Freelance Hiring Report: what companies actually hire freelancers for
We analyzed 10,088 public posts where a decision-maker signaled they wanted to hire a freelancer or small agency (May 9, 2026 – Sep 18, 2026), then ranked demand by discipline. It's a live look at where the freelance market is actually spending — drawn from data only LeadKettle collects.
Aggregate, anonymized counts only. Updated as new posts are indexed · Last updated Sep 19, 2026.
Key findings
- Web Development is the most in-demand discipline, in 2,766 posts (27% of all posts).
- It's followed by Ecommerce and SEO — the top three account for 52% of demand.
- Hottest right now: Web Development led the last 30 days with 166 new posts.
- Demand spans 26 marketing and creative disciplines over roughly 19 weeks of data.
Freelance demand by discipline
| # | Discipline | Hiring posts | % of demand | Last 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Web Development | 2,766 | 27% | 166 |
| 2 | Ecommerce | 1,448 | 14% | 95 |
| 3 | SEO | 1,051 | 10% | 46 |
| 4 | Paid Ads | 977 | 10% | 61 |
| 5 | Graphic Design | 866 | 9% | 110 |
| 6 | Web Design | 769 | 8% | 48 |
| 7 | Google Ads | 441 | 4% | 29 |
| 8 | Meta Ads | 336 | 3% | 11 |
| 9 | Branding | 325 | 3% | 31 |
| 10 | Analytics / Tracking | 294 | 3% | 22 |
| 11 | Content Marketing | 292 | 3% | 28 |
| 12 | Email Marketing | 260 | 3% | 41 |
| 13 | Influencer Marketing | 256 | 3% | 12 |
| 14 | Copywriting | 234 | 2% | 26 |
| 15 | CRM / Marketing Automation | 202 | 2% | 38 |
| 16 | AEO/GEO | 113 | 1% | 8 |
| 17 | Accounting | 88 | 1% | 0 |
| 18 | Nonprofit Marketing | 84 | 1% | 11 |
| 19 | PR / Communications | 72 | 1% | 2 |
| 20 | Local Services Marketing | 68 | 1% | 4 |
| 21 | B2B SaaS Marketing | 62 | 1% | 4 |
| 22 | TikTok Ads | 31 | 0% | 2 |
| 23 | Professional Network Ads | 27 | 0% | 2 |
| 24 | Fractional Marketing Leadership | 17 | 0% | 0 |
| 25 | LinkedIn Ads | 6 | 0% | 0 |
| 26 | Social Media | 1 | 0% | 0 |
Posts can span more than one discipline, so shares sum to more than 100%. Uncategorized posts (3,432) are excluded from the discipline breakdown.
Methodology
LeadKettle indexes public posts in which a decision-maker signals intent to hire a freelancer or small agency. Each post is categorized by discipline and de-duplicated so multiple posts from the same buyer count once toward the unique-buyer figure. This report covers every post we've surfaced — including expired ones — so the sample grows over time. All figures here are aggregate, anonymized counts: no names, company names, contact details, or original post text are included or published.
Signals we're still building
Only a minority of posts state a budget (5%, n=501) or a specific location (n=935). That coverage is too low to publish reliable pay or geographic benchmarks yet, so we've left them out rather than over-claim. As the dataset grows, we'll add pay-by-discipline and demand-by-region breakdowns.
Cite this report: LeadKettle Freelance Hiring Report, Sep 19, 2026. https://www.leadkettle.org/reports/freelance-hiring-report
Frequently asked questions
What do companies hire freelancers for most?
Across 10,088 public hiring posts on LeadKettle, Web Development was the most in-demand discipline, appearing in 2,766 posts (27% of all posts). Web development, paid advertising, ecommerce and design consistently rank near the top.
How was this freelance hiring data collected?
LeadKettle indexes public posts where a decision-maker signals they want to hire a freelancer or small agency, then categorizes each by discipline. This report aggregates 10,088 such posts from May 9, 2026 – Sep 18, 2026. All figures are anonymized counts — no names, companies, or post text are included.
Is the freelance hiring data free to use?
Yes. The aggregate figures on this page are free to cite with attribution to LeadKettle (https://www.leadkettle.org/reports/freelance-hiring-report). The report updates as new posts are indexed.
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