Freelancer.com auto bidders: what they do and the risks

What a Freelancer.com auto bidder does

An auto bidder (also called a bidding bot or auto-bid extension) watches Freelancer.com for new projects that match rules you set, such as skills, budget and country, and sends a bid with a proposal for you, often within seconds and without you reading the project. They come in a few forms:

• Browser extensions that read the project page in your logged-in browser and fill in or submit the bid form.
• Hosted services (usually a monthly subscription) that connect to your account and bid on a schedule.
• Do-it-yourself scripts and workflows (for example automation templates) that call Freelancer.com's API with your own keys.

The appeal is obvious: being early on a new project matters, and writing bids takes time.

What Freelancer.com's User Agreement says

Section 33 of Freelancer.com's User Agreement ("Access and Interference") says you will not use "any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the Website" without Freelancer's express written permission, and it applies to its API as well. Freelancer.com can suspend accounts that break its User Agreement.

Whether a particular tool has that permission is something only its maker and Freelancer.com can answer, so it is worth asking before you connect your account to anything that bids for you. (Read the User Agreement, checked 26 October 2026. This is our plain-language summary, not legal advice.)

The less obvious costs of bidding on everything

• Your bid allowance. Each Freelancer.com membership has a monthly bid limit (about 6 on the Free plan, 50 to 1,500 on paid plans; see bid limits explained). Bids spent on poor fits are gone for the month.
• Generic proposals. A bid sent before anyone reads the brief can't answer the brief's specific questions, and clients notice.
• Your profile's record. Freelancer.com shows clients your history; a pattern of mismatched bids does not help it.

The approach we chose: your choice, disclosed plainly

AutoBidPilot can work either way, and you decide which:

1. Auto bidding. Start it and AutoBidPilot searches Freelancer.com projects, drafts a proposal from the brief and your profile, and places the bid for you, within the filters, budget and limits you set.
2. Apply Now, project by project. Open a project yourself, read and edit the drafted proposal, and send the bid with Apply Now. Nothing is sent without that click.

Either way, the risk above is real: automated access to Freelancer.com, including through auto bidding, is restricted by its User Agreement without its written permission, which we do not hold. You pay only for bids actually placed, and a refused bid gives its credit back. See how it works, or compare it with a specific tool: AutoBidPilot vs Bidswala.

Questions to ask before you use any bidding tool

1. Does it place bids without my click? If yes, does it have Freelancer.com's written permission?
2. Does it need my Freelancer.com password, or does it use Freelancer's own sign-in (OAuth)?
3. Can I read and edit every proposal before it is sent?
4. What does it cost when I am not winning work: a monthly fee, or only per bid?
5. Can I disconnect it and delete my data easily?