Upwork Review [2024]: Is the Freelancing Platform Worth Your Time?

Upwork Overview

Cost	Basic membership: Free Freelancer Pro membership: $19.99 per month
Freelancer fees	10% fee for Upwork Marketplace projects 5% fee for Direct Contracts No service fee for Any Hire contracts
Job categories	Development and IT AI services Design Creative Sales Marketing Administration Customer support Writing Translation Finance Accounting HR and training Legal Engineering Architecture Additional specializations
Projects rates	Hourly rates Per-project rates
Withdrawal methods	Banks accounts: Free ACH direct deposits within the U.S. $0.99 fee to transfer funds outside the U.S. $50 for each wire transfer Payment services: PayPal (in the U.S.) Payoneer (outside the U.S.) M-Pesa (only in Kenya) Expedited services: $2.00 fee for Upwork Instant Pay (available only in the U.S.) to transfer most funds within minutes

What is Upwork?

Upwork is a global platform that connects freelancers with potential clients. It was founded in 2014 after the merging of Elance and oDesk, two early competitors.

It offers a job board divided into many categories, including digital marketing, content writing, graphic design, software development, IT, and AI services. It also offers projects in sales and marketing, customer support, administration, and more.

You might like freelancing on Upwork because the platform makes browsing projects and finding clients easier. It also offers project management tools and a secure payment platform for flexible hourly or per-project rates. However, you should be cautious on the platform and confirm you’re dealing with real potential clients and not falling for a job scam.

Clients may gravitate toward Upwork because it provides easy access to multiple freelancers and has tools for safe communication and payments.

How does Upwork work?

Upwork provides the necessary tools for clients and freelancers to work together.

Clients can post projects to the Talent Marketplace with project details, including the budget, payment arrangement (hourly or flat rate), and the estimated time each project will take.

As a freelancer, you can create a profile and browse the Marketplace’s projects to find a job that’s a good fit. You must use the virtual tokens called Upwork Connects to bid on projects.

When you find an interesting project (and if you have enough Connects), you can submit a proposal and cover letter to the client. With this proposal, you set your rate and provide detailed information about why the client should hire you for the project.

Another way to get work is to let clients find you via the Project Catalog. This allows you to create a bundle of services with a defined scope, set price, and timeline and offer them to clients as a package.

With Upwork, you can also buy ads to help boost your freelancer profile and find more clients. These include the Availability Badge, Boosted Proposals, and Boosted Profile.

Clients hire candidates directly through the platform by submitting an offer. As a freelancer, you have 7 days to accept a client’s offer, or else it’s revoked.

All offers accepted through the Marketplace incur a 10% freelancer service fee. Clients pay a fee of up to 7.99% on freelancer payments and a contract initiation fee of up to $14.99.

The Direct Contracts program lets you send contracts to non-Upwork clients within the platform. Contracts created through the program have Upwork services, such as payment protection and dispute resolution. Upwork charges a lower 5% freelancer service fee on Direct Contracts.

Plus, Upwork allows clients to bring their own contracts through a program called Any Hire. If a client offers you an Any Hire contract, you won't pay freelancer service fees for your work. However, these contracts don’t include payment protection or dispute resolution services.

Connects

To bid on each job posting, you’ll need to have enough Upwork Connects. For example, one posting I saw required 11 Connects to apply, while another required 7 Connects.

If you have a Freelancer Basic account, you must purchase Connects for $0.15 each, plus tax, or in various bundles or custom amounts. Upwork may provide up to 10 free monthly Connects, but there’s no guarantee you’ll receive any.

You may also get a total of 90 extra Connects by earning badges. The “Rising Talent,” “Top Rated,” and “Top Rated Plus” badges each reward you with 30 Connects.

If you sign up for the Freelancer Plus account, which costs $19.99 monthly, you’ll receive 100 Connects each month and get full access to Uma, Upwork’s AI assistant. This plan also lets you view competitor bids and get discounts on Microsoft products. Additionally, Upwork’s website states that “Freelancer Plus subscribers on average have a 50% higher chance of being hired.”

During my testing for this review, I wasn’t offered any free Connects, but Upwork encouraged me to buy them (and join Freelancer Plus) to start bidding on projects.

Getting paid

Once you’ve bid on a project, won, and received a contract, Upwork will handle the back-end administrative tasks so that you (and the client) don’t have to. Upwork bills the client and sends your payment when the work for Marketplace or Direct Contracts is complete.

For hourly projects, you, as the freelancer, must log your hours in Upwork’s Work Diary. When you’re working on a project while using the Upwork Desktop App, it will take screenshots and store them in the Work Diary. The platform will track your time and bill the client at your set rate.

The hourly billing cycle ends each Sunday, and you’ll receive your payment 10 days later. Clients can also add a separate one-time manual payment or bonus to hourly contracts.

If you have a fixed-price contract, your client will provide Upwork with an upfront deposit. The platform holds those funds in escrow until the client approves the work you delivered based on project milestones. Your client has up to 14 days to approve your completed work. Once approved, your payment will be available 5 days later.

While Upwork ensures you’ll eventually get your earnings, you may be waiting quite a while. However, depending on your comfort level with following up on past-due payments, having that extra payment security may be worthwhile.

Payment methods

Upwork will ask for your preferred payment method and information during the contract setup process.

You can withdraw your money for free via ACH direct deposit to a U.S. bank or pay a small fee to have it sent to your PayPal account. If you need to transfer money outside the U.S., you’ll pay a $0.99 fee per transfer. Wire transfers cost $50 each. Upwork can also send money via Payoneer (outside the U.S.) and M-Pesa (only in Kenya).

You can receive your money faster via a linked debit card by using Upwork Instant Pay (only available in the U.S.). However, you’ll pay a $2 fee every time you use it.

Taxes

Upwork doesn’t withhold taxes from any money you earn on the platform. Although the platform has a payroll feature, it applies only to specific W-2 employees paid through Upwork Payroll and not freelance projects.

If you receive more than $20,000 in gross earnings and have at least 200 Upwork transactions (which include payments and not fees, taxes, refunds, or withdrawals) during the tax year, Upwork will send a Form 1099-K to the IRS, and you’ll get a copy for your records. Otherwise, you won't get this tax form, but you must still include Upwork earnings on your tax return.

Job Success Score

Each project has a Job Success Score (JSS) that indicates how satisfied your client was with your work. Upwork says a JSS of at least 90% and a minimum of $1,000 in 12-month earnings puts you on track for the “Top Rated” badge, which can help boost your profile and get more work. On the other hand, a score below 79% means you may find it harder to get more work. Your score is visible on your profile and reflects your 6-, 12-, and 24-month project histories.

A JSS is based on several factors, including client feedback, client disputes, your contract-ending history (i.e., did you satisfactorily complete projects), and your ability to form long-term customer relationships. Upwork also says that higher-earning jobs are weighted more heavily than lower-earning jobs.

Who can use Upwork?

Upwork is available in more than 180 countries. To start using the platform, you must be at least 18 years old (or your location’s age of majority) and gain any required work authorizations.

Creating a profile with Upwork takes about 15 minutes. You must complete your entire profile, including uploading a picture of yourself, before you can access anything else on the site.

You must provide your basic contact information (including your address, phone number, and email address) and create a password. You’ll also need to describe your skills, education, and experience.

Once your freelancer profile is live, you can search the Talent Marketplace for job postings.

You don’t have to take skills tests or proficiency exams to sign up, and Upwork doesn’t verify your education or work experience. While that can be helpful, Upwork doesn’t verify your clients either, so it's wise to vet potential clients to ensure you aren’t speaking to a scammer.

Although Upwork offers some educational components and certifications, they’re invitation only. If invited, you can complete an Upwork Skill Certification assessment in three artificial intelligence topics or 10 web, mobile, and software development topics.

My experience with Upwork

While I had never used Upwork before, I did have experience freelancing and finding clients directly. After I signed up, Upwork verified my profile within seconds of uploading a photo and verifying my phone number.

After verification, the first page asked me to purchase a bundle of Connects so I could start bidding on projects. I didn’t buy any since the idea of paying to get the chance to bid on something made me feel uncomfortable. Instead, I browsed the job board to see the available posts.

Upwork job posts provide extensive information about the project, including time expectations and the average amount earned from each client. In addition to project details (like the rate, description, and skill level needed), you can see where a client is located, their rating, the average hourly or per-project payment, and their average project time, if available.

As a freelancer, you can also see how many people have applied to a specific posting and how many interviews a client has initiated.

One promising post offered a part-time writer/journalist role for six months with an advertised hourly rate between $8 and $20 for about 15 hours a week. The project involved writing three to five articles of 300 words daily, with occasional source interviews.

As I looked closer at the listing, I saw that this client's average rate was $12 an hour, and I’d have to spend 15 Connects (worth $2.25 at $0.15 x 15) to submit a bid on the project and compete against other freelancers. At the time of my viewing, 10 to 15 people had already submitted proposals.

The low rate and high competition for each project indicate that Upwork is probably not a place I’ll go if I need to supplement my freelance income or find new clients.

How much can you earn?

The amount you can earn with Upwork depends on multiple factors, including the projects you win, your skill set, years of experience, education, and training.

For example, tech and software developers likely earn a higher rate than some creative fields or customer service roles. In addition to your specific skills and talent, where you live, your job success score, and feedback from previous clients can influence how much you make.

Additionally, the time you spend on the platform can impact your potential earnings. If you’re always on Upwork, you may be the first to respond to job postings and potentially have an advantage in getting work.

I saw a variety of job postings in the Talent Marketplace, but most of them had a fixed rate between $5 and $40. There were some hourly postings with much higher or at least negotiable rates, though those also had the most competition from other freelancers.

If I won the bid for the part-time journalist role mentioned above, I would earn between $120 and $300 a week (an average of 15 hours a week multiplied by a pay range of $8 to $20) for writing 15 to 25 short articles per week. In the best-case scenario, if I earned $300 per week and wrote fifteen 300-word articles (4,500 words total), my per-word rate would be around $0.06 a word.

Depending on how quickly I could finish each article, it might be worthwhile on an hourly basis. However, I would have to spend money (in the form of Connects) to apply, and I’d pay a 10% flat fee on my earnings. That ultimately seemed like a lot of work, plus fees, compared to the relatively low rate.

While using Upwork to practice pitching or completing projects can be helpful, it would be difficult to string together enough projects like this to earn a full-time income, especially if you qualify for only remote entry-level jobs.

Getting the most out of the platform

Remote job sites like Upwork require you to strategize to get your profile in front of more clients.

To help you make the most of the Upwork platform, consider the following:

Use your Connects strategically: Make sure a project is worthwhile before you spend Connects trying to win it. If you win a project earning $10 but have to pay 7 Connects to bid ($1.05) and pay the 10% service fee ($1), you’ll only take home $7.95 before taxes.

Create a strong profile: Detail your education, previous projects, and stellar client feedback to make your profile as compelling as possible to potential clients. Revisit your profile frequently and update it so clients always see the most current information. Also, consider purchasing ads to help boost your profile visibility.

Diversify your skills: The more skills you can demonstrate, the more project opportunities you’ll have on Upwork. While many freelancers have multiple skills in the same field (such as content writing and copywriting), if you can cross over into other fields (such as writing and software development), you may be more appealing to some clients and find more opportunities.

Set appropriate rates: If you’re just starting, figuring out how to price a project without exceeding the client's budget or selling yourself short is challenging. Browse other freelancers' profiles to see what they charge compared to their skill levels and experience to help you price projects more appropriately.

Work smart: Keep an eye on your actual hourly rate, especially if you’re earning a flat fee on a project. While a $500 flat fee sounds excellent, if it takes 40 hours to complete the work, you’ve only earned $12.50 an hour. Think about your project in terms of the time it will take to complete, not just the gross payment.

Alternatives for earning a side income

If Upwork isn’t the best way for you to make money from home, many other sites are available to help you earn extra cash. Let’s look at two of them:

Fiverr

Fiverr is a freelance marketplace often used for smaller tasks. Although Fiverr initially offered tasks starting at $5, it now includes a wide range of rates. You set up a freelancer (seller) profile where you can offer various flat-rate services, which buyers (clients) can purchase from you through the platform.

Like Upwork, Fiverr charges both freelancer and client service fees. Based on the total order amount, sellers pay 20%, double what Upwork charges. The platform also charges the buyer 5.5% of the purchase, and there’s a $3.00 flat fee for any order under $100.

Read our Fiverr review to learn more.

TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit may be a better fit if you prefer to do in-person work. It offers a job board where freelancers, called Taskers, can search for work in their area. Most projects are for home repairs, cleaning, furniture assembly, or other household tasks.

You can set your own hourly rates. Although you must pay a one-time registration fee of $25 to become a Tasker, you keep 100% of what you make. Clients who use TaskRabbit pay a percentage of the total price as a service fee. This platform can be an excellent option to supplement your income, especially if you’re looking for an evening or weekend side hustle.

Check out our Taskrabbit review to learn more.

FAQs

Bottom line

Using Upwork can be a good way to try freelancing without too much trouble or expensive startup costs. It's a legitimate platform that offers a safe way for you to get paid and for clients to ensure they receive their projects before payments are released.

If you decide to use Upwork, maximize your profile by including project clips, diversifying your skills, and requesting client reviews when a project is complete. Be conscious about the projects you bid on using Connects, and pay attention to how long a project is expected to take, not just the flat rate amount.