Upwork

While it did take time to establish myself on Upwork (almost a year), I find it to be a solid freelancer site with plenty of opportunity. It has nice features like payment protection through Escrow, Talent Specialist coaching, and the time tracker tool.

An area for improvement is the steep service fee (20% for the first $500 per client, 10% thereafter). I think fees for this service should be in the 7-8% range, especially with the financial toll of the pandemic hitting hard this year.

Upwork is good for freelancers to find clients from all over the world. There are lots of opportunities for interesting and varied work. You might have to submit quite a lot of proposals to get going but I have not had to buy any 'connects' yet. The increased service fee of 20% feels too high so I can't give 5 stars. The website is easy to use and had many useful features.

Upwork is a site full of professionals and employers
I have registered there and when I scroll through to see available jobs, it baffles me.
I will advice on professionals from video editing, autocad artists, writers and any artisans to check them out

Upwork was good in the first week, but I would be honest, there were so many unanswered proposals, but I managed to get two jobs that paid over $300. But the downside to Upwork especially for newcomers is the issue of connects. You need them to apply for jobs and unless you are a paying customer, you will be getting only a few, and you would be really lucky to land jobs with the initial batch. I am yet to buy connects though and have missed out on some opportunities I was confident I could have gotten. Upwork has to change policy to allow new users better benefits so they can apply and make money first, before being asked to buy connects. They are going to make money if the freelancer makes any, and they still charge for withdrawal

I've used the site as a freelancer for 6 years (originally O desk). To begin with it felt supportive and despite the huge competition from freelancers charging barely anything and clients wanting ridiculous amounts of work for pittance I started to build up work. I had 1 issue with a client and the support team resolved it fairly and quickly.

Nowadays I'm constantly getting emails about ‘changes to their terms' which are usually not beneficial for freelancers. The ‘connects' system is the final straw for me. Upwork already takes 20% of all my earnings (they charge the client 10 or 20% too on the same work) now they want me pay a monthly fee to be allowed to apply for jobs that make them their money? It's no longer viable for me, I'll use my few free connects for occasional jobs but I feel a bit ripped off by Upwork.

As a freelancer, the private and public feedback system is incredibly frustrating and unfair. Clients can leave you positive public feedback but also provide negative private feedback which factors into your Job Success Score. Freelancers have no way to improve their business and/or resolve issues with clients if they don't know what the issues are. Very unfair that UpWork encourages private feedback vs. asking clients to be open and honest with freelancers and then uses this information to bring down their scores and impact their ability to get future work. Also, much of the positive feedback a freelancer receives is excluded from the score unless it meets specific criteria like being given after a contract is ended and within 14 days. Many of my clients have preferred to keep contracts open for ongoing work but then this feedback doesn't count.

I started with Upwork a number of years ago and found success and regular work. It was actually a large piece of where I found work as a voice artist. But then they changed their fee structure and I no longer try to find new work through the site.

We must now pay for audition credits AND they then take a percentage of the contracted fee.

I felt this was a money grabbing attempt and it made me decide to leave the platform except to keep my past clients who still work through this site.
Otherwise I have left and will spend my time elsewhere.

It is a good platform and one that I had success using. The value was once good. But not it is not a value for me any longer.

If you are just starting out it can still be a great platform for you to use. If you have been in the business a while I say skip it.

Upwork has been my trusted platform for finding freelance opportunities and connecting with clients from around the world. The platform's vast network of clients and freelancers, comprehensive job listings, and secure payment system make it easy to find meaningful projects and build a successful freelance career. I appreciate Upwork's commitment to transparency and professionalism, as seen in its dispute resolution process and feedback system, which ensure fair and equitable transactions for both parties. Moreover, the platform's collaboration tools and communication features enhance teamwork and streamline project management. With Upwork, freelancing is not just a job—it's a rewarding and fulfilling career.

The client has no option to turn off Auto Time Tracker. Once Freelancer starts tracking time, they get paid no matter what. The client can "dispute" but it is a useless feature. Upwork is forcing the client to pay their BS guarantee to freelancers and they cares 0% about the freelancer doing work right. The site is full of garbage freelancers, it is a waste of time hiring and trying to weed the total crap freelancers from decent freelancers, The 5-star rating system is as useless as Amazon or anywhere else. If you have to use Upwork, do fixed-price contracts and small milestones.

Upwork is a blessed platform for me. I've made my freelance career with Upwork. I'm really happy with their management and worldwide work opportunities. Not only clients, freelancers are also now benefited when pandemic starts.

Before joining Upwork, 8 months back, I never thought that skilled experts like me, who live in developing countries, can join the global workforce just because of where we are located.
Upwork has proved me wrong. By joining Upwork not only I have benefited from better earnings but also my service benefited clients all across the globe and that makes me a lot proud of myself and I'm thankful of Upwork for that.
Working remotely has become the new tradition, and Upwork has the best team and platform to ensure anyone from anywhere work everywhere!

I love Upwork! Love it. I was new to freelancing when the pandemic hit, but I had to do something to make ends meet. Not only have I met amazing clients and increased my hourly rate over time, but I have payment protection that other sites don't offer. I know I'll get paid for my work. They even have features you can use to filter for like client's payment is "verified" or their rating from previous freelancers out of 5 stars.

Upwork is good for freelancers with beginning, intermediate or advanced skills in a particular area. There are jobs that require minimum expertise as well as more skillful jobs. It's definitely been worth it for me

In less than two weeks I got three jobs!, Upwork helps new freelancers who have completed their profile and portfolio, it has excellent tools such as the phone and desktop application, the technical support is attentive and fast, it has been a very pleasant experience.

I have been an Upwork freelancer since 2016 but I have been working consistently as a freelancer/independant consultant for the last 6 months and I am able to make my full-time income from home and online. I have worked with amazing clients who are all doing such good things in this world and I really enjoy the platform.The Upwork platform is user friendly, they provide an exceptional service pairing skills and talent with clients. They really have the best interests of the freelancer and the client at heart. Very communicative and their customer service teams respond promptly, they guide you along the way and ensure you get paid for the work you do.

I've been using the Upwork platform for around seven years now, and have seen constant evolution in their product offering, which has proven refreshing. Uptime is excellent and I've worked on some really great contracts through the platform. The time tracking app is easy to use and the system takes all of the hassle out of invoicing as they take care of the billing side of things. It takes a while to get established, but is an invaluable part of my life now.