Dutch, general

36) joomlancers.com – everything related to the Joomla CMS

37) freelancers.net – general

38) governmentbids.com – general

39) freelance-informatique.fr – French, general. NOT FREE FOR EMPLOYERS: intermediary fees.

40) freelancedesigners.com – web and graphic design, programming, photography, writing, fashion design, industrial design, video production, advertising, logo design

41) hexidesign.com – Logo Design, Stationery Design, Business Card Design, Web Page Design, Banner Ad Design, Brochure Design, Poster Design, Flyer Design, T-shirt Design. Has Affiliate Program

42) bizreef.com – writing, programming, graphic designing, marketing, translating, photographing.NOT FREE FOR FREELANCERS: contact fees.

43) workhoppers.com – general

44) greatlance.com – general

45) freelancejobsearch.com – web & graphic design, photography

46) hourly.com – general

47) programmingbids.com – programming, databases, graphic design. NOT FREE FOR FREELANCERS:membership fees.

48) weblance.com – design skills, develop skills, test skills, marketing skills

49) freelanceauction.com – programming, design

50) helpcove.com – general

51) workersoncall.com – general

Special mention

Craigslist.org – general Although not technically a freelance marketplace, many people do use Craigslist to post and bid on free job listings, both freelance and salaried jobs.
If you don’t want to spend more than a few dollars, pounds or euros, check out our Top 25+ Micro Freelance Marketplaces.