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About Upwork (for Freelancers)
Upwork freelancers (i.e. service providers, sellers) can sign up for free and make money selling their skills to clients. This can happen organically (the client reaches out to you) or by applying to available jobs. After landing a job, all project communications and payouts happen directly through Upwork.
General Details 📜
| Status: | Active, Legit |
|---|---|
| Helps You: | Hire Help Make Money |
| Platform Type: | Freelance Marketplace |
| Opportunities: | Administration Artificial Intelligence (AI) Audio Production Computer Science Copy Editing |
Key Points 🔑
| Work Type: | Freelance |
|---|---|
| Income Type: | Active |
| Work Schedule: | Flexible |
| Workplace: | Remote |
| Minimum Payout: | None |
| Payout Options: | Direct Deposit M-Pesa Payoneer PayPal Wire Transfer Note: Some payout options are only available in certain countries. For example, Payoneer is only available outside the U.S. M-Pesa is available in Kenya only. |
| Payout Speed: | 5-19 days Payout speed will vary based on the type of project you're working on (i.e. hourly, fixed-price) and the payout option chosen. |
| Commissions / Fees: | Upwork seller fees vary based on the amount billed to the client (20% for the first $500, 10% for total billings between $500.01 and $10,000, and 5% for total billings over $10,000). Depending on the payout option you choose, you may also be charged a fee for each withdrawal. |
Pros:
- Easy to use.
- Fast withdrawals.
- Lots of clients looking for freelancers and therefore lots of work to be found.
- Variety of jobs and ways to earn.
- Secure and mostly free of scammers or spam jobs (plus payment protection for freelancers)
- Very professional.
- Flexible work. Work when you want, where you want, on what you want, and with who you want.
- Good for finding recurring work.
Cons:
- Lots of competition from other freelancers on the platform. Other freelancers may undercut your prices.
- Upwork takes a large 20% cut of earnings from freelancers.
- Clients can at times be unprofessional (e.g. by changing the scope of work at the last minute).
- Application/site can be glitchy at times.
- You're limited in how many times you can bid on jobs (unless you pay for more connects).
- Account creation and verification can be a hassle.
Tips:
- Optimize your profile (e.g. upload a high-quality headshot as your profile photo, list all your skills, list your educational background, put together a portfolio, etc.).
- Take lower-paying jobs at the start to get your first reviews.
- Apply/bid on jobs as soon as they're posted.
- Before applying to a job listing, read the description carefully and submit a custom cover letter for each job.
- Spend your connects carefully. Only bid on jobs you're fit for.
- Avoid working with clients with poor reviews or non-verified payments.
- Be patient. It can take time to land clients, especially when you're new.
- Find a niche. If you offer a specific type of work and market yourself as an expert, you'll be able to charge more.
- Work hard and deliver high-quality work in order to gain reviews, build strong relationships, and land recurring work.
- Ask clients for reviews after you finish working with them.
Note: The pros, cons, and tips featured above are manually curated summaries and/or direct excerpts from our 30 Upwork Freelancer reviews.
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Upwork Freelancer Statistics
We've gathered 30 Upwork Freelancer reviews from 15 unique countries/regions.
Here are some insights and statistics from those reviews:
Reported Hourly Earnings
Reported Monthly Earnings
Reported Time to Reach Minimum Payout Amount (For the 1st Time)
- Unknown (0%)
- <= 5 minutes (0%)
- <= 1 hour (0%)
- <= 1 day (13.33%)
- <= 1 week (26.67%)
- <= 2 weeks (20%)
- <= 3 weeks (16.67%)
- <= 1 month (13.33%)
- > 1 month (10%)
- > 1 year (0%)
Statistics above are based on self-reported data from our 30 Upwork Freelancer reviews.
Help contribute by writing a review!
About the Reviewers
Reviews By Total Earnings
- Unknown (3.33%)
- Less than $100 (20%)
- $100-$999 (56.67%)
- $1,000-$9,999 (13.33%)
- $10,000-$49,999 (6.67%)
- $50,000-$99,999 (0%)
- $100,000+ (0%)
Reviews By Age Range
- Unknown (0%)
- 13-17 (0%)
- 18-24 (50%)
- 25-34 (43.33%)
- 35-44 (6.67%)
- 45-54 (0%)
- 55-64 (0%)
- 65+ (0%)
Reviews By Length of Use
- < 1 month (0%)
- 1-3 months (10%)
- 3-6 months (16.67%)
- 6-12 months (26.67%)
- 1-2 years (23.33%)
- 2-3 years (0%)
- 3-5 years (23.33%)
- 5+ years (0%)
Are you a Upwork Freelancer?
Share your experience with other Upwork Freelancers by writing a review!
30 Upwork Freelancer Reviews
Rating Breakdown
Filter Reviews
The site is a great marketplace for skills online.
Different freelancers can market their skills and get clients from this site
Easy to use. Good customer support.
None
Invest time in knowing how to bid. Have an attractive profile. Browse through the job section often to see new projects.
This site has every task you need to work on
And will pay you since it has workers protection policy.
The site gives a worker an opportunity to work knowing that money is available. No spam jobs on this site.
As a newbie, it will take you a lot of time to land a client unless luck comes your way.
Make sure you have a complete profile with portfolio and apply each job using customized information. Submit work on time.
The best site
i earn from it. easy to use. NO CHARGES
nothing
follow rules. bid on projects
Best platform for freelancers.
10/10 would recommend Upwork for any freelancer
Many clients and offers to work for. And seller protection is available.
Recently some unprofessional clients have joined and made working somewhat harder for me.
I would like if the mobile app is more user friendly. Currently it lags in notifying new updates and I had lost many clients due to that error.
Being online is the main thing. You should be online and send proposals as soon as the jobs offers are available. Write separate cover letter for each proposal. Build a good portfolio.
Working with clients with bad reviews are always bad. So always check the feedback before submitting work
It's a good site if you have discovered your "niche."
The marketplace is really big, so you can get lots of clients - the only downsides are the customer service and the fact that they take 20% of the money you earn.
I would recommend the site to anyone who is willing to put in the work to make a successful freelancing business. I like Upwork more than Fiverr - it just feels more welcoming, the marketplace isn't so cuthroat and the fact you can accept proposals as well makes it, in my opinion, one of the best freelancer work sites out there.
Time is very flexible and you're well-compensated for it. Say there's a job you're hired for - you can do it anytime. There's no set hours. You can choose your work/who you work with whenever you want. There aren't any specific deadlines set by the website itself. You can set them with your client while communicating.
Customer service/communication with the help team is horrible. It takes a week for them to even reply, and when they do it's just an automated email saying the team will get back to it later.
The cut of work they take from you. You must maintain a business by yourself and Upwork takes 20% of the money.
Be active. The end goal for work on Upwork is to have clients seeking you out, but until that happens, you need to be active. You should be regularly reviewing the newly posted opportunities on Upwork until you find one that matches your skill set.
Find your niche. This applies to all freelance sites - don't go after every single job you see, and be strategic about the services you offer.
Look professional. For example, your profile picture should be a high-quality headshot, with you dressed professionally and in good lighting.
It’s a site every freelancing creative needs to use.
makes freelancing easier. very secure so there are low risks of scams
it can take a while to get a client sometimes.
Don’t be discouraged if it takes you a while to earn money. You eventually will.
Always reach out to people who want to hire soon after they post an opening. The faster the better.
To experts I'd recommend it but to beginners no.
It's high competition out there, but you gotta face it.
Bid system
High competition. Lots of underprice bidders
Just keep on bidding
The site is good if you want work immediately and you have good portfolio
the bid type system and contract work
usages of connects (kind of points to used to bid). budget and undercutting
1) Make a really strong portfolio. 2) Bid after you have thought about it completely work. 3) Bid on complicated projects
Love it.
It’s good for freelance writers.
It offers me the option to have diverse clients from different countries. It helps ensure I have a passive source of income.
Sometimes I go months without clients. I get one yes to twenty No’s
Be patient. It might take a while to gain clients. Stay humble.
If you have a skill, it's worth trying.
It's okay, once you get reviews it becomes much better. If you have a skill, it's worth trying.
It is nice because they are real jobs and helping real people. Longer term jobs. More money.
You have to compete with many other freelancers. Have to buy the ability to apply to jobs.
Start small and get reviews. Check in every couple of hours (unless you already have a job).
