Upwork Review: Is This Freelancing Site Legit?

If you’re tired of working through your entire day on the job, you might be looking for an Upwork review. Why? Well, because it’s a well-known freelancing website with plenty of online work. This platform’s key benefit is flexibility – something we appreciate.

It allows you to find both long-term and short-term work, letting you choose how you’d like to spend your time. Upwork is great for freelancers and employers looking to find talented personnel. Conversely, it’s filled with millions of users looking to get their piece of bread.

So, it’s an all-encompassing platform that connects talented freelancers with ambitious clients. As a result, it creates an ecosystem of jobs that vary in field of work, length, and of course – the amount of money you can earn.

Our opinion about Upwork

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What Is Upwork?

Before we delve deeper into our Upwork review for 2025, we’ll briefly explain what it is. The company started in 2013. At the time, two freelancer sites, oDesk and Elance, joined forces and created something called Elance-oDesk. Pretty funny name.

In 2015, this duo started operating under another name – Upwork. The goal of the platform was obvious. To make a robust, reliable, and secure platform for freelancers and clients. Clients want talented freelancers and these want clients who pay well.

Truth be told, Upwork is one of the best freelancing platforms for a reason. Its vetting process is an important piece of the puzzle, as the platform doesn’t allow just anyone to step onto its bandwagon. Especially if the freelancer’s main talent is in abundance.

Just to clarify this Upwork review further, we’re discussing a LEGIT freelancing site. What does this mean? It means secure payments, trusted clients, and millions of users who earn money on this site. Many of our team members still do – some more, some less.

How Does It Work?

With the company’s history out of the way, it’s time to review Upwork as a freelancing platform. We’ll be putting ourselves in the shoes of both freelancers and clients. In both cases, Upwork is fairly simple. The first step is registration.

As a freelancer, you have to provide your email address, full name, and skills. That’s the basic premise. If you have a work history, you can add it, as well as your pay-per-hour rate. We also recommend including a thorough description of your work and talents.

This will greatly help you find work faster. Upwork has thousands of freelancers, so it’s hard to stick out like a sore thumb. However, if you put in some work and create your profile extraordinarily, you can expect great results. Of course, be honest.

Don’t overstate your skills and make fake promises. Either way, Upwork will approve the profile in around 2 days, after which, you’re ready to take on new tasks. The process is the same for clients who also need to provide their private data and later on, add a project.

As a client, we recommend verifying your payment method right away. You’ll get this “tick” next to your profile, which helps freelancers identify you as a verified client. From this point on, you can publish your job request, vet out freelancers, and find the ones you like.

Bidding on Projects in Upwork

Clients provide work for freelancers who usually need to bid on their projects. We say usually because in some cases, clients can invite particular freelancers to bid on the project. However, as a new freelancer, that’s highly unlikely to happen.

In this Upwork review, we should touch upon something titled Connects. These are your bidding currencies and you get 50 of them when you create a profile. After that, you’re getting 10 free connects monthly but you can buy more if you need them.

Each Connect costs $0.15 and you can buy as much as you like. Now, bidding on projects costs Connects and how much will it be depends on the project. If it’s a more ambitious and better-paid job, you’ll pay around 8 Connects to bid on it.

If it’s a “standard” project, you’ll likely spend from 4-6 on a bid. Connects can also be won if you earn a Rising Talent Badge or complete some of the Skill Certifications. Good to know is that, if you’re invited to bid on a project, you aren’t spending any Connects.

Also, if you’re outbid by another freelancer, you’re getting your Connects back. In our Upwork review, we’ll mention that you can spend more Connects if you’d like. This is your way of saying to the client “Hey, I’m STOKED about working with you, notice my bid!”

That’s why you’ll see some top bidders spend 15, 20, or even more Connects. It’s like an auction. The person who spends the most Connects appears at the top of the client’s list and is more likely to get noticed. Upwork is, as you see, a fairly competitive platform.

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How to Find Freelancers on Upwork?

Let us move on to the clients because this review of Upwork covers both sides of the spectrum. If you’re a client, you have two options. One is to publish a job posting, outlining what needs to be done. In this case, we recommend describing your project properly.

By that, we also mean including your pay rate to help freelancers see whether they want to work with you. Upwork has plenty of freelancers, so don’t worry. As soon as you post a project, you’ll get bidders pretty much in a few minutes.

Another trick you can use is to find freelancers manually. Open the Talent menu and you’ll find some of the top-rated freelancers and agencies. You can filter them according to their Talent badge, which can be:

• Top Rated Plus
• Top Rated
• Rising Talent

These freelancers/agencies will have their job success, earnings, and hourly rates displayed. Upwork allows you to apply many other filters, such as English level, work category, etc. You can find freelancers that specialize in:

• IT & networking
• Customer service
• Writing
• Software development
• Design
• Architecture, and so on…

Through the Talent section, clients can get in touch with freelancers and get their work done if both parties agree on the project conditions. Upwork simplifies the process for clients and freelancers to satisfy both and have opportunities to fulfill their goals.

Price Expectations

If you’re a client, we’ll give you some crucial advice when it comes to finding freelancers. Don’t expect to pay $1 or $3 per hour and get top-notch work. You have to be ready to pay more. Also, don’t price your project too low either.

This will attract unwanted attention from low-quality freelancers looking to earn easy money while not providing good enough work. If your project is priced appropriately, you should, in most cases, get bids from some of the best freelancers.

How to Find Work on Upwork as a Freelancer?

As a freelancer, finding a job on Upwork is hard, at least initially. In this Upwork review, we’ll look at this as a downside. New freelancers will struggle a lot – usually. Bid after bid will be rejected but when you land that first job, it’s ecstatic.

As you gain more experience and Talent badges, clients will notice you more and you’ll get invitations to bid on a project. Some of our members get bidding invitations every 3-4 days! So, if you’re a freelancer, the only way to find work is to bid on the projects.

Upwork will display an array of jobs based on your skills. If you’re a writer, you’ll see content writing projects. Check each project and find the one you like. Then, apply for the job and write a proper proposal. This is VERY important to signal to the client you’re interested.

Some clients will leave a “keyword” in the job description that they require you to use. Therefore, read the description well and answer the client’s questions in your proposal. Talk about your previous work and experience, and provide examples of past work.

Don’t forget to update your profile with accurate info on your education, spoken languages, licenses, and so on. You can even include a video introduction to give yourself an edge. Including a professional-looking profile photo is also a good idea. This isn’t social media, so you need to look professional and serious about your work.

Availability badge – turn it on. It costs 7 Connects a week but you have this “Available Now” badge that tells to potential clients that you’re open to work. According to Upwork, you’ll get 50% more invites this way.

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Price Expectations

Freelancers work with similar rules. Pricing shouldn’t be too low because that’ll make you look desperate in the eyes of clients. It shouldn’t be too high either. Think about the level of talent you have and price yourself accurately based on it. It will take some practice.

Our advice is to also tell the client about the amount of time you’ll spend on the project. It’s not all about money. Inform the client of how thorough you are, what exactly you can provide, and how are you planning to complete the project.

We also want to encourage you to bid on projects with lower budgets than your desired price. Some clients will gladly pay more if you exceed their expectations! This will almost certainly produce a 5-star rating, which gives you a substantial boost as a freelancer.

Upwork Review of Payments & Fees

One of the most important aspects of Upwork is payment. In this Upwork review, we’ll go through the payment process and fees that Upwork takes from each commission.

How Do Payments Work?

Freelancers can be paid in several ways. Per project, per milestone, or hour. The first scenario means you’ll get paid when the entire project is completed. Then, we have the milestone payment, which means you’ll be paid each time you complete a task within the project.

Finally, we have this hourly payment. The client pays for each hour of your work, which is calculated with the Time Tracker app from Upwork. A freelancer needs to install the app, which will then track the time and take screenshots that the client can review.

If you’ve worked 20 hours in a week and an hourly rate is $20, you’ll be getting $400 from your client. Upwork’s payments are strictly through the platform, so the client MUST pay the freelancer through Upwork. We don’t recommend taking things outside of Upwork, though.

This can result in the client not paying for the work you’ve done and you getting fleeced without the platform to back you up. Don’t ask us how we know. Through Upwork, the client must assign you a milestone, and upon completion, pay for it.

It’s the same with the Time Tracker – there’s no way for the client to wrong you. Of course, the client can refuse to pay but his money will be in the escrow and ready to be released when the task is completed. Either way, you’re getting the money, so no worries.

Upwork’s payment system is secure and whenever we worked with our freelancers and clients on this site, we never had issues.

Money Withdrawal Methods

When the client pays for the work, it takes 5 days for the money to arrive. If you’re paid on January 20th, you’ll see the money in your account on January 25th. After that, you can withdraw funds to your account, and in this Upwork review, we’ll explain how.

Upwork supports several withdrawal methods (depending on your location):

• PayPal
• Credit/debit cards
• Bank account (only in the US)
• Payoneer
• M-Pesa (Kenya)

We use PayPal because we’re outside the US. Each withdrawal costs $1, no matter the money we’re talking about. If you withdraw $2 or $2,000 – it doesn’t matter. Additionally, you need to have a payment method set up properly. Use a payment method with YOUR data.

Don’t use a credit card from your friend or family member. It’s easy to set up PayPal or any other payment method with Upwork. From there, simply visit the My Jobs tab, click the three horizontal dots next to your earnings, and press Get Paid.

Finally, select the amount of money you want to transfer and press Get Paid Now. In 10-20 seconds, the money will arrive and you can use it immediately. Clients will pay through Upwork and use their preferred payment method to fund the account – it’s a reverse but identical process.

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Upwork Commission Fees

A while ago, Upwork had a fairly convoluted commission fee structure for freelancers. When you start working with a new client, the fee is 20% of your earnings until you reach $500. After $500, it’s 10%, and after $10,000, it’s 5%. Now, forget about all of this.

As of 2023, Upwork introduced a flat 10% fee on earnings – be it hourly, fixed-price, or a Project Catalog job. To simplify, if the client paid $1,000, you’ll receive $900. Of course, in this review of Upwork, we’ll mention a few exceptions.

For example, there’s this Direct Contract situation in which the client pays through Upwork but has no account on the site. In that case, the processing fee will be 3.4%, without the commission fee of 10%. Clients don’t pay any fees, however.

If you’re a client and you have to pay $50 to the freelancer, that’s what you’ll do and Upwork will take nothing. It’s the freelancer that has to pay a service fee and give 10% to Upwork. We recommend checking this page for the latest changes to the freelancer service fee policy.

Our Advice About Payments

Drawing from our experience with Upwork, some payment discrepancies can appear. For example, clients can refuse to pay for the job if he/she finds its quality underwhelming. Conversely, a client can pay for the job but not get full access to all project files.

To prevent this from happening, we have a few bits of advice for clients:

• Don’t rush the payment. Pay for the job only when it’s 100% done and you have your files, be it documents, 3D drawings, or anything else.
• As soon as the freelancer sends you the finished job, check it as soon as you can. If it’s good, pay as soon as possible. Delaying payments and failing to review the job on time can result in account suspension and unwanted disputes.
• Clearly explain to the freelancer what you want from him/her and be precise about the payment. Say exactly how much you’ll pay and for what.

We have some advice for freelancers as well:

• Never work with a client whose payment method is unverified.
• Before you start to work, ensure the client has put money in the escrow and activated the milestone. If you work per hour, enable time tracking in the Upwork desktop app. This way, the client must pay for your work per time you spend working.
• Meet the deadline! Discuss the deadline with the client and if you think you can’t make it, politely ask the client to extend it by a day or two.
• Be fair toward the client and never ask for payment if you haven’t completed the job. Upfront payments are a no-go on Upwork!

Membership Plans on Upwork

We’re discussing a free website for freelancers. By default, you’ll use a Basic account, with 10 monthly connects, advanced payment protection, and the option to buy connects for $0.15 each. However, some users opt for the Plus plan.

This one costs $20 per month and gives you 100 monthly connects, with exclusive access to the Freelancer Plus group and no waiting times for the Upwork Skill Certification. Plus users have a 0% service fee when bringing new clients to Upwork.

Another perk is that you can see competitor bids for jobs, and lastly, there’s an AI-powered app called Upwork Chat Pro, using GPT-4. This AI tool aims to boost your productivity and help you fix complex issues more efficiently.

Honestly, we think you can do well with a Basic account. If you’re hell-bent on reaping all the benefits and you’d like to maximize your productivity and earnings, $20 a month for the Plus plan likely won’t bother you.

Upwork Review of Ease of Use & Apps

Upwork is a straightforward platform that doesn’t waste your time. It’s simple to use. Making an account is hassle-free and you’ll be there in no time. Once you do that, the site will greet you with plentiful job opportunities that you can apply for.

Click on the job post, read more about it, and hit the Apply Now button. Users can also save jobs to their Favorites. We like its interface because it shows you all the necessary data. For each selected job, you’ll see the client’s reviews, location, and payment method verification.

If you’re a client, things are pretty simple as well. You’ll have an overview of your projects and the freelancers you’re working with. There’s a special messaging section of the site where you can communicate with others and send attachments.

Moreover, we like the ability to have a video call and schedule a meeting for a more professional experience. In this Upwork test, we loved its option to see the most recent jobs, plus, Upwork lets you search for jobs manually and find something you like.

The platform also has a Work Diary, where you can track your time for added convenience. One thing we dislike is the mobile app, which isn’t the smoothest. Many times, it’s clunky, especially on Android, where we think the optimization could be better.

This app frequently logs us out, despite us ticking the box to keep us signed in. Its desktop app is much better, especially with the time-tracking function that works like a charm. So far, Upwork hasn’t implemented its time-tracking tool on iOS/Android.

But when you think about it, how many of you work from your phone?

Customer Support

Before concluding our comprehensive review of Upwork for 2025, we’ll briefly touch on customer support. It’s impeccable. Upwork doesn’t offer 24/7 live chat support – but live chat support is there, it just isn’t working 24 hours a day. Additionally, its email support is responsive and ready to help. It’s super-friendly, too!

One time, our team member finished the project for a client. The client messaged him that the work was great but then, refused to pay despite putting his money in the escrow. This went on for around 3 weeks but our team member contacted the support team and the payment was realized in a day or two.

Another experience was with a fake job post from a client with an unverified payment method. Just out of curiosity, we applied for a job writing articles for the crypto niche, only to be met with an offer to join some crypto channel on Telegram.

We reported this user to the support team, and after a while, he was suspended. Upwork has a rich Help Center where you’ll find a wealth of covered topics. These include payments, security, accounts, apps, and so on. When the chat support works, it’s flawless.

You’ll be met with help right away, as the support agent works to fix the issue. Upwork also includes a community, where you can learn new things and share your experiences with other members. Finally, there’s Upwork Academy where you’ll find courses and lectures to hone your skills as a freelancer or client.

The Final Verdict

In the end, there’s only one thing left to do – a conclusion. So, after our extensive Upwork review for 2025, we can only praise this platform. Our experience with it was and still is great on both sides – as freelancers and clients.

Upwork is a gigantic platform where you’ll find diverse job offers and unique opportunities to shine. Simultaneously, it sports a secure payment system and allows you to bid on the projects and jobs you like. Additionally, Upwork’s 10% commission fee isn’t alarming.

Compared to Fiverr which takes 20%, this one is “forgivable”, so to speak. Upwork has no bigger downsides. The biggest is the difficulty of finding your first job, as it’s a highly competitive platform with millions of freelancers.

Other nitpicks include a clunky Android app, occasional scammers, and 10 monthly Connects in the Basic account. However, this is easy to swallow considering other immense qualities. Many freelancers make a living working only on this freelance site.

This alone should tell you nearly everything you should know about it.

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