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Upwork

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Overview

Upwork has a rating of 2.5 stars from 2,119 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Upwork most frequently mention customer service, credit card, and job success problems. Upwork ranks 6th among Freelancing sites.

  • Service
    477
  • Value
    459
  • Shipping
    253
  • Returns
    289
  • Quality
    453

This company does not typically respond to reviews

Positive reviews (last 12 months): 16.7%
Positive
3
Neutral
0
Negative
15
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270
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How would you rate Upwork?
Top Positive Review

“Unlocking Freelance Opportunities with Upwork”

पपीता म.
4/23/24

Upwork has been my trusted platform for finding freelance opportunities and connecting with clients from around the world. The platform's vast network of clients and freelancers, comprehensive job listings, and secure payment system make it easy to find meaningful projects and build a successful freelance career. I appreciate Upwork's commitment to transparency and professionalism, as seen in its dispute resolution process and feedback system, which ensure fair and equitable transactions for both parties. Moreover, the platform's collaboration tools and communication features enhance teamwork and streamline project management. With Upwork, freelancing is not just a job—it's a rewarding and fulfilling career.

Date of experience: 4/22/24
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Top Critical Review

“Not worth it”

P X.
9/10/24

Business practices are arbitrary and unfair with the cost for freelancers of doing business on the site constantly increasing and various services and perks taken away. Not worth it for freelancers--and clients don't fare much better.

Date of experience: 9/10/24
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Reviews (2,119)

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Reviews that mention popular keywords

customer service (91) freelancing platform (135) credit card (22) customer support (44) payment protection (24) freelancing site (80) bank account (20) freelancing career (25) post jobs (16)
Thumbnail of user pams332
Georgia
1 review
19 helpful votes
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November 15th, 2019

I hired a freelancer that billed over $4K and then ghosted me. Dispute went to mediation per Upwork policy but nothing came of it because the freelancer choose not to participate (I think he got kicked off the platform although I am not sure). Bottom line, I have no deliverable, am out of $4K, and the mediation process yielded nothing. Very disappointing.

Date of experience: November 15, 2019

Thumbnail of user chrisa1193
South Carolina
1 review
0 helpful votes
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December 10th, 2020

Upwork has changed the game for me as a designer. Their platform brings excellent clients from around the world directly to me. They provide advice, protection and the largest pool of high quality projects for me to consider. Sincerely, Upwork has changed the way I work.

Date of experience: December 10, 2020

Thumbnail of user katrinar21
Oregon
1 review
4 helpful votes
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October 26th, 2017

Contact support. All they did was reactivate the same system. So i asked them to do it manually instead. They responded saying THEY couldnt verify it either and need more docs. I looked at the doc list and the first thing listed was MY ID! The same one no one can verify, even though it says OREGON across the top and has my name on it. Ive emailed back saying that im not moving forward to find addtl doc till they can assure me that my id wont be a problem.
If i had another form of id, i wouldve used it. For an easy app, this sure is complicated.

Date of experience: October 26, 2017

Thumbnail of user davorz2
Serbia
1 review
17 helpful votes
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November 19th, 2018

You could work through UpWork for 10 years and contribute tens of thousands of dollars to their profit and they could lay you off forever in a heartbeat based on their policy (after 10 years) or based on a whim of your employer who falsely reports you. If you built your freelance business solely on UpWork platform YOU ARE SCREWED my friend.

UpWork is just another example of evil corporatism. The fact that they make money out of connecting workers with employers for hard cash does not make them any different from weapons producers or oil companies.

They represent the evil nature of corporatism. They care only about their profit.

Date of experience: November 19, 2018

Thumbnail of user kevina46
North Carolina
1 review
13 helpful votes
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January 27th, 2016

Yes, there are people who are trying to scam you here, just like any other freelance site. Yes, there are people who want to pay too low. You don't have to accept those offers. I put it offers with maybe 30 places, only got a couple answers, because I want a good price for my work. The last person who hired me ended up having a lot of work for me. I write questions for him, they take 5-10 minutes a piece, and it pays $5 a question. So, I'm making 30- 60 dollars an hour with this client. He has been very professional, very available, and I haven't had a rejection or a problem with pay. I have a full time job, and this is still easy enough to make an extra ~500 or so a month. Sift through all the bullsh*t and you can find some great work on here.

Date of experience: January 27, 2016

Thumbnail of user nguyenl16
Viet Nam
1 review
0 helpful votes
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November 6th, 2020

I have been on Upwork for 3+ years now and all opportunities I've got from the platform were all amazing. Not all of them were 5 stars but everything I got out of the jobs (experience, skills, training, knowledge,...) were priceless. Kudos to Upwork and their amazing staff.

Date of experience: November 5, 2020

Thumbnail of user daisyh12
Australia
1 review
10 helpful votes
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March 27th, 2017

My partner joined up work as freelancer and received 5 starts for every job he did. He applied for multiple jobs and wasn't contracted to all of them so upwork indefinitely suspended his account saying that his skills weren't good enough! What the. That's disgusting, no support for freelancers, my partner is a graphic design student and charged bugger all for jobs he just didn't get contracted to some because he aimed too high, if he knew up work would do this he never would have applied for high skill jobs even though he actually is highly skilled just didn't have enough proof, this website is a disgusting discriminating piece of work! Very angry.

Tip for consumers:
do not use this site

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: March 27, 2017

Thumbnail of user phonevisethc
LA
1 review
0 helpful votes
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September 17th, 2020

This place designed for freelancer and anyone looks for freelancer to done their project. I have no issue working via this platform and working ethic here is always come first. If you are experienced freelancer looking for real job with trusted payment, Upwork is the place for you.

Date of experience: September 17, 2020

Thumbnail of user fezanj
Pakistan
1 review
0 helpful votes
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December 16th, 2020

The way contracts are dealt with is protective of both clients and freelancers. The UI of the site is amazing, as is the forum community. Perhaps the best thing I like about Upwork is its social media presence, which is by far the best among all freelance platforms!

Date of experience: December 16, 2020

Thumbnail of user markh126
GB
1 review
8 helpful votes
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October 1st, 2014

Had 2 -3 yrs work through this site as a photographer, a few big jobs 2000$+ so was quite happy but then had one client who took forever to decide on images and suddenly my account was under review which i had no idea what this meant.
Contacted them and all they could say was the same reply over and over, complete the job and account will be reviewed. So job finished and nothing. So contacted them and within 48 hrs they decided that my account should be closed. No explanation as why they thought that just closed. I have been a pro photographer for over 20 yrs so run a professional business so for them to call my professionalism into doubt really annoys me.at least give the elancer some feedback as why they think this. Happy to take my money when i upgraded my account now complete bastards when i ask wtf they are doing this. Luckily they are less than 1% of my income but it really f**ks me off how they have treated me.

Date of experience: October 1, 2014

Thumbnail of user barunk2
India
1 review
0 helpful votes
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October 14th, 2020

Amongst all the platforms my all-time favorite is only and only Upwork. The client and job facility both are awesome here. Very user-friendly and high standard platform. I am proud to be a part of upwork family and this is my only source of income. Upwork fulfilling all my dreams. Thanks :)

Date of experience: October 14, 2020

Thumbnail of user nicoled483
Michigan
1 review
0 helpful votes
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June 29th, 2020

I've been working on the Upwork platform for a year and a half and my business has soared. The platform is easy to use, offers many resources such as a time tracker, invoice sheets, and lifetime billing data by client. The customer service team is always polite and resourceful, and I would not have the solid clients I currently have if it wasn't for Upworks vetting process. I have attempted to find other platforms to branch out, but none of the others have the ease of use and clientele. I highly recommend this platform to other freelancers that are masters of their trade.

Date of experience: June 29, 2020

Thumbnail of user chrisa1096
Virginia
1 review
0 helpful votes
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August 18th, 2020

Don't tell anyone but I have been able to score $100/hr, long-term, interesting and very cool gigs from UpWork, from very nice people from the comfort of my own home. Mind you, you need to work hard to go through the listings, but if you're diligent and persistent and you take a little extra time to make a connection, UpWork is an excellent place to get gigs and make money.

Date of experience: August 18, 2020

Thumbnail of user alekseyd4
RU
1 review
0 helpful votes
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November 13th, 2020

I am Upwork I have been working for 1.5 years. This site provides all the tools for normal work between a freelancer and a client. The main thing is to use them correctly. I am happy to recommend this site for professionals in their field and for those who want to find these professionals.

Date of experience: November 11, 2020

Thumbnail of user grumpym3
California
6 reviews
13 helpful votes
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July 23rd, 2018

I have used Elance before it became Upwork and the quality of providers was much higher. These days as long as someone can pass the basic ready test he is good to go and based on Upwork policys allowed to screw you out of time and money. If you and your contractor agree on terms Upwork does not care and allows them to bill you what they want. So if someone enters hrs you are stuck paying for services which where not delivered. Will be looking for a new platform to hire programming contractors as Upwork is becoming shady. They bill you Monday am, and before you can dispute something they deduct the $$ from your account. Legit companys give you a few days to review and you pay for undisputed amounts. But hey customer service is as bad as the platform itself as it is down multiple times a week

Date of experience: July 23, 2018

Thumbnail of user rockyb14
Georgia
1 review
9 helpful votes
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July 16th, 2014

Do not use this company if you pay a freelancer and they do not deliver the product you will not get your money back without going though a ton of red tape and you money is lost. You could lose 10k faster in Vegas with better odds. Stay away. Its a scam...

Date of experience: July 16, 2014

Thumbnail of user nakulc
India
1 review
0 helpful votes
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June 18th, 2020

Have been fetching projects through upwork since the time it was odesk. Its a great source, in fact the best one out there, for fetching projects online. Its trustworthy and the process is quite seamless. Great going upwork.

Date of experience: June 18, 2020

Thumbnail of user miam101
GB
3 reviews
10 helpful votes
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July 19th, 2019

Odesk was best but Upwork is not so good. Customer support is very bad. Hourly job was completed but they still charged me weekly. I talked with customer support about this issue. But they never return my money.

Date of experience: July 19, 2019

Thumbnail of user waqasa32
Pakistan
1 review
0 helpful votes
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December 14th, 2020

I really like this platform. Because it is really helpful to grow your business. Anyone who wants to grow his/her business, they can come here. Because they are providing great options and opportunities. Thank you.

Date of experience: December 14, 2020

Thumbnail of user horsesm
California
1 review
4 helpful votes
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July 6th, 2017

I just experienced the biggest nightmare of my life, working with an Upwork vendor. He's a 3D animator by the name of Sergey Petrukevich. He repeatedly tried to blackmail me for more money throughout the job. I kept Upwork in the loop during the project and afterward, asked them to sandbox him for good so he could not attempt to extort anyone else. They PUNISHED ME! Upwork obviously approves of their vendors holding clients to ransom for more money. It now all makes sense. The more a vendor robs a client of additional monies, the more Upwork gets paid. If you value your wallet and your sanity, avoid Upwork like the plague. For me, this was like fending off a rapist, reporting him to the police and then being thrown in prison for assaulting the person who tried to rape me. Yes, it was just about this bad.

Date of experience: July 6, 2017

Thumbnail of user amirs55
Canada
1 review
2 helpful votes
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December 30th, 2019

I hired a free lancer on upwork, he took $1700 from me and literally did nothing. I wrote a review on upwork to warn other users. Upwork removed my review, instead they posted the free lancer's review on my profile.
I called and asked the reason, and no body had any satisfactory answer.
They have no talent at all to be honest... just be careful...

Date of experience: December 30, 2019

Thumbnail of user jackj471
Ohio
2 reviews
2 helpful votes
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April 13th, 2021

I have been using Upwork for over two years, and am a big fan. At that time I signed up for Upwork and Freelancer.com. Initially I got more offers for work from Freelancer with much less work, but then I saw that over half of these offers were from scammers looking to purchase my identity from me. Yikes!

Upwork's internal review and controls don't eliminate spammers, but greatly reduce it. Instead, I have had to fairly compete on an open marketplace for jobs that are posted and coming in all day every day.

Sure, I had to start with lower prices than the market would seem to be, but I worked hard, got good reviews, and started getting more work - and raising my prices. After becoming a Rising Star and then Top Rated, and maintaining a 100% JSS score (with the help of the ability to challenge the rare poor review) I now find Upwork a healthy supplement to my writing business.

Service
Value
Quality

Date of experience: April 13, 2021

Thumbnail of user lubaa2
Bangladesh
1 review
1 helpful vote
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August 18th, 2020

I started working as a freelancer on this website and got success within a short time. The process is very simple and reliable. I'm choosing this platform for my freelancing career for a long term and I'm hopeful to get as much as success possible.

Date of experience: August 17, 2020

Thumbnail of user thivankat
Sri Lanka
1 review
17 helpful votes
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April 6th, 2020

1. They charge 20% as commission from your earnings
2. In order to bid for projects, you need to pay and buy credits or you need to have a paid subscription which will cost you around 15 USD to 25 USD monthly
3. When you try to tranfer the money, they further charge 1 to 2%

Avoid this. I was a top rated freelancer in upwork and realize how they rob the money

Date of experience: April 6, 2020

Thumbnail of user manojp1
Nepal
1 review
13 helpful votes
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March 2nd, 2015

I had elance account with good profile and feedback. I didn't have any disputes or any complaints with clients. But suddenly my account closed by elance and never opened. Its completely scam site. Hope odesk wont be same after merger.

Date of experience: March 2, 2015

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