Review Insights · App Store
Upwork
Upwork Global Inc. · 67,933 ratings · ★ 4.6
4.6
★★★★★
67,933 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 67 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
"freezes"
17 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Lags a lot!!!. Guys please release adequate update for this app. While texting with talents it glitches a lot and freezes. Once I feel something has changed I will edit my review." - ashurovsino
2
"upwork"
15 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Used to be great, worst now. Connect bidding is a scam. I think freelancers are posting fake jobs to use up competitors connects. There are bids as high as 200 connects for a 13 connects job. Upwork is out of hand, it is going sideways!" - hanuman12
3
"platform"
14 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not new to it and not true to it. I get that platform revenue is hard to sustain sometimes but it’s crazy that they’ll charge me to verify ID without telling me that they’ll freeze my account during the manual review process so that I miss out on the application window for …" - :80-$3891
4
"money"
12 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not new to it and not true to it. I get that platform revenue is hard to sustain sometimes but it’s crazy that they’ll charge me to verify ID without telling me that they’ll freeze my account during the manual review process so that I miss out on the application window for …" - :80-$3891
5
"experience"
10 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Terrible. Who thought it was a good idea to make me log in every time I use the app? Then I get annoying messages telling me that an unrecognized device has logged in. My experience is that the only ones who lose my credentials are the companies that…" - Ohhhhnoooo
6
"constantly"
10 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Freezes Constantly!!. How can a billion dollar company release this garbage? Freezes CONSTANTLY! Literally impossible to navigate without screens freezing." - Krissy_FL2
7
"work"
9 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Used to be great, worst now. Connect bidding is a scam. I think freelancers are posting fake jobs to use up competitors connects. There are bids as high as 200 connects for a 13 connects job. Upwork is out of hand, it is going sideways!" - hanuman12
8
"keeps"
8 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Update app. Keeps Telling me to go to update app then when go to update there is no update. Tried 10 times and different things" - ryvg42
9
"every"
8 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Terrible. Who thought it was a good idea to make me log in every time I use the app? Then I get annoying messages telling me that an unrecognized device has logged in. My experience is that the only ones who lose my credentials are the companies that…" - Ohhhhnoooo
10
"proposals"
8 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Great job postings but don’t waste your money on “connects”. I bought 40 credits to try and send project proposals. In freelance life you’re bound to not be chosen for jobs which is just fine it happens, but if you don’t get hired then you don’t get ANY of your connect credits back. So if you don’t g…" - Calee.Creates
11
"freelancers"
7 negative reviews mention this · 10% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Used to be great, worst now. Connect bidding is a scam. I think freelancers are posting fake jobs to use up competitors connects. There are bids as high as 200 connects for a 13 connects job. Upwork is out of hand, it is going sideways!" - hanuman12
12
"doesn"
7 negative reviews mention this · 10% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Cannot scroll proposals page. The app is broken, doesn’t allow us to scroll down the proposals page and it’s been an issue for over 6 months" - Rubenism
📋 All 67 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").
Used to be great, worst now
Connect bidding is a scam. I think freelancers are posting fake jobs to use up competitors connects. There are bids as high as 200 connects for a 13 connects job. Upwork is out of hand, it is going sideways!
Not new to it and not true to it
I get that platform revenue is hard to sustain sometimes but it’s crazy that they’ll charge me to verify ID without telling me that they’ll freeze my account during the manual review process so that I miss out on the application window for the job that I spent all this time and effort and money for in the first place
Lags a lot!!!
Guys please release adequate update for this app. While texting with talents it glitches a lot and freezes. Once I feel something has changed I will edit my review.
Update app
Keeps Telling me to go to update app then when go to update there is no update. Tried 10 times and different things
App not working
When I logged in the app locked me out I got a message that I was temporarily banned. Not a good first impression for the app
Terrible
Who thought it was a good idea to make me log in every time I use the app? Then I get annoying messages telling me that an unrecognized device has logged in. My experience is that the only ones who lose my credentials are the companies that own the apps!
Freezes Constantly!!
How can a billion dollar company release this garbage? Freezes CONSTANTLY! Literally impossible to navigate without screens freezing.
Not easy
This platform is so difficult to navigate and the terms are not clearly defined. AI seems to be the only customer service available. I hired someone but kept not being able to communicate with him easily. I then looked into the terms more closely and found out that if you sign up with Upwork you are bound with them for two years. If you communicate outside of Upwork, they will charge a 13.5% commission on top of what you pay the person you hire. Read the fine print. With all these difficulties I lost confidence and trust for this company.
Constantly logging me out
The app is glitchy and is constantly lagging me out. I’ve been using Upwork for years, you’d think they would have fixed these issues permanently by now
App keeps logging me out
I still get notifications of messages, but I have to put my login information every day. Frustrating.
Freezing
App keeps freezing
Cannot scroll proposals page
The app is broken, doesn’t allow us to scroll down the proposals page and it’s been an issue for over 6 months
FREEZES
The app constantly freezes when reviewing proposals
Can’t even schedule consultation or change password
What the hell is wrong with this app? I can’t even book a consultation normally and when I try to change my password, it says I don’t meet the requirements even though I clearly do. Why is this constantly an issue? Fix your fix damn app already
STAY AWAY FROM UPWORK
If you’re a small business looking to hire free lance workers, stay away from UPWORK. They’ll waste your time and you’ll lose money in the process. Their customer service is just about as bad as it gets.
Relentless, annoying ads
At first I thought Upwork was just abusing the notification option by pushing nagging promotions.
I went into the preferences and turned it off - they still continue, every day.
This is egregious and should be against Apple’s TOS, if it isn’t already.
After my current project is over I will be deleting the Upwork app and finding another platform.
I went into the preferences and turned it off - they still continue, every day.
This is egregious and should be against Apple’s TOS, if it isn’t already.
After my current project is over I will be deleting the Upwork app and finding another platform.
Tooo buggy
The app keep freezing like every second, I can’t even do anything on it without it freezing in the middle of what I’m doing and I have to start over. Why add unnecessary features and keep the app buggy, most of the features are basically useless and take space causing the app to fail.
Unsafe site
Upwork is only interested in making money. They charge the freelancer, charge the client, and allow clients to bribe Upwork by becoming a “preferred partner”. Case in point, there were 53 posts in one day from a company that if you take 2 seconds to read raises at least a dozen red flags. The posts are fraught with misspelling, you are only allowed to use a phone with tracking, and ask for more work than stated without more pay. They were reported, but because they were a “preferred partner” they even lied about investigating it. If you don’t want to risk being scammed stay way away from this site.
Horrible app
Before you make the mistake of using this app, read the most recent reviews.
Lots of one stars.
App is incompetent.
Endless error messages.
Lots of one stars.
App is incompetent.
Endless error messages.
Money NOT well spent
Took my money then suspended my account
Customer Service Experience
I am writing this review to give feedback. I want to raise awareness on the horrible customer service I received. Great platform bad customer service.
Sign Up Struggle
It won’t let me past creating my profile. It keeps saying my home address is invalid and it can’t find my city?
Not to mention when I add my college education, it doesn’t allow me to select a degree type.
Not to mention when I add my college education, it doesn’t allow me to select a degree type.
Don’t use this is a scam
I know the owner he’s a criminal
Freezes
App freezes
Don’t hang your business here lol
Their automation banned me permanently. Their appeal process is a form letter. Their final response wished me "all the best in my future endeavors." That's it. That's the whole accountability structure.
If you're a freelancer: your clients can disappear overnight with no notice and no recourse. If you're a client: your account can be deleted by an algorithm and there's no human to talk to. The platform that markets itself on "trust and safety" has neither, in any direction that matters.
Use Fiverr, Contra, MarketerHire, or direct LinkedIn outreach. You'll get better contractors and you'll keep your account.
If you're a freelancer: your clients can disappear overnight with no notice and no recourse. If you're a client: your account can be deleted by an algorithm and there's no human to talk to. The platform that markets itself on "trust and safety" has neither, in any direction that matters.
Use Fiverr, Contra, MarketerHire, or direct LinkedIn outreach. You'll get better contractors and you'll keep your account.
Funds Withheld
We have a substantial sum of money locked in UpWork. We don’t have details regarding the reason. We had work done by freelancers and had to pay them separately due to funds not being released by the platform. Overall the experience was not appreciated. Nearly impossible to speak with an actual person representing the platform. Would not recommend based on our experience.
Not a better platform
Long wait still got no job
All crashing
Great platform, but a very frustrating experience overall. The app keeps crashing and getting stuck every time I try to use it. I paid $29 to boost a job posting, but I was charged twice. I’ve been trying to figure out how to correct the duplicate charge, but the app makes it very difficult to get support or resolve the issue.
On top of that, trying to log in is another headache. It keeps asking security questions - honestly, who remembers security answers today after logging in from so many devices . The platform should offer easier and more easier verification options, like text message or email verification codes, to make the login process smoother and more user-friendly.
On top of that, trying to log in is another headache. It keeps asking security questions - honestly, who remembers security answers today after logging in from so many devices . The platform should offer easier and more easier verification options, like text message or email verification codes, to make the login process smoother and more user-friendly.
Crypto Scam Artist App
It’s just fillled with everyone pretending to make things then you press links and they hack and steal everything it’s a con artist Craigslist for people in Germany & Poland to steal hard earned money from folks in USA smh 🤦♀️
Unusable!!!
Keeps freezing when scrolling through proposals!
UI issue on ipad
The Upwork iPad app still feels like the mobile iPhone version instead of a proper iPad app.
It only opens in portrait mode and doesn’t fully support landscape/full-screen view.
For iPad users, especially freelancers who work professionally, a proper landscape layout would make the experience much better and more productive. The current interface feels limited and wastes the larger screen space of the iPad.
Please optimize the app for iPad with:
- Full landscape support
- Proper full-screen layout
- Better multitasking experience
- UI designed specifically for iPad screens
This would greatly improve usability for editors, freelancers, and remote workers using iPads daily.
It only opens in portrait mode and doesn’t fully support landscape/full-screen view.
For iPad users, especially freelancers who work professionally, a proper landscape layout would make the experience much better and more productive. The current interface feels limited and wastes the larger screen space of the iPad.
Please optimize the app for iPad with:
- Full landscape support
- Proper full-screen layout
- Better multitasking experience
- UI designed specifically for iPad screens
This would greatly improve usability for editors, freelancers, and remote workers using iPads daily.
App never works properly
App never works properly and constantly freezes and crashes
Poor app
The app is poorly developed. I can tell it’s a cheap cross platform app.
Constant freezing
Literally freezes everytime trying to scroll for reviewing applicants
Keeps freezing up
Keeps freezing. Stick with the web app
App is really bad
It is amazing to me that Upwork has not thought of just going and getting some of their workers to help them build their app. It is buggy to the point of being not usable.
Right now it’s trash
Constantly freezes. I need to open the app a dozen times just to send a handful of messages. Very very annoying when you’re trying to be efficient. PLEASE fix it
Doesn’t work
This is a perfect example of why apps should be made natively, not using some “write once run anywhere” browser based app. The app randomly locks up and freezes. On input boxes the keyboard freaks out and you can’t use copy and paste.
Overall just a poor quality experience.
Overall just a poor quality experience.
Poor function
Scroll gets stuck and app freezes. Very inconvenient
Upwork keeps increasing the cost for freelancers
Once again Upwork increased the cost for freelancers to apply for jobs. This is on top of the fee taken out of our earnings. So, it will cost an insane amount money, aka connects, to apply for jobs. It’s not worth using the app at these prices. Upwork doesn’t care about freelancers.
I would lie to add the Upwork’s new AI chat bot and other features are a textbook example of everything wrong with AI. You’ll never get the support you need. So, you’re basically on your own.
Additionally, a platform that’s supposed to help people find work deciding to replace people with AI for its customer service and to create cheesy advertising content is particularly disgraceful.
I would lie to add the Upwork’s new AI chat bot and other features are a textbook example of everything wrong with AI. You’ll never get the support you need. So, you’re basically on your own.
Additionally, a platform that’s supposed to help people find work deciding to replace people with AI for its customer service and to create cheesy advertising content is particularly disgraceful.
Sign in issues
My account is attached to my Apple ID but it won’t let me reset my password. And I need to update my location but I’m not able to put in my password because I’m linked to my Apple ID and the. I try to reset it just logs me out and send me to the home page
Glitchy
Super glitchy up continues to freeze up. Their customer service is also less than desirable.
Almost impossible to get work
I’ve spent 4 months now on the app, sending out multiple proposals, setting up my profile and portfolio just as Upwork recommends as well as paid for “visibility” but it seems impossible at this point to get hired lol waste of time and energy
Terrible structured app, but great connections
The app freezes every 15 seconds and you have to exit and restart repeatedly- so frustrating
Scammy Garbage
Making people pay to apply for jobs and then charging all the GD tokens to verify identity - over and over and over. ID scanning doesn’t work so I guess I just paid $35 for nothing.
Deceptive onboarding. Long approval time.
Initial onboarding is a nice experience but once you find a perfect opportunity you’re excited about, you must pay to apply. Once you pay, you then must get your account verified before applying, updating your account, etc. I’ve waited over 5 business days to get verified (still no update) and have nothing but read-only access while great opportunities slip by. Bad first impression.
My advise: don’t anticipate to land any jobs on this platform for a minimum of 2-3 weeks after you download it.
My advise: don’t anticipate to land any jobs on this platform for a minimum of 2-3 weeks after you download it.
Filled with Scams
Really disappointed with my experience. I’ve heard good things, but I’ve only had a negative experience. Most of the jobs I’ve applied to have been scams. I appreciate that they refund me the credits when the job is taken down. But for a service that is paid, I’d expect there to be a better system in place to make sure these are legitimate jobs before freelancers can apply. On top of it all, I can tell someone stole my data because i have been receiving nonstop spam calls every day now since I joined UpWork, yet zero interviews or anyone contacting me through the app. It’s so disappointing that it’s nearly impossible to apply for jobs now anywhere without my information getting leaked.
Freezes CONSTANTLY
App CONTINUOUSLY freezes! I have to close and restart. Makes it incredibly frustrating. I’m lucky if I can navigate on the app for longer than three minutes.
Unfair for freelancer
I have clients who wants to have free test work. And threaten to give bad review. If you’re a freelancer wants to get paid and be respected. Do not use this, it’s just a waste of time.
This platform earns money from job seekers
It is a big joke, need to pay real money for applying a job?! Seriously?
+ 17 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
91%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
6%
Negative (1-2★)