freelance IT skills such as Programming, analytics, Blockchain, graphics, web and app development are some of the hottest paid skills in the industry and it is no surprise that you would find some of the top-notch developers in freelance portals like Upwork, fiverr, Design hill and other freelance portals., making a good amount of money just as their 9 to 5 jobs.
If you are a developer or a programming geek and would like to have your own job, your own timings, and love to work across different clients and projects then this topic is for you.
In this article, you are going to see some of the Unique and Trending IT freelancer skills that were highly rewarded
12 Unique and Trending Freelancer IT skills
1. PowerBi developer
Microsoft launched Power BI around 2014 and it slowly started to take the analytics industry by storm and of course, just like other Microsoft products, this analytics software is now common in several companies, and most companies now trying to train their business analysts and other roles on this software.
With Power Bi you can create different interactive dashboards ranging from performance metrics, sales forecast and employee performance, etc., in addition, it integrates well with various top-level software’s like Hadoop, Google Analytics, SAP, Salesforce and Mailchimp
Average PowerBi developer salary in US ranges from $52 K – $105K annually and hourly it ranges from $35 to $65.
When we look at PowerBi freelancers they charge around $30/hour to as high as $150/hour again this depends upon their skillset, Tour around time, and the amount of data you have. So, if you are good at PowerBI and looking for a freelance job then you might have to consider this option.
2. R Programmer
Freelance R Programming is one of the unique and highly sorted out programming skills that pay freelancers well. It is an open-source language used for doing a wide range of statistical work such as analyzing, cleaning, and graphing your data.
It is highly used in areas like Banking, Manufacturing, and social media. Even top companies such as Facebook, IBM,and Google use this open-source language.
Moreover, it is widely used in the Healthcare sector in areas like drug discovery, clinical trial data analysis, and Bio-Informatics
On average R Programmer salary in the US ranges from $60K to $100k annually, while freelance R programmers make around $10/Hr to as high as $150/hour which depends upon their skill set, Total number of projects they have handled, and number of functions they can work on.
3. SAS Biostatistician
Just like R programmers, SAS Biostatistician also does the statistical programming work but they are mostly inclined towards the life science domain.
SAS language is one of the industry standards for doing data analysis work in Medical and Clinical Research Organizations.
In general, a SAS Biostatistician applies various statistical methods to interpret data from living organisms or molecules. Most Biostatisticians work is related to figuring out data from research studies, drug interaction, large medical database records, interpreting clinical study data and monitoring disease rates, etc.,
Due to such a myriad of duties, SAS biostatistician were highly paid in several companies.
On average a freelance biostatistician cost $30/hour to as high as $150/hour, and Biostatistician salaries range from as low as 60K to as high as 117K annually
4. Arduino Programmer
With Arduino programming, you can do a lot of things, such as controlling relays, adjusting the speed of a motor, adjusting light intensity and fingerprint systems, etc., the open-source Arduino software helps you to write and deploy code to the Arduino boards and then you can connect the board to Windows/Linux or Mac OS.
Basically, Arduino programming is a modified version of C and C++ programming and with the help of this code you can do a lot of small to mid-size project works related to engineering courses or home-based experiments.
Basically, a Freelance Arduino developer works either as a consultant to help in programming Arduino-related projects, build PLC’s or design a code for building a prototype.
Arduino developer salary ranges from $60K to $118K annually and Freelancers make around $30 to $80/hour
5. Raspberry PI developer
Raspberry Pi is a cheap and small-sized computer that can do several tasks just like a normal computer. It runs on Linux and works with programming languages such as Python and scratch.
Raspberry is one of the most popular devices for tech hobbyists who like to develop different IoT Prototypes.
Usually, Freelance Raspberry PI developers have a wide variety of jobs such as setting up servers, developing code for PCB boards, assisting, and configuring prototypes helping engineering graduates in building their project work.
A freelance Raspberry developer charges around $20/hour to as high as $200/hour. When it comes to full-time jobs, raspberry PI salary ranges from 28K to 123K, on average they earn up to 59K annually.
6. Discord Bot Developer
Discord is one of the fastest-growing chat platforms that host around 6.7 million active communities, which are commonly referred to as servers. Initially, it is used by gamers to chat and discuss games and related things and soon its usage has been expanded to a wide variety of users.
The Discord Bots are one of the highlight aspects of Discord, these AI bots can do a lot of things such as moderating content on your server, welcoming new members, sending notifications, posting emoji’s and even kicking or banning those who don’t follow community rules.
One can develop Discord bots using Node.js, Java, and Python languages. So, if you have these skills and were good at developing AI Bots, then you must try this opportunity.
On average, a Freelance discord bot developer can make around $5/hour to $20/hour.
7. Web Application Developer
With the growing number of internet users all over the world, there has been a surge in web applications. Take, for example, Netflix, Crello, Google Sheets, Slack, etc., today most of the popular apps were web-based applications.
To be a web app developer one must be good at front-end skills like Java, HTML, CSS, and Back-end languages like Python, Ruby, and PHP
There are several advantages being a freelance web developer, such as, there are almost more than 50,000 Web developer jobs in the USA. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in web development is projected to grow 13 percent from 2020 to 2030.
On average, a web application developer makes 79K annually. When it is a contract-based job, then they make more money. Freelance web developers charge on average $25/hour to $75/hour.
8. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Developer
AR and VR are going to be the next biggest technologies in IT, Shopping, Manufacturing, Healthcare, and Education.
In the upcoming days Augmented reality and Virtual Reality are going to be more commonly seen technologies in almost all industries.
Being a freelance Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Developer is very rewarding because, the pay per hour is normally higher when compared to other IT skills, Use of AR/VR applications is going to skyrocket in the future thus creating more demand.
As mentioned above, almost all of the sectors will utilize AR/VR in one or more of their services thus making it a valuable skill to pursue. Lastly, this field is still in the growing stage hence it still has a lot of unexplored opportunities.
So, taking into consideration the vast opportunities and lucrative pay, freelancers can consider AR/VR as a valuable option to work for. On average, freelance AR/VR developers charge around $40/hour to $70/hour.
9. CAD Designer
CAD stands for Computer-Aided Design, CAD software is used to create, modify and optimize designs for various sectors such as manufacturing, construction, and planning.
Civil and Mechanical engineering projects have great demand for CAD designers. Mostly, companies directly hire the employee on a permanent basis or contract base. However, there are still several small to mid-size companies that hire freelance CAD developers for consultation, helping them create designs for their projects.
So, if you were a civil engineer and good with designing, planning, and has a grip on software’s like AutoDesk 3D, AutoCAD, Navis, etc., you should take this opportunity
On average a freelance CAD designers cost $25/hour to $50/hour.
10. BlockChain Developer
The popularity of Blockchain technology is growing at a rapid rate throughout all nations. This de-centralized, peer-to-peer ledger-based network technology is now adopted by several businesses, governments, and organizations for various purposes.
Although it is still in its initial stages and needs to be explored further, the popularity of this technology is growing at a faster pace. In fact, cryptocurrencies which are now common news all-around social media were made out of this technology.
It is common to see a beginner blockchain developer paid six-figure salary due to the complexity of the work. It is also the same case with freelance blockchain developers, unlike the above mentioned skills, freelancers in this technology were paid around $60/hour to $120/hour, so you can now figure out how demanding Blockchain technology is.
11. Freelance iOS Developer
When it comes to mobile application development, the iOS platform offers a wide range of opportunities for freelancers. Being a freelance iOS developer means you do various jobs from building an app from scratch to fixing bugs, integrating API’s, and performance checking of the application, etc.,
Whether you work independently as an iOS app developer or work for clients, you need to have a portfolio to showcase your work, you can either do it by a personal blog, social media profile, or GitHub Account. This will help the clients know more about your service and track record.
Skills required for an iOS developer include but are not limited to, programming languages like Swift, X Code, Objective C and knowledge on various iOS frameworks such as Flutter, Cocoa touch, ionic App development, Sencha Ext JS, Adobe PhoneGap, etc.,
When it comes to the pay, average base salary of iOS developer is roughly $115K and freelancer iOS developers pay typically ranges between $16-$35/hour
12. Open GL Developer
Open GL that stands for, Open graphics language is an industry-standard API used for rendering 2D and 3D graphics. Developers with Open GL skill set have a wide variety of works like rendering graphics engines, developing games, developing frontend system,s etc., advanced skills such as C and C++ are required to work with OpenGL.
When we look at career prospects, average Open GL developer salary is reported 96K annually. When it comes to Freelancer OpenGL developers the pay highly varies depending upon work because these projects take a lot of time and resources to complete and as most of them deal with the interface, one must ensure they were working perfectly in cross platforms.
On average Freelance OpenGL developers charge around $40/hour to $65/hour.
So, that’s the list of freelance jobs that were highly rewarding, constantly growing, and at the same time challenging in the IT industry. Although We might have missed a few others skills, we tried our level best to mention as much as we can.