The Simple Sasquatch Review of

Although a basic membership for both sides is free there are fees associated with using the platform. For clients the fee is a straightforward 3% processing fee and if you choose to upgrade your membership you get access to various features, an upgraded account will set you back $49.99.

For freelancers the fees can add up. To bid on gigs you will need ‘connects’, the amount varies with the type of job — long term or high price contracts cost more. A connect is $0.15 for a basic member, but if you upgrade your membership to freelancer plus, you get 70 connects a month included, as well as some other features.

Upwork uses an easy scaling system based on lifetime billings with a client— 20% for billings of up to $500, 10% for billings from $500-$10,000, and 5% after $10,000. To transfer money to your bank, it’s free with a standard processing of 2-3 days and they even have an Instant pay feature that allows you access to your money the moment it’s cleared escrow. They take 1% for this feature.

The website is well designed and easy to navigate — job postings are listed by the kind of job and freelancers can be sorted through with ease. The users dashboard area that keeps track of all of their information about gigs they have posted or are working on is searchable so you can easily find what you’re looking for.

If you’re looking to post a job it’s very easy — just create an account and get to posting. If you want to use the platform as a freelancer it isn’t quite that simple. Due to a glut of low-quality workers, the site has started screening and approving profiles so if there are already a lot of freelancers in the category, or if you can’t create a convincing profile, a denial to the platform is possible.

Upwork has an extensive FAQ section on their website, along with blog posts that can help answer any question from their payment system to how to craft winning proposals. If neither of these options work for you, they have 24/7 chat support and their agents are always incredibly helpful and patient — even when the user is an ape with opposable thumbs like me!

Upwork does a good job of balancing value for freelancers and those who hire them. Upwork’s escrow protection for hourly and fixed-price projects make it a great choice for both freelancers and those looking to hire and it’s fees are in line with other platforms. The abundance of users ensure that there are usually some high quality gigs and freelancers in each specialty.

Upwork is one of the leading platforms for online work for a reason — it is a solid choice for both parties and the sheer number of users adds variety to postings and encourages healthy competition between freelancers. There are many professionals on the site that make their living on it and there are many recruiting agencies and firms offering high quality and long-term remote work.