Upwork

In general it's ok. I only once had an issue with them because there was a misunderstanding on their side. I logged in from a different location. They asked me to confirm it was I. I did. And then they sent me a message asking to change our headquarters location to the one I am working from. I work remotely. From home. My house is not an office. And I don't want anyone to think that our office is located in a different country because it's not true. I suppose this website is all about freelance jobs and I don't understand why they were so surprised. Moreover, each time I received a message from a different operator (usually you talk to just one). That was strange. And one of them, thankfully, was smart and stopped this nonsense, because the previous ones suspended our account for no reason and didn't cared about my arguments at all. Looked lke they didn't even read my messages.
That's good they care about safety, but there's no need in overreacting.

While Upwork does take a 20% commission, I believe it is worth it to have all your clients managed through one place and to have an easy hub to find jobs.

Upwork is that platform you can use to improve yourself and your ability to pitch and write proposals. It's a really competitive space so it'll challenge you to improve yourself to be able to get your proposals accepted and subsequently get hired by prospective clients. The only downsides are having to pay for connects and the Upwork service fees. I once got paid $10, for instance, by a client but I ended up getting just $7.0.

I've seen Upwork (formerly Odesk and Elance) since 2007. I've had used Upwork both as a customer looking to get work done and as a service provider (freelance and Agency both) since 2008. I've had experienced over 800 jobs using Upwork where some were my direct clients and others were clients using agency accounts. Upwork is misunderstood and misrepresented at large. Indeed it has the largest Freelance Marketplace eco-system which implies that the ones getting their job done right and comfortably aren't bothered about leaving reviews and feedback.

How Is It Misunderstood?
Customers complaining here do not realize what they are getting into. They mostly assume as-if they are out to connect with experts and ought to pay almost 1/10 of their monies. When they find that native experts are actually not so inexpensive, they straightaway hire people from other countries who can match their price. They assume a lot (even though they are not assuming) and enter into agreements, mid-way through the project they are unable to decide and their frustration mounts. Either then end up with a not-so-nice of a deliverable or a failure. On the other hand after gaining a lot of experience, some customers do not want to believe that "What You Pay For Is What You Get" and they try to force in their legal rights, policies and terms which still wouldn't get their job done. If someone in another part of the world is really in dire need of a project, that freelancer will literally ask for any monies that'd work and promise the world in haste. Those jobs where freelancers deliver pretty well, gets unnoticed while those where an error is made gets highlighted.

Upwork is a third party - it neither guarantees terms nor enters into the agreement between client and vendors. It is simply a service to connect two parties, have Escrow and optionally take additional facilitation of disputes and arbitration.

How is Upwork Misrepresented?
In many ways! Its fee is actually not 20% for Freelancers but Upwork makes themselves appear as stealing. They have an option for clients to pick from a monthly subscription / flat fee but do not explain as to what is that for. They do not promote a thorough education on what it'd charge Freelancers / Vendors / Clients in doing business directly / locally or getting into a full-time hiring position as opposed getting a freelance hired. Upwork is also misrepresented for its extended services by clients when they need help in hiring and Upwork uses catch- phrases that they'd help in getting their work done which is totally not the case. Upwork also assumes that their terms and policies or Help Center section is the place for people to know what it is all about which is actually absurd.

I've had a decent share on Upwork and Upwork has a decent share in our growth. I have had many customers consulted, the above is just a response to all the negative feedback. On Upwork there are people like us offering services knowing well what the platform does not / cloud not offer while ensuring customers are educated. The platform is by far the best for people looking to get a quality work done and simply cannot be matched with Fiver / Freelancer and others because when clients are looking for exceptional work rather just quality work, only Upwork has such exceptional vendors that can produce such work.

Upwork is a very good website to earn money. There are some difficulties with what is high percentage, but it can be explained.

I joined this website with the purpose of making some money by offering my services, so I made an account on the website with the intentions to experiment, but my efforts helped me to earn a lot of money.

I have started working on Upwork at the start of 2020, So far it has been a beautiful journey and hoping for the best. Highly recommended for the talent that is seeking for an opportunity.

Upwork is a good site for a freelancer, but recently Upwork change there connect system I just don't agree with it. This is a very bad thing for a beginner freelancer.

I was struggling to find local photography jobs during covid! All the local small businesses I would reach out to would either not making as much money due to covid or closed because covid. I had client and jobs lined up before all the covid closures after that each client I had prior just isn't able to afford hiring a photographer at this time. Desperate for work I looked online and found Upwork! Quickly I got a photography job for $150 and I haven't stops since! It is now 9/23/2020 and I and working on 3 jobs from upwork. 1 for $250, another for $100, and the last for $500. All are clients I would have NEVER had access to and for that I TRULY Thank Upwork.

The only reason I am not giving 5 stars is simple! I pay 14.99 a month to be a member (my choice) and I have also been on the site for a little bite hitting 100% Job Success and Rising Talent, soon to hit even higher goals hopefully! I feel for people like that they should START to get discounts on the 20% that Upworks takes from the job I. E. The job for $500 Upwork is going to take $100 of that;( That SUPER sucks! The client reached out to me and I am experienced in the website for thing like that I thing the site should only charge 10% at the most! I now bring value to the website. Say once you hit 100% Job Success you now only pay 15% then at rising talent it goes to %10. I think that would be an amazing idea to reward people. If Upwork implemented a system like that doesn't have to be those exact number but just a similar thing that would be game change to all freelancers out there!

Hope this info help the next freelancer!

Nick Gonzales
Owner
SOS Photography

I couldn't earn a lot here. Nevewtheless, that income helped me a lot. Service is satisfactory. But there; s a lot to improve

There are ups and downs to this platform. Overall good experience. Could improve on lot of thing that many people mentioned here.

Good platform for all the freelancers.! It difficult to get a new job as a newbie and you have to purchase the connects as well.!

Its great way to earn in this period. We ca search for freelance work from home with great pay scale and with convenient work time.

I would like to work with him. He was good and cooperative. But we couldn't work together due to schedule problem. I recommend him.

Upwork is good for freelancers to find clients from all over the world. There are lots of opportunities for interesting and varied work. You might have to submit quite a lot of proposals to get going but I have not had to buy any 'connects' yet. The increased service fee of 20% feels too high so I can't give 5 stars. The website is easy to use and had many useful features.

All clothing to very good and multiple verity and multiple item to push and easy to card and payment ger way

UpWork has been providing opportunities since beginning of my entrepreneur journey as a design agency owner.

Got my first freelancing job through upwork. It provides you an option to work remotely from anywhere around the globe.

تعدر الأراء شيئ مهم في المجتمع وا الأراء الصحيحه تنتج اشياء عظيمة وعجيبه اما الأراء السيئه عند تنفيزها قد تؤديالي سقوط دول

While it did take time to establish myself on Upwork (almost a year), I find it to be a solid freelancer site with plenty of opportunity. It has nice features like payment protection through Escrow, Talent Specialist coaching, and the time tracker tool.

An area for improvement is the steep service fee (20% for the first $500 per client, 10% thereafter). I think fees for this service should be in the 7-8% range, especially with the financial toll of the pandemic hitting hard this year.

I'll start off by saying I love upwork for the opportunities they have provided me with, but it for sure does have it's flaws and I'll point out two of the biggest ones.

1. The 20% comission UNTILL you reach 500$, which then turn into 10%. That would be fair and good if it didn't only count for ONE client. As of now, I've made almost 1000$ on upwork and, which Menas I've generated upwork atleast 200$ in commissions and even more in connects. Sadly, most of the projects people get on upwork are a one time deal and you almost never get the chance to reach that 500$ mark with just one client. I believe the 10% comission should be applied to anyone who has already earned 500 or 1000$ via upwork IN TOTAL.

Why? Because that would encourage people to really keep all the gigs and payments inside upwork, where reaching a "total earned" would actually benefit them. And of course, once you reach that 10% commission rate, the people would feel "appreciated" by the site and actually be more involved in trying to make more money via upwork (because no they make 10% more, technically). And that would go both ways, maybe it would be less comission, but it would result in more gigs, balancing it out if not exceeding the profits for upwork themselves.

Especially if you're from Europe, the 20% comission + the VAT that I have to pay from my own pocket ends up to turn into 30+% comission flat! And that is before taxes in my own country. The 10% comission also REALLY benifits your workers over seas like myself.

2. Im not quite sure why, because I haven't seen the page from a "Buyers" point of view, but atleast half of the time I feel like the clients never even see my gig application even when I've written a killer application, a lot of people tend to not respond at all (NEVER have been denied), which leads me to believe they never even get to see my application. I don't know if it's because their end gets flooded by people offering to do the gig for under what the minimum is (I saw that when I bought the upwork Plus account). But that should really get checked out.

Best regards,
Dāvis Paugurs

I was introduced to Upwork by one of my colleagues almost four years ago. I joined the platform and found immediate success. Infact, the experience that I gained from my early work here helped me in my conventional career as well. Four years on, during the pandemic, it helped me keep my savings intact by matching me with relevant jobs working from home.

Upwork has its share of good and bad, but overall it's a great starting point for those new to freelancing and looking to build their reputation and portfolio. The fees can be brutal at times and really impact your freelancing income, as well as the fact that you literally have to pay to apply for jobs majority of the time, but once you get into a more consistent flow, you don't mind the hassle quite as much. Clientele always varies greatly and impacts the experience, but I've been working on Upwork for a few years now and am comfortable saying that I don't mind the site at all. It's definitely a 4 out of 5.