• 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 vipang
1 review
0 helpful votes
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October 29th, 2020

Upwork has been a great influence in my life. I am able to work as per my own schedule on the projects I enjoy. It has brought a much-needed work-life balance for me.

Thumbnail of user olanrewajus
1 review
0 helpful votes
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February 21st, 2021

It has been great working as a freelancer on Upwork. The level of understanding and customer relationship is topnotch. Thanks for providing livelihood for the hopeless. Regards.

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Thumbnail of user phillipr28
1 review
11 helpful votes
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June 6th, 2016

I had an AMERICAN client, fully verified and they closed their account as well as mine due to a break in agreements. They never gave me any evidence that this was done or why I would be punished due to another person.

Here's some advice, report them to the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and they would be more out to help you.

Thumbnail of user tapojyotig
1 review
1 helpful vote
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July 24th, 2017

I bid on several jobs and got none. Then I built my own website and hired someone to promote it. They said they would give my site backlinks. I later found out paying for backlinks was discouraged by Google. Was the five star rated freelancer so stupid that he did not know? So even five star freelancers are not helpful enough to give ANY positive return on investment. I am sure all clients would agree, upwork promotes fraudulent behavior in freelancers, for example it helps a freelancer to do a "course" or buy a review (which upwork does not do enough to prevent) or listen to some "expert" freelancer who is so incapable that his business relies on upwork to succeed. On top of that, you lose 20% of what you pay as upwork's commission fee, so if you pay $1000, you are actually paying the freelancer $800. This is a waste of money as I found out the hard way, and many freelancers indulge in black hat practices that will lower your site's rankings. Even upwork tests have been asking the same questions for years. There are many sites which give the questions and answers of upwork tests and freelancers use these to pass tests. People who are defending upwork obviously benefit a lot from all this, like Danny Margulies who has a private forum dedicated to succeeding on upwork, and people who regularly write mere words for $125 an hour. Stay away, and stay safe.

Thumbnail of user nadira7
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 16th, 2021

In my opinion, Upwork is the best service for Freelancers. It has the most work available for freelancers of all kinds. But, its commission (20%) is just huge.

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Thumbnail of user abdullaha331
1 review
0 helpful votes
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October 29th, 2020

Upwork is good for a freelancer. Upwork totally change my life. I've worked here for more than 1+year and I'm learning and earning every day on this platform.

Thumbnail of user tetianaf
1 review
0 helpful votes
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July 13th, 2020

Over 5 years on UpWork I worked with many clients, and some of them became long-term ones. I had a great and fruitful experience using UpWork to look for projects worldwide.

Thumbnail of user rummanu
1 review
0 helpful votes
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June 14th, 2020

I have worked on several freelancing projects on different sites. The experience with Upwork is far better than others since the clients are knowledgeable with proper requirement specifications.

Thumbnail of user mdparvezh
1 review
0 helpful votes
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May 2nd, 2021

This is a great marketplace for online business. Because there are millions of sellers and buyers selling their services and buying the services at low cost and quickly.

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Thumbnail of user menirk
1 review
6 helpful votes
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September 23rd, 2014

I have been paid as premium membership.
I invested there 199$USD today and I recived money with Premium Area.
Why You say that is scam?

My payout details:

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Thumbnail of user winkieg
5 reviews
13 helpful votes
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May 23rd, 2019

I tried to register on Upwork twice. Both times the account was suspended despite the fact that I did nothing at all! I will look for another platform.

Thumbnail of user mohammeda406
1 review
0 helpful votes
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May 17th, 2020

Upwork is a great place to work on! Integrated business experience where I find all what I possibly need to work from all the tools and security standards till finding great clients from worldwide.

Thumbnail of user shobham7
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 23rd, 2021

Upwork is the place to be if you want to go places. Work hard and you will be rewarded well. Clients can be at peace knowing that only the best talent reaches this platform.

Love it!

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Thumbnail of user ayoubl19
1 review
0 helpful votes
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June 30th, 2020

I have subscribed on Upwork in 2017, but I haven't got any job, and my account has been disabled due to my failing to get any project because I didn't have any experience in my field, I had forgotten about work as a freelancer. And after 3 years until now at the beginning of the current situation, I come back with good experience in my field, so I contacted the Upwork support and I followed the instructions to get my account activated again. After that in about a month, I have submitted a lot of proposal without getting hired, until I got my first 5$ project, and from this point, my successful story starts with Upwork and in about a month or less I achieved more than 1k $, I am only work in part-time in Upwork, indeed I am preparing to make Upwork my full-time work. I have worked on other freelance platforms but Upwork is the best because on Upwork you get what you deserve due to the review system, but on other platforms, you can work and get nothing.

Thumbnail of user andrer12
4 reviews
5 helpful votes
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December 2nd, 2022

Warning! DO NOT WORK FOR UPWORK!
There are many scammers on UPWORK, but most of all after you do work for people they can remove the contract and YOU WILL NEVER GET PAID! UPWORK makes it very difficult to contact them regarding issues. Very unprofessional. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME.
Also you cannot access your money until you hit $100 which is a very long time worth of work, and I imagine many people do not get their money as I will not!
Don't waste your time!

Thumbnail of user summerk22
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 4th, 2021

My Name is Summer Khan and I'm a Professional Graphic Designer. I start my Journey from Fiverr But When Somebody ask me to try Upwork then I realize Upwork is a Professional Platform for a Professional Skill Person. I'm very Happy to work on Upwork. Thank You Upwork Community to Give us such a Great Platform their we show your skill and earn some Money. :)

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Thumbnail of user aleho
1 review
0 helpful votes
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August 14th, 2020

I've been looking for and trying different sites to earn money. Just Upwork that I find
Better conditions. You start and you hit the whirlpool of orders.
Thanks, Upwork for this opportunity!

Thumbnail of user carlod63
1 review
0 helpful votes
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February 25th, 2021

Upwork is a great platform to find work and professional talent. As a freelancer, It is a safe and easy way to find new clients and just search for the projects that you are good at.

Products used:
Platform

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Thumbnail of user boscom
1 review
0 helpful votes
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December 17th, 2020

Upwork is a great platform for freelancing. They provided excellent support for a freelancer that wishes to connect wi employers around the globe and all is done in a very secure way.

Thumbnail of user michaels5811
1 review
0 helpful votes
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February 8th, 2021

I was recommended to Upwork by a colleague who knew I was interested in locating some writing gigs to help generate some additional income. Initially, I was overwhelmed by the volume of potential "requests for proposals" available to generate opportunities. Eventually, I learned to differentiate between those that paid poorly and those that rewarded the freelancer appropriately for the investment of time. The variety of potential opps required me to properly focus my search for clients. Within a month of joining I had generated over $1,000 in revenue and met very professional and interesting clients. The fee charged by Upwork for building a platform that facilitates finding clients is well worth it. The interface, billing, and payment features are easy to adapt and make the whole process of receiving funds exceptionally easy. I would highly recommend becoming a member if you are interested in locating gig work as a developmental editor, copy-editor, proofreader, or even very creative writing of courses and presentations.

Tip for consumers:
Well worth the investment

Products used:
Freelance Services

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Thumbnail of user markf420
1 review
16 helpful votes
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April 9th, 2019

Not only is their website terrible to work with, they appear to be stealing money from my freelancer. I just logged on to re-hire a freelancer I hired in February. That is when I saw a message from him that he left back in February after the job was done. I copied the message below

Hi MarkI hope everything is fine with you. I have big favor to ask. Upwork suspended my account without giving any reason. Which is very strange to me. All my feedback is very good, clients were happy with the work i did for them, i am doing projects currently. I don't see what that reason could be. But from what i read now online it's not for the first time that this happened at upwork, which is alarming! They basically block freelancer accounts (including account balance) without any explanation and don't respond to any form of communication. I am experiencing this now with them. They took money from my balance and i believe returned it to your account. I have big favor to ask, i hope you value the work i did for you and would like to pay me for the work i did i would be very grateful.

So, I looked at my account and see Upwork billed my credit card twice for this job and credited back one of the charges. So Upwork took my money and did not pay the Freelancer. My credit card company has pulled back the money Upwork took and I just paid my freelancer on PayPal. This company cannot be trusted.

Thumbnail of user ibrahii
1 review
0 helpful votes
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November 24th, 2020

Till now I have 5 months in Upwork, I found the opportunity to improve my skills and to earn a lot of money. I really like freelancing on Upwork very nice experience.

Thumbnail of user yazana7
1 review
0 helpful votes
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December 27th, 2020

I've been using Upwork for 4 months as a freelance designer. Upwork is a great platform for clients who are looking for professional freelancers and vice versa.

Tip for consumers:
For every professional freelancer in almost every field, you should try Upwork

Products used:
Freelance project

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Thumbnail of user faizank9
1 review
1 helpful vote
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August 23rd, 2021

Good pay for each minute spent, excellent learning platform, great work life balance, a good option to start a second career after a break, many career options to choose from.

Thumbnail of user brajpals
1 review
0 helpful votes
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September 27th, 2020

I find Upwork most genuine freelancing jobs site, clients are good and freelancers are protected, if you have the skills and ability to complete the jobs successfully, there is no way freelancer will not get success here, but, big but, the commission is highest on any site, moreover, they have stared the connects buying system, however, in my view all these steps have been taken to keep active and professional freelancers on the platforms so overall I love working on Upwork and as I said, everyone who has skills, dedication, desire to perform and help are the key points to get success here.

Here i want to request Upwork management on this platform because they have asked for the honest review, that please think about the freelancers benefits too because no matter how good platform you provide to clients and freelancers but if you keep finding the ways to make dent in freelancers earning, gradually freelancers will start making distance from this site and ultimately it will be harm to Upwork's credibility, please stop taking freelancers for granted because sooner or later it will happen if you Upwork's management doesn't pay attention to this issue.

Best of Luck.

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Typically does not respond to reviews

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