Most remote job guides assume one thing: that you want to be employed. Remote Work Europe hears from thousands of people who do – and from a growing number who work for themselves, or would like to. If you’re a freelancer, an autónomo in Spain, an e-resident running an Estonian company, or a sole trader anywhere in Europe, the question isn’t “who’s hiring?” It’s “who will work with me as a freelancer, and pay my invoice?”

This guide answers that. It’s a hand-verified, deliberately growing list of remote-first companies that engage people on a genuine freelance basis – you invoice them as a self-employed person, no employment contract, no intermediary. Each entry has been checked against the company’s own careers information, and we add to it as we verify more.

If you’d rather be employed, its companion guide – Remote-First Companies That Actually Hire in Europe – is the one for you. This is its freelance-facing sibling. Neither path is better than the other; they’re simply different ways to build a remote working life, and plenty of people move between them.

Employment, freelance, or marketplace? The distinction that matters

“Remote work” hides three very different arrangements, and knowing which one you’re looking at saves a great deal of wasted effort.

Employment (including EOR). You sign an employment contract and become a salaried member of staff, with the tax, benefits and protections that brings. Many distributed companies that hire internationally do this through an Employer of Record – a third party that legally employs you on the company’s behalf in your country. It’s still employment. Those companies belong in our employment-focused hub, not this one.

Freelance / contract. You invoice the company as a self-employed person – an autónomo, an e-resident, a sole trader. There’s no employment contract; you’re a supplier, not staff. You handle your own tax and social security, and in return you keep more control over how, when and for whom you work. That’s what every company on this page offers.

Marketplaces. Platforms such as Malt, Upwork or YunoJuno are where freelancers find clients, rather than companies that hire freelancers directly. That’s a different question, and one we cover separately – see our guide to freelancing on international platforms from Spain for how the tax side works.

What “works with freelancers” actually means for you

To work with the companies below, you generally need to be able to invoice them cleanly as a business of one. In Spain that means being registered as autónomo; elsewhere it might mean a sole-trader registration, an Estonian company via e-Residency, or the local equivalent.

One pattern is worth naming, because it runs through much of this list: across Poland and central Europe, “B2B” is the default way software studios engage people – you invoice net plus VAT as an independent business, and it’s completely normal. For a European freelancer already set up to invoice, that’s a natural fit rather than an exception you have to argue for.

Being genuinely self-employed changes the relationship. You’re chosen for a specific piece of work, you’re paid against invoices, and you’re free to work with others at the same time. The trade-off is that you carry your own admin, cover, and gaps between contracts. If that suits how you want to work, these are companies worth knowing.

The companies

Verified against each company’s own careers information. We’re adding to this list as we confirm more – and every week, Connected members get a deeper profile of one of them, including how to get on the hiring manager’s radar.

1. MarsBased 🇪🇸

A Barcelona software consultancy that openly takes freelancers from anywhere

  • What they do: A fully remote software and product consultancy, no office, distributed since day one, building for clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 names.
  • How they work with freelancers: Refreshingly explicit about the split – salaried roles are reserved for people in Spain and Portugal, but “freelancers willing to do contract work might apply from anywhere.” Employment is local; contract work is global.
  • Best for: Experienced developers, designers and product people who can own a piece of client work independently and communicate clearly in writing.
  • Where to look: marsbased.com/jobs

2. X-Team

A remote developer community you join as a contractor

  • What they do: A distributed community that places developers on projects for the likes of Riot Games, Epic and Fox – handling the contracts, NDAs and client billing so you can focus on the work.
  • How they work with freelancers: You join as a contractor, not an employee – X-Team’s developers always work on a contract basis, engaged per project. They also fund a yearly personal-development stipend for active members.
  • Best for: Senior developers who want a steady flow of substantial client projects without chasing each contract themselves.
  • Where to look: x-team.com/careers

3. Netguru 🇵🇱

A major European studio where B2B invoicing is the norm

  • What they do: One of Europe’s larger software houses – software development, product design, and AI and cloud engineering for international clients.
  • How they work with freelancers: Offers a full-time contractor (B2B) route alongside employment, and for some roles the option to work as a freelancer – invoicing the studio rather than joining the payroll. The majority of roles are fully remote.
  • Best for: Developers, designers and delivery people who want the scale and variety of a big studio while staying independent.
  • Where to look: netguru.com/join-netguru

4. Monterail 🇵🇱

A studio with a standing freelance bench you can join

  • What they do: A Wrocław-based software house building web and product software (Ruby, Vue, AI) for international clients.
  • How they work with freelancers: Runs a freelance “Tech Network” for people with a one-person business entity (B2B) – async-friendly, part-time, and remote, so you can take on their client work alongside your own.
  • Best for: Independent developers who want flexible, part-time contract work with a well-run European studio.
  • Where to look: monterail.com/careers

5. STX Next 🇵🇱

Python and AI work you can invoice from anywhere in Europe

  • What they do: A 500-strong consultancy (founded 2005) specialising in Python, AI, data and cloud engineering.
  • How they work with freelancers: Lists “Employment Contract” and “B2B” side by side as engagement types, quotes contractor rates net plus VAT, and states plainly that you can work from anywhere in Europe.
  • Best for: Python, data and AI specialists who want European-timezone contract work on a clean invoice basis.
  • Where to look: stxnext.com/careers

6. Human Made 🇬🇧

A WordPress agency with a dedicated freelancer programme

  • What they do: A fully remote, enterprise-WordPress engineering agency working on large-scale publishing and VIP projects, with a team spread across Europe and beyond.
  • How they work with freelancers: Runs an open freelancer programme – in their own words, “we’d love to talk to you about freelancing with our team” – recruiting freelance engineers, designers and scrum masters.
  • Best for: Experienced WordPress engineers and project people who want ongoing agency work without going on staff.
  • Where to look: humanmade.com/freelancer

7. Equal Experts 🇬🇧

A senior consultancy built on a network of independent contractors

  • What they do: A software, data and delivery consultancy for enterprise clients, with regional teams across the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Portugal.
  • How they work with freelancers: Most of its network are “associates” – independent contractors engaged contract-by-contract, invoicing Equal Experts directly rather than joining as staff.
  • Best for: Senior engineers, data and delivery consultants who want enterprise-grade work on an independent basis.
  • Where to look: equalexperts.com – consultant network

8. M47 Labs 🇪🇸

Barcelona AI and data work you invoice as an autónomo

  • What they do: A Barcelona-based AI, machine-learning and data-engineering services company.
  • How they work with freelancers: Specific remote roles are offered on a freelance basis – their own wording asks that you “have your documentation in order to legally invoice a Spanish company from your country of residence.” Some on-site roles are employed, so the freelance route is role-dependent.
  • Best for: AI, data and technical specialists already set up to invoice, who want to work with a Spanish company from anywhere.
  • Where to look: M47 Labs on LinkedIn

9. Clevertech / Lumenalta

A remote consultancy that pays global contractors monthly, with no waiting on invoices

  • What they do: A remote software consultancy (Clevertech, now trading as Lumenalta) that has built for enterprise clients for over two decades.
  • How they work with freelancers: Direct employment is offered only in the US and Canada; everyone else – including across Europe – is engaged as a self-employed contractor who invoices, paid promptly at month-end (no Employer of Record involved).
  • Best for: Experienced developers outside North America who want long-term contract work with reliable monthly pay.
  • Where to look: lumenalta.com/remote-jobs

10. komoot 🇩🇪

An outdoor-tech brand that hires freelance storytellers across Europe

  • What they do: The German company behind komoot, the popular outdoor route-planning app.
  • How they work with freelancers: Runs a rolling freelance network for editors and content creators – part-time, fully remote, paid per task or collection. In their words: “you’ll need to be set up as a freelancer where you live and be able to invoice us monthly.”
  • Best for: Outdoor-literate writers, editors and localisers who freelance and want regular content work.
  • Where to look: komoot.com/jobs

How to approach a company as a freelancer

Applying for a freelance contract isn’t the same as applying for a job, and the companies here can tell the difference.

  • Pitch the problem, not yourself. “Here’s the specific thing I can take off your plate” lands better than a list of technologies. Lead with client work you’ve actually shipped.
  • Have your paperwork in order first. Be ready to invoice cleanly from day one – registered self-employment, a sensible rate, and the basics of cross-border invoicing sorted. It signals you’ve done this before.
  • Show you understand distributed work. These are remote-first companies. Evidence that you can own a piece of work asynchronously and communicate it clearly in writing is worth more than enthusiasm.
  • Watch the careers page and stay warm. Freelance benches open and close with client demand. Being a known quantity when a project lands beats applying cold.

Where to go next

This list grows as we verify more companies. If you know a European company that genuinely works with freelancers on a contract basis, tell us – part of what makes Remote Work Europe useful is that every entry here has been checked, not scraped.