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April 16, 2021
Our organization's business model is based on a hourly service to our clients instead of a flat rate. Upwork has been a great tool in helping our business grow in client volume, since the large client base is built on trust by taking screenshots every 10 minutes. This proves to the client that we are working on them, and not goofing off.
- Periodic screenshots - Upwork takes screenshots every 10 minutes which the client can view and feel confident in progress that is being made.
- Upwork messaging - The desktop app, browser app, and mobile app all feature a messaging feature that lets you stay in contact with the client at all times.
- Time Zone sync - Clients are across multiple time zones and it gets confusing adding manual time if you forget to track time.
May 08, 2020
We use Upwork to find and sort clients for our organization. Upwork makes the screening of potential clients easy as well as communication with potential leads. We use Upwork to communicate with current clients and collect payment as well. All of our employees use Upwork to track time for client work and to communicate with clients. One of the most beneficial features is the billing, makes collecting invoices so much easier and it is automatic.
- Finding clients
- Screening clients
- Collecting payment
- Tracking time
- Application occasionally has bugs.
- Better messaging integration to the application.
We've used Upwork for higher virtual assistance for our company. It was used when we were first starting out and needed some general administrative duties done. It helped solve some administrative pain points for our company. Afterward, we used Upwork for our Marketing department to help with some data analysis and record keeping.
- It's a global platform.
- I feel secure using it.
- It's an easy to use program.
- It could do a better job at filtering people.
- It could do a better job at telling us the rules of use for Upwork.
- The user interface could look better.
April 23, 2020
It is used by departments independently, rather than a top-bottom approach. Our company lead and managed a significant amount of its wor through outsourcing and that's exactly where UpWork comes into play. UpWork makes it possible to find a vast range of skills in pretty much any area from graphic design to software development or simply translation. Hence, our organization uses UpWork within departments according to rather spontaneous needs, different departments having different business needs.
- Outsourcing
- Services Platform
- Contract
- It is a bit hard to distinguish good, high-quality service providers from the mass, huge amount of population. Due to high competition, even high-quality services are forced to lower prices and this can be realized only once the service is completed. So UpWork has room for improvement to distinguish quality from the mediocrity.
- Even though it is supposed to increase the overall quality, the entry barrier is a mechanism to prevent quality service to enter into the free market, too. So, rather than simply disallowing new memberships, there must be a better way to filter good service providers.
November 06, 2019
We use it to hire talent, from creative personnel to developers. For any skill we need or any job too tedious to be done by the core team, we outsource through Upwork. The external team fluctuates a bit, due to changing needs, but we also have a core team of freelancers who stay for a few months at a time.
- It provides access to talent across the globe -- location is no longer an issue.
- The feedback/rating system helps with choosing the right candidate.
- The escrow system is great for us to feel safer. It can be scammed still, but only to an extent.
- The error messages are quite prevalent. The system isn't fail-safe.
- I signed up to receive notices about partial disruptions, etc, and I get a handful of notifications weekly.
- The mediation services that help with the return of escrow are not always just.
November 18, 2018
We use Upwork to hire contract developers for small to medium sized projects. While we have some technical skills in-house, Upwork provides us with a marketplace to hire short term workers for skilled positions. The majority of the individuals that we hire on Upwork are programmers - specifically individuals who have experience with PHP, WordPress, and the LMS that we use. Upwork has other types of professionals available as well; from writers to graphic designers, to virtual assistants.
- Allows us to filter freelancers by location. This is especially important when working across time zones.
- Upwork is one of the only freelancing websites that actually provides a filter for US based contractors; and they rigorously verify this.
- Huge candidate pool. You're almost guaranteed to find a few individuals who specialize in whatever you're looking for.
- Allows both fixed bid and hourly. Each one is useful for different kinds of projects.
- Costs and fees. Upwork is not cheap. As a client you pay a fee to Upwork on top of what you're paying to your freelancer. As a freelancer, you ALSO pay a fee (20% of the first $500 earned from a client and 10% until you hit $10K, where it then goes to 5%).
- The process for using Upwork can be lengthy when you're trying to find a new freelancer for something you have not hired for previously. Per Upwork, it takes an average of 3 days for a client to hire a freelancer.
- Job success scores are not exactly accurate. If a freelancer ends a contract that has been sitting open too long, clients are not required to leave feedback. No feedback counts as a negative toward job success score.
December 02, 2018
We've been using Upwork to prospect new clients and offer our services abroad. It helps us expand to another markets in North America and Europe.
- It has a lot of job opportunities (single projects)
- Great amount of companies searching for developers and designers
- The search tool is awesome, offering tools and filters to display exactly what you are looking for
- They could offer better pricing for small companies
- Change the way they handle company accounts (who are offering services), it's somewhat confusing
- Since there are so many developers, they could better distinguish job offerings from individuals to companies
May 17, 2018
I have been using the Upwork freelance hub since 2012 (back when it was oDesk and Elance). Upwork offers good exposure to clients looking for contractors (freelancers). Over the years, Upwork has bettered itself, making it easier to bring together contractors and clients to work on projects big and small. It is a paid service, but I find I enjoy the security that comes with vetting contractors and clients to work together to get great things done.
- Messaging service is available in a browser, Windows, and Android, so I can communicate with clients wherever I go.
- Project searching is very powerful, which makes it easy for me to find projects to bid on.
- Scaled project fees make great sense for long-term commitments.
- Ratings and feedback system make it easier to spot good clients.
- Tech support is active and always responsive.
- Scaled project fees make it hard to get started with some clients.
- Kinda wish we could chat with clients before making a bid, but it seems to make sense the way it is right now.
March 30, 2018
I don't use Upwork at my organization, however, I've been an Upwork member for a year working as a freelancer in analytical writing and mostly in Spanish to English translations and vice-versa. It is a great tool for creating a clients database for freelancers like me who like producing extra money by using my writing abilities.
- Upwork's payment platform is really secure since it counts with direct bank account linking Upwork counts with hacking prevention and a high level of encryption. Also, it is always really responsible for its payments, if you do the work listed in the time provided, then expect to be paid.
- Other sites have a minimum rate, in Upwork this is free, so the competition with other freelancers gets interesting. And there is a progression once you get more work, which allows you not to be stuck with the same work rate.
- When trying to hire a freelancer, it's really easy to set the money you will expect, since the freelancers provide a fixed or hourly rate. You can specify a preference in your job posting depending on your needs.
- Upwork is pricey, they take 10% of every transaction of the freelancer, and if you have a premium membership the cost gets higher.
- Doing your first freelancer job can be difficult since there are so many freelancers on that website, so be prepared to set a really low rate at first.
- The website can be a bit laggy. I have lost some jobs just because I'm not able to load the information before the clock finishes just because of some lag issues.
April 12, 2018
I use Upwork to get short-term freelance gigs. I used to train companies on a specific project management software and it's a very specialized skill. I have a profile on sites like Upwork and companies contact me for help with their business. It's basically just a way to get leads and easy work for your spare time. I still have my full-time job, but I can make $50 just by jumping on a call with someone and telling them what I know. It's also a great way to connect with other businesses and grow your personal brand. There is some issues with stuff like their "job success score." It goes down if you mostly only do one time jobs.
- High volume of leads with little effort on your part
- Decent rates and a wide variety of work
- You have a profile so you can brand yourself there and it is easy to get started.
- Job Success score has nothing to do with "job success." It is a arbitrary number that punishes freelancers like me that aren't doing services where a company would use me again and again. Also, they punish you for leaving jobs open even though most clients want to leave the job open in case they have followup questions.
- Not enough follow up to try to get clients to leave reviews. You are punished if they don't leave feedback.
- The platform is price sensitive, this may be a smart move but it also turns a lot of top freelancers away.
June 04, 2018
I basically use Upwork to find clients and work with them. My clients at times ask me to do recruitment on Upwork on their behalf. Upwork gave me a career-changing opportunity. It allowed me to find the clients I liked to work with and not have to entertain clients that don't align with my principles.
- Upwork allows you to easily filter the job listings and find the job that fits your preferences.
- Upwork allows you to feel secure with every transaction with their payment system in place.
- Upwork allowed me to do what I love and earn more while I'm at home or traveling.
- Upwork should focus on allowing people to part of the platform based on test results and not just not accept them because there are lots of freelancers already with the same skill.
- It should also be strict with some of the job postings like suspending those with just soliciting for free work or proposals.
- Upwork should proactively provide free valuable to its top freelancers.
- They should improve the metrics they use for the "Job Success Rate."
June 29, 2017
Upwork is used in our company as a quick way to outsource when all departments are overloaded with enormous numbers of tasks or projects. This allows us to focus on developing more strategy or more important tasks in order to maintain business objectives. This also helps us if we are in short of some particular skills needed to finish the job (for example, content translation to a different language).
- Reaching out to talent for short-term projects: It is a quick an easy way to have extra manpower for your project, all you have to do is create an account on Upwork and post your project online.
- Easy to manage your freelancer's performance: once you have found the right freelancer, you would need to direct them to finish your project as you require. Using Upwork, you will be able to monitor your freelancer's work online. Working hours are recorded and screenshots can be requested through Upwork's software (need to install Upwork on your computer).
- Easy to make a payment to your freelancer: You can make payment to a freelancer half way around the world through Upwork which makes it extremely convenient for both freelancers and project owners.
- More payment methods: at the moment, an online transfer is available as the only payment method to freelancer. It would be nice if both project owners/freelancers could choose other payment methods (such as gift card or discount of a particular product/service).
- It would be great if Upwork can have a quick test for project owners to use to test the potential freelancer (for example, quick language test to make sure the freelancer is capable of translating a particular document).
- Giving points to freelancer: some freelancer that do particularly well on a task could be rewarded by project owners and those points could be converted into some prizes to encourage a freelancer (currently only reviews are available).
March 17, 2017
We use Upwork to access an entire world of talent, instantly. We've used it to find people to design artwork, transcribe research interviews, build contact lists, and more. We're a really small company, so it helps us fill gaps in our skill set.
- Breadth of talent (thousands of freelancers, rated by users).
- Ease of communication (instant chat, file sharing).
- Instant access to talent (post a job and get replies within a few minutes).
- I'd like the ability to share folders in addition to individual files.
- On some occasions, I'd like to post a job without revealing my budget. Would be nice for freelancers to propose a price.
December 07, 2018
I currently use Upwork to outsource various marketing, sales and development tasks for several side projects. It's a great tool to find, vet and manage an outsourced workforce. Upwork saves a great amount of time that would be wasted searching and vetting potential contractors. It also makes it very easy to hold contractors accountable by automatically logging their hours, creating milestones and brokering payment activities.
- Ratings and reviews of outsourced workers help add credibility to your potential contractor.
- Payments via escrow once milestones are agreed upon and executed makes for a seamless transaction.
- The ability to filter on several dozen categories allows you to find the contractor with the precise skill set you are looking for.
- Searching for contractors could use some help as keyword search drives many applicants that are not qualified.
- Although the current filters are great, more precision could be added to drill down deeper into categories.
- When posting a job, the responses you get are canned from about 75% of applicants. It would be nice if Upwork developed a system to flag applicants that respond with the same verbiage to everyone.
We use Upwork to find people who are specialized in a certain kind of work that we need help on and do not have time to train our in-house team on. We are using Upwork specifically for the needs of the marketing team. We have hired Upwork contractors to work on things like Google Analytics, design, coding etc.
- Great interface. It is easy to navigate around and find the type of work you need
- Able to read reviews of others who have worked with the individual
- Safe and fair payment for both sides of the job
- Upwork is in a difficult business where their success depends on the reliability of the people who use the product. I think if they continue to focus on their customer service they will be going in the right direction.
- It would help to have the option to communicate more with them prior to hiring.
- More payment methods.
Upwork Scorecard Summary
What is Upwork?
Upwork headquartered in Mountain View, California offers their eponymous freelance management system (FMS).
Categories: Freelance Management
Upwork Pricing
- Does not have featureFree Trial Available?No
- Does not have featureFree or Freemium Version Available?No
- Does not have featurePremium Consulting/Integration Services Available?No
- Entry-level set up fee?No
| Edition | Pricing Details | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | |
| Plus | 49.99 | per month |
Upwork Technical Details
| Deployment Types: | SaaS |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems: | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application: | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Upwork?
Upwork headquartered in Mountain View, California offers their eponymous freelance management system (FMS).
What are Upwork's top competitors?
What is Upwork's best feature?
Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 9.1.
Who uses Upwork?
The most common users of Upwork are from Small Businesses and the Marketing & Advertising industry.