Upwork

Tried several platforms but none are as organized and professionally supportive as Upwork — it's definitely the best place to freelance on the web.

I am just starting working at Upwork and do not have much experience, but I am enjoying it so far. Can recommend to try.

I am really happy to work on upwork.com. Upwork is an honest business platform. I am here long time. Thanks for giving me chance.

Hello fellow freelancers! I must warn you before you waste your time like i did.
They charge at least 20% of your income on upwork. If your hourly rate is 60$, they release 48$/hour to you. I believe this portion is unfair. There is a wild competition among freelancers on upwork. To be able to get projects, you must decrease your hourly rates. It; s just making you less and less valuable. You may find yourself at 30$/h, 20% (6$) of this goes to Upwork. 24$/h, are we doing UBER? By the way they don't find any clients for you. You must spend hours to be able to find a project and convince the client.

After you work for hours, Upwork may suspend your contract with your client without asking you any single question. So you may find yourself unpaid and helpless with tired eyes looking at the screen. They don't have an online help service. They want you to send an email to them regarding this contract or payment problems. And what you get as an answer is a list of possibilities why the contract is suspended. When I told them I will cancel my account and leave if they don't pay the money I deserved. They sent me a reply explaining how to leave! :): ) Thanks for showing the way out! They make money from your efforts and they even don't ask any single question to you before they dare to suspend your contracts.

I feel extremely disappointed. They don't have clear guidelines showing how to use the hourly working system. And if there is anything missing, even if the job is done, even if the client has no complaints, they may suspend the contract. They are disrespectful to your efforts. My client felt bad and he tried to pay me out of upwork since he knows i deserved that money.

Upwork really helps connecting people and having a job at the comfort of their home. The platform is very safe and easy to use.

As a company, we worked with about 5 contractors. Everything was fine. The last contractor we used was in August. She did ok work and we were done. Then December 21st and 22nd, she billed us for 30 hours. I had been out of the office those two days and immediately reported it to Upwork upon my return on the 23rd. The contractor was never asked to do any more work. I messaged the contractor with no response. UpWork stated that I couldn't do anything until the following Monday when the contractor was paid. That happens to be the week after Christmas when I was out of the office for the holidays. I clearly explained that I would be out of the office and they said they would note that and I could dispute the transaction upon my return on January 3rd. Again, this was my first task on January 3rd. UpWork asked me to provide a description of what happened. I not only provided a description of the work done in August, but also provided a copy of all of my communication with the contractor. UpWork stated that they have to ask the contractor for their side of the story and they would get back to me. Well, the contractor closed her account and took the money and ran. UpWork stated that since the contractor didn't reply that they closed my dispute. So basically, UpWork allows scammers to create accounts and steal money for work that was never approved or requested. Very disappointed in their process of approving time entries AFTER the contractor has received payment. UpWork states that they have a guarantee, but not for hourly work. Beware!

If you want to get your work done, offer it at my link. I will do it at the right time. Please contact my profile. Thanks

Best freelancing platform. Convenient and organized.
Looking forward to a more upgrade in the platform.

First thing to know about Elance is that there is no Elance vs Odesk. They are one company with the same owners. So your experience will be pretty similar - support. Fees, pros and cons. That can be a good and bad thing.

Their fees are:

Site takes 8.75% fee for every project you complete. Elance fees have been raised last year from 6.75%. Fee's on earning $4k/month = $350. Plus $10/month if you want to use Elance actively and appear higher in search results.

What I didnt enjoy most about Elance was that it isnot totally free – if you don't join paid membership, you will keep feeling like you are using limited version of Elance.

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Great things about Elance of course is it's size, they take Escrow payments to ensure safety. And there are loads of helpful applications for accountability and communication. It's a great place for beginners and freelancers from third world countries. It isnt so good place for web professionals.

We did massive research about best 8 freelance marketplaces, compared their pros, cons, fees and how to make it out there.

You can read full review and also see comparison chart here - http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/best-freelance-websites/