An independent contractor is often referred to as a freelancer because this is someone who will do work for someone without a promise that the person will be paid even if he/she does not have work. This means that a freelancer can get paid depending on the number of projects that the person has. An employee who has a contract can be paid regardless of how much work the person does.
For example, the person may have days when he would have a lot of work, but there are also days when he just has to monitor a few of the projects that are ongoing. No matter what he is working on, his pay will remain the same, and it would be dependent on what is written in the contract.
Many people use these terms interchangeably, but they do not mean the same thing. Freelance refers to the sale of services to employers without a long term contract. A person that freelance is called a freelancer. A freelancer is not part of the staff of an organization but only offer their services for a limited time. A freelancer has more control of their time.
A freelancer works per project or by budgeted hours assigned for a given task. A contract is an agreement between two or more parties to perform a specific job or work. It is often for a temporary or fixed duration. A written agreement usually governs it. I hope you find this information helpful.
There are some people who may use these two terms interchangeably but they are different from each other. Someone who is working freelance may work in a project to project basis. There will be days when the person will not have any work.
There are also days when the person would be given a lot of work. An employee who is under contract is usually hired by a specific company. There will be days when the person will have work and there will be days when there will not be too much work but the employee will still be paid depending on the monthly salary that the person has agreed on before signing up to be a part of the company.
Some people feel that they are better off as freelancers because they will have better control of their time. Freelancers will get paid on a per-project basis. This means that when they complete a project, they will get paid. Contract employees, on the other hand, will be paid every hour as long as they are working for the company that there are under contract with.
Some people feel that being a contract employee is better because this allows them to have money whether they have a lot of work or not. The disadvantage of this is they have to follow regular working hours. Some people like this because they like routine.