• Upwork

Upwork

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Overview

Upwork has a rating of 2.5 stars from 2,117 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 7th among Freelancing sites.

  • Service
    475
  • Value
    457
  • Shipping
    251
  • Returns
    287
  • Quality
    451

This company does not typically respond to reviews

Positive reviews (last 12 months): 22.7%
Positive
5
Neutral
0
Negative
17
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.

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.

Reviews (2,117)

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Reviews that mention popular keywords

customer service (91) freelancing platform (135) credit card (22) customer support (43) payment protection (24) freelancing site (80) bank account (20) freelancing career (24) post jobs (16)
Thumbnail of user booktalkkingston
2 reviews
5 helpful votes
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September 10th, 2024
• Updated review

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.

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Not a Good Platform For Freelancers or Clients
March 26th, 2024
• Previous review

This platform is one that has gone from being a valuable resource for freelancers and clients to a platform overrun with numerous spam job posts, extremely unfair pricing to freelancers, complete lack of customer support, questionable business practices (holding back invitations to force freelancers to "pay to play," and an overall free for all atmosphere severely lacking in quality control to the detriment of both freelancers and clients.

Unless freelancers and clients wish to be continually frustrated by unfair practices, it's strongly suggested using other resources to find freelance work or, for clients, finding talent..

Abysmal Customer Service/Unfair Business Practice
January 24th, 2024
• Previous review

Rhe support team has refused to answer a simple tax document question. This is strange to me. I think this site has gone downhill the past 5 years, not only in terms of poor customer service, but business practices that are sketchy for both clients and freelancers. Another issue is the large amount of spam postings on the site. Upwork does not monitor these at all. Be careful on this site.

Sustandard Customer Support
September 7th, 2023
• Previous review

Poor customer service on issue I have been having for months with regard to spam invitations and those that have nothing to do with my profile, Upwork is very resistant to explaining how freelancers are highlighted to clients who post jobs. Basically, Upwork demands freelancers spend a good amount of money buying "connects" (those cost of which continues to grow exponentially) before they will put forth the freelancer's profile on projects. Overall, I have lost trust in this company and increasing my use of more reputable resources.

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Thumbnail of user williamn1049
29 reviews
9 helpful votes
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October 7th, 2024
• Updated review

After several years they closed my account without any chance to appeal and explain. Now all my work and reviews are gone

Tip for consumers:
They are selling thin air with something called connects !!

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Fake jobs they collect poor freelancer money for nothing
April 24th, 2023
• Previous review

Fake jobs they collect poor freelancer money for nothing in term called connects so to reach an employer that willing to pay you 25% of the actual cost + commission fees you will find yourself paying them instead of getting paid!, they even sell availability badge lol...

They will also close your account for any fake reasons

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Thumbnail of user melissab4italy
1 review
1 helpful vote
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June 10th, 2024
Verified purchase

If I could give upwork a zero rating I would. I have been permanently deleted from upwork because of a simple error in my original job post 3 weeks ago when I mentioned "PayPal" in the post. Typing this work apparently violates their policy, which they did not notice for three weeks. Only today (three weeks later) did "Upwork Trust and Safety" notice and delete my account. The problem is I hired a contractor, put the money in escrow according to the terms of service, and the contractor is ready to deliver the work this week. Because upwork has deleted my account, I cannot contact the contractor, pay him for his work, or receive the completed work. They speak of word violations but violate a good faith contract concerning an honest exchange of money for services.

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Thumbnail of user jaquelinev19
1 review
1 helpful vote
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June 4th, 2024

Full of scams, my very first job was a scam confirmed by Upwork, but even so they won't refund the amount I invested buying connects to work on Upwork. And the platform still blames you and has no real intention of helping.

Tip for consumers:
Full of scams, my very first job was a scam confirmed by Upwork, but even so they won't refund the amount I invested buying connects to work on Upwork. And the platform still blames you and has no real intention of helping.

Products used:
Jobs

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Thumbnail of user leventa6
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
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June 9th, 2024

I lost about $7000 on Upwork. I think Upwork is extremely unsafe and they canceled our fixed contract with the freelancer before the project was finished. Since we did not receive the project, we opened a notification and requested a refund. The freelancer did not even respond. Upwork just watched this and now it does not respond.

Tip for consumers:
Never even log in to the upwork platform!!

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Thumbnail of user jimb3064
1 review
0 helpful votes
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May 20th, 2024

Upwork regularly post jobs that are sketching and scams.
You will apply for a job and the next day you'll find out that's its not legit.
Their vetting process is horrible.
They post jobs that use defective marketing processes and then will blame you if you apply for the.
Stay far away.

Thumbnail of user rbroome74
1 review
0 helpful votes
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May 7th, 2024

I've used Upwork several times, and I have yet to get satisfactory work. I hired a CMO on the platform to manage a wordpress website project. 6 months and $65k later, I have 8 web pages that are not responsive, the builder doesn't work in the blog, an elementary design and I'm having to pay a new designer for a new website. I parted company with the CMO and her designer. They had rated me positively on Upwork until I cut them loose. Then, they changed their feedback. What type of nonsense is that? Upwork doesn't like accountability. I'm the client, I'm paying, yet when I give honest feedback about a provider, so others don't get poor performance like I have, I get a bad review. Lol I've worked with Marketers for 15 years, and I've yet to see a single one that understood personal accountability.

Products used:
Web design

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Thumbnail of user bloemdel
1 review
0 helpful votes
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May 11th, 2024

After having had success with Upwork on previous projects, we had one not work out. The contractor was unable to meet our specifications on a fixed price contract. He pleaded poor and asked for final payment before completion with a promise to complete in the next 90 days. Based on previous success, we were admittedly naive and acceded to the request. The "finished" product never materialized. What was delivered was unusable. We waited beyond the 90 days as they attempted fixes, but it was clearly beyond their ability to deliver. Attempts to get a complaint handled with Upwork wound up with "it's too late. Talk to the contractor." After the struggle to get through to Upwork assist in requesting a refund, they told us it was up to us to settle with the contractor. Given no support from Upwork, we were without leverage and without the money we paid for the botched contract.
Fair warning. In our case, Upwork worked well if there were no problems and was of no use when problems arose.
I can't drag this to your "proof of purchase" drop zone, so am leaving it here.
Payment report - Contract ID *******

Tip for consumers:
Don't count on Upwork to intervene on your behalf if you have difficulties.

Products used:
Website development.

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Thumbnail of user joshj17
17 reviews
31 helpful votes
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April 13th, 2024

Like Fiverr this site is basically worthless. People in 3rd world countries with a very low cost of living can afford to charge pennies compared to designers in the USA. So that means they get all the jobs. Don't waste your time.

Thumbnail of user shanec519
1 review
1 helpful vote
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April 17th, 2024

Upwork technically is a safe platform to transact. However the processes to protect clients from fraudulent freelancers is flawed. I was scammed by freelancer Rehan Hamayun on an hourly contract. He billed 100% of his time in week one using the Activity tracking provided by Upwork. This activity tracking is flawed and cannot be trusted!

After week one, I did not get any deliverables, but the freelancer started asking a lot of valid clarification questions. This was a delay tactic to go beyond the 5 day dispute period. This continued into week two and that was when I started to get suspicious.

I now lost just under $2000 and received nothing. And as far as Upwork is concerned, all is legitimate.

Do not trust the Active hours! This is creating a sense of false security that work is actually done.

Do not trust the identity verification. Make sure you do your own verification.

You have 5 days to dispute anything! Make sure you get actual deliverables and do not get fooled with someone being very engaging!

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Thumbnail of user tonyl1188
1 review
0 helpful votes
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March 6th, 2024

Hired a freelancer who didn't speak much English but project was clearly posted as to what I wanted. Assumed if I had a problem, Upwork would help. Well freelancer completed 10% of the project, 90% NOT COMPLETED. And Upwork didn't provide a refund? Had to file a dispute with PayPal to get money back. Suggest you find help somewhere else as it seems Upwork sides with the dishonest freelancers when there is money to be made!

Tip for consumers:
Find another company

Products used:
Service

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Shipping
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Thumbnail of user ghazanfar2207
1 review
3 helpful votes
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February 26th, 2024

Have you noticed? Upwork seems to operate more like a gambling platform than a freelancing site. The increased prices for connects, the need for connects to boost bids or earn the 'Available Now' badge – it feels like freelancers are being taken advantage of at every turn.

Consider this: for every job posted, Upwork can potentially pocket $300-$500 in connects from freelancers, even for projects as low as $50. On top of that, they take a 20% commission from both clients and freelancers, meaning they could be making hundreds from a single $50 job. It's starting to feel less like a fair marketplace and more like a gamble.

I'm skeptical that Upwork will prioritize improving its system for the benefit of middle-class freelancers anytime soon. It seems like more than 20% of freelancers have already migrated to platforms like Fiverr due to these practices.

Upwork, are you willing to address these concerns and make changes that support the freelancing community, or are you solely focused on catering to agency profiles? Clarification would be appreciated." #Upwork

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Thumbnail of user beaconc3
1 review
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
December 22nd, 2023

The client has no option to turn off Auto Time Tracker. Once Freelancer starts tracking time, they get paid no matter what. The client can "dispute" but it is a useless feature. Upwork is forcing the client to pay their BS guarantee to freelancers and they cares 0% about the freelancer doing work right. The site is full of garbage freelancers, it is a waste of time hiring and trying to weed the total crap freelancers from decent freelancers, The 5-star rating system is as useless as Amazon or anywhere else. If you have to use Upwork, do fixed-price contracts and small milestones.

Products used:
Hourly and Fixed Price

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Thumbnail of user deepikag3
1 review
6 helpful votes
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June 8th, 2017

Account suspended saying not suitable to our platform even there were many jobs for me been a 3D Artist. Its just been a new freelancer it takes time.
What right they have saying that.
Very unstable and pathetic response. Zero understanding and helpful behaviour.

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Thumbnail of user robertb6159
1 review
4 helpful votes
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March 3rd, 2022

Beware, it's not what you think, even paying $200/hr there are no guarantees, if freelancer problems arise you better hope they were from last week. Remedy for contracts are limited to a very narrow window, even if the contract is still ongoing. You know the contractor that takes 1/2 up front and never finishes the job? Yea, upwork breeds them. And there's nothing you can do.

Thumbnail of user sohailv
2 reviews
13 helpful votes
  • Send Message
June 1st, 2017

Hello Guys,
Upwork.com is a Worst platform ever i have seen in my life. Is this makes any sense to suspend account cause of sending just few proposals while i have 4 very good reviews on my upwork.com profile and my 12$ i am unable to withdraw. Money does not matter not at all. Before account suspension must be generate a warning email with some suggestions, tips and cautions. I was try to build by business while one day i get an email from upwork.com your account is suspended and that news was a horrible dream for me.

Please dont try this keep away.

Tip for consumers:
Please see attached image , i had very good reviews account

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Thumbnail of user tiffanyb531
1 review
0 helpful votes
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January 31st, 2021

Upwork has its share of good and bad, but overall it's a great starting point for those new to freelancing and looking to build their reputation and portfolio. The fees can be brutal at times and really impact your freelancing income, as well as the fact that you literally have to pay to apply for jobs majority of the time, but once you get into a more consistent flow, you don't mind the hassle quite as much. Clientele always varies greatly and impacts the experience, but I've been working on Upwork for a few years now and am comfortable saying that I don't mind the site at all. It's definitely a 4 out of 5.

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Thumbnail of user amberd174
1 review
8 helpful votes
  • Send Message
November 1st, 2018

I spent two hours setting up the perfect profile and filling in all my info, taking tests, etc. I took the English to Italian translation test and literally scored #1 out of the *******+ people who took the test. They still rejected my application! So let me get this straight, you reject the candidate that is better than everyone you already have because you "have to many people" in the area? What an absolute farce.

Thumbnail of user coryt44
1 review
5 helpful votes
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February 16th, 2021

I used upwork for a big e-commerce project I wanted to kick off. Once the project started and things started going wrong upwork was zero help in trying to resolve the issues with the freelance agency. They made all the right noises in their email but actually didn't do anything apart from play postbox. They sure didn't forget to collect their fees from every payment made but wanted nothing to do with managing the dispute. I have decided to make a claim direct with my credit card provider and intend to inform social media of their complete lack of dispute resolution. I will never use there services again

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Thumbnail of user martina240
1 review
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
March 4th, 2018

I had a profile with 150 projects completed positively and 500 hours during five years of hard work, but hard!
They closed my account because I had a double profile years ago, without personal information, because I forgot my password, without wanting to write the email one morning with my eyes closed, and, in a few hours later the profile closed one by all, without availability to enter the web and register again!

The person who understood me, knew only one thing, you do not have more accounts here, as if I were a delinquent with two balls!

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Thumbnail of user jordanm76
1 review
9 helpful votes
  • Send Message
June 11th, 2016

I got lucky. My client and I got "flagged" for "suspicious activity" after I'd made 50$ on two other odd jobs. They locked down my account and spent the last week doing nothing but asking us for screen shots of various things(email, the work, etc.) At one point, they started pasting the stock reply into our Zendesk ticket to keep as satisfied. I've given up.

I'm very glad I didn't get a chance to bill this client the 1,000$ through the platform, because I'll never get the 50$ back that is already in escrow there. Part of the suspension is the inability to withdraw your money. I think that's why they do it.

Thumbnail of user rosss54
2 reviews
20 helpful votes
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December 14th, 2016

Anyone reading these reviews will understand that you will be very disappointed using upwork.com.
Since I wrote my original review, things have gotten even worse so I can't imagine how bad it is now.
I only gave 1 star because I had to!

Good luck Upwork... look forward to seeing this disgusting website going down.

Tip for consumers:
Don't ever use this website!

Thumbnail of user surajmishra8306456121
26 reviews
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
April 23rd, 2024

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.

Thumbnail of user akramabdrazakov37
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
March 13th, 2024

There are many services here.
I was looking for a designer for a logo and found one here.
On the website you can contact the designer and discuss all the details. This designer does minimalist work, I need this.

Thumbnail of user imranm64
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
May 15th, 2022
Verified purchase

Upwork is a blessed platform for me. I've made my freelance career with Upwork. I'm really happy with their management and worldwide work opportunities. Not only clients, freelancers are also now benefited when pandemic starts.

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2.5
2,117 reviews
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