Upwork Reviews & Product Details

Upwork provides excellent flexibility and global exposure for freelancers. The platform makes it possible to connect with clients from different countries and industries, which has helped me expand my professional network and gain diverse project experience. It allows me to showcase my skills, portfolio, and client feedback in a structured way, helping build long-term credibility. The secure payment system is another strong advantage. With fixed price and hourly contracts, milestone tracking, and payment protection, I feel confident working with both new and returning clients. The built-in messaging and contract management tools keep communication organized and projects streamlined in one place. There is also a wide variety of projects available, from short-term assignments to long term collaborations. This flexibility allows me to select work that matches my expertise, availability, and career goals. The review and rating system promotes transparency and encourages professionalism on both sides. Upwork has played an important role in helping me grow my freelance career by providing consistent opportunities, reliable payments, and access to a global client base. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One of the main challenges on Upwork is the high level of competition. Many freelancers apply for the same projects, which can make it difficult to stand out, especially for newer profiles. The cost of Connects to submit proposals can also add up without guaranteeing work. Additionally, service fees reduce overall earnings, particularly on smaller projects. Sometimes clients post unclear job descriptions or have unrealistic expectations regarding budget and deadlines. The proposal process can be time consuming, and not all clients respond after receiving applications, which can be discouraging for freelancers investing effort into detailed proposals. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Varieties of the projects and getting to work with clients from different parts of the world beside able to work on your own terms like if you want to work on hourly or fixed type of projects you get to choose as well the hours you can work per week and able to find the good or bad reviews on the clients feedback and able to differentiate those clients with payment verified vs those who doesnt have one to make sure your payment will go through smoothly. Also upwork payment protection is amazing as long as you track your hours for work related and adding memo notes.Upwork changed my life to be better and able to know many team members across the world and learn about their culture beside flexibility schedule. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

No of connects are now slim and you have to purchase them now if you want to submit proposal and each client requires no of connects to be submitted unless you are invited directly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like best about Upwork is how it makes finding and managing freelance work simple and secure. It brings clients and professionals together in one place, with built-in tools for proposals, communication, and payments, so you can focus on delivering work instead of chasing clients or worrying about getting paid. The flexibility to choose projects that match your skills and schedule is also a big plus. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One thing I dislike about Upwork is the level of competition, which can make it harder—especially for new freelancers—to stand out and win projects. The service fees can also feel high at times, and some job postings attract low budgets or unrealistic expectations, which means you have to be selective and spend time filtering for quality opportunities. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like that as a small to medium-sized business in the US, I can access talent across the world at rates that I couldn't get here. The time journal or workers' journal is very helpful as it lets me see partial progress on a project. The ability to give workers a bonus also helps. It was pretty easy to set up, as I was able to hire someone within the first hours of signing up. The platform is great, and the people on there are very good at what they do. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I think the fees could be improved. You know, I feel like I'm paying a high marketplace fee every time I hire talent or pay my workers. I think I've spent more than a 100,000 US dollars to date on Upwork. And I could imagine a smaller percentage going to the marketplace fee so I can get more work done. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Upwork makes it incredibly efficient to find specialized talent for different areas of my business. I’ve successfully hired both technical roles (like a developer for an Algolia search widget) and administrative roles (like a Virtual Assistant for day-to-day tasks) on the platform. The interface allows me to vet candidates quickly by reviewing their past job history and ratings. I also really appreciate the time-tracking features for hourly contracts; it gives me peace of mind knowing exactly what hours are being billed and allows me to verify the work before releasing payment Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The main downside is the volume of generic proposals I receive when posting popular jobs. When I look for general help like a Virtual Assistant, I often have to sift through dozens of copy-paste applications from freelancers who didn't read the specific requirements of my job post. Additionally, the client-side processing fees on top of the freelancer's hourly rate can add up quickly over time, making the total cost of hiring a bit higher than expected Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like that you can quickly find talented, reliable freelancers (as long as you know how to evaluate proposals). It's also helpful, as an American, to be able to save on labor costs by hiring professionals in lower-cost countries. I have had freelancers in Latin America and Eastern Europe who did excellent work at rates lower than U.S.-based freelancers. The reality for many of us is that our budget is modest and we need to keep expenses low or we'll be in the red. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I think that Upwork reviews for freelancers are slightly inflated for the same reason Airbnb reviews are inflated. Clients are hesitant to write candidly negative reviews about an individual because it feels awkward, or they fear retaliation (like one-star Yelp reviews about the client's business). I myself have given lukewarm 3-star reviews to freelancers I was disappointed with. Interestingly, after one of them I actually received a message from Upwork offering to help in any way--they acknowledged that even though I hadn't complained about anything, they were aware that this project might not have met my expectations.

Also: Within the last couple years, I've had issues with logging in to the platform on several occasions. For a few months I couldn't log in at all. I know my username and password and everything, but there would be some technical glitch. The last couple times I logged in, it worked fine, so it might be resolved now. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like the ease of use of the Upwork platform overall. It allows me to invite specific talent with ease and they usually rise to the top of the invite list based on keywords or the job description I put up. Oftentimes, I'm just able to invite many of the freelancers that we end up hiring, and direct invites definitely help get the best results. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I think the platform and how you communicate with a freelancer back and forth is not all that flexible. I don't like to have another app on my computer for messaging or for email communication and having to go into Upwork to message instead of being able to take it out of the platform is a bit prohibitive. I understand the constraints, but yeah, that's one area of friction. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It's easy to use. It gives you access to a much wider variety of potential clients than you'd be able to find on your own.

I also appreciate that you can log your hours daily instead of billing clients individually, which, for me at least, is an onerous job that I tend to procrastinate on.

Despite my criticisms of Upwork, it's still one of the few freelancing games in town. I've recommended it to friends, although I tell them about the fact that you have to pay for "connects" that allow you to apply to jobs, which I think is one of Upwork's worst features, especially for freelancers who haven't yet established a roster of repeat customers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The "connects" system is pretty terrible. You used to be able to apply to jobs without having to pay anything. But now you must pay up to $3 or $4 for every job you apply for...or even if you just want to ask a question of a potential client who has posted a job. (Lots of potential clients post jobs with inadequate descriptions, and before you decide whether or not to invest in the effort to develop a proposal for the client, you used to be able to ask questions. For example, I'm an editor, and many clients just say "I need an editor!" instead of revealing what the project is, how many words it is, etc. So, because I don't want to waste my connects (which cost 15 cents each, and each job in my field typically requires 15 to 30 connects, or $2.25 to $4.50), I miss out on jobs because even asking a basic question will cost you the connects.

It feels pretty unconscionable that you have to PAY to apply for jobs. This is pure wage extraction, and yet another example of Upwork monetizing just about everything on the platform to squeeze money out of workers. They already take 15% of your earnings, which is the price of using Upwork, so it feels extra petty to have you pay to apply for jobs, with no guarantee that anyone will even look at your proposal. I understand that they don't want you to spam potential clients, but there has to be a better way than to charge already poor people to apply for a job. And when a job has, say, 50 applicants, Upwork thus gets about $3 from each applicant (so, $150 there) plus 15% of the winning freelancer's pay.

You do get 10 free connects per month, so that means you get—whoo!—to apply to half a job for free per month. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

A place where I can find easily an expert (domestically and internationally) in many services and help I need for my business or work. As a magazine art director I always looking for freelancers such as design, programming, consulting, etc and here I can post a job, send proposals and hire experts in minutes! The cost is very reasonable and contract are clear. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

This is not my experience, but I share a comment from a professional colleague. He said that sometimes is more effective to hire freelancers outside of upwork because the cost is less, in comparison with upwork platform fees. Also, he found sometimes more qualified freelancers outside Upwork. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The best part is the sheer scale of the platform. No matter what our specialty is, there are always active job postings from startups to huge companies. The buit it tools like "Uma" also help us write better proposals and find the best project matches much faster than searching manually. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The worst part is the high competition and rising fees. because it is so large, we often compete with hundreads of ther people for one projects, which can lead to a race to the bottom on pricing. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.