UpworkReviews 2,128

I received an email from Upwork today claiming I have a possible online interview for a job at CBRE. I set up the interview per the emailed instructions and about 10 min into it there were red flags everywhere--the person posing as hiring manager is asking me to buy $200 worth of iTunes cards to be used to "upgrade a laptop" they are sending me next week so that I can work right away. I called a local CBRE office and confirmed it was a scam. So shame on you Upwork! I deleted my account right way.

Upwork is a complete joke for a freelance site. If you were banned by them, they did you a BIG favor and saved you from lots of future grief and possibly financial theft.

There are many more opportunities out there for freelance work and you can make more than 2.50/hour that represent the bulk of jobs on upwork!

I find it amusing that they are banning users from various 3rd world countries and their whole outfit is outsourced from 3rd word countries! Whomever took control of this lame site from elance, which was very good freelancer site, is a complete idiot and will turn this freelance site into fail mode. I pity their shareholders.

I had an issue with a freelancer I hired going MIA. He got paid for 1/2 the job went and then went silent. Upwork is more concerned with keeping every dollar than admitting when something goes wrong and correcting it. You provide security for the freelancer but what security do the people and companies hiring these freelancers get? After months of dealing with the very unprofessional CS team they FINALY came to a resolution when they could't get in contact with the freelancer either. They were suppose to refund my money back to my credit card as I explicitly stated. They gave me a credit and it was used my another person on my team. HENCE ME EXPLICITLY stating refund back to the original form of payment.

I received an email that my profile was set to private because I haven't landed any jobs yet. But almost all the jobs I can have requirements like 90% success rate et al, that I can't match because I haven't done prior work through upwork. Have you any idea how hard it is to land a job when everyone wants prior upwork experience? It's a catch22! And now they make my profile private unless I pay to upgrade because I haven't been able to get around that? What the hell? This is a scam!

This review site does not offer a review grade of 0 stars. Pity, as UpWork does not deserves a 1 star rating.

This platform is centered around exploiting freelancers and ruling out any means necessary to keep them quiet, controlled and working (biblical reference to slavery fully intended).
Desktop application that tracks time and work has an option to take regular webcam shots of you while working that UpWork recommends to use (I am not kidding).
Platform has full power over status of freelancers profile and can (and will!) block, inspect and pause any kind of work relationship with a client at any time.
Platform will occasionally inform you that your account is blocked until you prove your legitimacy over online talk.
Support forum is utterly controlled by trained moderators to keep all discussions in UpWork favor. Posts that intend to start out a discussion about improving/adding functionalities that benefit freelancers and clients will just get deleted without notice.
Your (freelancers) data is available to public simply to drag traffic to the site and you can not turn that off.

I have concluded 3 projects, got highest ranking on them, earned solid money and met great clients there. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the platform that aims to exploit and not develop, I still keep my profile only as a reference of work that I have done on it. Believe me, mine and yours time is precious. Don't let yourself be exploited here.

I've been working as a freelancer for a couple of years and I've worked very hard to build an excellent profile on Upwork. They take 20% of my earnings, while encouraging clients to pay as little as possible. However, I've met some great clients through their site, which is why they get an extra star or two as a review from me. Aside from their glitch-riddled software, they are a bad company. I've been an exemplary freelancer. Recently, they suspended my account, too, out of nowhere and for no reason. I squawked vehemently and they caved, but I really don't trust them. Recently also, a client (from India I think) refused to pay me. They made me jump through a lot of hoops only to declare that I violated their policy, so "no protection for you!" They gave no explanation and I didn't violate any of their stupid, micro-printed policies. It was just easier to let the client have his money back (if they did, in fact, give it back). Upwork claims to protect its freelancers, through some bogus "contract protection." It's a lie. You have to fight for your money when necessary and they are NOT on your side. It's really bad business since they seem to make most of their money by collecting a "vig" from our sweat, not the clients. Maybe you can connect successfully with good clients because Upwork takes our money and uses it for marketing to get lots of them. But, BE CAREFUL. Watch out for your money. And don't even engage with customer service unless you've got stamina because it's a joke. I hope this helps the really hard-working writers, who are doing their best to make a decent living.