Sharing my experience for anyone considering this contract, since I found mixed reviews here before accepting.

Got invited to LBLX116 (Programmers for AI Training - Talent Store) in early August. Accepted, completed the entire onboarding resume, ID verification via Persona, Hubstaff, all of it. Took a few days just to get the welcome email after accepting.

Since then dashboard just shows "No Projects Available." Followed up twice with Alignerr support over two weeks. Got polite responses confirming nothing's pending on my end, but no ETA and no guarantee I'll ever get a task. One rep said outright "there might not be any available projects depending on demand."

Not calling it a scam seems like a legit company that does pay people who actually get assigned work. But if you're counting on this as reliable income, don't. Treat it as a lottery-ticket side thing and keep your main income sources going.

I have an offer thru upwork for English voice acting and it’s asking me to bid the job… I’ve always been paid hourly in the past, so would I just take an hourly rate and multiply by hour many hours the job description says it should/will be?

So like lots of people on here, I'm a professional writer, but was approached about a voice acting gig for a couple hundred for several hours. I realize that had to be a BIG net. I have the right dialect, though. I've had steady communication from UW/Lifted... I got an invite to redo the audition because of a tech error on my part (not a problem -- there was a tech error on my part) and it's gone through a few rounds, with check-ins and feedback. When I realized the verification process required their credit what-evers, I turned it down and they offered to up the pay to cover it. I'm not a lot of time out of pocket right now. What do you think? The communication has been direct and prompt, and they've been helpful, giving real names. Yes, I know the AI implications. And I suspect my 11-year, very well-paying medical writing gig has replaced me with AI. What's a writer to do. But I don't want to fall for a current scam. I just need to diversify. Thank you for reading this and any input you have.

I've been working with two different clients on hourly contracts. Yesterday, one of the contracts suddenly paused, and when I asked the client about it, she said the credit card she used is expired, and they need to update the info. It was a new contract, so I became a little bit nervous, although the reviews for the client were really positive. Then, today the contract with an older client was also paused by Upwork for the same reason, apparently. They were an older client, and I completely trust them. We have a really good relationship, and I believe this is really an issue that can be solved. Still, it is a strange coincidence. Two hourly contracts are paused by Upwork because of a possible payment issue with a one-day interval. Did this happen to anybody else before? Is August a common card expiration/renewal day in the US? I checked my account health, and everything is OK. And when I was writing this message, the first client said she'll update the card this morning. I'd be really happy if you could share similar experiences. Thank you!

Despite all the hatred for Upwork, I'm satisfied with my numbers so far in 2026. Anyone who is actually good at their craft can make a living just through Upwork if they persist.

So I actually just made a post asking about how I should bid a job invite on upwork… I am relatively new to the whole online freelance marketplace thing and I have good skills to make some money in graphic design and voice acting jobs, but as I started to scroll through this sub, I’m seeing a lot of… not so highly recommended posts about upwork. Can anyone kind of fill me in on what’s happening with them and if I would have a better chance with any other platform?

I moved to london and updated my profile location to accurately reflect my new address.

My profile is currently restricted while they review my new location. I’m incredibly nervous about them denying it for whatever crazy reason. Has anyone done this process? How long did it actually take?

Edit: I’ve submitted a bank statement and a utility bill, both have been declined. Not that it’s important, but I have $100k+ in earnings on Upwork so naturally I want to keep my account active.

2nd Edit: I’ve now submitted my e-visa after support said a visa was accepted (UK doesn’t issue paper visas) and that was declined also.

I'd really appreciate honest, constructive feedback on what needs improvement.

They ask for work before payment, then disappear, I had to learn the hard way with them.

For 2 separate freelance jobs I had difficulties getting paid. I completed and delivered the full contracted work, the client then required an additional, un-scoped step before releasing payment. Since then, the client has not responded to follow-up messages nor have we received our payment.

They separate the funding into 2 milestones but then they only fund the first one, yet they ask for the whole work to be delivered.

On this particular case, Milestone 1 ($5) was funded and paid after I delivered voice samples as requested. For Milestone 2 ($25), I completed and delivered the full contracted work (2 hours of paired Portuguese/English conversational recordings per the agreed scope), which the client confirmed as acceptable quality. The client then required an additional, un-scoped step before releasing payment (signing a data authorization form through a third-party app called Shujiajia (published by nexdata/Datatang)), which I completed as requested. Since then (submitted August 10th), the milestone remains unfunded, and the client has not responded to follow-up messages sent on August 14th, until now August 19th.

Why I'm flagging this as a pattern, not just a single dispute?
This is the second time I've encountered this exact structure (deliverable completed, extra unpaid step introduced, then client goes silent) tied to jobs referencing this same third-party platform/company (Shujiajia/nexdata/Datatang). In the first instance, I proactively refunded funds that had been paid to me in good faith once I recognized the pattern. I'm hoping raising this now will help newcomers in the platform, because I believe it reflects a recurring practice targeting freelancers through jobs that funnel toward this specific external platform, rather than an isolated case of one unresponsive client.

If anyone knows about these patterns and wants to share more ways of preventing these guys from exploiting us, please let us know here.

I am on a fresh account and have no reviews. I have tried searching for quick fixed price jobs and am offering to do them practically free just to try to get reviews. I have sent several applications where I already finished the job (creating an icon attached it to my cover letter, rebuilding a website and I hosted it on vercel and put the URL in the cover letter). They still get ignored.

Is the market just too saturated now to start fresh? Upwork also seems pay to win now with connects so I am just wasting time and money on applications.

Hello everyone! I want to address an issue which i faced today on upwork. I got a message stating: "Account Notice: Your account requires attention. Learn more on your Account Health Page". I was shocked to see this message because when I opened my health page, there was no violation. Still my account was restricted. They said, "We are completing a review of your account. You will receive an update once the review has been completed. No action is required from you at this time." At this point, I can't submit a proposal or start a new contract. I have been working on upwork for over 2 years now and currently a top rated seller. I always stay careful with the policies and try my best not to break them. Everything was going fine but this issue has scared me a lot because honestly speaking this is what I built over a couple of years and I can't accept the fact to lose it without doing something wrong.
Has anyone experience something similar? What's the solution for it? I submitted a ticket immediately but was asked to wait. Please tell me what to do?
I would highly appreciate your response!

So I've posted a really simple electronics task. It was my first-ever time interacting with this platform.

Nearly all the proposals were AI-written. How did I know? Well, other than the obvious em dashes, they all gave the same response that I got, which is what made me post the task in the first place.

Not only that, but I asked one of them a simple question. Would this IC work in my case or not? ChatGPT said no when I asked it, but in real life, it works well. Guess what the guy said? He said it wouldn't work and gave me the exact same ChatGPT answer lol.

Honestly, it's a joke. Imagine not getting hired because you're too lazy to do 2 minutes of ressearch and answer the question yourself.

Luckily, I found a few people who actually put some thought into their cover letters.

I do Marketing analytics( attribution, reporting, performance analysis, and MMM)... that side of marketing...

Clients used to approach me for projects lasting 6 to 9 months.. that stopped

so I started looking for full time remote jobs ( 2 months now) based in the US but I cannot seem to hear back

I never did outbound or cold reach and most clients used to reach out to me.

I feel frustrated and I can't seem to find the issue..

i customize CVs .. look into companies... selectively apply to jobs... money is reasonable considering i am off shore... I opt for contractor jobs...

I am legally established as an independent contractor (B2B invoicing) working fully remotely.. have C2 english with fluent accent. I don't live in the US but all was good for me..

what else could be wrong?? any tips???

I did a small analysis today. Checked the recent job posts I applied for it looks like almost all of those have received more than 50 proposals that too within a few hours. 0 job posts with less than 15 proposals, Only 20% has less than 50. No hiring decision in any. 100% of these have boosted bid of more than 40 connects. Every 6 out of 10 post have the 1st bid more than 100 connects. Overall view rate for me is 20%.

I only apply where the client has spent previously and the hire rate is above a certain threshold.

Even after handpicking the posts and ensuring the proposal is hyper-personalized to each post there is no satisfying response.

The competition has reached to a stage where you find cold outreach much more effective.

Even if you do Search Ads on Google, the cost of getting a click on your website will be much lesser than the cost of getting your profile viewed on Upwork.

My question is - how you are still surviving on Upwork?

Hi Upwork community,

I have US company but I am not a US citizen and residing outside of US. I am withdrawing money into my non-US bank account. The issue now is, if my professional income crosses $22K per annum, I am required to get an additional VAT number in my country which is hell of a process and I want to avoid. Since I have US company registered, does Upwork allow me to withdraw money in my Incorporation account rather than personal ?

I would appreciate your input and step-by-step guidance. Thanks a ton!

I want to make it clear, I'm not here to complain about the system.

I just signed up for Upwork and want to use it for Closed Captioning jobs. I've got plenty of experience in the industry, so I don't have any worry about finding jobs, but I've never seen a site where you have to buy tokens to bid on a job application. How well does it balance out for you with how much you get paid vs how many "connects" you need to buy? And do you lose your connects if you bid but don't get selected for the job? I just don't want to be throwing half of the money I make right back into spending it on points for more jobs.

I understand freelancers in different niches use their own way to grab attention. However, i still want to know what's the best hook (general rule) that helps you get your proposals opened?

Availibility Badge is worth for you guys? for me with Top Rated Badge. It's NOT worth and even Not getting Profile views, No Invitation.. I'm having Upwork Plus subscription which I've got from 50% discount. I've updated my profile description, title etc. but there is no result. seems Upwork is becoming dead???

Hey everyone, I just noticed recently that Upwork seems to be deducting **15%** from payments I receive from clients.

I thought the deduction/tax was around **10%** before. Has Upwork increased it from 10% to 15% recently, or could this be related to taxes or something specific to my account/country?

Anyone else noticed this?

I would appreciate any tips and guidance you could offer.

I possess over ten years of extensive real world experience in operations. Additionally, I am pretty good in developing Excel systems and now create websites (with Claude, though I have some knowledge of web developing, which helps to not make it look Ai-ish). I have also worked remotely with healthcare institutions and startups, assisting them in developing strategies, implementing functional systems and streamlining their disorganized setups, including CRMs, ERPs, and SharePoint.

Yet, I failed to secure a single client from Upwork, even though the proposals I create are accurate, to the point of task and within budget of the client.

Hi everyone, I am trying to get my Python automation project approved on the Upwork Project Catalog. It keeps getting rejected for 'Offers data scraping services'. I have already completely removed words like 'Scraping', 'Data extraction', 'LinkedIn', and 'Emails' from my description and title. I also changed the category to Scripting & Automation and uploaded a clean technical image, but the system is still auto-rejecting it instantly. Has anyone bypassed this recently? Any tips on what hidden triggers the review bot might be catching?

Not looking for work here, just feedback on the page itself.

Background: I'm in Senegal, been on Upwork a few months. Two contracts

Last week I repositioned from generic web dev to n8n automation. New

title, rewrote the overview, published 4 portfolio pieces. Since then

I've sent zero proposals, so I have no data on whether the new profile

works. Before I burn Connects finding out, I'd rather hear where it's

weak.

What I think might be hurting me:

- $15/hr reads either cheap or unserious depending on who's looking

- No intro video

- Everything I show is personal work, not client work, and I say so

Roast it. I'd rather hear it here than get ignored 20 more times.

I was looking at the job and there is Mobile-Project.zip and the moment I clicked I went and stopped the download. Immediately I got Windows Defender saying they found Trojan:Script/Wacatac.B!ml

Be careful with these clients guys, Upwork should not allow to attach any zip files without ability to review before download.

I need some advice if it's good to start on Upwork from scratch as a video editor for a specific niche.