Reviews and expert opinion Upwork

Upwork at a Glance

Upwork Is No Longer What It Used to Be

Upwork is one of the biggest freelance websites online today, but bigger doesn’t always mean better. In fact, in recent years, the quality of work has gone done and there are a lot of flaws in the way the platform works. If you need a freelancer, I recommend you head over to Fiverr where you can hire a freelancer for as little as $5.

While its size does offer some advantages like advanced search filters, a handy mobile app, a desktop time tracker, and an effective messaging system for communicating with potential candidates, you need to be cautious.

You can view freelancers’ past work history and feedback to get an idea of their professionalism, but I’ve also come across quite a few freelancer profiles that were fake. You hire someone for a job, thinking they’re from London or Los Angeles as stated on their profile, only to later discover they’re from a different part of the world and hardly qualified for the job at hand. This can be incredibly frustrating, not to mention a waste of time and money.

Upwork’s pricing is straightforward in that there are no sign-up fees and you can set your own budget to narrow down candidates, but it can get pretty pricey. You’ll be paying a 3% ‘processing fee’ on top of every freelancer invoice so bear that in mind before you start hiring. Other platforms like Fiverr don’t charge you any extra fees to hire a freelancer, you simply pay the price on the job post, making Fiverr a much better option if you’re new to hiring.

A Great Set of Features, If Only You Could Use Them

Let me get straight to the point. Upwork has a lot of features that could be really useful as an employer, but navigating and finding them is a whole other ball game. Being able to find your way through Upwork should be part of its screening process. Those who get lost in the dashboard need not apply.

There’s the chat function which makes discussing projects with candidates super easy, there’s the time tracking feature where you can see how long a freelancer has spent on different elements of a project and there’s a potentially handy work diary which shows you the specific hours freelancers have worked with screenshots of the work they have done. This requires freelancers to download time-tracking software, so employers can see what the freelancer is working on in real-time. It’s somewhat controversial, but it does help to build trust between both party’s, so you don’t have to worry about being scammed. It all sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

When you’re working with multiple job postings, freelancers, and across several projects, Upwork makes navigating and scanning between them oh-so difficult. Want to click on this freelancer and see what they’ve been up to? No chance, not clickable. Intuitive is not a word I would use to describe Upwork. It’s clunky and while it might work for hiring one or two freelancers, it’s not built to manage teams.

The hiring scheme on Upwork deviates slightly from other sites and you can hire or interview a freelancer to discuss a project’s details. Bear in mind that Upwork will conceal your email details submitted through private messages, due to its direct contact non-disclosure policy. But a Skype account address will go unrecognized.

As a freelancer, there’s quite a lot you need to do to set up a noticeable profile, like upload portfolio items, take skill tests that prove your abilities, verify your identity and add personal information. While this can take you a while, Upwork makes the entire process very easy, by sending you email reminders and notifying you of missing profile elements.

See full list of features

A Basic Platform with Some Unique Features

Upwork’s visuals are glossy, colorful, and stylish. If you want to hire a freelancer for a specific project, it’s easy to build a profile of who and what you want, set a budget, and then lay out the timings. Upwork will then help you locate the right freelancer based on your criteria.

Or, if you want someone else to do the recruiting for you, Upwork offers a useful feature called Talent Scout where Upwork’s own recruiters will locate, screen and test candidates for you. And better yet, there are no extra fees for this service, you simply pay the hourly rate of the freelancers they send you.

The navigation is perfectly intuitive and the neat private messaging box is also an advantage that Upwork has over other freelance sites. The initial registration process requires nothing but your email, password and a desired username, which you can always change as an employer – however, beware of making this mistake when registering a freelancer’s profile. You must use the name that is written in your passport to register.

See if Upwork is Right for You

Upwork’s Redeeming Feature: Its Customer Support

Customer support is where Upwork truly delivers – you can get help 24/7 using any one of the many contact means available. There is also an extended and well-written FAQ section where you can find answers to just about anything from how to find a freelancer and make a hire, to how to use the desktop time tracker and deal with disputes. Upwork offers:

• 24/7 live-chat
• Support ticket system
• Comprehensive FAQs
• Phone support line
• Community team and forum
• Webinars, podcasts, whitepapers, ebooks and more for both clients and freelancers

A (Fairly) Simple Pricing System

Upwork has a set rule – as a freelancer you’re charged a sliding fee from 20- 5% based on your lifetime billings with each non-Enterprise client, so the more you bill your client, the less you are charged as a fee (additional fees are also charged when freelancers withdraw funds from Upwork which amounts to $2.50 and freelancers are allowed to withdraw amounts no lower than $20 + the withdrawal fee).

If you’re a client hiring a freelancer, it’s simpler. All you have to pay is a 3% processing fee on every invoice you receive. Sounds simple and it is, but 3% on top of every invoice could get pricey with long-term projects so make sure you’ve factored this into your budget.

As a client, you have another option. You can opt for the free, basic plan, where you find your freelancers, pay them and the processing fee and you’re good to go, or you have the option of paying for the Plus plan. For $49.99 per month, you’ll receive a dedicated account manager, get premium customer support, and be given team reporting. You still have to pay the 3% processing fee so it all depends on how involved you want to be in the recruitment process.

The payment system is easy – you deposit money from PayPal or your credit card into your Upwork account and begin the hiring process. Upwork only provides dispute arbitration and resolution for hourly-billed projects that had been tracked through the Upwork Team application on the freelancer’s side. Upwork does not resolve disputes over fixed-price projects.

For clients using the Enterprise Upwork Plan, prices vary according to needs.

• Payment System – Credit card or PayPal
• Payment Protection – Upwork Team time and performance tracking software is responsible for securing your project and money.
• Payment Disputes – Only available for hourly-billed projects tracked through the UpworkTeam application