Paid video work, without losing a cut of it.
Businesses post what they need made. You browse the briefs, pitch for the ones you want, and agree a price directly with the client. Plumely doesn't take a percentage and doesn't sit between you and your money — which also means you're responsible for how you get paid.
You keep all of it
Most platforms take 10–20% and hold your payment for a clearing period. Plumely takes zero and holds nothing, because it isn't a payments company — it's an introduction. You invoice the client the way you already invoice clients.
- No commission on any deal, at any volume.
- No payment holds, no withdrawal thresholds, no currency spread.
- Your rate is whatever you and the client agree. Plumely never sees it.
Proving you're real — coming next
Verification badges are not live yet, and being straight about that matters more than the pitch. When they land they will be free, and each proof will show on your profile as a fact with a date rather than a vague badge. Until then every account here looks equally new — including the good ones — so lead with your work.
- Planned: connect your YouTube channel, proving you control the account that owns it. This one waits on Google approving a new permission, so it runs to their timeline rather than ours.
- Planned: a rel="me" link back from your portfolio site or a social profile — the same open standard Mastodon uses for its green check.
- Planned: verify a domain you control, if you work under a studio name.
- Each proof will be single-use across the whole platform, so nobody can borrow your credibility for a second account.
How bidding works
A bid is a short pitch, not a price list. The clients who get good results are the ones who say what they'd actually do with the footage, so lead with that rather than with your day rate.
- Reference the brief specifically — the generic template bids are obvious and they lose.
- Attach two or three relevant pieces, not your whole reel.
- Give a band or a starting point, and leave the number for the conversation.
- Bids are metered — Pro includes five a month. That is deliberate: a small cost per bid keeps the brief list free of spray-and-pray applications. Credit top-ups beyond the monthly allowance are not on sale yet.
Never pay a client. Ever.
This is the one rule worth memorising, because it's the scam that targets creators on every marketplace like this one. A legitimate client will never ask you to send them money before you start work.
- No security deposits. No refundable equipment fees. No "registration" or "onboarding" charges. No buying software through a link they send you.
- A payment screenshot is not a payment. Only confirm you've been paid once the money is in your own bank app.
- If someone "overpays" and asks you to refund the difference, it's a forged transfer. Never refund it — tell them to reverse it through their bank.
- Nobody legitimate pays for video editing in gift cards or crypto.
- Report it. It costs you nothing and it's how the next person gets warned.
Protect yourself on the money side
Because payment happens off Plumely, we cannot recover it for you. The upside is you keep your full rate; the trade is that the usual freelancer discipline is on you.
- Take an advance. 50% before you start is normal and it is not rude to ask.
- Agree scope, revision count and deadline in the message thread before you open the project. It is timestamped, and it is the record you would need if you ever had to escalate.
- Deliver watermarked or low-res drafts until the balance clears.
- Check how long the client's account has existed and what they've verified. A brand-new unverified account offering an unusually good rate is the oldest signal there is.
And yes, you can edit it here
Plumely's editor is free, runs entirely in your browser and never uploads client footage anywhere — which is a genuinely useful thing to be able to promise a client handling anything sensitive. It's optional. Use whatever you already use.
FAQ
What does it cost to bid?+
Plumely Pro includes five bids a month. Credit top-ups beyond that are planned but not on sale yet. There is no commission on the work itself — the metering is the business model precisely so the deal is not taxed.
Why do I have to pay to bid at all?+
Because free bidding produces spray-and-pray applications, which makes the brief list worthless for clients and then worthless for you. A small cost per bid is the cheapest anti-spam mechanism that exists, and it's why the briefs here get read.
Do I get a refund if I withdraw a bid?+
No. Otherwise the pattern becomes bidding on forty briefs and withdrawing the thirty-five that get ignored. You'll see this stated before you confirm.
How does Plumely handle my payment?+
It doesn't. You invoice and get paid directly by the client. That's why there's no cut — and why the precautions on this page matter.
Is verification free?+
It will be, when it ships — gating the thing that makes a marketplace work behind a subscription would be self-defeating. It is not live yet; the list on this page shows what is.
Do I need to use the Plumely editor?+
No. The marketplace and the editor are separate — plenty of people will use one and not the other.
Get in before the briefs pile up
Early creators get first look at the briefs in their categories.
Browse open briefs →What works today
The marketplace is new. Here's exactly what's running and what isn't, so nothing comes as a surprise once you're mid-job.
- Post a brief and receive bids
- Browse and search open briefs
- Pitch for work with a bid
- Business and creator profiles
- Track your briefs and bids
- Monthly brief and bid allowances
- Report a brief, bid or profile
- In-app messaging once a brief is awarded
- State usage rights on a brief
- Send and accept a usage licence on an awarded brief
- Domain and portfolio verification badges
Not yet
- Contact-detail exchange. Arriving with messaging.
- Credit top-ups beyond your monthly allowance. Pro's monthly allowance applies today; one-off credit packs are not on sale yet.
- Reviews after a completed engagement. Needs real completed engagements to mean anything.