Name: Upwork for Freelancers
Rating: 4.64335 (47960 reviews)

User Reviews for Upwork for Freelancers

4.64 out of 5

48K Ratings

11 months ago, Pheebs1003

Don’t Be Dumb

Life-changing platform. I’ve used it as a freelancer and a client. It’s a little frustrating to see all the negative reviews from people who aren’t getting hired for jobs, or being scammed. It is impossible to get scammed on this app if you just follow the instructions. It’s plastered everywhere on the app. Do not send payment information or communications outside of Upwork. Ever! And you will not get scammed and you will be protected. If you ignored those warnings that’s on you because they have clearly stated that all payments are to be done through the app. Secondly, it does take a lot of work to get jobs. Freelancing is not for everyone, and neither are office jobs. if you’re not getting jobs after extensive attempts, you’re probably submitting low quality proposals to the wrong jobs or have a low quality profile. In order to freelance you need a strategy and something to offer. Convince the client you are the one for the job. If you’re not convinced or you don’t care about the work you won’t get the job.

4 years ago, MadtRocks

I love the app but there are problems

There is nothing better or more convenient than being able to talk with my clients while on the go. I have used this app and the app before this one for year without any complaints. However, in the last few weeks I have had more problems with this app than ever before. It does not notify me on my lockscreen or with a badge icon if I have a new message (it is set to have these notifications in my settings). This has resulted in me having late responses while traveling or in the evenings multiple times, my JSC has also dropped because of this issue. Also when I get job proposals now and view them on the app it no longer tells me the date or time I received them the app just says “invalid date.” Not the biggest problem, I can still reply to these proposals. This just was not a problem with this app before the last update. I had to completely delete this app from my ipad because it was incapable of even loading to open. (But somehow I was able to get notifications of new messages on my ipad, i just couldn’t open the app to view them.) As a freelancer who has worked with you for several years, I have come to respect you as a company. I love what you do and provide for us to be able to work online and with our own schedule. Please fix this app, it’s been good before and it can be better in the future. So many freelancers use this app for work everyday, it would mean a lot to us if it was as reliable as the company it represents.

3 years ago, Nkon8

Scam that can be found often

A client promised me a job, we had an interview and everything looked legal. Except the fact when they were trying to give me the materials for work that I needed for free and I knew that was suspicious. They had to send me the deposit so I could put it in my bank account and then give it back to them which was odd, I asked why they need to do that and they said their policies has changed after the pandemic. I was just curious to see if it actually works but I didn’t fully believe until the deposit was actually transferred successfully and bank confirmed it. I was scared that somehow I’m going to lose my money but I didn’t. After awhile they promised to send me a tracking number of the materials they “ordered” for me. And then they said they didn’t have enough funds so they needed to make another deposit of $1000 which they send to me and I had to give them back. I don’t even know why in the first place I trusted them. But I did it anyway. And then after a couple of days that $1000 of deposit was a chargeback. When I tried to ask them, they blocked me and that’s when I realized that it was a scam and i wasn’t even surprised. I knew that it could happen. Anyway, so now I don’t trust this app again. It was probably my fault but I still don’t get it how these scammers are on this app.

1 year ago, Traphouse Steffie

Fake job postings out of control/fees for everything!

Already- trying to get through this app and find work as an editor/content writer, I have found nothing but suspicious jobs. One of them was even some Nigerian trying to get me to join his acorn account and put some money in it just so he could get up to 30 people and make 150 bucks within two weeks. There are so many people on here that will just waste your time and “connects” (credits) that you have to pay for to make your bids. 15¢ per connect but you have to spend on average 8 of those just to send your proposal, while other bidders might outbid for 20 connects or more. It’s hard to win-but are they even winning? How do we know if we can trust this company not to scam already needy people by posting fake jobs? And if you do a small job that’s under $100 and you don’t get another job through up work for a while- guess what - your money sits in their account and you can’t even transfer it till it’s at least $100 or more. So with all of their fees that might equal out to subtracting your project to just under $100, your little money that you worked for might be sitting there for months. Just build your own website and do free work to build your portfolio. Then market yourself on the web.

3 years ago, tantalus cowsmirk

An excellent place to start a freelancing career

I had been dreaming of pursuing my passion for 3D design but had never made any big move towards it (other than practicing my craft daily). I stumbled across Upwork and decided to make an account. In the beginning it was hard to find clients seeing as I had no professional experience … but within three months I was making more than I was at my full-time job and decided to go headfirst into it full-time. Thanks to Upwork I have a freedom I never thought possible and a self-guided career that brings excitement and security to my life. For me it was definitely the easiest way to break into freelancing and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wishes they could make a living with their interests. It takes research and effort to present yourself effectively to potential clients … but it’s a relatively enlightening process of self-exploration and it all has been worth it. The experience and portfolio-building on Upwork has also led to non-Upwork client opportunities (now I do both in tandem)—so it’s also not entirely insular either. To me this place was a critical step in opening my eyes to a different way of existing. Give it a shot … it seriously changed life when I felt like a dead-end job might really be my destiny.

1 month ago, A.H. Tomsen

Gambling for Peanuts

Most jobs offer a one time pay out for $5, you WILL be forced to “bid” around $1 just to submit an application. To be clear: in your first month you get 150 “connects” to bid with (at 10 connects per bid). That means you get to apply to 15 jobs with no guarantee they will reply, is this better than simply applying for remote work on Indeed? No. On top of the gambling system, UpWork takes 10%. UpWork has no customer/talent support so you will not get any feedback or support from UpWork the company but you will have a ton of other freelancer chipping in with guesses as to how to help. For how much UpLink charges they offer very little, almost no payment protection. This job is a side hustle for people who have MUCH free time and disposable income. The 10% of people on the site who manage to land jobs with real clients love UpWork because they literally don’t get out with scammers and dead end offers. You can’t break into this job, you have to put up with losing money for years until you are “established”. This is a scam, freelancers are the cash cows always incentivized to gamble and given no support when messages disappear or the app fails to function.

4 months ago, FancyB1239

You need to spend a lot of money here before you land a job

Upwork is just becoming worst day by day… instead of reducing the amount of connects freelancers use to apply to jobs, upwork keeps on increasing the amount of connects for freelancers to apply to jobs making it more expensive and difficult for freelancers to land a job. This is really bad because most freelancers are just start-up and don't even have those amount of money to purchase connect. Even if we purchase the connects, the job we are applying for is not even sure because the platform is too competitive. Please you people should work on this as soon as possible. I would like to suggest that upwork should reduce the amount of connects that we need to apply to jobs. If UPWORK is doing this to get more profit then I think you people should subtract any fee you people want from a freelancer after the job is done and not when the job is not sure. Because we use money to purchase these connects and our money just waste on daily basis

2 years ago, Usernameeeee here

Fake Jobs And Dangerous Scams

So i’ve been using Upwork for about 6-8 months now as a freelance copywriter and my early days with the platform were great. I found easy jobs that helped me build my skills and land higher paying jobs (just as the platform promises), but i’ve noticed that, as of recently, SO many of the job postings are fake. Like more fake postings than authentic. It’s gotten to the point where you can’t even trust the “payment verified” jobs. I find it hypocritical because this platform claims to be about authenticity, safety, and fun for freelancers. Unfortunately i’ve noticed that they’ve either sold out to scammers or lost like 3/4ths of a team that handles this issue. If they ask you to talk on ANY other platform that isn’t Upwork, it’s fake. I’ve even seen stuff that looks like a kidnapping ploy where they’re ‘scouting models’ through upwork listings. Please be careful, don’t listen to everything you see as far as payment verification, high paying listings, or generally anything that seems too good to be true. Stay safe, and better yet... stay off Upwork.

6 months ago, cricket240

Good for beginners. Not for a living.

I used this app primarily in the beginning of my time as a freelancer. I made $45 for 5, 1000-word articles. After the 20% fee, I made $36. It got me my “portfolio,” but I made peanuts on it. Throughout the years, Upwork has regressed. You have to pay with connects to even show clients that you have availability. If you scroll for months on end because the jobs aren’t a fit or pay enough, your scores go down because of the lack of visibility. I have finished every project on time with my lowest rating from a client as a 3.7 from a misunderstanding, but I have a 56% job success score. No one would even look at my proposal with those scores. The bidding wars have made applying for jobs feel hopeless, and the starting rates are almost 16 connects most of the time, when the max used to be 6. The best thing they did was lower the fee, but it doesn’t make up for the other stuff they’ve done. I’d stick with Upwork if you’re a beginner to develop a profile and have stuff to show. Make your real money on LinkedIn and elsewhere.

5 years ago, Double7Oh

Poorly engineered app for a subpar marketplace

First, my primary pet peeve is that the app will log you out after some time of inactivity. I understand that this is for security reasons, but the fact that Upwork’s site and mobile apps have poor integration with password managers like iCloud and Dashlane means I’m always having to reset my password. Tangentially, why are there restrictions on the characters I can use for my password? A second year computer science student can design a password input that accepts all characters. The second pet peeve I have is with the Freelancer app itself. There’s a glaring bug where individual search results are impossible to interact with. I can’t tap more to expand the summary section of the project unless I go back then retry the search. Overall, my experience with the poor app and lackluster project selection has lead me to move on past Upwork. It seems that freelancers can be successful, but only after significant effort to get started on their part. I wouldn’t recommend Upwork to anyone seeking to freelance part time.

2 years ago, wizzle_p

A balanced app for all Freelancers

This platform has been a real opportunity magnet for anyone looking to freelance their particular profession. I’ve been freelancing for a short time and have discovered many areas of expertise available for hire on upwork. So no matter your niche, if you freelance you can find something on upwork. Like most platforms there’s always someone looking to abuse the platform, Upwork is actively working to remove abusers from their platform. They also provide an escrow service. If you are a professional and are skeptical about your clients ability to pay, you can use Upwork escrow service to help you get paid by hour/job or milestones, without the worry of payment after a finished project or time worked. A great feature for those who have new clients and want to keep everyone honest while getting to know them. I highly recommend giving this app an honest shot knowing it has worked for so many freelancers.

4 years ago, Miss. what happened to yahoo?

It started off good... BUT

It started off good I was excited to book my first upwork gig and was happy with the company and employer. Then without warning they froze my account due to verify and threatened to hold my funds. I was new to the profile I didn’t get any explanation emails prior to explaining this would occur. I tried to verify and the process was bogus. I’m still trying to learn this system till this day. Then they asked me for a copy of my photo I.D -and I gave that. And then they asked for a video interview. Which is fine BUT I never got the email for the interview and my account is still on hold. They are making this harder than it needs to be for just a side hustle. 🤷🏽‍♀️. I don’t understand what’s so hard about setting up a virtual interview. This site is NOT newbie friendly in my opinion. I’m still learning about all the website has to offer. So if your going to use them be sure to have some patience and a little bit of time to get the logistics down.

5 years ago, Stage&Set

This app lacks functionality

Im not sure why Upwork needs two apps- one for hiring managers and one for freelancers, it seems a bit excessive to me. Not to mention, I’ll get a notification that I have a message and when I open the app, its a blank white screen. I always have to close the app then re-open it so I can read or respond to messages. Seems a bit ridiculous that someone whose base is 30+% IT would have an app with glitches. Additionally, since I had an active contract, I had not applied to other contracts. So Uwpork made my profile private. Thats not fair to hiring manager or freelancers. How can hiring managers source top or rising talent if they cannot see profiles? How are you providing a good experience to your freelancers if our profiles are private and then we have to PAY to make ourselves public again? Since I work on both sides of the platform; both as a hiring manager and a freelancer, I can say with absolutely certainty, once my contracts are up, I will not be back.

5 years ago, Gniliem

So buggy

Honestly, this app is so buggy that I haven’t bothered to shift over from the old one (which isn’t that much better). Every time I get a message and I open the app to look at it, one of two things happens: 1) the app crashes, or 2) I get a blank white screen and have to close and reopen it. Since the main point of getting the app was to check my messages on the go, this makes things terribly inconvenient. Also, a number of other reviewers have already mentioned this, but the high percentage Upwork takes from freelancers makes it less viable for real high-quality freelancers to remain on this platform. Combined with the $ it costs to buy Connects just to bid on new jobs now, Upwork is becoming less and less attractive. It’d be better to set the % based on a freelancer’s total lifetime earnings rather than per client - you already know that those freelancers have a good track record on Upwork, so might as well reward them for remaining on the platform.

1 year ago, pretzel.5

Awful experience

I’ll just sum it up by saying basically I did a job for someone…both contract and payment was done through the Upwork platform. The client then requested a refund and Upwork decided to refund it without speaking to me at all. I went to read some reviews on the client and apparently they scammed dozens of people this way and Upwork doesn’t seem to think a client should ever have to give a valid explanation for wanting a refund. Then they emailed me saying I wasn’t eligible for payment protection. I had two other clients that were a scam as well. Upwork doesn’t stick up for the freelancer even if you follow all the rules and stay on the platform. I deleted my account and won’t be using it again. Also I just want to note I’m a tech savvy person and am familiar with internet scams, so this is not something I have fallen for before. I think that Upwork is the perfect place for scammers since they side with them.

5 years ago, Ashley JG

High Fees & Slow Payments - other than that Great!

First off, the app its self or fairly user friendly and the contract process is very smooth. Communicating within the app exclusively is rather difficult once a project is underway. But my biggest complaint is the high fees the app takes (20% on the first $500 and 10% offer that) so there isn’t a real incentive to seek multiple new clients at one time. And then to finally get paid, the money is already paid by the client but then held in an account until the project is complete. Once you submit payment approval and the client okays it, it takes 3-5 business days to credit to your Upwork account where you then half to transfer it to your bank and even an ACH transfer connected directly to one’s bank takes 3-7 business days... so Your money is sitting there for almost 2 weeks. Horrible!

5 years ago, Sai Leigh

Disappointing changes

I started using Upwork a year ago and it was great. Convenient for finding and applying to jobs quickly and bringing in a bit of extra money. At this point having a free account still got you some connects to use monthly. Recent changes mean that users, no matter the membership, now need to pay for connects. Not really worth it for a side gig with middle-of-the-road pay - especially since they already take a cut of what you make. On top of that, I’ve consistently had issues with their support/customer service. They don’t really resolve or answer anything. I had a client trying to pay me OFF of the site through Venmo (not allowed), and when I brought it to their attention with screenshots of his emails, they shrugged it off. In retaliation the client paid me only a small portion of the agreed upon price. There are definitely better ways to go about freelancing.

6 months ago, itsmemandy12345

Not garbage, but close.

Unless you’re established, just get an agent and don’t waste your time. You’re probably not going to get hired for anything off rip unless you have a portfolio and you’re already profiting from your writing. Beyond that, just get ready for scams and endless emails regarding those scams, requests for personal information, and “PS, we need more money for you to apply for gigs”. Start slow, understand that it’s going to cost you to apply for true entry level writing gigs. Have a portfolio of your work available. Honestly, I was dissatisfied. I write for a magazine already, and was looking to expand. All this is is a temp agency looking for a few with many applying constantly. If you know what you’re doing, more power to you, if not, just be advised.

4 weeks ago, Down work

Trash application

Upwork is an absolute disaster of a platform. The interface is clunky and outdated, making it a nightmare to navigate. Job postings are flooded with low-quality gigs that pay peanuts, and it's almost impossible to find legitimate opportunities. The bidding system is a race to the bottom, forcing freelancers to undercut each other just to get noticed. Customer support is virtually nonexistent, with canned responses that don't address actual issues. The platform takes a significant cut from freelancers' earnings, leaving them with barely enough to make it worth their time. Additionally, the vetting process for freelancers seems non-existent, allowing anyone to join regardless of their qualifications. Overall, Upwork fails to support both freelancers and clients effectively, resulting in a frustrating and disappointing experience. Save yourself the headache and look elsewhere for freelance opportunities.

5 months ago, UpWorkEngineer

I have been on UpWork three years and their app has taken a turn for the worst…

The app use to be decent. Not perfect, but it would at least function. Whatever update they made to this app, now it’s almost impossible to use. Just trying to type a message to a client and the app deletes half of the letters as I’m typing them so my messages don’t make any sense. They removed the functionality of using the “schedule a meeting” button in the app entirely for absolutely no good reasons, they removed a lot of functionality in the app that used to be there… I could complain all day about it but now I’m just using UpWork through the internet browser on my phone which is stupid. I shouldn’t have to do that but oh well. Hopefully UpWork gets it together. Love working on the platform but the app basically makes it incredibly painful to use.

3 years ago, Reimuz

More BAD than good

To start it’s a nice platform but there’s more drawbacks than positive things, to start, lately there has been so many bugs with the app, messaging to name one, the other thing to be aware of is, as a seller if you are actively submitting proposals they will lock your account into private mode until you start earning after a short amount of time, I wish they would make this app a better experience for the Seller and Buyer because of all the scams that happen, it would be nice for them to make a way to weed out scammers and only show sellers who can back what they’re offering in more than one way. This app is so saturated with fake people and the ones who are really trying and working end up not having a chance to make this a successful day experience for anyone

5 years ago, ijustwantedtowork

THE WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!! DON’T DO IT FREELANCERS!

This company has REPEATEDLY marked my profile inactive, while I was APPLYING FOR JOBS!!!! They have never removed the “call for verification” flag from my account despite the THREE ID VERIFICATION CALLS I HAVE COMPLETED! I am livid with them because they also never respond to me when I have pointed this out and, the one time I did get a response, all they could say was “we still have to verify your id because it says so on your account”. They are PREVENTING ME FROM FINDING WORK!!! They also had to “investigate” one of the few clients I did manage to secure between the constant locks on my account; and why? All because we shared the same last name. They lock the accounts to quickly, without actually looking into if the person is an active worker or not. The app works fine when the company doesn’t screw you over. Take my advice, go to Fiverr instead freelancers. Upwork is not worth it.

3 months ago, ginger1234456789

No support

If you have an issue with this app, don’t count on support to be there. You get a chatbot that loops you in circles. I had a small issue with the video chat ID verification not scanning my license. I searched the support threads, I used the chatbot 3 times and even sent out a message on X (they answered me, telling me to do the exact thing I had already done 3 times). I deleted my account because this app instills me with zero confidence that they will provide support if there is an actual issue. We are talking about people’s livelihoods; being able to reach support or at least have a way to email an actual person is necessary. I don’t want to put my sensitive information AND my employment AND my PayPal in the hands of an app that can’t even provide me with support when their app messes up. That would be a crazy thing to do.

5 months ago, Bat Kidd

This app is horrible

This app won’t let me receive text to verify my account. I’ve been having a difficult time receiving text to get clients. It’s getting ridiculous. I’ve been having issues with this app for 1 month. I contacted the support team last month and they told me that they’ve fixed the issue. During the past few weeks, I’ve tried calling and sending virtual messages to the support team. And I keep getting redirected to the Community page. I can’t keep wasting my time with this horrible service. I have a business to run and I’m trying to access my Upwork page to get new clients. Please do not use this app. I think they have the worse customer service. How are you supposed to resolves issues if you can’t get in contact with anyone. This app doesn’t even deserve a 1 star rating.

10 months ago, Maggie and Kaiya

Suggestion

Great platform, I am new to freelancing and it has helped me get my foot in the door and find work. One suggestion for the app: saved searches, when I am looking for jobs it would be nice to have all my filters saved and be able to quickly jump to that search and find the most relevant jobs for me, also have an option to receive email/notification if a new job is posted that matches my saved search If this were implemented I would give the app 5 stars, but without this feature searching for new jobs and having to constantly reapplying filters to find the best jobs for me is a real hassle

2 years ago, Shreeeeenbean

Glitchy IOS

I have the most recent version 1.48.1 and the freelancer app is pretty glitchy. I have to use the web version most the time because outside of the messaging most content won’t load. I’m usually left looking at a blank screen when trying to load project descriptions or error messages when trying to accept or reject an offer. The company is ok although as a freelancer they nickel and dime you a little too much between taking a pretty decent percentage of your pay, forcing you to purchase tokens if you want to bid on more projects (in order to actually make any real money), and then charging you to even get your money out on top of that (most egregious part in my opinion).

2 years ago, asianielle1992

Ridiculous

App is full of a bunch of scammers! No one real on the app besides a bunch of scammers preying on people who are looking for work! I wasted my time giving an interview to someone who almost scammed me! It was absolutely ridiculous and I’m glad I caught on! Do not trust this app! I was so upset I had to interview with someone who I thought was serious and wasted my time! This app should verify people with drivers license and SSN before being able to post a job to weed out the scammers in the app! I cannot even tell which jobs are real and which jobs are not anymore because of the over flow of scamming in that app! Sad because it was my first time trying out upwork and I almost got scammed by a ridiculous person! You know it’s a scam when they want to speak with you outside the app! A lot e-mail and WhatsApp! Be careful! I’m deleting my account!

2 years ago, TruthTeller1212

Way too much spam.

I love this app/website - but there’s one VERY big issue that is ruining it. The spam postings. About 80% of the job feed is just spam. Another 10% are practically slave labor, which only leaves about 10% of all the job postings that are worth anything. UpWork takes 20% of my income as a “service fee”, which is fine, IF they were using that money to better the website and fix these problems. But they aren’t. The amount of spam postings on this site has gone from bad, to absolutely horrendous. Borderline unusable. Please, UpWork. You need to do something about this SOON. This problem is only getting worse the more you choose to ignore it, and there are so many freelancers like me who are very upset with how things are going. You WILL start to loose users if this isn’t addressed soon.

8 months ago, Syncretize

Unable to access platform

I am very disappointed with Upwork. I have been trying to access the platform for weeks, but I keep getting error messages and technical issues. I have contacted the customer support team numerous times, but they have been unresponsive and unhelpful. I have wasted so much time and energy on this platform, and I have not been able to find any freelance work. I was eager to join Upwork and showcase my skills and talents, but I feel like I have been let down by the platform. I expected a professional and reliable service, but I got a frustrating and disappointing experience. I do not recommend Upwork to anyone who is looking for freelance opportunities. There are better alternatives out there. Upwork deserves a one star rating for its poor performance and customer service.

8 months ago, DDSxx12

Worst experience imaginable!

My first contract as a paid freelancer I had a 90 min call with the client in which he sent me a $200 bonus in good faith and for sharing my knowledge related to the contract. The very next day as I expected to start working for him, Upwork suspended my account with no explanation. In addition, they reversed the $200 bonus for the legitimate advisory services I had provided. After 4 days, of inquiry in which they deleted all my other contract proposals Upwork indicated the client was suspected of fraudulent activity. He was perfectly professional with me but whatever. But they have no reason to suspend my account simply because I had accepted a contract from this person only 1 day prior. It’s been 10 days and Upwork refuses to re-activate my account and I’m unable to use the platform to earn money. Unreal!

2 years ago, ilovebenniboo

Scams galore

I love the idea of upwork and I still would love to gain clientele through the app. But this app is full of scammers. Corporate really needs to overhaul the screening process or maybe require proof of business in order to hire via upwork. The answer is above my pay grade clearly but as a freelancer it’s incredibly hard to find good work on an app specifically designed for freelancers to find good work….that seems hypocritical to me. Even clients that are plus with verified payment methods are often a scam or the description vs actual work/pay do NOT match at all. Overall like I said it’s a great app, but with the work from home boom from Covid I feel like it’s running rampant with scammers and people looking to abuse the system and the people trying to use it correctly.

2 years ago, Samantha Huffman

Great for content creators in all stages of their career!

UpWork is a great way to connect freelance content creators of all levels of expertise with people looking for help with their content. Blogs, video production, social media, website development, SEO experts, editors, press releases, books, scripts, copywriters, coders, app developers, ghostwriters, PowerPoint presentations, sales pamphlets, voiceovers— you name it and you’ll find it here! The UpWork app makes finding freelance jobs easy and keeps track of open contracts, proposals, client messages, and sales on an easy-to-use interface. 10/10, do recommend!

5 years ago, breadsies

I like it, but the app deletes all your writing with a miss click

The web version is solid, but on the phone if you happen to accidentally press someplace else when you go to submit a cover letter it’ll delete everything. EVERYTHING. It’s incredibly frustrating to have to figure out what to write again after you put in some time writing something if you’re on the go and can’t pull out a computer. I recommend the app for checking for jobs, but that’s it. Be very careful when submitting something on the app. Sometimes the submit button doesn’t populate on the app too, so you can’t submit even if you wanted to. You go pressing around on your phone and then POOF! Your CV is gone, your writing is gone.

4 years ago, Hal2030

Need to buy connections to apply

This website offers a variety of jobs and is very flexible. However, you would need to buy connections to be able to apply for jobs. They have already deduct your pay for service fee which 1-2$/ job and they still charge you connection to apply for jobs. They would give you free connections at the beginning and will require you to buy connections to apply. If you don’t have any connections, you can’t apply for jobs. They cost 0.15$/ connection. I just don’t see a legit reason for why they would charge connections, which is money, to apply for a job. Indeed, ziprecruiter, glassdoor, and many other websites never charge you anything to apply. It should be free.

2 years ago, HedyLovelaceHopper

Horrifying Set Up Experience

I was interested in considering using Upwork but the onboarding experience is horrifying for the average new user. You must immediately create a full profile, set rates, upload a picture, etc. before you gave the opportunity to browse the app and see how you live the functionality. It also has limited and incorrect categories/subcategories for my specialties - it will only allow you to pick one. I am a 20+ year veteran of my industry, I have to be an expert in all of these things. Upwork has a very limited view of what a user and their customer/experience lifecycle should look like and they are determined to fit all peg shapes into that hole. It feels like the UX and PM teams have one single perspective and it does not support flexibility or diversity. Very disappointed in the limitations.

4 years ago, StrangeCoyote

Not bad, could be better, fix messaging.

I’ve been using UpWork for a while now. I mainly try to use it on PC, but having the app for things when I’m on the go is extremely helpful. Unfortunately, it’s become less helpful in recent months because messaging never loads conversations when you open them. Therefore I have to wait to get home just to be able to respond to something properly. Lastly, I agree with everyone else I think the 20% fees are too high just to provide a platform to connect people. Unless you’re actively getting me clients on the regular, or helping me do the work, you honestly don’t deserve that big of a cut—especially when we also have taxes to consider 🤷🏻‍♂️

1 year ago, rayvan1990

Mobile App Needs improvement

After the last update I can’t open jobs and read the full description or apply. Making the app kind of null and void. From an upwork overall experience, it’s been great for me. But yes, you have to sort through the scams and crummy jobs. New jobs are posted everyday so you have to be diligent at looking on a regular basis. Takes awhile to get 1st job but once you have a review and work experience you become more likely to get hired (in my experience). In the beginning I set a goal to apply to 1-3 jobs a day, minimum. Now I get invited to apply to jobs all the time!

7 months ago, MaggieMooMcpigglesteine

Only scam work and app just tries to get your money on top of this.

This app needs to be taken off the App store. It literally only offers scams. Then they make you pay for the ability to apply for these scams. I’m so upset that I’ve attempted to use this app as Apple suggested it to me in an email recently and it’s nothing but scams and a waste of valuable time and money. You are literally better off using Craigslist to find freelance work, that’s how bad this app is. The worst part is that the app has some scoring system that helps you to trust the legitimacy of the work posted on the app based on how much they’ve paid out already or something along those lines and apparently they give scams a high rating in this area. Please don’t waste your time on this app whatsoever.

8 months ago, Kaitlin_0879

Scam? No. Phew.

I was legitimately worried at first that Upwork would be a scam. I've had to deal with a lot of fake job offers in the job market in the past year, so I'd been apprehensive. Upwork has a unique - and admittedly kinda stressful - system for insuring that people don't apply like crazy for jobs that they don't qualify for, but still has some issues with people posting jobs that are a littly scummy or scammy. But Upwork itself seems quite legit. Be prepared for them to eat 10% of your ask rate - so calculate that in to what you have to ask for. Only apply for jobs you are willing to spend the credits on applying for. But credits are thankfully cheap. It's enough of a token charge to keep you from spamming apps. This means that each application/proposal is taken more seriously than on LinkedIn/Zip Recruiter with their 1-click applys. I'm sure those work for some people, but I prefer this system.

4 years ago, Veelei1998

Couldn’t open and reply message through the app

I must say I LOVE UPWORK, no doubt. Upwork gave me tons of opportunities to work my favourite job. But I have some some issue with the app ( and probably the public view for non-member site as well). For the app, I used to receive and reply messages through the messages section on the app when I work my other job or when I’m away from home. But I could reply, or even open the message section anymore these days. This effects my response rate to customers! I could have missed an invite or a contract while I’m not using my laptop! Please fix this ASAP. For the public view for non-member, when I link the account to my personal website and click on the link to test using a non-member site, I couldn’t see any reviews clients gave me at all! I have 3 jobs total and the non-member view site only presents 1 job, no review! Please tell me why, or fix this so I could link and show them on my personal portfolio website. Overall, love Upwork and the team behind all of this, just need to fix some major issues!

2 months ago, S P A C E K F I L M S

I wouldn’t use Upwork if I were you.

Idk man. I’ve been noticing that people want you to do so much for so little. Upwork ain’t right for letting these people get away paying people cotton money. I saw a post “$40 edit my 15 minute short film”. “ I need sound design, color and it needs to be done in three days”. I mean look if you need experience or are homeless and need money, use the platform. I get it. But overall the platform and pay isn’t worth it. I don’t suggest that anyone should do this. I rather deliver Uber eats. I hope that Upwork regulates and force the clients to pay what’s fair to gig workers. It’s really absurd. I will be writing an article for yahoo news about the platform and spread awareness and the truth about Upwork. Good luck to everyone and don’t forget your dignity.

6 months ago, Ashleylou03

Good idea, bad experience.

I didn’t have physical money taken from me- however, my time was wasted and time is money. The person who hired me has a message on their account saying something is wrong with it, so I’m not getting paid for 3 hours worth of work. First time using the app for a gig, and probably the last. Update: Months later, I decided to apply for another job. It said my cover letter for this very simple job wasn’t long enough, so I added some fluff and it still wouldn’t let me submit. I reloaded the page and all my progress was gone. Again, great idea- poor design. I would just like a way to contact the people hiring without the app, but then how would they make their money? Oh wait… there’s a thing called a subscription.

1 year ago, TennesseeTweety

The app works great, but I can’t login via PC

I can’t log into my account by web or PC. I’ve spent the past two hours changing my password, logging in on other browsers and running in circles with chat which either refers me to a web login or tells me that I need to be logged in to receive help. Which I’ve stated over and over that I CAN’T DO THAT!!! Since I have no other way to communicate with Upwork via the web this is what I’m left with. If it’s possible to get help from any that breaths I would appreciate an email.

2 years ago, Ryrubes

Lots of Flaws

Can’t specify location in work searches, only country. Really stupid. Job searches come up from other states. If there is a way to do it and I somehow missed it, that’s ridiculous in itself because it should be evident—but I don’t think there is. If you do an advanced search and want to add more specifics, it makes you start completely over rather than allowing you to tweak your filter. It’s really strange to see the lack of awareness at this point in the digital era. There are other things that are clunky and not user-friendly like other platforms but Upwork doesn’t care so why bother going into detail. The website is just as bad as the app. “Hey, just let me know what country you’re in, that should narrow down the search to infinity.”

5 years ago, thodder23

Stay at home mom in school

My dreams have finally come true. I’m 6 months away from graduating with my BBA, and have an 8 month old. I’ve been working for almost three weeks and already, got over 80 hours in and made over $1,300 after the 20% is taken out. I’m very good at excel or anything Microsoft, and there’s so many jobs that relate! Also if you’re good at writing resumes or cover letters, building websites or being a virtual assistant, this job would be perfect for you. I told my whole family and friends about it and found this at the perfect time!

4 years ago, sherrill.hue

New update looks nice but the chat function is broken now.

The new updates to the app look nice but the chat flags in my app is now broken and will not display any of my conversations or allow me to send or receive messages with my clients. I’ve been using UpWork for many years now and have never had such a problem getting help from their support team before. I tried contacting them to correct the error only to be run around and hung up on. Even tried to fix it myself by uninstalling and reinstalling the app but that’s about all I can do on my end. I’m disappointed. The app is useless for freelancers if you can’t use it to communicate with clients.

4 years ago, Top Rated100

Notifications

Please fix the notification system. I need to see my UpWork messages instantaneously but sometimes this does not happen and I miss some important conversations or respond later than I would like to. Secondly, sometimes the messages do not send but remain there ‘grayed out’ or frozen. I cannot have clients ask me “Are you still there?” during a contract negotiation because the UpWork is glitching. It just can’t happen. Please kindly review these issues. Cordially, concerned freelancer

3 years ago, nothankyou98

Great App, Especially for Starting Out

Upwork is a great freelancing platform! I like how straightforward everything is, and there are a lot of jobs available basically all the time. My money is protected and safe and Upwork is quick about deleting scammers or fake jobs. It’s also not a pain to transfer my pay out of my account! I don’t want it to become a social media app, but I wish there was an easy way to recommend another freelancer for a job, or to send a job to another freelancer if you think it might be a good fit for them.

9 months ago, rooni2000

Not legitimate

Most jobs are scammers trying to deposit a check in your account to start a job for them which will then bounce. I noticed before it happened to me but if you go to Upwork community and search scam, you will see 3,000 results from people who have almost or have been scammed on the app. Their community leaders then reply to all of the posts sayings that if they would’ve followed TOS they wouldn’t have ever been in that situation and pretty much tell their trusting users to “know better”. This is ironic considering it should be on Upwork to filter out fake employers attempting to scam their users as opposed to their trusting users having to have due diligence when choosing an employer because most are scammers.

2 years ago, TheAlepooh

Scammer’s Home Negative stars

Invested $25 in “credits” and having over 10 years of wide experience, I took a chance. Offers for third world countries and the worst regeneration possible. Finally, I had a proposal. A fake one. The interview was with a sexual offender that for sure was being recorded. I try to alert through forums the situation and I complained, after all, I was a user that spend money in the platform. They deleted my comments and details. The forum was totally clean of the complain. They didn't validate anything in there. Is just another crazy craigslist, not geographical limits, just with a logo and TERRIBLE ethics. The worst. They are really good at gaslighting you with comments. For sure they will reply here with “rules and guidelines”.

Description

Looking for quality freelance work from high-value clients? Look no further. Upwork is the largest online talent solution connecting businesses and skilled freelance professionals. Enjoy the freedom and flexibility of finding rewarding work from anywhere across the globe, including opportunities to work with startups to large, established brands. Upwork was created to give freelancers and agencies the ability to start, run, and grow their own businesses. The path to a successful freelancing career is now at your fingertips, easy to navigate, and reliable with built-in protections to ensure fair and timely payments for the work you do. Freelancers make things happen. Show the world how. With millions of jobs posted on Upwork annually, freelancers are earning money by providing companies with over 5,000 skills across more than 70 categories of work. Upwork was created to help freelancers find more clients and to start, run, and grow their own businesses. Clients are paying top price for great work across categories such as: - Programming - Web Development - Mobile Development - Design - Writing - Admin Support - Customer Service - Accounting - Marketing - Sales ...and many more. How it works for freelancers and agencies: Discover We’ll help you find top-jobs based on the information you provide on your profile. Or, simply search for a job on your own. Get Hired Submit a winning bid, then agree on scope and price to get started on the project. Work Use Upwork to communicate, share files, and collaborate throughout–from your desktop or mobile device. Get Paid Upwork Payment Protection uses a simple and streamlined process that helps you get paid on time–with direct deposit, PayPal, wire transfers and more. If you are interested in being an early adopter which allows you to receive the latest updates first and influence the app, use this link https://testflight.apple.com/join/ef3GQatk and follow the on-screen instructions. For any questions you may have, please check https://support.upwork.com/ Terms of Use: https://www.upwork.com/legal#terms-of-use To learn more about opting out of the "sale" or "sharing" of your personal information, please visit our Privacy Center: https://www.upwork.com/legal#privacy-center