How to Build a PeoplePerHour Clone App: The Complete Guide

Rohan Murthy
Ecommerce
August 1, 2023
5/5 - (1 vote)

Are you looking to create your own freelance marketplace like PeoplePerHour? Well you’ve come to the right place.

In this comprehensive guide, We’ll walk you through step-by-step how to develop a PeoplePerHour clone app, even if you’re new to building web or mobile apps. We’ll cover:

  • The key features you need to include
  • Choosing the optimal tech stack
  • Designing a stellar user experience
  • Testing and iterating on your clone app
  • Promoting your platform

And much more! By the end, you’ll have all the knowledge needed to launch your own PeoplePerHour competitor.

If you want to try out a PeoplePerHour like app firsthand, We recommend checking out our Pre-built PeoplePerHour Clone. This will give you a feel for the user experience and functionality before building your own version.

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Know About PeoplePerHour and the Freelance Economy

PeoplePerHour is one of the leading freelance marketplaces connecting businesses with freelancers across 150+ skills. Founded in 2007 in the UK, it now has over 4 million registered freelancers and thousands of clients worldwide.

The appeal of PeoplePerHour lies in its robust marketplace model. It allows businesses to quickly find and hire affordable, quality talent for projects – no need for lengthy contracts or Perm positions.

For freelancers, PeoplePerHour provides opportunities to work flexibly on high-paying projects in their niche. The platform handles payments securely and offers profile visibility.

As the freelance economy booms, the market is ripe for new competitors. Building your own PeoplePerHour clone app allows you to tap into this demand with much less upfront investment than developing a fully unique idea.

Many successful startups like Fiverr, Upwork and Freelancer.com started out modeling their MVP on existing platforms before expanding into their own niche over time.

Key Features You'll Need in Your PeoplePerHour Clone

Let’s start by breaking down the core features and functionality your PeoplePerHour clone app needs:

Freelancer profiles – Allow freelancers to create detailed profiles highlighting their skills, experience, portfolios, availability, billing rates and more.

Job posts – Your app should enable clients to post open job opportunities with details like required skills, deliverables, timeline and budget.

Skill tagging and categories – For better searchability, freelancers should tag their profiles with relevant skills while clients can categorize open jobs.

Search and filters – To connect the right freelancers and clients, your app needs robust search including filters by skills, rating, availability, etc.

Messaging – A built-in messaging system lets freelancers and clients communicate directly about open jobs.

Reviews and ratings – Ratings and reviews build trust and reputation. Profiles and completed jobs should be reviewable.

Payment processing – Seamlessly integrated payments via Stripe, PayPal or similar. An escrow system provides security.

Admin dashboard – Manage users, jobs, disputes and the app via an intuitive admin interface.

Those are the baseline essential features for a PeoplePerHour clone. Additional functionality like collaboration tools, mobile apps, analytics, etc can come later. Focus on nailing the core experience first.

Choosing the Optimal Tech Stack

Now that we know the features required, let’s discuss the technical side and explore different technology options.

For the clone app’s front-end user interface, some popular frameworks are:

  • ReactJS – Excellent for complex UIs like marketplaces. Offers speed and scalability.
  • AngularJS – Provides helpful libraries for rapid development. Not as fast as React for dynamic UIs however.
  • Vue.js – More lightweight than React or Angular. Lower learning curve.

We recommend going with ReactJS here. It’s ideal for building the seamless, reactive interfaces users expect these days. High performance too.

As for back-end languages, top options are:

  • Node.js – Fast, efficient, perfect for real-time marketplaces.
  • Ruby on Rails – Can rapidly develop app back-end but not as speedy as Node.
  • PHP – Widely used but now slower than more modern languages.

We suggest Node.js given its asynchronous, event-driven architecture will really excel for a PeoplePerHour clone.

For your database, MongoDB is a great fit as a document-based NoSQL option built for scalability and speed.

So in summary, our recommended tech stack is:

  • Front-End: ReactJS
  • Back-End: Node.js
  • Database: MongoDB

This delivers a high-performance foundation designed for marketplace demands right off the bat.

Designing a Seamless User Experience

With the tech stack decided, let’s shift our focus to designing an awesome user experience…

The homepage is crucial – this is your opportunity to capture users immediately. Consider these elements:

  • Clean, uncluttered layout. Avoid visual clutter.
  • Compelling headline and subhead clearly explaining value proposition.
  • Search bars prominently visible – don’t hide them!
  • Striking, relevant images representing freelancers and clients.
  • Simple sign up buttons above the fold.

Overall, ensure intuitive navigation. For example, users should easily:

  • Browse freelancer profiles and job listings.
  • Filter and search based on criteria.
  • View profile and job details.
  • Initiate messaging with one click.

Speaking of messaging, ensure seamless communication between parties by:

  • Allowing file attachments in messages.
  • Email notifications when new messages arrive.

For inputs like sign up, log in, profile editing, etc:

  • Only ask for essential info upfront. Additional fields can be optional.
  • Fields should be clearly labeled with placeholder text or hints.
  • Validate information entered to prevent errors.

Also, optimize forms for mobile responsiveness. Keypads, small screens and fat fingers can make inputs challenging on mobile. Test thoroughly.

Testing and Improving Your PeoplePerHour Like App

Once you’ve built an MVP of your PeoplePerHour clone, don’t launch immediately! Take time to test and refine it first.

Perform user testing by having a small group of people evaluate your platform:

  • Ask them to explore the interfaces and complete common tasks.
  • Gather feedback about what they liked and any points of confusion.
  • Note where users got stuck and any bugs encountered.

Use their input to fix pain points and optimize major user flows.

You can also conduct A/B tests to guide improvements:

  • Set up two versions of an interface element like a CTA button.
  • Send 50% of traffic to Version A and 50% to Version B.
  • See which version converts better based on clicks, sign ups, sales etc.

Gradually roll out your clone to more users. Monitor analytics dashboards for meaningful trends on engagement, conversions, drop offs etc.

Use these insights to continually refine the platform. Meeting actual user needs is what counts, not just your assumptions!

Marketing Tactics

Once sufficiently tested and refined, it’s go time for launch and promotion!

To drive initial users to your PeoplePerHour clone, focus on:

SEO Optimization

  • Research relevant keywords and long-tail phrases buyers are searching.
  • Optimize pages and content to rank for those terms.
  • Don’t keyword stuff! Write useful, original content.

Social Media Marketing

  • Create attractive profiles highlighting your service.
  • Share platform updates, user testimonials, behind-the-scenes footage.
  • Run targeted ads to relevant freelancer and client demographics.

Influencer Partnerships

  • Partner with micro-influencers in the freelance space to promote your platform.
  • Offer affiliate incentives for sign ups driven by their audience.

PR Outreach

  • Build relationships with freelance and tech media outlets.
  • Offer contributor content like blogs and news tips to build awareness.

Continually experiment with new marketing channels and creatives, measuring results to double down on what works.

Over to You!

And that wraps up this complete step-by-step guide on creating your own PeoplePerHour clone app!

We covered:

  • Key features to include
  • Choosing an optimal tech stack
  • Designing a stellar UX
  • Testing and iterating your clone
  • Marketing tactics to get the word out

You’re now equipped with a blueprint to develop your own freelance marketplace platform.

We hope this guide gives you clarity and confidence to get started on bringing your PeoplePerHour like app MVP to life!

FAQs

The estimated development cost can range quite a bit based on features and complexity, but plan around $25,000 – $50,000 for an initial usable product.

For timeline, expect 3-6 months minimum for an MVP with a small dev team. Add a couple months for testing and revisions.

Ongoing costs will include hosting, maintenance, customer support and marketing expenses. Budget a few thousand per month to keep things running smoothly.

For monetization, you could offer premium or highlighted profiles, bundle value-added services, or build affiliate partnerships. Just don’t get too greedy early on!

Standing out comes down to laser focusing on an underserved niche, providing amazing support, or offering unique features like collaboration tools. Leverage direct user feedback to beat the competition.

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    Rohan Murthy

    Rohan Murthy is a freelance writer and in-house content lead at Zipprr, a custom software development company. With over 7 years of experience, he specializes in writing about business, technology and startups. As the in-house content lead, he creates blogs, whitepapers and webpage content for Zipprr. He has also worked with many other clients as a freelance writer, providing long-form and short-form content.