Freelance websites in Korea, and why Kmong, Soomgo and Wishket take their cut at different moments

2026-10-22

0%. That is the transaction fee Soomgo, a Korean services marketplace, charges the professionals who take jobs through it. Even so, getting work there costs money up front.

Lists of freelance websites usually give each one a single fee number. In practice the moment the fee is taken differs from site to site, so the numbers do not line up. We used only the official help pages of three Korean sites: Kmong, Soomgo and Wishket.

1.Why every list of freelance websites quotes different numbers

Some top-ranking Korean articles put Kmong's fee at 20%, or say the money spent sending quotes on Soomgo never comes back. Neither matches the current official pages.

Here is what the pages say now.

Kmong has split the sale amount into brackets since orders placed on 1 July 2024, and Soomgo returns the cash when a customer never opens the quote. The rules have changed several times while old numbers kept circulating.

When reading a fee, check the date and the address of the notice before the number itself.

2.Three ways of taking a cut

Platform fee: the share a site keeps for bringing a job to you. When it is taken, and on what amount, differs by site.

Put side by side, the three sites split into three models. One takes its share from the sale after it happens, one charges for each chance before any job is won, and one takes a flat rate from the contract amount.

Kmong: brackets on the amount sold

Kmong's seller fee has three parts. A service fee that changes by amount bracket, a payment network fee of 3.3% of the sale, and 10% VAT on the two combined (Kmong sales fee policy).

Its own example of a 3,500,000 won sale charges 16.4% on the first 700,000 won, 9.4% on the next 1,300,000 won and 4.4% on the remaining 1,500,000 won, a service fee of 303,000 won. After the 115,500 won network fee and 41,850 won VAT, the payout is 3,039,650 won.

On Kmong, the larger the sale, the lower the rate on the later part of it. The page also notes that rates can vary by category.

Soomgo: cash spent on every quote

When a customer pays through Soomgo Pay, the customer pays 3.5% of the service amount and the professional pays no transaction fee (Soomgo help center). That 3.5% rose from 2.8% on 22 February 2023.

Instead, the professional spends prepaid Soomgo cash each time a quote goes out. The amount depends on the type of service, the region and how crowded the requests are, and it is shown on the quote screen (Soomgo cash guide).

If the customer does not open the quote within 48 hours, the cash comes back as bonus cash. The same page says buying cash in the app adds a 30% fee, while the website does not.

!From mid to late November 2026, a Soomgo pilot will also price quote cash by the details in each request.

The pilot starts somewhere between 15 and 30 November in parts of the Seoul area and only some services. The same service may cost more or less.

Wishket: a rate on the contract amount

Wishket, which connects development and design outsourcing, takes 20% from the partner on projects of 5 million won or more and 25% below that (Wishket pricing). Fixed-term staffing projects are 10%.

In its own example, an individual partner on a 10 million won project gets 8 million won after the fee, minus 3.3% tax withholding, which leaves 7,736,000 won. No fee arises before a contract is signed.

3.How long until the money arrives

On Kmong the purchase is confirmed automatically after 7 days if the buyer does not respond, and a withdrawal request is paid within 1~2 business days (Kmong seller guide).

On Soomgo the money arrives within 1 hour of the customer pressing confirm in the chat. On Soomgo nothing is paid until the customer confirms the deal. There is a separate process for when the customer forgets.

Wishket: within 24 hours of approval.

4.Can you sell right after signing up?

Kmong says expert verification is required before selling. Soomgo lets people start right after an identity check, but verified categories such as interior work, legal services and moving need a business registration and a 3~5 business day review (Soomgo pro sign-up).

Taling, which often appears next to these names in searches, was left out because we could not find an official document stating its tutor fee. For what Kmong's rules mean for one small sale, see our post on fortune-telling side gigs.

5.The one-line answer

On freelance websites the moment the fee is taken matters before the rate, so check the notice date and the payout conditions together before choosing.

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