How to find the right community for you as a freelancer

One of the biggest things that can keep you feeling focused and balanced as a freelancer is community. Whether it’s online or in-person, finding the right freelancers to hang out with can make or break your day. Community is also imperative to freelancers for finding work, new clients, new connections and friendship.

There are many different freelance communities - some are free, and some are paid memberships. Some freelance communities offer a mixture of options. For example, a free Slack channel but paid (optional) events.

Many freelance communities are for freelancers as a whole - offering support across the freelance experience from talking about the challenges of freelance life to the detail like accounts or tax.

There are also freelance communities which are niche, and aimed at a specific section of the freelance life, or with a focus on a core audience. These can be useful if you are in a specific industry and want to meet and network with people who are in your industry and ‘get it’ when it comes to working in that space.

How do I know if a freelance community is right for me?

With all the different options, it can be confusing to decide which freelance community is right for you, and whether you want to join (and indeed, if you want to pay for the membership or any of the services on offer).

Deciding if a freelance community is right for you is a mixture of research - including speaking to or hearing from those who are in that community - as well as feeling.

Before you decide whether to join a freelance community, it’s important to compare what’s on offer and, if you can, ask questions and find out more. Deciding if a community is right for you might come down to cost, who is leading the community and what it offers.

If you are feeling isolated, in need of some support, wishing you had some freelance ‘colleagues’ and keen to socialise or network, then it’s likely a freelance community is right for you.

How to choose the right freelance community to suit your needs

There is a lot of noise from freelance communities and many to choose from. You can join Facebook groups fairly speedily, and many are free. You can also sign up to Slack channels or Whatsapp communities - some of these require you to fill out a googleform or other ‘sign up’ document before you are given entry.

First of all, think about what your specific needs are. What do you need and want to get out of a community? You might want to make a list of the things you hope to get from a community before you consider signing up. Even a free community can be a drain on your mental health and time if it’s not the right one for you, so it’s worth choosing wisely and making an informed decision.

Are you just looking to make friends and connect with some humans? Or is it about finding work? Perhaps you are looking to sell something to other people. This is something to be careful with as many communities don’t allow direct or ‘hard’ selling.

Look at their website, if they have one, and also scour the community social media. If they have resources like a newsletter or podcast, sign up and download to get a feel for their vibe and what they offer. This is a good way to find out if a community is for you without handing over your details.

How to decide what you want from a freelance community

While one community might be right for one person, it’s totally wrong for another. Some crave interaction, chat, people and noise. Others want to lurk a little, because they are perhaps more shy. Some people want to join a community to find work as well as friends, others have plenty of work but want to make some mates to help them on their freelance journey.

If you are thinking about joining a freelance community, ask yourself to name three things you want to get from it. They can be simple words: Work, friends, support. Or they can be more in-depth: I want to find people who understand how I feel, I want to build up my client base and find new work, I would like to feel less alone.

Knowing what you want from a community will help you decide if it’s the right one for you.

Should I pay to join a freelance community?

This depends on several factors - not least, of course, budget. But it’s about more than paying money - it’s about deciding if you want to join the community and if you feel that it is worth the fee being asked. Some communities have tiered membership, giving you different levels of access. Other communities are free to join but have a paid element, such as events or content.

Deciding whether to pay for a membership is the same as deciding whether to pay for anything from a gym membership to a TV subscription. You do need to decide if you are going to risk paying - but make sure you try and find a promo code and look at the cancellation options.

If you are trying out a community, you may want to go for a monthly membership rather than an annual one. You will also need to weigh up the pros and cons of joining a paid community. Often they are more curated and involved as the person running them has the time and budget to really lead and set up events for their members.

Which is the best freelance community for me?

Deciding which is the best freelance community can be approached in two different ways. For some people it is about slowly deciding, perhaps by drawing up a shortlist, or writing down pros and cons of each community. For other people it is more about jumping in at the deep end. If you want to really find out what all the freelance communities are about, then you could join lots or all of them at once!

A middle ground is to join some free communities and also one paid-for community. That way you can get a sense of how they compare and whether you want to carry on with the paid option.

If you are in a specific niche then it might be easier to decide which is the best freelance community for you.

For example, here at The Freelance Media Network, we specialise in supporting and connecting people who work in the media, both freelance and staff. That can be anyone from a journalist or PR to a photographer or copywriter. Find out more and join us…

Here’s a selection of other communities to consider*:

Doing It For The Kids is a community specifically for those who are freelance and also parents. It’s hosted on Circle and also has events. Find out more here.

Being Freelance is a wider freelance community with a focus on connection - there’s lots of interaction and opportunity to be present and involved. Members are BFFs - Being Freelance Friends. Find out more and membership prices on their website. The community is also run on Circle.

CoWork Crew offers “welcoming events and spaces for freelancers, founders, self employed folk, remote workers and work-from-homers.” As well as a Slack community for freelancers there are regional meet ups. Find out more on their website.

The Society of Freelance Journalists is another Slack community specifically for journalists, editors and content creators. Sign up via their website.

The F* Word is a Whatsapp based community describing itself as a curated community of creative, digital and brand freelancers, built for sharing advice, opportunities and support. You apply to join via a Google Form.

Leapers “exists to understand and improve the mental health of freelancers”. Lots of resources on their website.

The Freelancer Magazine Club has a strong focus on a print magazine as well as an online directory and regular co-working. Membership fees apply.

*These are all communities I have either been part of or am part of, but there are no affiliate links here.

If you’ve decided The Freelance Media Network is for you, you can use two promo codes to try it out. They are both valid until the end of September 2026. FMNFOUNDERMONTHLY will get you 50% off your first month (usually £9) and FMNFOUNDERANNUAL will get you 20% off an annual membership (usually £99). Sign up and join the community!