Upwork

Many problems with this website.
First they suspended my account because they couldn't verify my account because I'm from another country (I provided passeport and permanent resident card).
Second I believe that some "clients" are scam. They will use you for simple task to give them visibility and then never answer at the end when they need to approved for payment.
There is not customer service, only a stupid AI chat, never able to talk to a real person. To talk to someone you need to talk to the AI first and then you can maybe write a ticket, they will make you wait few days to maybe contact you about your issue.

Half of the job offers I saw in my research, was client offering 5-10$ to do tasks for them. Ridiculous.

DON'T SPEND YOUR MONEY ON A SUBSCRIPTION ON THIS WEBSITE

$140 fee cost €147.50 today. 20% margin charged on the exchange rate. Extortionate

Vallen je zomaar lastig.via telefoon en whatsapp, geen idee hoe ze aan mijn nummer komen!!!!
Spam/scam!!!

We’ve had one of the most frustrating and unfair experiences imaginable on Upwork, and I feel compelled to warn other legitimate clients before they invest time and trust into this platform.

After YEAARS of using Upwork without issue, our account was suddenly suspended — without warning, without context, and most importantly, without any wrongdoing on our end. The reason? According to Upwork, we allegedly solicited personal contact information from freelancers in violation of their terms of service.

Here’s the truth: we never asked for any personal information. Instead, a few freelancers voluntarily sent their contact details in their first messages — entirely unsolicited. This is something that’s completely out of our control as clients. But instead of holding those freelancers accountable, Upwork penalized us. They automatically assumed that we had asked for this information, even though the messages clearly show the opposite.

We reached out to Upwork support expecting a reasonable review. What we got was an incredibly opaque, robotic response. No one truly looked into our case. No one listened to our side of the story. It was clear that our account had been flagged and suspended by an automated system, and no human being took the time to actually investigate what had happened.

We lost access to our projects, our communications, and our payment methods — instantly. We had active contracts, scheduled deliveries, and important client work in progress. All of it was suddenly inaccessible because of a misjudgment based on freelancers breaking the rules — not us.

This experience has shaken our trust in the platform entirely. If you're a legitimate business trying to build a remote team or work with talent across borders, be aware that your account can be shut down in a heartbeat for something completely beyond your control. No due process. No transparency. No accountability from Upwork itself.

We’ve since moved to other platforms that actually value their clients and apply fair, logical review processes. Upwork has lost a long-term, high-spending client due to their careless, automated enforcement system and their complete lack of customer care.

Our advice: use Upwork at your own risk — and don’t be surprised when the system turns against you, even when you’ve done nothing wrong.

I had an incredibly disappointing and financially damaging experience as a first-time user of Upwork, and I want to warn others—especially new business owners—about what happened.

I hired a freelancer (Yacco Vjin) for a $1,000 project to redesign and rebuild my company website in WordPress. What I received was a Google Doc mockup, largely AI-generated text (which I verified through ChatGPT), and none of the promised design or functional web deliverables. No Figma, no wireframes, no templates—nothing a developer could actually use to build a site.

The freelancer showed me a previous client's project as an example of what he would do for me—then delivered a generic document and told me we’d “get to the rest” in a later milestone. He then tried to charge me more then double for the next step and revoked my access to the document I had paid $650 for. When I asked for it back, he ignored me, blocked me on Upwork, and later sent me outdated drafts that didn’t include my feedback.

Even worse: the sample work he showed me at the beginning? It turns out he had reused a previous client’s private materials—violating their confidentiality and clearly breaking Upwork's rules.

I reported everything to Upwork, and although they intervened to ask him for the work, I was never given the final version I paid for. The document was deleted, and the freelancer falsely claimed the outdated drafts were “final.”

To be clear:

I never received the actual deliverables I paid for.

The freelancer revoked access and blocked me out of spite.

He shared client materials that were not his to share.

The content he produced was AI-generated filler, not professional work.

I attempted to resolve everything through Upwork before escalating.

Upwork needs to do more to protect clients, especially first-time users. They’ve allowed a freelancer to misrepresent services, share confidential materials, and destroy paid work—without consequences. If this kind of behavior goes unpunished, it makes the entire platform unsafe for honest clients.

I’m still hoping Upwork will do the right thing by issuing a full refund and removing this freelancer from the platform but because they follow a mediation process where both the freelancer and client have to agree it's unlikely. Until then, I urge potential clients to be extremely cautious—and consider other platforms with better accountability. Yacco had high ratings and had earned 500k on the platform and I still ended up being scammed. There is no vetting process for freelancers on upwork all you have to do is signup.

I tried to start my career as a Freelancer on Upwork, did everything correct until a bad actor tricked me into writing a fake review in Google reviews. I realized it in seconds and deleted my review and reported the gig. So what did Upwork do, suspend my account and refuse to refund my unused connects. I am of course reporting them everywhere possible (FTC, BBB, Small Courts in Santa Clara California etc) but want to give people a heads up. Move on, there are better and fairer platforms out there

bugged piece of crap, cannot write words normally, it always get cut in the middle!! wake up

Haha tuurlijk is dit oplichterij maar oh ik zat hun zo hard te pesten voor ongeveer 2 uur, dus zeker een aanrader als je niks te doen hebt hahaha

Do not spent your time and money for this platform, The platform only wants to make money for themselves, even you work or not.

Most interactions on the site will cost tokens that you must purchase. It feels very sleezy and the support is a useless chatbot that doesn't give out a support email.

Not getting jobs applying for many jobs but the proposal didn't accepted any time. please fix it I am belonging to a journalism background having experience of 25 years but did not get job yet on upwork app .

I've been a long-time buyer on Upwork, I think we've spent over $30,000 on the platform for our business.

The good:

The escrow and milestone payment system works well. It provides a solid framework to keep projects on track, as long as you set them up properly. Upwork’s system has decent checks and balances, which help manage expectations and progress.

The platform is also strong when it comes to finding both general and niche talent. The rating system adds some value, though it’s worth remembering that reviews shouldn’t be relied on in isolation — five stars often translates to more like four in reality.

The not-so-good:

Upwork is appallingly paranoid, to the point where it can be frustrating for both buyers and sellers who have no intention of contracting outside of it.

The plafform is terribly relaxed about creating friction for users — enforcing unneccessary policies that make things more complicated in the name of platform security (whilst framing this in a low hand way as keeping the "platorm safe" which comes across as nonsensical). Upwork knows what it's doing but seemingly doesn't care.

Do better Upwork, you know you can.

I despise Upwork with every fiber of my being. My journey started back in 2018, when I poured my heart into applying to every job I could, just to finally land one — 200 vector icons for only $15. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was something. And what did Upwork do? They deactivated my account for "submitting too many proposals." That’s how they reward determination.

Fast forward to 2025. I’m now a web developer, with experience, skill, and a 5-star rating across several completed jobs. But nothing has changed — in fact, it’s worse. Upwork has become a pay-to-win bidding arena, where you have to spend real money just to get your proposal seen. It’s no longer about quality, dedication, or even experience — just how much you’re willing to pay to be seen.

This platform no longer supports freelancers; it exploits them. It has devolved into a bazaar of cheap, low-quality labor, where writing bad code fast gets you further than being skilled or professional.

I genuinely, wholeheartedly hope this company collapses under the weight of its own greed and mismanagement.

I landed 2 jobs as a freelancer and then they canceled my account without a reason, I tried to appeal and their answer was as follow:
In response to your concerns, we’ve completed another review of all the information available. In doing so we have concluded that your account will remain permanently deactivated.

Please note that this decision is final and we are unlikely to respond to further replies on this case.

0% users support
Just don't use it.
They are likely a scam platform.

Upwork ticket center/support is one step up from a "scam call center". Upwork support doesn’t support freelancers. If you plan to use this site for your business, be aware: they will not back their freelancers. Read the reviews, they are known for taking freelancers money, refunding clients even with proof the job was completed. The 89% 1-star reviews say it all—

I created a job and tried to hire a freelancer. When I went into the hiring process none of my payment methods were accepted. The freelancer took the risk anyway, for which I'm grateful. I contacted "Customer Support", but they didn't help me. Then I tried verifying my ID, which failed because it didn't match the profile country. I run a business from another country, which is perfectly legal so that's no ground to reject it. Then without any explanation my account got suspended. I have no way to contact the freelancer anymore and I can't pay him for his time, for which I feel guilty. I'll try Fiverr next time because it couldn't possibly get any worse than this :(

I had a great experience working with them

Clients never review your applications and you don't receive your money back after the ghosted proposals.

Great working