Business Freelancing

Is Upwork Worth It? Features (Clients/Freelancers), Reviews, and More

Mike Renaldi

13.12.23

Read time 6 minutes

Upwork has deemed itself truly worthy in the gig economy. It's a platform that has attracted millions of freelancers and clients around the world thanks to its vast database and user-friendly platform.

Using a platform like Upwork instead of scouting out a freelancer or looking for work as a freelancer on your own also has benefits in terms of time, convenience, and safety.

Let’s take a look at what features it has to offer for freelancers and hiring managers. We'll talk about how Wise Business will can help you both receive and make payments at low cost.

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Upwork Features: Freelancers

Upwork presents an all-inclusive approach to freelancing, offering features that let them find suitable jobs, collaborate with clients, and get paid promptly and securely.

Feature	Description
Job matches:	Using an effective algorithm, Upwork matches freelancers with jobs that align with their skills and experiences. While they can manually search through job postings, it also gives freelancers the opportunity to browse through a feed of relevant projects.
Profiles and proposals:	Freelancers can create their own dedicated profiles showcasing their skills, certifications, and previous work, and even create a video introduction. They can also submit personalized proposals to clients and bid on jobs they’re most interested in.
Connects feature:	Connects are like Upwork’s currency, which let freelancers apply for jobs. Each job requires a specific amount of Connects to apply, and you can also use extra Connects to boost your proposal if you’re extra interested in a job posting. Freelancer Basic accounts receive 10 free Connects each month, while Freelance Plus accounts receive 70 Connects on top of that.²
Secure and guaranteed payments:	Upwork provides a secure system for payment with a security period and different payment processes for different contracts. Fixed-price contracts are based on milestones that work on an escrow service, while hourly contracts are based on a weekly billing cycle.³
Communication tools:	The platform offers communication tools made for freelancers to collaborate effectively with clients. Using Upwork Messages, users can chat in a dedicated message room, make voice or video calls, use a built-in meeting scheduling tool, get access to project details, and organize documents.⁴
Skills tests:	Upwork features a variety of skills tests on an invitation basis that freelancers can take to demonstrate their expertise in different areas. Whether it's a coding test or a test on interpersonal skills, the results will be displayed on a freelancer’s profile to make them more appealing to potential clients.⁵
Reports and analytics:	Freelancers can track their earnings, evaluate their work history, look at client feedback, and check their timesheet reports using Upwork’s analytics dashboard.
Upwork learning resources:	Plenty of educational resources, like blog articles, video tutorials, and webinars, are available on the Upwork platform so freelancers can improve their skills.
Customer support:	With a useful help center, community forum, a live chat feature, and a ticket support system, there are countless ways to contact Upwork.

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Upwork Features: Hiring Managers and Companies

Meanwhile, hiring managers and businesses can enjoy features that empower them to source talent effectively, manage projects with ease, and maximize any budget.

Feature	Description
Detailed job posting:	Hiring managers can post detailed job listings that specify the type of work, duration, necessary skills, targeted budget, and more. They can even sift through freelancers by country and ask additional screening questions.⁶
Talent sourcing:	While Upwork’s smart algorithm will match job posts with suitable freelancers, businesses can also manually search using filters to find specific candidates to invite to jobs.
Interview and hire:	After shortlisting candidates, the Upwork platform lets you conduct interviews using video call, voice call, and messaging before making a hire.
Safe and secure payments:	The secure payment system only asks you to release payment when you’re fully satisfied with the work received. Hiring managers can choose to pay hourly or for the entire project through an escrow system.
Work Diary:	The Work Diary is made for freelancers to log their hours, protecting and reassuring both the freelancer and the client. Not only will it show a record of hours worked, but it will also show work-in-progress screenshots.⁷
Upwork Enterprise Suite:	For larger corporations, Upwork’s Enterprise Suite gives you access to the top 1% of talent and lets you explore managed solutions to help you support every business need.⁸
Contract management:	Contract management is made easy with timelines, deliverables, terms, and payment details in one place.
Dispute management:	In case of dissatisfaction or conflict, businesses can dispute a freelancer’s hours or request a refund.⁹

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Upwork reviews

So, what do the people have to say about Upwork? Upwork has a strong 7.4 out of 10 score on TrustRadius, which means it has more positive reviews than negative. Negative reviews focus mainly on issues with customer support, surrounding disputes, and transparency. Positive reviews touch on the instant access to a large breadth of talent and the ease of communication and payment.¹⁰On Trustpilot, Upwork has a 3.2 out of 5-star rating from 9,244 reviews. Negative reviews focus again on customer support difficulties and issues with unreliable freelancers and job postings. Positive reviews hone in on the diverse range of job opportunities and ease of hiring.¹¹

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Upwork competitors

While Upwork is a leading freelancer marketplace, it’s not the only option available out there. Here’s how Upwork matches up with three other key freelance platforms.

Upwork vs. Fiverr

Upwork and Fiverr are two of the largest online freelancer job boards, but they have differences that make them more suitable for certain situations. For example, Upwork is designed for longer, ongoing projects and larger one-off tasks, with an entire system dedicated to tracking work and processing continuous payments.

Meanwhile, Fiverr’s strength lies in offering quick gigs that are more executional in nature. Clients might want a freelancer to write a jingle for a commercial, come up with a logo, or translate an existing ebook. The Fiverr platform sticks to project-based pricing and puts the freelancer in the driver’s seat – clients simply purchase pre-set packages from a freelancer they like.

Upwork vs. Freelancer

When it comes to Upwork vs. Freelancer, Upwork typically attracts a higher level of professional freelancers due to its thorough vetting process. On the other hand, Freelancer makes it a lot easier to get started with a lower barrier to entry. With a free bidding process too, there might be a more saturated amount of freelancers, which can be a downside for freelancers yet an upside for businesses. Upwork also charges a slightly larger fee for clients, but its project management and collaboration tools are often considered superior.

Upwork vs. Toptal

Comparing Toptal vs. Upwork is where things get a little more varied. While Upwork is more broad in nature, Toptal boasts a more curated approach that claims to host only the top 3% of freelance talent. Toptal’s platform focuses on premium talent in specific fields like design and software engineering, but Upwork hosts freelancers of a variety of skill levels in a range of fields. If your company is an enterprise or has the funds to hire top-quality talent, Toptal could be a better option for hiring. Similarly, super-qualified, veteran talent could consider signing up to get matched with superior clients.

Avoid Upwork’s exchange rate mark-up with Wise

Upwork provides a global network that freelancers can, and do, tap into. It’s not uncommon to end up receiving payments in a different currency.

You can also get paid into a Wise Business account. Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks.

Here's how to receive Upwork payments with Wise:

Create an account with Wise Business and make sure you have USD account details
On Upwork, go to 'Settings' and select 'Get Paid'
Select Payment details and Add method
Select Direct to US Bank (USD) and Set up
Add your USD account details from Wise and check the box to validate the information provided — you’ll have to confirm this by entering your Upwork password
Confirm the details by selecting 'Add account'

Upwork might send you 1 or 2 microdeposits to your Wise USD account to verify your ownership of the account. This can take 1–3 days to arrive, and you’ll need to go to Upwork and confirm the amounts received

All set. Now you can get paid in USD from Upwork. You can also easily convert your funds at the mid-market rate within the Wise Business account.

Once you have a Wise Business account, you're ready to:

Receive money to your own unique account details and get paid like a local in 9 major currencies;
Add and hold money in 40+ currencies;
Convert between currencies in seconds, at the mid-market exchange rate;
Send money directly from any currency in your account to pay bills, send money to friends and family, and more;
You can also connect the account to accounting software, such as QuickBooks, to help ease tax reconciliation.

Learn More:

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Sources:

1 - Statista - Upwork Revenue Generated by Freelancers

2 - Upwork - Using Connects

3 - Upwork - Manage How You Get Paid

4 - Upwork - Upwork Messages

5 - Upwork - Skill Certifications

6 - Upwork - How to post a job

7 - Upwork - Work Diary

8 - Upwork Enterprise

9- Upwork Support - Dispute

10 - Upwork Trustradius

11 - Upwork Trustpilot

12 - Wise Trustpilot

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