How to Become a Python Freelancer


Most people learn the syntax of a programming language and never make any money using what they have learned. Some of them create amazing projects but do not know how to make money out of it.

It is because these people don’t know that there are many ways to make money with their programming skills. 

Today, let’s dive deep into freelancing. Freelancing is the process in which you can become a self-employed Python programmer.

Freelancing gives you the flexibility in time and income. You can work from wherever you want and whenever you want. That is the kind of freedom that freelancing gives. There are a significant amount of opportunities lying around the industry, which is enough to get started as a freelancer.

How to Become a Python Freelancer? You can become a Python freelancer if you do the following steps.

  1. Learn the fundamentals of Python.
  2. Become a specialist, not a generalist.
  3. Teach programming to others.
  4. Apply for online freelance jobs or find local clients.
  5. Do the work and earn money.

Now, let’s breakdown all these steps and understand the necessary details. 

1. Learn the fundamentals of Python

To become a good Python freelancer, you must learn the fundamentals of Python language.

You don’t need to be an expert in Python. But, you should have a good piece of knowledge about basic concepts like data structures, functions, conditional statements, loops, etc.

Given a problem by a client, you should be able to find a solution using Python. Understanding the logic of the program is very important. While you are learning, try to develop your logical skills so that you will be able to solve complex problems when you do freelancing works.

To learn the basics of Python, a plethora of free and useful learning materials are out there on the Internet. Even I have a simplified tutorial on Python basics on this blog. Here is the link to that tutorial.

Learning Python basics is very easy compared to any other programming language. Python is the most beginner-friendly programming language in the world. It is very close to the English language.

Python is the most simple, popular, and powerful language out there. That is why everyone is going for Python. Even the universities are now using Python as the introductory programming language to teach their students.

So, learning the basics of Python is reasonably easy, and it won’t take more than a week if you work hard.

2. Become a Specialist, Not a Generalist

As you already know, Python is a simple language, and the barrier to entry is very small. So, anyone can learn the basics of the language quickly. Hence, there are a lot of Python programmers out there waiting for jobs.

So, the competition is tough. That is why you don’t want to be just another Python programmer. You need to niche down a bit and become a specialist at something.

When you want to hire an attorney for a criminal case, will you hire an attorney who deals with all cases or someone who attends only criminal cases? The later one, right? That is because the latter is a specialist.

Similarly, in programming also, clients prefer specialists. So you need to become a specialist in some field. You can become a master in web development with Django or Flask, machine learning, web scraping, ethical hacking, and many more.

So, pick your favorite field in Python and become a master in that field. That will be very helpful for you to attract clients.

3. Teach Programming to Others

You can teach what you have learned to others. It is just an optional step, but it can make your progress a lot faster.

If you are interested in teaching, this step is worth a try. With this step, you can make money even before you become an actual freelancer.

Python is rapidly growing as a programming language, primarily due to the boom of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Hence, the demand for this language is high.

There is a big market out there waiting to learn the basics of Python language. The attracting thing is that most of these people are beginners. They don’t know anything about programming. So, it will be easy for you to teach those people who are below your level.

Again, you don’t need to be an expert to teach others. You can teach people who are below your level. Sometimes a person just above a student’s knowledge level will be the ideal teacher rather than an expert because the former can relate to the student’s mindset way better.

If you would like to find clients to teach Python, go to TeacherOnWyzant, and TakeLessons, and create your profile on these platforms. Then, you can find clients here. You can teach them in-person or online at an hourly rate. Also, you can find local clients who are willing to learn Python.

This step can be a shortcut to success. I’ll show you how I got clients to teach Python. I created a profile at TeacherOn, just for a try. I didn’t buy any coins or create a premium profile. You can have a look at my profile here.

I just created a free basic profile. Within a few weeks, I started getting clients. Here are some of the screenshots of those clients contacting me to teach them Python.

Python Client
python client2

So, from my experience, I can say that getting clients to teach programming is not so hard as you think. Give it a try, and hopefully, you’ll get the results soon.

4. Apply for online freelance jobs or find local clients

Now is the time to do the actual work. You can look for local clients, if any, at the beginning. It is easy to land your first freelance work with a local client. 

If there aren’t any local clients, you can look for clients online. For that, go to Upwork.com and create an account there. It is one of the best places to find freelance clients. You can try Freelancer.com as well.

To attract clients, you need a good portfolio. If you do not have any working history, do some personal projects and add them to your portfolio. When clients look at your portfolio, they should get a feeling that this person can do the work for me.

When you get clients and complete your works for them, add those details to your portfolio. As your portfolio becomes packed with working experiences and projects, you can attract more clients.

5. Do the Work and Earn Money

Now, its time to show your skills. Apply for the works that you are interested in doing. You can find a lot of clients looking for a solution to their problems. Find hose problems that can be solved using your Python skills, and you can make a lot of money.

According to the recent surveys, Python freelance programmers earn 106,905 USD per annum, which is around 51$ per hour.

Initially, you can charge less for your works. As you become more and more experienced, you can increase your hourly rate and thereby increase your income.

Getting the first client is the hardest job. Once you deal with some clients, you will understand the whole process. Then, you can maintain existing clients or find new clients to do their work.

If you have read this article this far, don’t just procrastinate. Go and do these actionable steps right now. It is easy to read this article and go away and read another article and so on. But, successful people do not procrastinate. They will implement these steps and become a mighty freelancer.

If you want to be a successful freelancer, I would highly recommend you take action. Very few people will take action, and I want you to be one of them.

Freelancing is not the only way to make money with Python language. I’ve written an article which will guide you in different ways to make money with Python. I highly recommend you to check out this article, and you’ll make some money with Python.

If you have any doubts or queries, let me know them in the comments section. I will be happy to help you anytime.

If you enjoyed this article, then share it with your friends so that someone else can also use this information.

Ashwin Joy

I'm the face behind Pythonista Planet. I learned my first programming language back in 2015. Ever since then, I've been learning programming and immersing myself in technology. On this site, I share everything that I've learned about computer programming.

30 thoughts on “How to Become a Python Freelancer

    1. Cheers Mark for debugging. I’ve corrected the typo. Errors do happen while writing articles, just like in writing code.

  1. Hey there,thank you . This was very informative. I am learning Kotlin now and almost finished learning the language . I just started with kotlin first , should I pursue android development or learn something else like python next ? and what all do I need to learn to freelance ?

    1. Hi,
      Thanks for the comment.

      I would suggest you not keep on learning every programing languages. Become a specialist in a particular field. Why do you want to learn Python? You should learn “X” so that you can do “Y”. What’s your “Y” here? Do not learn a language for the sake of learning.

      If you are comfortable and good with Kotlin, then why switch to Python? I would suggest you to stick with a technology and become an expert in that. That’s better than becoming a jack of all trades. So, if you’re good with Kotlin, pursue Android development and become an expert in it.

      If you don’t like Kotlin and want to learn Python for doing web development or machine learning, or some other applications, then you can go ahead on the Python route.

  2. really thanks for the information,
    I am studying Python, still I am at python basic level,
    i need some advice, I don’t have any computer background, I finished my graduate with commerce, so it will be difficult for me to enter any organization, freelancing is a good option for me,
    please can you advise that how can i chose the field, and which software is mandatory to learn with python to earn small money,,,

    really thanks in advance .. 🙂

    1. Select a particular technology field that you want to master, such as, web development, mobile app development, machine learning, etc. Once you choose your field, find the programming languages/frameworks or tools needed, and learn them. Go to tutoring platforms such as TeacherOn and Wyzant and apply for tutoring opportunities. Go to platforms such as upwork.com and apply for freelance projects.

      If you’re learning Python, you can use the IDLE python or VSCode to do coding. You can even code on online tools, such as repl.it. Once you’re done with Python, learn either web development using Django or machine learning. Do some research online. There are a lot of resources available. Make use of them.

  3. Hi, I have two questions for you :

    1. Am I good to go with an online python compiler like Jupyter?
    2. Is automating tasks using python – a viable specialization for python freelancing?

    Thanks in advance.

    1. Hey, Thanks for the comment! This is what I think about your questions:

      1. Yes, you can use online python compilers for practice. I often use the online editor “repl.it” for practicing and taking online sessions. But, for doing big projects, I use VSCode.
      2. “Automating tasks using Python” seems like a great idea. But I’m not sure whether there are enough clients for that. You can go to platforms like Upwork or Freelancer and check if there are enough people looking for this kind of work.

  4. I know basics of python . I see some jobs on upwork which one can I do but prospals is more than +20.
    Why do they choose me ?

    1. It’s difficult to get clients when you have no experience. That’s where you have to be creative, market yourself, and build a personal brand.

  5. The advice about teaching python to others would look really good on my portfolio, I didn’t think of that myself. Thanks a lot.

  6. hi, I am learning python and want to get experience by freelancing, as you said getting projects for fresher is difficult so, what we have to do in order to get projects and do freelancing can you explain in detail.

  7. Dear Ashwin,

    Thank you so much for the article. As adults, (unlike youngsters) the time we put to learn anything has to be financially justified. So it is very critical to look for earning potential before stepping into any new field.

    I really like the idea of “Teaching Programming to others” but to become a tutor in any of the three websites mentioned by you, one has to be in US. (please correct me if I am wrong.) As I am a Sri Lankan, I won’t be able to teach through these three websites.

    While reading this article, I tried to find python teaching opportunities and came across www.preply.com in which even I can become a tutor. Could you please go through the website and add that as the fourth website, if it is good? If not please leave a response.

    1. Hi Rajitha, I have personally used TeacherOn from India. I guess it would work in Sri Lanka as well.

  8. thanks it was a good article I love your recommendation Go and do these actionable steps right now. It is easy to read this article and go away and read another article and so on

  9. “Important: Tutors listed on the Wyzant Site must reside within the United States and have a valid Social Security Number”. Looks like we cannot teach here on these website, we have be in US only, is it so???

    1. Yeah, you can try the other websites I have mentioned here. I think there are many other tutoring websites apart from the ones I have mentioned in this post.

  10. In your opinion, what is the best python field to be a specialist in terms of profit as mid level python programmer?

    – And thanks for the article and for your your effort in helping us.

    1. All the Python fields have a lot of potential when it comes to profit. And it is difficult to choose one. I would pick machine learning and data science if I had to choose only one field.

      Thank you for your comment. Appreciate it. Glad that I could help you.

  11. sir I have engineering degree in Information technology in 2014. after that I work in technical teaching field for three years after that due to some personal reasons I am out of the field , now I wanted to resume my carrier in this field with learning python language, and want to earn money with it . can u help more in this !!

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