Fiverr is the first place most artists think of when they want commissions from strangers rather than followers, and it does bring buyers. It also keeps a fifth of every order, holds the rest for two weeks, and adds its own fee on top of what your client pays. Before you rebuild your price sheet as Fiverr packages, here is what a sketch, a colored half-body and a full illustration actually pay you there, and how that compares with VGen and with a gig page you run yourself.
The short answer. Fiverr works for artists who need buyers more than margin. You keep 80% of each order: $32 on a $40 sketch, $96 on a $120 half-body and $280 on a $350 illustration, paid out 14 days after the order completes. Your client pays 5.5% on top, plus $3.50 on anything under $200, so on a $40 sketch Fiverr ends up with 30% of what the client spent. VGen leaves you about $110 on the same $120 piece and a gig page on our Studio plan about $113, before their monthly costs.
How much does Fiverr take from artists?
Fiverr takes 20% of every order an artist completes, including extras and tips. Its help center puts it the other way round: freelancers "receive 80% of the client's cleared payment." There is no sliding scale and no lower rate for repeat clients, so a $500 book cover pays the same 20% as a $20 emote. Processing is inside that 20%; you do not pay card fees on top.
Your client pays a separate service fee of 5.5% of the purchase, and Fiverr adds $3.50 to every order under $200. That second fee is the one artists overlook, because most art commissions are small. Here is what three typical tiers look like from both sides of the order.
| Fiverr package | Your price | Client pays | You keep | Fiverr's share of what the client paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headshot sketch | $40 | $45.70 | $32.00 | 30.0% |
| Colored half-body | $120 | $130.10 | $96.00 | 26.2% |
| Typical $150 commission | $150 | $161.75 | $120.00 | 25.8% |
| Full illustration | $350 | $369.25 | $280.00 | 24.2% |
The pattern matters for pricing. The cheaper your entry tier, the bigger Fiverr's slice, because the $3.50 is flat. A $10 emote costs your client $14.05 and pays you $8. If you plan to sell on Fiverr, cut the tiniest tiers or bundle them, and set your prices from what you need to take home rather than from what other sellers list. Our guide to art commission prices works backward from the hourly rate a US artist needs after fees and tax.
Is Fiverr good for artists?
Fiverr is good for artists who have the skill but not the audience. Buyers arrive already looking for "character illustration" or "book cover", the order form makes them pick a package before they message you, and Fiverr collects the money before you start, so you never chase a payment. For a new artist with no following, that is worth a lot more than 20%.
It is a worse deal once clients find you on their own. You still pay 20% on a regular who would have paid you directly, the money sits for 14 days after delivery (7 days on Seller Plus, Top Rated or Fiverr Pro), and early payout costs another 1% and is open only to Top Rated sellers and Seller Plus Premium members. The search also rewards sellers who already have reviews, so the first orders tend to come from underpricing. That is where most of the "Fiverr is a race to the bottom" complaints start.
Can you do art commissions on Fiverr?
Yes. Fiverr lists art commissions under its illustration and design categories, from portraits, character design, emotes and streaming art to children's book illustration, comics and concept art. You set up a gig with up to three packages (basic, standard and premium), each with its own price, delivery time and number of revisions, and write the questions every buyer must answer before the order starts. That last part is the useful habit to copy anywhere you sell: the brief arrives with the order instead of over five DMs.
Two rules worth knowing before you list. Every payment is a separate order with its own client fee, so a client who adds an extra revision or a tip pays the 5.5% again. And Fiverr's terms do not allow asking a client you met there to pay you outside Fiverr. Price your packages as if every future order from that client will also be on Fiverr.
Fiverr vs VGen vs a gig page for art commissions
The three are built for different stages. Fiverr is a general marketplace with buyers in every category. VGen is built for illustration commissions, with a request form, proposals and a public queue, and charges 5% plus Stripe's 2.9% and $0.30. A gig page on FreelanceNation is your own page with three tiers, listed in a marketplace by category; you pay a monthly plan and a smaller fee, and you take the client's payment yourself. Here is the same set of tiers on each, with card processing included where you would pay it.
| You keep per order | $40 sketch | $120 half-body | $350 illustration | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiverr | $32.00 | $96.00 | $280.00 | None |
| VGen | $36.54 | $110.22 | $322.05 | None |
| Gig page, Starter (8%) | $35.34 | $106.62 | $311.55 | $9, or $4.50 yearly |
| Gig page, Pro (5%) | $36.54 | $110.22 | $322.05 | $19, or $9.50 yearly |
| Gig page, Studio (3%) | $37.34 | $112.62 | $329.05 | $49, or $24.50 yearly |
Two honest readings of that table. First, per order our Pro plan and VGen leave you exactly the same amount, and VGen has no monthly fee, so on fees alone VGen beats Pro at every volume. Studio only pulls ahead of VGen once you sell more than about $1,225 a month on yearly billing ($2,450 on monthly). Second, both leave far more than Fiverr. At $1,500 a month in $120 commissions, Fiverr pays you $1,200, VGen about $1,378, and a gig page between $1,324 (Starter) and $1,383 (Studio, yearly). That is $125 to $183 a month, or $1,500 to $2,200 a year, for the same drawings.
So the choice is less about fees than about where your next client comes from. If your buyers are fans who already know VGen, sell there. If they are authors, indie game studios and small brands who search Google and browse by category, they are more likely to land on a page you own. For a fuller side-by-side that includes Etsy, Ko-fi and DeviantArt, see art commission sites compared by fee, and for the dedicated VGen numbers, VGen fees on every commission.
Is Fiverr worth it for artists?
Fiverr is worth it while it is filling slots you could not fill yourself. Treat it as a paid lead source: the 20% is your cost of acquiring a client. When a client comes back for a second and third piece, that cost stops buying you anything. Most artists who stay profitable on Fiverr use it for first orders and build a second place to sell where repeat work and referrals land.
A useful test is your own order history. Count last quarter's orders that came from someone who found you inside Fiverr search, and orders from people who already knew you. Multiply the second group by 20% of their value. If that number is larger than a year of a gig page plan ($54 to $294 on yearly billing), you are paying Fiverr to process clients you brought yourself.
What are the alternatives to Fiverr for artists?
The main alternatives are commission platforms built for illustration (VGen, Ko-fi commissions), shops that handle commissions as listings (Etsy), and a page of your own that takes the order. Each trades reach for margin differently, and our roundup of sites like Fiverr ranks them on what each one keeps. On a page of your own, the client's payment is yours to collect, usually by PayPal or Stripe invoice. If you go that route, decide what happens when an invoice goes unpaid before it happens; a simple automated reminder that follows up on overdue invoices saves the awkward third message, and a 50% deposit before work starts saves most of the rest.
Wherever you sell, keep the structure Fiverr gets right: fixed tiers, the brief collected with the order, and a cap on how many commissions you take at once. Our commission queue planner works out how many slots you can open from the hours one piece takes, and the art commission sheet lays the tiers out the way buyers scan them.
How do I start selling art commissions on a gig page?
Write the three tiers you would list on Fiverr, each with what is included, the number of revisions and the delivery time, and publish them on a gig page. Clients pick a tier and send the brief in one form, the request lands in your inbox with their email as reply-to, and you invoice them however you already take payment. When the piece is delivered you mark the order completed, and the plan's fee goes on your next invoice. You can sell art commissions on a gig page from $4.50 a month on yearly billing, and keep your Fiverr gig running alongside it while you find out which one brings the better clients.