How to Make a Website Like Fiverr [No coding required]

Want to launch your own version of Fiverr?

I’ve got some good news:

It’s never been easier.

With the tools available now, you can make a site like Fiverr from scratch for under $100.

Even better, it’s not going to be a buggy, mediocre Fiverr clone; it’s going to be a gorgeous kick-ass Fiverr competitor.

Using the tools recommended here, you’ll be able to create a service marketplace with WordPress where sellers can sign up, and buyers can purchase from them.

Keep reading to learn how it all works.

Update: For years, I recommended the MicrojobEngine theme to build a site like Fiverr, but since the developers stopped making updates and providing quality customer support, I can no longer recommend it. The new solution is cheaper, more flexible, and has reliable support.

The site you’ll create

Here’s a sneak peek at what your site will look like:

You’ll be able to change the logo, colors, images, and all the text you see, but this should give you an idea of what the site will look like.

Here’s another screenshot from one of the service pages:

As you can see, sellers can add services to your site, complete with an image gallery, custom pricing, and buyer reviews.

You can check out the TaskHive theme now if you want to see the live demo, but we’ll cover how it works in detail later in the tutorial.

Now that you have an idea of what your freelance gig website will look like let’s talk about exactly how you can build it.

How to create a site like Fiverr

There are five steps in total to create a website like Fiverr:

1. Choose a domain name
2. Get hosting (Nexcess)
3. Install the HivePress plugin
4. Install the TaskHive theme
5. Launch your site

I’ll give you an overview of these steps in this tutorial, so you can assemble all the tools you need to build a gig marketplace website.

Let’s start with the domain name.

How to get a domain

Your domain name is the address people visit to access your website. For instance, this website’s domain name is competethemes.com.

Registering a new domain name is easy; the hard part is finding a good name that is still available. This guide includes a few tricks to score an excellent domain name:

How to Find a Great Available Domain Name

That guide also shows you how to check the availability of any domain you’re considering.

Get hosting

For your website to load, you need a server to deliver the site’s files to the visitor’s browser.

Rather than buying and managing your own server hardware (nobody does that), you’ll rent space on someone else’s server, and we call this hosting.

For new WordPress users, an excellent host is Nexcess.

Besides being affordable and beginner-friendly, Nexcess offers a few more distinct advantages.

1. Excellent performance

Nexcess runs a lot faster than the cheap hosts and costs less than the premium hosts. It’s an excellent mid-tier package for anyone who wants a simple and fast hosting solution for WordPress.

2. They auto-create a WordPress site for you

This part is huge.

You can skip the WordPress installation step entirely. Nexcess auto-creates the site for you and has a hosting environment setup specifically to run fast WordPress sites.

This means that a few minutes after you create your Nexcess account, you’ll have a live WordPress website at your chosen domain.

With this step completed, you’ve got a live WordPress website, and you’re ready to turn it into a service marketplace.

Learn the basics of WordPress

Before you dive into the advanced stuff, it’s a good idea to learn the basics of WordPress.

I recommend following this tour of the WP dashboard, which is part of a free 17-part video course I created on making your first WordPress website:

The whole video course is on Youtube, so you can watch it from start to finish if you’d like more guidance on creating a WP site.

Once you feel comfortable in the WordPress admin dashboard, you’re ready to add the service marketplace functionality.

Install the HivePress plugin

Building a site like Fiverr requires a lot of functionality, but the HivePress developers have figured it all out for you.

To make your Fiverr clone with WordPress, you’re going to start by installing the free HivePress plugin.

The way HivePress works is simple. It adds a new Listings menu to your site where you can create new directory listings the same way you would create a post or page. Each listing gets its own page on your site and has a built-in design from the HivePress plugin.

You can create categories and add custom attributes for your listings too. For example, if you wanted to create a directory for restaurants, you could add an attribute for the type of cuisine.

The attributes you create show up automatically on the listing pages.

So that’s how you can create a directory website with the free HivePress plugin, but you’re probably wondering:

“How does this turn into a gig website?”

That’s where the TaskHive theme comes in.

Install the TaskHive theme

A gig website is a directory of services, and HivePress gives you the foundation you need for your directory.

The next step is to get the TaskHive theme, which you saw in the screenshots at the beginning of this tutorial.

TaskHive is built by the same developers as HivePress and gives you a simple way to transform your basic directory into a freelancer services marketplace.

In addition to adding a beautiful style to your website, TaskHive also includes the following premium extensions for HivePress:

• Marketplace
• Requests
• Tags
• Favorites
• Messages
• Reviews

The most important add-on is Marketplace, which allows visitors to create their own seller accounts and add their services. You also get to set a commission rate, so you can decide how much of a cut you get from each sale.

With the Marketplace extension added, you’ll have vendors signing up and competing like on Fiverr to offer their best services to customers.

The other extensions allow buyers to add reviews, message sellers, and “favorite” services that they like.

Note: extensions like Marketplace cost $39 when purchased individually, but come bundled for free with a purchase of the TaskHive theme ($79).

After you purchase TaskHive, you’ll get a zip file, which you can quickly upload via your WP dashboard. You can follow this 1-minute video tutorial to see how this works:

After installing TaskHive, you’ll be able to auto-install all the bundled plugins too.

Then you can simply configure each plugin to your liking, and you’re ready to go!

Why I recommend TaskHive

What’s so great about TaskHive is that it’s the only WordPress theme for a service marketplace that’s also built by the directory plugin developer. All other solutions require integrating products from different developers, which can be messy and unreliable.

The HivePress developers also have a well-documented knowledge base where you can find tutorials for using TaskHive and all of the extensions if you need any help, and this brings me to my next point.

Fiverr is a very complex website to replicate, which is why so many plugins are needed. However, the HivePress developers have made it way simpler than other solutions.

While I recommend using TaskHive above all other WordPress themes, here are a few alternatives you can check out.

Alternative solutions

Another all-in-one solution is Dokan. You still need WooCommerce for the eCommerce functionality, but Dokan handles the marketplace features all on its own.

The downside of using Dokan is that you have to find a compatible theme to run with it, unlike TaskHive which is professionally integrated with HivePress and its extensions.

Mayosis

Mayosis is a great theme for creating a digital goods marketplace and can be adapted for service marketplaces too.

It integrates with the Easy Digital Downloads plugin instead of WooCommerce, so it’s particularly well-made for selling products that don’t require shipping.

Of course, you’re here to create a freelance marketplace like Fiverr, not a digital goods store, and the developers have that all figured out.

Easy Digital Downloads has service and marketplace add-ons that enable these features and work perfectly with Mayosis.

A few more alternatives

If you want a few other options, you can find a handful of additional micro job WordPress themes here that are compatible with WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.

That said, TaskHive is still the most straightforward and simple solution for creating a site like Fiverr with WordPress.

And like I mentioned in the intro of this article, I used to recommend MicrojobEngine as an all-in-one solution, but now that they aren’t actively supporting or developing their products, you may find yourself trapped in their system without an easy way to switch themes later. That’s why using a theme that integrates with popular plugins is a good idea for the longevity of your business.

Create your own Fiverr website

I hope this guide has helped you find a clear path forward with your website.

Building a gig marketplace is no small task, and as you’ve seen, requires a lot of functionality no matter how you approach it.

While there are quite a few ways to build this site, using HivePress and TaskHive together is the simplest combination to create a functional service marketplace with an attractive design.

To summarize the steps once more:

1. Choose a domain name
2. Get hosting (Nexcess)
3. Install the HivePress plugin
4. Install the TaskHive theme
5. Launch your site

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