Review Insights · Google Play
Instawork: Be your own boss
Instawork · 44,186 ratings · ★ 4.3
4.3
★★★★★
44,186 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 39 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"support"
11 negative reviews mention this · 28% of all complaints
★★★★★ "took a job the contact didn't answer spent fathers day in the car while they kept closing my support ticket and didn't let me talk to a person was told id be paid for four hours didn't get paid and got ignored their customer service is almo…" - Robert Cordell
2
"work"
10 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Jan 2026 and worked a few jobs until march...then last week. I booked jobs I already have been working and they were booked. then I seen a staples job and tried to book .and me applying for that staples job triggered another background chec…" - Northeast Burn
3
"jobs"
9 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "unable to book jobs at all because I can't even verify myself. although I'm a US citizen. the verification process is very poor. it doesn't accept my citizenship documents." - Alex Sage
4
"hours"
7 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "took a job the contact didn't answer spent fathers day in the car while they kept closing my support ticket and didn't let me talk to a person was told id be paid for four hours didn't get paid and got ignored their customer service is almo…" - Robert Cordell
5
"person"
6 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "took a job the contact didn't answer spent fathers day in the car while they kept closing my support ticket and didn't let me talk to a person was told id be paid for four hours didn't get paid and got ignored their customer service is almo…" - Robert Cordell
6
"been"
6 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Jan 2026 and worked a few jobs until march...then last week. I booked jobs I already have been working and they were booked. then I seen a staples job and tried to book .and me applying for that staples job triggered another background chec…" - Northeast Burn
7
"phone"
6 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "You are managed by AI with this app based temp agency. Lack of human support 4 workers. Difficult , pre canned issues to get help. AI phone assessment very inaccurate . App needs your location "all the time", lower hourly rates, a bad ratin…" - Liz Vee
8
"instawork"
6 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "12 hour shift with only one 30 min meal break violate OR law. Instawork and Banana Baseball changed the hours on me. The email said I would not suffer any consequences for canceling the shift. that is a lie. I am being punished for cancelin…" - Kevin Hanners
9
"does"
6 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "unable to book jobs at all because I can't even verify myself. although I'm a US citizen. the verification process is very poor. it doesn't accept my citizenship documents." - Alex Sage
10
"shifts"
6 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I show up early for shifts, treat everyone with respect, I had Gold Pro status, yes, all was well. Up next, the Doordash video interview, it wasn't a good fit, I politely declined. The girl was flipping her hair, eyeballing me, she said OK …" - Steven
11
"service"
5 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "took a job the contact didn't answer spent fathers day in the car while they kept closing my support ticket and didn't let me talk to a person was told id be paid for four hours didn't get paid and got ignored their customer service is almo…" - Robert Cordell
12
"contact"
4 negative reviews mention this · 10% of all complaints
★★★★★ "took a job the contact didn't answer spent fathers day in the car while they kept closing my support ticket and didn't let me talk to a person was told id be paid for four hours didn't get paid and got ignored their customer service is almo…" - Robert Cordell
📋 All 39 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
took a job the contact didn't answer spent fathers day in the car while they kept closing my support ticket and didn't let me talk to a person was told id be paid for four hours didn't get paid and got ignored their customer service is almost all AI and you will be left on read
unable to book jobs at all because I can't even verify myself. although I'm a US citizen. the verification process is very poor. it doesn't accept my citizenship documents.
Fix the app
You are managed by AI with this app based temp agency. Lack of human support 4 workers. Difficult , pre canned issues to get help. AI phone assessment very inaccurate . App needs your location "all the time", lower hourly rates, a bad rating will cut your ability to get future work even if it's not your fault. 5% fee for instant pay. They want you to upload videos & photos = less privacy. Unqualifpeople signing up, jobs get snagged fast. Platinum status is meaningless you need to be "requested".
I'd say the client support is bad, but I don't think it actually exists. I've been trying for a week to get a person to help me and have had no success.
No jobs, only custodial and they put you on a waiting list. Literally anything else is better.
12 hour shift with only one 30 min meal break violate OR law. Instawork and Banana Baseball changed the hours on me. The email said I would not suffer any consequences for canceling the shift. that is a lie. I am being punished for canceling a shift after they increase the hours from 9:00 to 12:00. watch out for these people they will screw you over..
I used to have an account but I no longer have the email and the phone number associated with the account. I tried to create a new account and they told me that it is against policy to have more than one account. but I cannot get help with my old account, no matter where I look. I can't find a single phone number or able to talk to a live person.
it doesn't follow labor law. missing pay rules and slow notifications, the pay doesn't match its description. missing tips, bonus, etc. the support system is not smooth and reply at weird hour like hours after and then say you missed the conversation.
AVOID!!! THESE PEOPLE ARE THIEVES AND WILL SIDE WITH THE WORK PARTNER EVEN IF YOU HAVE PROOF OF A SHIFT. They will not pay you for your time and either Instawork is trying not to pay, or the Partner just wanted free labor. Instawork is not trustworthy and does not side with the people giving the labor.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME! Does anyone else have to use someone else's phone to access tax forms? Because that's what I keep getting. I have to input a ZIP code then the number of a "3rd Party" to fill out my tax forms. I don't know anyone here. So, how am I supposed to get any of the jobs? America is dead if this is what needs to be done in order to work and make money.
weird app. always gives me job notifications 5 mins before a shift thats 1hr away starts. when it does give me notifications early enough to make it the shift its already fully booked. whats the point ? all this verification stuff to not even be able to get a chance to work. fix your app and system
I suggest do not get insta pay it feels like you were robbed when pay day does come I feel entirely like I worked just to because the pay that was available after was inaccurate and I'm still waiting for my hrs shorted my last day of work was the 6th of june this app has made it impossible for me to make money on it completely sucks I have been fighting for my pay for weeks short hrs don't ever use this app they don't even deserve 1star
it has potential to be a good app but they use AI everywhere. trying to scan my passport led to 15 tries of "too much glare" or "couldn't read" even when it auto shot. when you contact the service, it responds with ai. I waited 2 hours for no response at all, sending another led to more waiting. I waited for 30 minutes per one. disappointing app and disgusting
After jumping through way too many hoops, expect to be put on a waiting list with dozens of people in front of you... To have any chance at being selected, you have to spend hours training yourself and taking quizzes that require you to pass before you can be considered for a job.
I never wrote a negative review about a app in my life but this has been by far the worst app experience I have had. They didn't count my first day of work but gave me a you completed your first day badge then when I tried to contact them about it, it's not even a real person it's Ai. a complete waste of time.
did the work never received pay wasted my time and then got the run around with chatbots they have no real customer service will be contacting the bbb
This app is a joke. 1st they illegally let companies pay you UNDER the legal minimum wage and don't care. In California the minimum wage is 17.75, but there's dozens of jobs asking for fork lift licenses and guard licenses paying 16 or less. There's requests in LA county for Warehouse workers at a measly pay of 16.90 when you can go to McDonald's and get paid 20 an hour due to California minimum wage law. And good luck reporting it to Instawork, they use an AI bot that never works.
I show up early for shifts, treat everyone with respect, I had Gold Pro status, yes, all was well. Up next, the Doordash video interview, it wasn't a good fit, I politely declined. The girl was flipping her hair, eyeballing me, she said OK OK and I thank her for her time. I go on my Instawork screen, and it says I'm not able to take shifts anymore - I'm white, she was black, not a coincidence. Contacted Instawork- they sided with their client - If you're white, never do video interviews!! Fired
I've been sitting with a phone verification issue for 2 days and have not been helped. can't book a shift cause the phone verification isn't working properly for me. I contacted support and they asked me to type out word for word what the automated message says before it hangs up and half of it is not in English. said several times how can I type words in a language I don't understand. they simply have not responded it's been 2 days. I sent screen shots and they don't care.
used to be a great app for temp work. now it's just a great app for headaches, being ignored when you have issues, and having your phone blown up with no shifts to show for it. All the bonuses and raffles are bs. they haven't done those since I first joined back in 2022, all getting platinum status does it gets you "earlier access" to shifts, which doesn't really happen. if you have any kind of issue on the app, don't expect much beyond being ignored.
Moto razr fold 2026 please update this app with enable calendar to be add the event details to calendar app and enable non Google account if possible
Highly disappointed. After going through so many steps to getting approved for shifts, I stopped seeing available jobs the next week. I then kept seeing shifts across the nation despite setting my radius to less than 30 miles and unchecked nationwide shifts. There is no way to set zipcodes. Support chat agents give generic answers and there isn't a way to go back to the chat to reply unless you receive a notification that you didn't respond and the ticket closed. Then my profile disappeared.
I have had a horrible experience with the app so far. I worked a fee shifts with no issue but when I began to experience technical issues for the app and reached out to support, I was told I needed to be connected to a specialist. All that actually happenned was me being ghosted by support and then the chat expiring. I have been very dissapointed by this and have refferred others to not depend on the app for reliable communication.
Do not download! I think this is fake app...They just want your social security number and information to sell! If you have a hard time passing a background check, this app will discriminate against you from applying for jobs that may not want a background check. Then deactivate your account once you send them all of your documents.😡
This is a terrible app. For an app with over a million downloads, it is extremely glitchy. For whatever reason, it will not let me upload my resume. The AI calls are not user-friendly, and it just hangs up on me all the time. The whole thing feels like a giant scam.
InstaWork is by far one of the most unprofessional apps there is, there's no way to get in contact with anyone if there's an issue with the app smh
how am I going to verify old jobs if the job was close down or so long ago that I have no reference!!and why the hell do I need to verify past jobs!?!?and don't get me started with the constant picture needs.....I wanted a j.o.b. not a app that makes eating a bullet seem like a better option😮💨
drove 3 hours for a job. that says free parking go speak with somebody they very unprofessional they tell me they can't cancel so I have to cancel and now I'm stranded in the state of Virginia do not put your life on the line for a job that do not look out for people that look out for them third party venue is what they going to yell out
The interface is very buggy. Buttons will randomly and frequently not work preventing booking of shifts that go quickly. they guarantee 4-Hour minimum pay but won't give it to you unless you manually adjust it within 24 hours. customer service doesn't exist. they have a chatbot that doesn't offer any support at all.
this was the best at during one point, I give it until next year before it's shut down! The new phone interview feature and A.I. messed up the instawork I knew in 2019!
crazy app keep saying can't very my identity because it can't recognize the drivers license photo, so how come each time I snap it the thing keep saying can't complete/can't verify. Needs to be fixed ASAP
This app does nothing but glitch out in the last weeks. The developers need to pull it together & work these bugs out as it's not only a massive problem for workers, but captains at shifts as well. Too many problems to list. Fix it please!
no support from a real person. forced to send emails that are never returned, chat with an AI that can't actually do anything and I still can't book a gig. will be deleting, not worth it!
poor app experience, actively unhelpful support, missing funds are all regular occurances.
not able to get a live person can use in human touch.
Very easy app unless you want to be paid on time. App is glitchy so it says you're clocked in, but you won't really be. You will clock out, but you won't really be. So you won't get paid. Support is a 24-48 hr wait for anything complicated. I think it will be really great eventually but not yet.
Jan 2026 and worked a few jobs until march...then last week. I booked jobs I already have been working and they were booked. then I seen a staples job and tried to book .and me applying for that staples job triggered another background check. because of that background check review the system blocked all the gigs I already had lined up and made me miss alot of money and behind on bills it says it takes 2 days and it has been 5 days and still inactive. and customer service just disappears.
The app moves entirely to slow. Not helpful or useful at all when using personal data.
Sentiment summary
84%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
13%
Negative (1-2★)