been getting emails from a couple platforms that connect pilots with clients, dronebase and a few others i dont remember the names of. the rates they advertise look okay on the surface but then you read the fine print and it seems like they take a pretty big cut and you're competing with like 500 other pilots in your area. i did one job through one of them a while back, paid okay but the client was a nightmare and the platform wasn't much help when things got complicated.

curious if anyone has had a better experience with these or if you just gave up on them and went direct. seems like every experienced pilot i talk to says go direct but easier said than done when you're still building a client list

yeah those platforms are kind of a catch 22. they're good for getting your first few jobs when nobody knows who you are, but the pay is genuinely bad once you factor in the cut and the time you spend dealing with their booking system and whatever. i used one for about 6 months when i was starting out, got some decent experience and one client actually reached out to me directly after and now shes one of my regulars. so i guess use them as a lead gen thing but dont expect to build a business on them long term

the race to the bottom thing is real tho. ive seen jobs posted where someone underbids by like half and you just think... how, why

Honestly my take is they serve a purpose but you have to be strategic about which ones you use. Some are better than others for specific niches ? I've heard the solar and insurance inspection side of things pays better through certain platforms because the clients are commercial and have actual budgets. Residential real estate through a platform is where you really get squeezed. If you're doing mapping or any kind of data deliverable work the math can look a lot different.

Going direct is the goal but it takes time and honestly some people never get there and just stay on the platforms forever which is fine if thats working for them. Depends what you want out of it I guess.