A blog takes up hours of your time every week, hours you’d otherwise spend on sales calls, customer support, or, let’s be honest, sleep.
And yet everyone knows by now that without a blog, an online business doesn’t really work. It’s not easy work, because those hours don’t just appear out of thin air (you have to take them from somewhere, every time). That’s where ProBlogger comes in. They say they help you make money from blogging, and if you’re writing and looking to earn an income from it, you’ve most likely already come across them.
But before you sign up and try to make some money there, here are two things to keep in mind. It’s worth knowing exactly how it works. It’s worth knowing if it’s worth the time you put into it.
And how do you find that out without wasting those hours yourself? Well, I tested it myself, because otherwise I wouldn’t have anything to tell you.
Below, I’ve listed everything I found, what to expect, how to make money, and what the downsides are (and yes, I didn’t hold back on the downsides), so you can weigh whether it’s worth using or not.
I think that’s what we both want, to avoid wasting hours on something that isn’t worth it. You have so few hours as it is.
Let’s see what ProBlogger is all about.
What is ProBlogger, and how does it work?
On ProBlogger, you can actually find opportunities to make money, so yes, it’s legit.
It was launched in 2004 by Darren Rowse. That’s when he decided to help others achieve the same dream. And he did that with a website dedicated to blogging as both an art and a science, blog marketing, and making a living from blogging. At first, it was an advice blog (today, people know it mainly as a job board for freelance writers and bloggers).
In the more than 15 years since then, it has grown into a major resource in the field, with a podcast, a series of e-books on the craft, a published book on blogging, and a huge community of bloggers, writers, and enthusiasts who want to get into the field.
I looked through some of this material because I wanted to see if it was just for show. It isn’t.
But what does all this mean to you? Not much, because a well-known name doesn’t tell you whether the platform is right for you. It doesn’t tell you what you’ll actually be doing there. It doesn’t even tell you what you’ll get out of it.
Read also: How WriterAccess Job Orders Work
To find out, you need to understand how it works, and the only way to do that is to look at the earning potential it offers (and only then decide if it’s worth your time). That way, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting.
See below for exactly how you earn.
ProBlogger writing jobs
The client decides how much a job pays, not ProBlogger, and the site has no control over rates (nor could it, since it doesn’t collect the money). You don’t earn anything directly from ProBlogger, but you can find companies or individuals here who are looking for someone to write for them, and they pay you. It’s a marketplace, that’s all.
The job board is exactly what its name suggests. Bloggers and website owners post job listings, and writers apply, ranging from those who are just looking to write for money to those with experience (so it’s not just for professionals). Do you need someone for your blog, whether for a single article or an ongoing collaboration? You go in and choose them, just as you go in and apply if you’re a writer looking for paid work.
All the listings are in the Jobs section, where I came across quite a few different types of jobs, and I saw that they’re officially divided into 19 categories, which you can use to filter the listings and where the jobs are posted, so I counted them by type:
- Five are text-based, meaning blogs and articles, copywriting, ghostwriting, editing and proofreading, translation, and transcription. These are the ones I was looking for, the rest aren’t really my thing.
- Four are in promotion, including sales, marketing, SEO, strategy, social media management, branding, and PR.
- Four are in the visual and audio category, meaning graphic design, web design and development, video, podcasts, and audio.
- Three are office-based jobs involving research, data entry, and virtual assistant or administrative support.
- Two involve working with people, community management, and customer service.
- One is left for miscellaneous tasks.
Only five out of 19 are for us, the writers, so not even a third, and that’s not much, considering the site even has “Blogger” in its name. Each listing includes a project description, the rate, and how to apply, so you know from the start what you’re getting into.
No one can guarantee you’ll get hired, because it depends on your skills, your experience, and how well your application stands out from the rest.
There weren’t many jobs listed when I tested the site. Finding one that’s right for you? Tough. If you already have writing experience, I think it can be a good source of extra income. For those just starting out, it’s more complicated, because many employers want someone who’s written before and can prove it (I noticed this during my test, based strictly on the listings at that time).
And what about AI? There are no site rules, either for or against it, because ProBlogger is just a job board and doesn’t care how you write your articles. It’s up to the client. Some let you use AI for research, drafting, or the first draft, as long as the final article is accurate, sounds natural, and is edited by a human. Others ban it entirely, and if they find out you used it, they’ll reject your article or refuse to pay you. But it’s better to clarify this during negotiations, before you accept the job, rather than after you’ve submitted the article, when you risk not getting paid for it.
I’ve come to the conclusion that ProBlogger might work for those who already have writing experience and want some extra income, but if you’re just starting out or want something simpler with less competition, take a look at Microworkers, Earnopolis, FireFaucet, GG2U, or FaucetPay, where the pressure is lower and the path to earning money is more direct (each platform works differently).
ProBlogger connects you with paying clients. Doesn’t pay you directly. Just lists the opportunities. You apply, clients decide. That’s how the system works.
How do you get paid?
You ask about payment before accepting the job. You ask because some job postings specify the employer’s payment method, while others don’t mention anything at all (I’ve looked through enough of them to have come across both scenarios), and you ask to avoid any misunderstandings later on. This discussion usually comes up during the application process, specifically during the interview or when negotiating the terms.
It’s not a step to skip, because, as I mentioned above, ProBlogger doesn’t pay you, but rather the client or employer does, and they’re the ones who decide the payment terms.
How do they pay you? However each client wants to. I’ve seen PayPal by far the most often in the job postings employers put up on the platform. Wise and Payoneer come up mainly for international payments, so you don’t lose money on currency exchange fees. And then there’s the direct bank transfer. You won’t find an in-app wallet or a withdrawal system, and there’s no minimum threshold to reach.
I read the support team’s warning about phishing attempts in the “Security FAQs – ProBlogger Jobs” section. Some malicious individuals contact you from outside the platform and send you a ZIP file containing a keylogger, claiming it includes “payment terms” or a writing guide, in order to steal your PayPal login credentials (the file is just a decoy and has nothing to do with payment). That’s why the platform recommends not downloading any software from employers you don’t trust, and I think that’s the most useful piece of advice on the entire page.
But ultimately, you can expect to find a method that works for both you and the employer, since that’s how it usually works on freelancing sites like ProBlogger.
How much money can you make?
It doesn’t have an escrow system, nor does it step in when a payment dispute arises, so if a client doesn’t pay you, you have to chase after the money on your own (in my experience, a real headache).
And that’s a big deal, because your income here depends almost entirely on how many jobs you get. I mentioned earlier that most job postings require an experienced writer, so without that experience, it’ll be hard to find work consistently.
I didn’t find many job postings. There aren’t many to choose from, and there’s no way to earn a steady income.
How much does someone earn when applying for jobs posted by foreign companies? It’s not a fixed amount, it depends on each employer’s budget. I’ve gone through past data and verified case studies, and the numbers look something like this. For a full-time in-house position, the salary ranges from $45,000 to $55,000 per year, including benefits, and can go as high as $70,000 or $90,000. On a per-article basis, most posts on the content networks listed on ProBlogger average $25 (for an average-level writer), with a range from $10 to $200, depending on how complex the topic is and what niche it falls into. And for consulting, the rate often exceeds $150 or even $300 per hour.
On the platform, I also came across a verified case study, written by a freelancer who set up an automated system to track job postings on ProBlogger Jobs and earned $15,000 from contracts secured that way, all from clients found exclusively there. Is that a lot? I think it’s a good amount.
But the earning potential remains low, and the main reason is still the small number of job postings.
How do you ask for help?
Send an email to [email protected], and that’s pretty much the only way to get support if you’re a freelancer.
I couldn’t find a phone number. I couldn’t find a live chat either, even though I looked everywhere on the site.
There is an FAQ page, but it’s written for employers who want to post job listings, not for people looking for work.
And if your issue is related to a job you’re already working on, don’t contact them (ProBlogger won’t help you with that at all), instead contact your employer.
When something seems suspicious, the situation is different. An employer with whom you have a problem or a job posting that appears to be a scam (phishing, data collected through illegal means) can be reported directly from the job posting page or via the contact forms. You should request that the posting be removed immediately, as it violates their security rules. The examples they provide include employers who send suspicious .ZIP files or who charge a fee to apply. I found their guide, “Tips for Applying Safely Online,” on the job board.
Who responds to you, though? Maybe no one.
The same page states that the administrative team led by Darren Rowse receives a huge volume of emails, so they can’t guarantee an individual response to every message. They don’t offer any free consulting or feedback on your personal blog at all.
I think they provide the bare minimum of support, since you have a convenient way to ask for help. But I would have liked to see an FAQ that covered more than just employers (fewer support emails, both for them and for us).
Can anyone join ProBlogger?
You need a full name, a valid email address, and an account with a secure password. With these, you become an active member of ProBlogger and gain access to the dashboard. The application form, which I filled out, actually asks for six things:
- full name
- a secure username
- a valid email address, which only registered employers can see, and only when you apply to one of them
- a phone number
- a personal website
- an online resume or professional summary, uploaded so that companies can find you directly in their database, so it’s really worth putting some effort into this
The last three are related to the digital portfolio, listed as optional (or so they say, because the form asks for them anyway, so I don’t really see where the “optional” part comes in).
And it doesn’t matter which country you live in, because ProBlogger is open pretty much everywhere in the world, and for me, that’s the best thing about them. I submitted the form without any problems. After that, I logged into the member dashboard and tracked the offers I’d applied for from there. I think that’s the dashboard’s biggest benefit.
The Premium plan comes with the promise that they’ll promote your profile to employers looking for writers or bloggers. I saw two packages, one for 90 days at $5 per month, and one for a year starting at $3.75 per month, paid all at once (meaning at least $45 in one payment). What do you get for this money? Your profile is made available to over 7,000 registered employers on a separate list, the “Premium Candidate List,” which they search and browse to find candidates without having to post public job listings. The free account, which anyone can create, already lets you manage your applications, save jobs, create your resume online, and set up alerts. But the premium plan doesn’t give you any new tools, it just gives you higher visibility in the results employers see when they search.
There’s still no guarantee that anyone will contact you, because employers can freely search the general list of candidates, but your contact information is only accessible if they purchase employer membership packages (for both standard and premium profiles).
So you pay to be seen, and they pay to be able to contact you. How many of those 7,000 actually buy that package? How many are looking for a writer right now? There’s no way to know before you spend the money.
The decision is yours, but I’ve done the math on what it would take to make it worth it, and there’s only one way, which is to earn at least as much from the jobs you find on ProBlogger as you pay for the subscription, because otherwise you’re just losing money, and none of us goes on a job site to end up in loss.
I compared their premium plan to subscriptions on other freelancing sites, and I don’t think it offers any more benefits.
Can you use it on your phone?
There is no official ProBlogger app, neither for those who work through the platform, nor for freelancers, nor for job seekers.
The website, however, works well on a phone. The candidate account, resume listings, and job board all function exclusively through the mobile-optimized version (none of them have a separate app). You can browse job listings anytime you have your phone in hand, because the page fits well on a small screen. I opened a few listings on my phone and was able to read them without any issues.
But that’s about all you can do on your phone.
For the actual work, you’ll need a computer. You don’t write the articles you submit on your phone, because it’s not designed for that (theoretically, you could, but I wouldn’t try it).
And the website is pretty easy to use, which isn’t bad at all. How many ad pop-ups did I close while browsing it? None.
If you do search for it in the app stores, though, you’ll come across four similar names that have nothing to do with the ProBlogger job board:
- “Pro Blogger,” from the Shopify App Store. It’s developed by Low Fruit Solutions PTY LTD and links an online store’s products to blog posts, with no connection to Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger.com.
- “Blogga Pro,” a mobile dashboard for blogs created on Blogger.com, Google’s separate platform.
- “Blogg for Blogger,” also for Blogger.com.
- “Yandex ProBlogger,” a monetization portal for video content creators and social media users.
Don’t install any of them thinking they’re ProBlogger, because none of them are related to the job platform. To view job listings, go directly to the website from your phone’s browser.
ProBlogger Trustpilot
Betterteam and WhatJobs give the ProBlogger Jobs board very high ratings, but their reviews don’t mention what happens when you buy a digital product directly from ProBlogger.
Things are going well on the board, and both sites praise the quality of the applicants and the fact that the posting fee provides peace of mind. The only downside I found on Betterteam (and it only matters if you’re hiring) is that the ad stays up for 15 days, whereas the industry average is 30. Is 15 days enough? It depends on how quickly you find the right person.
Trustpilot shows something else, 2.8 out of 5, based on exactly 3 reviews (you can read them all while drinking a cup of coffee).
I looked at the negative ones, because that’s where you see the real problems. One is from December 2024, from someone who bought a digital eBook. They didn’t receive the promised bonuses. They didn’t get any response, neither to their support tickets nor to their refund request. I also came across one from July 2024, complaining that neither the verification email nor the automated follow-up emails ever arrived.
And so that everything doesn’t remain up in the air, I’ve put together the 8 reviews, 3 from Trustpilot and 5 from the forum, of which 5 are positive and 3 are negative, meaning 62% versus 38%. This sample is not representative of all users. However, it seems to me that the split is self-evident, because the praise comes from ProBlogger’s established reputation and the quality of the board, while the complaints come from those who purchased digital products and encountered unresponsive customer support.
But the reliability and quality of the team behind the scenes remain high, with support issues occurring only in isolated cases involving digital purchases.
For us bloggers, ProBlogger has remained, over time, the same place where you learn the trade. It’s just that, since it started selling digital courses, it’s come with the same support issues that any online store faces.
Red Flags you should never ignore
If you end up looking for work through the jobs section, the most tangible risk doesn’t come from ProBlogger itself, but from some of the employers listed there.
On WhatJobs, I came across a few warnings about listings that ask for a “free sample” as a test (there aren’t many, I can count them on one hand). The site itself is safe, and they say so too. But if someone asks you for a free article to see how you write, think twice before agreeing, because that’s exactly what people are complaining about there.
As for the company itself, the problems are of a different nature.
I went on Trustpilot, and several users say they’ve opened support tickets regarding digital products they never received and for refunds, and that no one has responded to them. I’ve read the complaints, and they seem credible to me, even if they’re just allegations. They haven’t even claimed their profile there. They can’t possibly respond to a public complaint if they don’t even visit the page where it’s posted. So where do you go when the product doesn’t arrive? Well, back to that support ticket that no one responds to.
I read the privacy policy directly on problogger.com/privacy-policy, and it’s missing things that the GDPR requires in black and white, such as a representative in the EU, clear timeframes for how long they retain your data, and a designated data protection officer. I think it’s more a matter of negligence than malice, but it directly affects us (it’s our data, as EU users).
I haven’t found any confirmed allegations of scams or fraud against the company anywhere, and I’ve looked.
Is ProBlogger Worth It?
Behind ProBlogger is an Australian company that you can look up, with a long history in blogging and freelancing. However, that doesn’t guarantee proper support, at least not for those who buy their courses or eBooks. On independent review platforms, I found unanswered refund requests and automated emails that never actually arrived. So, if you buy something from them, keep your order receipt (and the confirmation email, if you receive one). And expect a delayed response.
Jobs are a different story, here the site is as legitimate as it gets.
You can make money from writing jobs, and their job board is seen by many as a “gold standard” because it’s reliable, the listings are high-quality, and employers are vetted. I think it’s the right place for freelancers who want trustworthy job listings and for bloggers looking for educational content backed by a reputable source. But it’s not for everyone.
Why? Because most of the jobs I’ve seen there require a lot of experience. If you don’t have it, you’ll have a hard time getting anything. If you do have it and your application can back it up, only then would I say to give it a try. And even then, I’d temper my expectations a bit when it comes to pay (there aren’t many jobs available, I’ve checked).
If you’ve visited ProBlogger or have any questions, let me know in the comments, because I’m genuinely interested in what you found there.