Upwork

I've been working on the Upwork platform for a year and a half and my business has soared. The platform is easy to use, offers many resources such as a time tracker, invoice sheets, and lifetime billing data by client. The customer service team is always polite and resourceful, and I would not have the solid clients I currently have if it wasn't for Upworks vetting process. I have attempted to find other platforms to branch out, but none of the others have the ease of use and clientele. I highly recommend this platform to other freelancers that are masters of their trade.

I have used Elance before it became Upwork and the quality of providers was much higher. These days as long as someone can pass the basic ready test he is good to go and based on Upwork policys allowed to screw you out of time and money. If you and your contractor agree on terms Upwork does not care and allows them to bill you what they want. So if someone enters hrs you are stuck paying for services which where not delivered. Will be looking for a new platform to hire programming contractors as Upwork is becoming shady. They bill you Monday am, and before you can dispute something they deduct the $$ from your account. Legit companys give you a few days to review and you pay for undisputed amounts. But hey customer service is as bad as the platform itself as it is down multiple times a week

I just experienced the biggest nightmare of my life, working with an Upwork vendor. He's a 3D animator by the name of Sergey Petrukevich. He repeatedly tried to blackmail me for more money throughout the job. I kept Upwork in the loop during the project and afterward, asked them to sandbox him for good so he could not attempt to extort anyone else. They PUNISHED ME! Upwork obviously approves of their vendors holding clients to ransom for more money. It now all makes sense. The more a vendor robs a client of additional monies, the more Upwork gets paid. If you value your wallet and your sanity, avoid Upwork like the plague. For me, this was like fending off a rapist, reporting him to the police and then being thrown in prison for assaulting the person who tried to rape me. Yes, it was just about this bad.

I have been using Upwork for over two years, and am a big fan. At that time I signed up for Upwork and Freelancer.com. Initially I got more offers for work from Freelancer with much less work, but then I saw that over half of these offers were from scammers looking to purchase my identity from me. Yikes!

Upwork's internal review and controls don't eliminate spammers, but greatly reduce it. Instead, I have had to fairly compete on an open marketplace for jobs that are posted and coming in all day every day.

Sure, I had to start with lower prices than the market would seem to be, but I worked hard, got good reviews, and started getting more work - and raising my prices. After becoming a Rising Star and then Top Rated, and maintaining a 100% JSS score (with the help of the ability to challenge the rare poor review) I now find Upwork a healthy supplement to my writing business.

I opened an account, uploaded an image of my state-issued driver's license and provided my tax information. A few days later, I received an email that my account was approved. However, when I tried to submit a proposal, I was given an error that my US location could not be verified. There was nothing I could do. I could not call anyone. I sent an email to support. Support would provide false & contradictory statements, one after another. The issue was NEVER resolved.

It appears they may be a bankruptcy waiting to happen.

TOTAL MORONS work in their Support group.

Upwork platform is a great place to work. I have been working there for several years and the connection between clients and contractors is very easy. Of course, the fee for the first 500$ earned with a client is 20% and it is a bit high, it offers a solid platform to work in. And also it incentives the long term work because the fees are being reduced once you grow up with a client.
Also, it offers a nice place to ger and gives feedbacks that allow contractors to find easily experts with a lot of work done.
I tested other platforms like Workana, Guru, and Freelancer, but Upwork is much better than those platforms.