Upwork

I'm not surprised by all of these unhappy reviews after my recent experience with UpWork.

Out of the blue my account was blocked because I asked a potential contractor if payment by invoice was possible as company policy prohibits credit card purchases - not surprising for projects totalling a couple of thousand $. This is a platform for professionals so I can't be the only one with this question.

No warning or polite notice that this is against policy but an instant ban and case closed.

I accept that my request might not be allowed but the extreme reaction and zero tolerance to a new user asking a genuine question says it all.

Terrible website, there is no costumer support but a bot that doens't work and it's impossible to contact a human to help. plus you have to pay not only to aplly to jobs but there's a commission every job you get.

El pasado diciembre puse un anuncio con mi empresa para buscar un freelance. Una vez puesto el anuncio la web me preguntó si quería evidenciar aún más el trabajo y que este hecho aumentaría las respuestas.
Lo hice y pagué por paypal. Después de unas horas me llegó un email que para activar la cuenta debía escanear mis documentos y validar la misma cuenta. Así lo hice, lo que pasó después es que se borró mi anuncio ( había que volver a ponerlo y con ello la publicidad pagada). Convencido que esto se solucionaría hablando con ellos. Me puse en su web y no hay ninguna posibilidad de contactarlos, sólo hay un robot que no entiende nada que no entiende nada. Al final miré el email que estaba indicado en el cargo de Paypal. Les puse un email en inglés y me llega un mensaje que ya no atienden por email. NO hay ninguna manera de ponerse en contacto con ellos. Hice una reclamación a paypal, no me dieron la razón y perdi el dinero. Os parece una empresa seria?

My account got suspended shortly after paying them, and there seems to be no direct way of contacting them to get it unsuspended

In order you for to submit applications, you must use contacts. When I went to submit my proposals, my account was randomly suspended. I was told that my application was never sent. However, the contacts were still taken from my account. I brought up the issue and sent a screen shot to Upwork. It took several emails and different customer service agents to unsuspend my account, but my contacts are still gone. When I brought this up, I sent a screen shot. They ignored it saying that my account wasn't suspended so it's not an issue.

To me, this is theft. My time and resources were wasted and job opportunities were missed because of the platform and the Upwork's terrible support.

I categorically advise against it.
The first order is done, and the principal sends a change request writing that he will give an answer later, once he has checked the work, thus extending his time for payment by 2 weeks. It's been 3 weeks now, and I still haven't received the payment, because the time has been extended several times in this way. Support sees no problem with this, and prompts me to keep waiting another 14 days despite the principal's obvious abusiveness of their payout system.

Upwork have REMOVED All CUSTOMER SERVICE

Stay well away from this terrible business. They've clearly been making cut backs and have now removed ANY possible way to contact them. There are no emails, no ways to submit a ticket and their "AI" chat bot if possibly the worst functionality of its kind on the market that just sends you in a closed loop circle not providing any solution to speak to a human or submit a request.

STAY AWAY from Upwork. I wouldn't be surprised if the company collapses imminently.

Fraudulent jobs who refuse to pay, when UpWork ‘step in’ to help there are huge costs associated with fighting your case, so it isn’t worth the money, and the fraudulent hirers are free to continue with their scamming. Alongside high fees, it’s no longer worth it.

I used Upwork for my startup retail product online business for almost 3 years for many different jobs. The most used job was customer service (returns, customer enquiries etc), other jobs were website support, graphic design, financial forecasting etc.
I used freelancers mainly from Phillipines but all over the world. Upwork freelancers have been great and the quality for the value has been immense for a small business. Sure there were problems but you will never have perfection with workers.

I rejected various 'jobs' that were paying less than minimum wage, then they made my profile private due to the fact I wasn't 'working through Upwork' - If I have to sign up for campaigns or jobs for less than minimum wage for the amount of skill and experience I have, then honestly, you can stick it. Will never use again. Fighting for competition from people with India who will accept $2 an hour. Ridiculous.

Upwork is a scam, don't waste your money. They blocked me for no reason and they even took client fees already. I suggest you please stay away from this scam site.

Sadly, upwork is getting worse. They added new "Initiation fee" that everytime you create new contract, you will be charged nice amount, usually $10. It's no wonder people are finding ways to migrate the freelancers OUT of platform, but it's their fault since they are digging their own grave :) (while thinking they are "smart") lol

Upwork’s support and dispute resolution system is beyond terrible. Their support feels intentionally designed to be as inaccessible as possible. If you’ve ever tried interacting with their bot, you’ll know what I mean. It loops endlessly, rarely provides useful answers, and refuses to connect you to a human agent or let you write a proper support case. You’re left begging the bot, making up extreme scenarios just to escalate your issue. Even then, it might reject your case and restart the process.

Now onto their dispute resolution system—an absolute disaster. I worked on Upwork for four months with no issues until one client turned the experience into a nightmare. For context, I’m a full-stack developer, and the project was a $1,500 e-commerce website over three milestones. I agreed to the client’s vague requirements and lowered my rate slightly to build my reputation on the platform. I even created a formal contract outlining the agreed-upon requirements and costs.

The first milestone ($500) was delivered and approved after a month, despite the client constantly adding features without extra payment or time. They assumed everything was as simple as drag-and-drop WordPress development, and I had to repeatedly explain the complexity of custom code. Still, I delivered without asking for more money, as I didn’t want to risk contract termination early on.

By month two, I delivered the second milestone ($500), which included a functional website uploaded to the client’s server for testing. During a meeting, the client requested more changes, blamed me for delays caused by their additional features, and became rude. I informed them I wouldn’t continue unless they paid for the milestone, but instead of understanding, they insulted me.

Here’s where Upwork got involved. The client refused to pay for the second milestone and requested a refund of both milestones ($1,000 total), claiming I didn’t deliver the work and that they never requested additional features—blatantly untrue. I provided Upwork with a detailed timeline, our contract, screenshots of conversations, and proof of the work hosted on their server.

Despite all this, the Upwork agent proposed a resolution that let me keep the first milestone ($500) but refunded the client the second ($500). The client immediately accepted. When I asked the agent if they reviewed my evidence, they said they don’t make judgments on the quality or completeness of work. Essentially, they take the client’s word for it.

Since I rejected the resolution, the case moved to arbitration—a third-party process where both sides must pay $337 to proceed. If one party pays and the other doesn’t, the payer wins. If neither pays, the client automatically gets the refund. I couldn’t afford the fee, and the client didn’t pursue arbitration either, but because I didn’t pay, the escrow was refunded to the client.

Here’s how it ended:

I lost three months of time and effort.
The client left a 1-star review, killing my chances of getting new projects.
The client walked away with my source code (it was on their server).
The client got their escrow refund, paying only $500 for the entire project.
Upwork’s handling of this was appalling. The agent didn’t investigate properly, ignored my evidence, and pushed the burden onto arbitration, which most freelancers can’t afford. They essentially told me, “If you don’t like our decision, pay a third party to decide or lose everything.”

I made mistakes, like not terminating the contract earlier when the client became unreasonable, but Upwork’s failure to hold clients accountable is shocking. They leave freelancers vulnerable, show no responsibility, and side with clients even when evidence proves them wrong.

If you value your time, effort, and sanity, avoid Upwork. It’s not worth the risk.

Scam be careful, especially on OLADEJI SAMUEL, his take money FOR APPLICATIONS AFTER RECEIVED MONEY HIS BLOCKED APPLICATIONS. FRAUDSTER . I'm lose money and time

This site scams you! Be careful because if you put your money on this site, you won’t be able to get it back. STAY AWAY! Find another platform that is more customer-friendly. Whether you’re a client or a freelancer, UP WORK SUCKS.

Annoying notifications about their policies. You say a word they think is about moving away from the site, and they warn you. It is hard to share a user name, because you can't send email addresses in messages. I said "working hours" and they warned me. It is expensive. No support at all, only a low quality chatbot.

Fake jobs fake invitations, lack of service, and highly problematic business practices overall. For example,
they send unwarranted notifications of a policy violation for providing contact information in proposals when this is blatantly not the case. In this way, they are literally robbing freelancers of work. Several times clients sent me an invitation after perusing my profile, which I accepted only to find that my proposals were removed for the above unwarranted policy violation. This has continued to occur for months even though Upwork support promised it wouldn't and admitted it wis an engineering problem. again In NO CASE was contact information provided as I understand the TOS. In short, the site is highly unreliable, engages in highly questionable business practices and is full of spam/fake job posts.

Proceed at your own risk.

You will lose your money on upwork. It’s a horrible platform that a regulator needs to shut down. Use any other service but this one.

I tried to be a worker here. THE STUPID PLATFORM BLOCKED MY ACCOUNT AND STOLE MY EARNED MONEY.