2023 Upwork Review: Is It Right for Your Business?

With over 10 million registered freelancers, Upwork covers a wide range of skills and expertise, including logo designers, app developers, customer support specialists, administrative assistants, and more. It also provides agency options for projects requiring a team rather than an individual. These projects are neatly categorized into six areas:

• Development and IT
• Design and Creative
• Finance and Accounting
• Sales and Marketing
• Writing and Translation
• Admin and Customer Support

Upwork approves freelancers who apply to the platform, but the vetting process is limited unless you utilize the Talent Scout tool. The platform simplifies the process of filtering applicants by allowing you to specify project details or search based on qualifications, rates, and other criteria. Additionally, you can review star ratings and client feedback.

Upwork also assigns a user score, considering factors such as public and private feedback, long-term client relationships, rehires, and completed contracts. Its scores are as follows:

• 90%+: Freelancer or agency consistently delights clients
• 80%–89%: Freelancer or agency does solid work
• 79% and below: Freelancer or agency does not always meet expectations

Need a freelancer fast? Look for those with the Availability Now badge. (Source: Upwork)

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You can look on a profile to see real-world customer reviews. (Source: Upwork)

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Clicking on a particular job gives you more in-depth reviews, including the freelancer’s review of the client. (Source: Upwork)

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If you find yourself swamped with applicants or don’t have the time to search for a freelancer, Upwork offers a solution through its talent scouts. These scouts can do the work on your behalf. You can discuss your project requirements and they will select candidates from a pool of experienced professionals with a track record of over 10 years and positive reviews.

The talent scouts will interview the chosen candidates to identify the best fit for your project. They will give you a shortlist of candidates along with their hourly rates. The best part is that this service is provided at no additional cost to you.

Alternatively, you can create and post a job to take applicants. Upwork will walk you through your requirements. If you are not logged in, it will show you candidates to contact. If you log in, it will take you further in the job development phase until you have a completed job description to post. You can set parameters like whether you need an in-country employee or can accept candidates worldwide, how much you will pay (by project or hour), skills desired, and more.

Upwork walks you through the search, narrowing down the category and job until you get the best fit. (Source: Upwork)

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Upwork takes the scope of work into consideration. You can hire for quick projects or complex, long-term roles. (Source: Upwork)

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Drill down further by the experience level needed for your project. (Source: Upwork)

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Upwork narrows the candidates down and displays them with their user ratings. You can then register to contact them. (Source: Upwork)

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Once you sign in, it drills down even further. (Source: Upwork)

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Scope includes the complexity of the work. (Source: Upwork)

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If you need to limit the location, you can do so. (Note that Upwork no longer serves Russia and Belarus.) (Source: Upwork)

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If you’re unsure how much you can pay, then give an estimate. You don’t need to commit to an amount here. (Source: Upwork)

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Once parameters are set, you can add a job description and save it as a draft or post. (Source: Upwork)

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Rather than starting a job or project from scratch, Upwork offers the convenience of accessing freelancers who have already created their own projects, complete with pricing and deliverables. These projects, similar to those on Fiverr but often at a higher cost, are available in the projects section. The ads for these projects provide samples of past work, pricing details, and feedback from previous customers.

With this approach, you pay for the product itself rather than hiring the freelancer. Once you’ve purchased a package, you can connect with the freelancer to discuss your specific requirements. This method offers a streamlined way to find skilled freelancers for specific tasks, eliminating the need for applicant screening.

When logged in, the ready-to-buy projects are on your dashboard.

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You can search the ready-to-buy projects. Upwork suggests them in the dashboard based on your job ads. (Source: Upwork)

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Similar to Fiverr, freelancers can create services/projects, with levels, pricing, and project expectations. (Source: Upwork)

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Rather than hiring the freelancer as a contractor, you pay for the package as a product. (Source: Upwork)

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Upwork’s mobile app lets you find freelancers and post jobs. You can interview employees and hire in the app, then use it to chat or video call, share files, and track project milestones. The app is better rated on the App Store, with 4.8 out of 5 stars at the time of this writing. The Android score on Google Play is 3.8 out of 5. The primary complaints were that the app is prone to glitches and the messaging feature did not work well, sometimes even erasing messages.

You can search for talent or review proposals in response to a job ad you posted. (Source: Google Play)

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Communicate with your freelancers on-the-go with the mobile app. (Source: Google Play)

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Approving payments just takes a click. (Source: Google Play)

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There are many tools within Upwork for managing a project and keeping your freelancer on track. This includes communication tools, time tracking, and lists and milestones.

Create To-do Lists

You can make to-do lists, which create tiles of tasks with the information and a non-binding due date. Freelancers can mark them as done, and you can sort by complete and incomplete tasks. These lists are between you and your freelancer and do not affect their job scores.

Set Up Mid-contract Feedback

You can set up private or public feedback with the client once a project ends. Mid-contract feedback, however, can be left before the project ends and is public. It shows up on the freelancer or agency work history but does not factor in the job success score. With some feedback (like mid-contract), you can choose to provide it; otherwise, the freelancer requests it. Freelancers cannot respond to public feedback.

Configure Milestones

Milestones apply to fixed-rate jobs, dividing a project into deliverables, due dates, or phases. They aren’t individually funded but provide clear benchmarks toward the goal. For milestones, the project funds are put into escrow, and funds are released from escrow as milestones are reached. If for some reason the freelancer does not complete a contract and you part ways, they are paid for the work completed and you can request an escrow refund for the remainder.

Messages & Collaboration

The Upwork message app works a lot like Slack and other communications platforms. It lets you organize and manage discussions, search by group or freelancer, communicate in real time, and sync files or share documents.

Groups are called rooms. They can be set for projects or one-on-one conversations. Alternatively, you can go to all conversations and seek a conversation, room, or individual. Need to talk face-to-face? Click on the video icon in the upper right-hand corner to set up a video call. You can attach files to a message or by drag-and-drop them into a text box.

With a Slack-like interface, Upwork makes it easy to communicate and collaborate with freelancers and team members. (Source: Upwork)

Time Clock & Work Diary

When you have hourly employees, they use the Time Clock app to track their hours. They simply click on the time, put a note in the memo about what they are doing, and get working. Upwork says it’s important for work and payment protection for freelancers to accurately track and make notes of what they do during their time.

The time clock is easy to use on desktop or mobile. (Source: Upwork video)

The time clock activates the Work Diary, a billing tool for hourly workers. Freelancers need to track time via the time tracker, and the Work Diary takes screenshots every 10 minutes. Workers can review the screenshots, removing extraneous ones and adding comments to explain the work. You can view these screenshots in the Work Diary. You or your freelancer can also add manual time for work not represented in the tracker, such as phone calls.

Screenshots can help you track what your freelancer does online. (Source: Upwork video)

Upwork lets you pay your freelancers by the hour or project. You need to attach your account to a PayPal account or credit card and for automated clearing house (ACH) transfers, which allows eligible clients and freelancers to offer direct to US bank payments.

You can pay workers in their local currency, although the rates are shown in USD and you are charged in USD. There’s a time tracker tool if you pay your freelancer by the hour and a milestone tool for project-based work. You can pay by PayPal or credit card, but if you pay using a Discover Card, your freelancer can only be paid in USD.

There are two ways to pay: credit or payment card and PayPal. (Source: Upwork)

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Once you have a project, you can choose the currency for your freelancer. (Source Upwork Help Desk)

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If you need to see the local currency and conversion charges, you can find them in the transaction invoices under Reports. (Source: Upwork Help)

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Sometimes, even when you thought you made the best choice, things go wrong with a contract. Upwork offers payment protection for both freelancer and client. Sending a complaint to customer support does not count as a dispute. You must follow the directions for disputing an hourly fee or requesting a refund on escrow for a project fee.

You’ll file your dispute under the appropriate contract in the My Jobs section of your dashboard, and the freelancer or agency then has a limited time to respond. If they accept the dispute or do not answer, you’ll get your refund as a credit to be used with another contract. If they reject the dispute, then it’ll be reviewed by an Upwork Dispute Specialist.

Hourly disputes only dispute the amount of time spent on a project; for instance, if a freelancer overbills you. Fixed-price disputes are for refunds in an escrow account for milestones not reached. You can also terminate the freelancer for unsatisfactory work.

Sometimes, it’s better to classify a freelancer as an employee. Then, of course, you need to put them on payroll. Upwork can handle payroll for your freelance team that you may hire as employees rather than as contractors.

Upwork Payroll, which works in over 165 countries, partners with staffing agencies that work as the employer of record. Upwork complies with federal and state laws where your freelancer is based. It manages legally required sick leave and ACA compliance for health care enrollment, transitions contractors to W-2 employees, and more.

Your freelancers will need to be paid on an hourly basis, and Upwork pays weekly or monthly, depending on the local laws and your preferences.

Payroll costs 23% of the freelancer contract. Of that, 13% is payroll fees (taxes and Social Security), which Upwork says is about what an independent contractor would pay in self-employment taxes, so the after-tax impact is often negligible. The rest cover Upwork’s processing fees. You may get a discount on these fees when you also use Payroll. Upwork says many businesses negotiate these fees into the freelancer contract.

Upwork can provide worldwide payroll as well. Contact the provider for details.