Upwork Reviews 12,579

UP Work has always bee a really difficult platform to use. The messaging is flakey, to say the least. As a client working with freelancers, it's impossible to contact UP work or make a compliant. Another faceless organisation with terrible customer service.

I went into this platform with real intention. I spent a significant amount of time building out a thoughtful, professional profile and invested money into Connects just to apply for jobs. What I didn’t expect was how little return there would be on either.

This is an extremely pay-to-play system, and it disproportionately disadvantages new users. You are required to spend money just to submit proposals, with no meaningful indication of how often those proposals are even seen, let alone responded to. In my case, despite consistent effort and over 50 applications, I saw no traction at all.

What’s most concerning is the lack of transparency around this. New users are not clearly told what they’re stepping into: a highly saturated, global marketplace where competition is intense and pricing expectations are often far below industry standards. Many job postings reflect rates that are not viable for experienced professionals, and competing at fair market value becomes extremely difficult in that environment.

On top of that, the platform encourages additional spending through features like boosting proposals for more visibility, which only reinforces the sense that freelancers are expected to continue investing financially just for the possibility of being seen.

The issue here is not a lack of effort or skill. It’s a structural model that requires ongoing financial input without clearly communicating the realistic likelihood of return, especially for those just starting out.

I would have made a very different decision had this been presented more honestly upfront.

I think the rate is really high

My experience with Upwork was smooth and professional. It was easy to connect with clients, manage communication, and complete projects. The platform is user-friendly and reliable.

Grateful to have a platform that can help me have a sustainable livelihood by Using my skills.

Upwork is a great platform for freelancers to connect with clients worldwide. I had a smooth experience completing my first project, and the process was professional and secure. Looking forward to growing more here.

Upwork is a great platform. I have been using Upwork since 2020 and I can say they have always met up to standards.

recently i have problem for submitting and getting reviewed

I secured a $10,000 contract on Upwork and was immediately asked to verify my identity. I completed facial verification and submitted my ID, which was genuine, but Upwork incorrectly flagged it as falsified.

I resubmitted the same real document along with 4 additional proofs of identity. This time, Upwork verified my account successfully. I received a confirmation email, and my dashboard clearly showed my verification status as verified.

Despite this, they refused to lift my account suspension, the very suspension that was caused by their own initial error in flagging legitimate documents.

When I raised this, I was told their "original decision is final." Even after admitting (through their own verification system) that my documents were genuine all along, they would not reverse the consequences of their mistake. My account remained suspended and my $10,000 contract was lost.

This is not a grey area. Upwork made an error, acknowledged it by verifying my account, and then refused to take responsibility for the damage that error caused.

Freelancers should know: one wrongful automated flag can cost you everything on this platform, and even when Upwork proves themselves wrong, they will not make it right.

Fiverr is better in this regard. During registration, it asks for a selfie and ID. After that, it doesn’t accept card details, and after 2–3 attempts it gets blocked—we got extremely frustrated, and most importantly, we still couldn’t get the service. The support team is completely useless!

The feedback system motivates me to do my best, and having a 100% Job Success Score has really helped my visibility! I've found all my clients respectful of the platform's policies, and I earn more consistently here than on other sites. Highly recommended to any freelancer looking for a professional and rewarding place to work.

I'm really enjoying Upwork it's an amazing app for me that's just what I have to say

The amount of inactive companies using this platform is wild. Weeks after submitting a proposal, most companies I checked haven't opened any proposals. The job post then expires from inactivity, with seemingly no action taken from the company, and all the people who submitted proposals lose their "connects", which equals real money lost from real workers. There seems to be so little accountability for the companies because, even the companies with really low hire rates, are still getting dozens or hundreds of proposals submitted for their jobs. This platform seems solely focused on keeping companies happy while all the workers foot the bill.

I used Upwork for a short period of time during the summer of 2025. They suspended my account for no valid reason back then - and just did not get back to me even after I was appealing and could show the error they made - now over six months later, no resolutions, no responses. I lost clients as a result as I cannot get into my account to respond. Terrible customer services.

Deduction is very high.

Their pages are full of bugs. Support team does not know what they are doing even I am not sure if they have a team. Immediately after I created my profile I paid to get connects and to make my account verified. Verification stayed in manual review status more than 1 week. I asked to support (support is an automatic bot always no real support) It said I need to make something else at the verification page. It wanted me to click update verification link. but there is not such a link or button. I created a ticket to support and when I checked my ticket I recognized that its status changed to solved immediately without doing nothing. I asked for a refund (to that bot again) but it says no refund possible and again it redirects me another page with a link to appeal. but at that link it says : we can't find this page. they are like a joke.

I hired a freelancer to create some renderings. He only delivered the initial drafts, which needed revisions because they contained many mistakes. After that, he started coming up with increasingly implausible excuses and then stopped responding altogether. I still have an active contract with a pending payment that I’m unable to recover, and I’ve had to find someone else to complete the work. This time, I’ll be hiring a professional with a physical office who pays taxes. Overall, it was a very bad experience.