Upwork Reviews & Product Details

The platform is very easy. Finding a Talent to your need is easy. Payment is secured.

Winter. Nothing. Platform is user friendly

Finding Talent for project work. Finding the correct talent for my needs and lot many to choose from.

I like to work with various clients and find interesting projects to be part of. I've formed strong connections with the clients I work with and help them bring their ideas to life. Most of the clients are friendly and understanding they have an appreciation of the work I do and I like seeing how the projects I work on help to improve their business.

I don't like the feedback system at the end of hourly contracts. I'm confused about when to ask for feedback at the end of hourly contracts and if I should close the job from my side. This lead to some great clients not being able to leave any feedback on my profile and reviews are important for finding future clients. I think there should be more inventive given to clients to leave reviews for the freelancers they hire. I would like for freelancers to be notified of when they have been rejected for a job offer or when another freelancer has been hired instead so that they are not constantly checking the job posting. Clients should be penalised for creating multiple job offers and never hiring or interviewing

I am able to diversify from the work I normally do and select projects that interest me and help me develop my portfolio. As a junior designer I haven't got a broad range of experience but UpWork allows me to constantly work and earn money which helps to supplement my income and improve my experience when applying for future jobs.

The main benefit of Upwork in my opinion is the ability to browse and bid on hundreds of jobs that fit your skills, all aggregated on one platform. While it's true that many buyers come to Upwork seeking the lowest cost provider, the user is not obligated to bid on those types of jobs. With careful browsing using provided tools, such as the single/double/triple dollar sign indicating job value/payments, the user can skip lowest paying jobs and bid only on those that have indicated higher pay. I've used Upwork since it was called Elance, and still use it today from both the buyer and provider sides. I enjoy the ease of use and the availability of customer service. Would recommend!

Fees have grown over the last few years and may be reaching "priced out" level of what the typical freelancer is willing to pay.

As a small business owner serving digital solutions to global customers, I need an experienced team on-point with the needs of and solutions for our clients. Many times, I've hired temp professionals from Upwork - some are still with the company today in more permanent roles. The ability to post my needs, quickly receive bids, browse through to find the best, and interview right on the Upwork platform couldn't be more streamlined. Saves me money, time, and angst.

There is good diversity of job offers catering for most of the current market technologies, and in several aspects of the business (IT, data, finance, design, UX) with a wide range of rates as well. Payments and time tracking are very easy to configure and use, and I had not had any issues so far which required mediation. There is enough volume of job offers to apply for many positions a day (at least in the data engineering/visualization front which is my trade)

As a freelancer, I do not have anything to complain about, however I am finding it hard to win proposals with an agency I have created recently. Many clients seem to have a problem with agency accounts (I assume due to bad previous experiences) and I get no visibility on to why my proposals do not go through, they only move to 'archived'. Of course this could be caused by a myriad of reasons (price, speed to answer, amount of proposals) but there may be an area of improvement there, to see at least if the client considered your proposal or ignored it completely.

I am using Upwork as a part-time addition to my current freelance workload (I have two external clients taking up most of my day) and it delivers as such, I have had many successful experiences so far and have been able to earn a decent amount in the last half a year. My idea is to also connect other freelancers I know, that are either using Upwork or will start doing so, with clients I cannot take due to availability, and this is why I created an agency account for this.

Upwork provides a wide range of options for freelancers.

A lot of freelancers are from overseas with little to no experience and can sometimes be spammy.

I have hired freelancers to help with my video projects. One voiceover artist and one graphic designer.

It is easy to connect with a lot of clients, from all over the world

The commission is quite high. Since I mostly do one time jobs, Upwork charges 20% from my earnings, every time

I'm getting out of my comfort zone and I'm solving small tasks related to my field of expertise

Options. Man options, from all over the world. Great candidates

Search filters are limited and inaccurate at times

Finding skills outside of my own

I am constantly able to find someone to perform the quick jobs I need, that I just don't have time to do. There are so many freelancers that want work, it's fantastic to choose from so many qualified people.

The search function on Upwork takes some time to figure out. Often you may know exactly what you are looking for, but it doesn't match with the Upwork search, and you have to dig a lot deeper to get to the type of candidate you want.

I am able to save time, by outsourcing a lot of mundane tasks that I just cannot devote the time to that is needed. The payment process is very easy as well.

The ability to review the ratings of workers you need.

Nothing, really. It is all a pretty good platform.

We needed a podcast producer. We have found a couple that met our needs.

Financial protection for freelancers via escrow accounts, customer service, responsiveness, and flexibility.

- Charging 20% on amounts less than $500. Please, don't forget that this is the most common price range in some areas of work. Plus I need to pay taxes. So, in the end, I get some like $180 out of $400. This doesn't make sense to me. - Having HIDDEN or SECRET feedback from the client-side is running a good and fair relationship I'm trying to establish with each client at the beginning of our collaboration. I'm a Top Rated Plus (and was Top Rated from July 2015, the very beginning of Upwork) and I proved so many times that I am reliable, responsible, and have excellent communication skills. I earned my status and I want ALL CLIENTS to tell me in my face what they are thinking of my work. Otherwise, HOW WOULD I POSSIBLY KNOW what to improve??? Please, remove this option AT LEAST FOR TOP RATED PLUS. - When I call customer service and ask what factors have recently affected my JSS the answer is that this information couldn't be disclosed... Is it a platform FOR or AGAINST freelancers? If I ask this question I'd like to get an answer. I NEED TO KNOW why there is a fluctuation. So, I can take some measures to eliminate/bypass or correct these issues. - The least important is that the new marketing initiative Upwork is taking of discriminating some categories of freelancers which don't/cannot raise a rainbow flag or claim that it's a women-powered company... Stop doing it IMMEDIATELY! Everyone should only be judged by their professional qualities. Period. No gender, race, country origin, etc diversification. Overall, I feel less support from the platform comparing to what it was back in 2015. This becomes a commercial enterprise, greedy and arrogant. Hope this review will have an effect.

- Upwork gives a wonderful option for financial protection (although, I usually get paid with no question asked) - Upwork is a flexible platform with many options for establishing good and permanent relationship with clients - On Upwork, it's easy to find a job, sign a contract, track your time, and get paid on a regular basis

It's easy to post a job and find someone to complete your project quickly. There are so many freelancers on the platform I typically get at least 10 qualified applicants for any job within 24 hours. I love that I can post a job and come back first thing next morning and have my pick of freelancers ready to get started on my project.

When I first signed up, UpWork offered a "Hiring on Upwork: A Best Practices Webinar for New Clients" webinar I could take the next day to learn about the platform. But by time I was signing up it was because I was in a jam and needed to hire someone ASAP for my project. It would have been great if they just had a prerecorded webinar video I could have watched "on demand" (and ideally at 2X speed).

I've needed help with content creation for a variety of online projects.

After a certain point, clients reach out and I do not need to find new freelance work myself.

Often, clients expect to pay very little because they can hire people from 3rd world countries at a fraction of the price. So if you live in a 1st world country, it may be hard to stay competitive unless you have a competitive advantage (a very specific niche, better education, fluent English, communication skills, etc.)

The problem I am solving is helping clients with their financial content and financial investment modeling needs. The benefits for me is the increased network of clients and flexible work schedule for my freelancing career.

Ease of use is the best quality. Also, the ability of the platform to match needs with skills is superior to anything else on the market. You can negotiate rates, keep tabs on the progress, and message all from one easy to use dashboard.

The monthly fee... but I'm sure stock-holders love it. Sometimes I wonder if we are overpaying based on currency exchange rates.

We can't afford a full time web developer and system admin so this puts the most talented folks in the world at our fingertips.

Posting, finding resources and collaboration

Pricing to resources cause extra burden on hiring manager

Finding resources

I really like all the options and features Upwork has to offer.

The user interface for messages can be confusing sometimes. I've accidentally messaged the wrong freelancer and freelancers have accidentally messaged me.

I can't afford an editing team in-house. So I use Upwork to hire editors as needed.

Everything from communicating, processing payments, keep track, reporting and the customer support.

Not much to dislike about upwork, they have improved a lot over the years.

Finding different contractors to fulfill needs that don’t require full time help.

Upwork has a huge pool of talent, and especially for creative services (animation, illustration, design), there is a wealth of candidates that are great to work with.

I don't like that they take a 20% cut of the freelancer's earnings. It used to be 10%, which I felt was okay. 20% is too steep. I haven't had any luck finding great, but affordable, salespeople. If you have a bigger budget, you may have more luck.

I have found amazing freelancers, which has played a major role in being able to expand my business. Not having to hire permanent staff for positions in my company that only requires temporary talent is a huge plus.

Many categories, platform freelancers can close almost any task for me as a business owner and marketer. Many freelancers on each category, can compare prices and skill. Wide choice.

A bit bugged profile management, created 2 client account by error and now it's messy to manage them.

I often need to carry out some tasks and instead of trying to figure them out myself, I'd rather use the help of freelancers. Before Upwork I used similar platforms, but the quality of contractors and their work always was not good enough. On Upwork I post my projects and the performers themselves make offers, it is very convenient. A huge selection of performers, I always quickly find a good candidate.

I like the option to see each contractor's past reviews, to see if they are new to the platform or not. How many jobs they completed and their rating. And that for every project I have, I know I'll find a good person on Upwork.

Sometimes the payment agreement isn't clear, or it can be a challenge to get to the payment terms.

I don't need to deal with 1099 or outside-of-the-country tax issues. And I get to support other people around the globe.

Upwork allows me to be considered as a legitimate candidate for projects that might never consider me due to my location or other factors.

It takes a lot of momentum to get going and keep it up so there's a lot of dedication required to make regular money on Upwork.

I can find clients who need what I specialize in: Joomla and GIMP.