When it comes to hiring freelancers, each platform has its strengths, but Upwork stands out as the most versatile option. Unlike Fiverr, which focuses on pre-packaged gigs with less flexibility, Upwork allows clients to post custom job listings and hire on an hourly, fixed, or contract basis. Compared to Toptal, which offers highly vetted talent but comes with a hefty $79/month fee just for talent search, Upwork provides access to top-rated and expert-vetted professionals without the paywall. Freelancer.com has a similar structure but lacks the depth of talent screening and AI-driven hiring features that Upwork now offers. With its balance of affordability, talent quality, and hiring flexibility, Upwork offers the best mix of control, cost, and convenience for businesses looking to hire freelancers.
Upwork Review: Is It Worth it in the Age of AI?
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In our review
Upwork has been the go-to freelancing platform for years, but does it still deserve that reputation in 2025? With 64 million Americans freelancing in 2023—38% of the U.S. workforce—there’s no doubt the gig economy is booming. In fact, freelancers contributed a massive $1.27 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2023. But here’s the real game-changer: AI. Upwork has seen a 70% surge in AI-related job posts, making it the fastest-growing skill on the platform, with 66% of clients saying they wouldn’t hire someone without AI skills.
So, is Upwork still the best place to find top freelancers? Or is AI (and the competition) shaking things up? Let’s break it down.
- Post a Job & Hire Faster
4.8 / 5 stars
- Work in 13 categories and have over 10,000 available skill sets
- Upwork’s smart algorithms help you find the right freelancer faster and more accurately
- Manage your freelancers easily with built-in collaboration tools, time tracking, and reporting
Getting Started with Upwork
So, you’re ready to dive into Upwork and find the perfect freelancer. Good news—it’s free to join, and you won’t pay a dime until you actually hire someone. That means you can poke around, check out freelancers’ profiles, and even post a job without committing to anything. But before you start, let’s walk through the setup process so you don’t end up overwhelmed (or worse, hiring the wrong person).
Step 1: Creating Your Client Account
First things first, you’ll need an Upwork client account. The signup process is straightforward—just enter your business details, verify your email, and boom, you’re in. You can sign up with an email, Google, or even Apple. Pro tip: Use your business email if you’re hiring on behalf of a company. It makes things look more professional and keeps work-related messages in one place.
Step 2: Setting Up Your Company Profile
Think of this as your business’s storefront on Upwork. While not mandatory, having a polished profile helps attract top-tier freelancers. You can add details like:
- Your company name and industry
- A short description of your business and what you do
- The type of projects you typically hire for
This small step can make a big difference. If freelancers see you’re a serious, established business, they’re more likely to apply to your jobs.
Step 3: Posting Your First Job
Now, here’s where most people trip up. A poorly written job post will get you a flood of mismatched proposals, while a detailed one helps Upwork’s AI do its magic. Their new advanced algorithm shortlists candidates who are the best fit based on experience, ratings, and past work.
When posting a job, make sure to include:
- A clear project title (e.g., “Looking for a UX Designer for a Mobile App” instead of “Need a Designer”)
- Detailed job description (explain the scope, goals, and expectations)
- Required skills (Upwork lets you pick relevant ones from a list)
- Budget (hourly rate or fixed-price—more on that below)
If writing a job post feels like too much work, Upwork also offers a “Project Catalog,” where you can buy pre-packaged services like logo design, website development, or content writing. No job post required—just pick a freelancer and get started.
Step 4: Choosing Between Hourly and Fixed-Price Contracts
This is where some business owners get stuck. Do you go hourly or fixed-price? Here’s the breakdown:
- Hourly contracts – Best for ongoing work or projects without a clear scope. Upwork’s time-tracking tool ensures you only pay for actual work done.
- Fixed-price contracts – Ideal for well-defined projects with clear deliverables. Payments are made based on milestones, so you’re not paying for unfinished work.
Either way, you have full control over the hiring process. You can check profiles, browse portfolios, read client reviews, and even conduct video interviews before giving someone the green light.
Pros
- Access to a global talent pool
- Flexible hiring for short- and long-term projects
- AI-powered matching for better candidate selection
- Secure payments with Upwork’s protection system
- No upfront costs—pay only when you hire
Cons
- High competition can make finding top talent time-consuming
- Quality varies—requires careful vetting
- Limited direct communication outside Upwork’s platform
My Experience with Upwork:
Finding the Right Talent, the Hard Way
A few months ago, I needed to launch a brand-new product—a digital course aimed at helping small business owners streamline their operations using AI. To pull it off, I needed two key things: a killer marketing strategy and high-quality design work for branding, ads, and course materials.
I figured this was the perfect opportunity to test out different freelancer platforms. For marketing, I looked at Upwork, MarketerHire, and Right Side Up. For design, I compared Upwork to 99designs.
Upwork vs. MarketerHire and Right Side Up for Marketing
For marketing, I needed a mix of paid ads, email sequences, and conversion-focused copywriting—essentially, a full-funnel strategy.
- MarketerHire and Right Side Up position themselves as premium marketing talent platforms. They handpick experts with agency experience and match them to your project. Sounds great, right? Well, sort of.
- The marketers they provided were solid, but the process felt rigid. The platforms match you with one marketer (or a small team) based on your project scope, but I quickly realized I needed more flexibility.
- With Upwork, I had the freedom to hire multiple specialists, like a Facebook Ads expert, a copywriter, and an SEO strategist, instead of relying on one generalist who could only do part of the job.
MarketerHire and Right Side Up worked well for plug-and-play hiring, but Upwork let me build a custom team with specialists for each part of the funnel. Plus, the pricing was much more competitive—on niche platforms, you’re locked into higher rates with fewer options.
Upwork vs. 99designs for Graphic Design
On the design side, I needed branding, ad creatives, and a polished look for the course materials.
- 99designs was appealing because of its contest model—you post a project, and multiple designers submit their work, so you can pick the best one. This is great if you have a big budget and want lots of choices upfront, but it’s also time-consuming. I got some great designs, but it took days to sift through submissions, and revisions were limited.
- On Upwork, I found a talented designer with agency experience, worked directly with them, and got exactly what I wanted in half the time.
The biggest takeaway? For one-off logo projects, 99designs works well. But for ongoing design needs, Upwork gives you better control, better pricing, and direct communication with your designer.
Types of Freelancers Available on Upwork
One of the biggest perks of using Upwork is the sheer variety of freelancers you can hire. Whether you need a content writer, graphic designer, web developer, virtual assistant, or marketing expert, you’ll find thousands of professionals ready to jump in. But if you’ve ever tried hiring online before, you know that experience levels vary wildly.
Freelancer Expertise Levels
Upwork makes it easier to filter talent by breaking freelancers into four main categories based on experience and performance:
- Rising Talent – These are freelancers who are new to the platform but show strong potential. Upwork gives them this badge as a sign that they’ve passed initial vetting, completed their profiles, and have a track record of professionalism.
- Top Rated – These freelancers have been on Upwork for a while and maintain at least a 90% Job Success Score (JSS). They’ve completed multiple projects successfully and received positive client feedback.
- Top Rated Plus – This level is for freelancers and agencies that have delivered exceptional work on large contracts and earned at least $10,000 in the past year. If you need someone with a strong history of handling complex projects, this is a great option.
- Expert-Vetted Talent – The top 1% of freelancers on Upwork, these professionals have been rigorously screened by Upwork’s team for both technical and soft skills. They’re usually handpicked for high-stakes projects, so if you want absolute top-tier talent, this is the way to go.
Upwork’s Hiring Plans
Upwork offers three hiring plans tailored to different business needs: Marketplace, Business Plus, and Enterprise. Each plan provides varying levels of support, talent access, and management tools to streamline the hiring process.
Upwork Marketplace
The Marketplace plan is the standard option for businesses that want full control over the hiring process. It’s free to join, and you only pay once you hire a freelancer. You can post job listings, review freelancer profiles, check their portfolios and reviews, and even conduct video interviews before making a decision. Upwork’s AI-powered matching system helps identify the best candidates for your project, saving time on shortlisting. For those who prefer an even quicker solution, Upwork’s Project Catalog lets you purchase pre-packaged services like logo design or website development without posting a job request.
Upwork Business Plus
Designed for growing businesses, the Business Plus plan provides access to Upwork’s expert-vetted talent—the top 1% of freelancers who have been screened for skills, reliability, and communication. This plan speeds up hiring by offering a shortlist of qualified candidates within two business days, ensuring that you connect with the right professionals faster. Additional benefits include 24/7 premium customer support, advanced reporting tools, and live coaching to help businesses optimize their hiring strategy. For U.S.-based companies, Net 30 invoicing allows consolidated monthly payments, making it easier to manage freelancer expenses.
Upwork Enterprise
For large organizations that need to scale their freelance workforce, the Enterprise plan offers everything in Business Plus along with dedicated account management, custom onboarding workflows, and compliance services. It integrates with HR systems like VMS, ATS, and HRIS, providing a seamless hiring process for companies with high-volume freelance needs. Enterprise clients also receive tailored reporting and invoicing solutions, making it the best option for businesses that require structured freelancer management at scale.
Upwork Cost and Pricing Structure
Upwork offers two ways to pay freelancers: hourly or fixed-price. If you choose hourly, freelancers log their work using Upwork’s time tracker, so you only pay for the hours worked. Fixed-price contracts, on the other hand, let you set milestones, and you release payments only when specific parts of the project are completed.
Upwork has Payment Protection to keep things fair. For hourly jobs, you only pay for hours tracked by Upwork’s tool. For fixed-price projects, payments go into escrow and are only released when the freelancer completes agreed-upon milestones. This ensures you get the work you’re paying for.
How much does it cost to hire on Upwork?
Clients pay a service fee based on their plan. The Marketplace plan has a 5% fee on all payments, while Business Plus has a 10% fee but includes access to pre-vetted talent and priority support. Enterprise clients get custom pricing based on their needs.
Is Upwork cheaper than hiring in-house?
It depends. Hiring on Upwork can save costs on salaries, benefits, and office expenses. However, freelancer rates vary. A lower-cost freelancer might save you money upfront but could deliver lower-quality work, while a top-rated expert may charge more but get the job done faster and better.
Alternatives to Upwork: How Do They Compare?
Verdict: Is Upwork Still the Best in 2025?
With AI reshaping the freelancing landscape, hiring the right talent is more important and more complicated than ever. Upwork remains the go-to platform, offering the deepest talent pool and the best tools to vet candidates. Unlike niche hiring platforms that focus on a single type of professional, Upwork gives you flexibility and choice, letting you compare rates, expertise, and experience to find the best value for your budget.
That said, it does require a bit more effort. Higher-priced talent on specialized platforms may come pre-vetted, but Upwork puts you in control, which means you’ll need to do some due diligence. The trade-off is that you get more options, competitive pricing, and the potential to find hidden gems.
One of the biggest challenges right now is that AI is changing the game, but not every freelancer knows how to use it effectively. Those who do are rare but incredibly valuable. Imagine hiring a freelancer who can build and fine-tune AI agents to automate their own tasks, maximizing efficiency while keeping costs down. That kind of talent will dominate in the near future.
To help navigate this shift, Upwork has introduced AI-powered features that match clients with the right freelancers based on skills, experience, and project requirements. This cuts down the time spent searching for talent and helps ensure better hires, faster.
Before you hire, ask yourself: Does AI make this task so easy I could do it myself? Sometimes, automation is the better option. But when you need expert-level work, fast turnarounds, or something beyond your team’s capabilities, Upwork still delivers. In a rapidly evolving market, having access to that kind of talent is invaluable.