So here’s what I’ve noticed about the Upwork platform ; whenever I’m actively on the platform (applying regularly, twice a day perhaps), I receive invites and also “top-applicant” notifications. However, once I’m off the app and don’t apply for a day, I stop getting those notifications and invitations. Has anyone experienced this lately? I think Upwork now rewards people for being active on the platform which obviously means, applying for jobs consistently. They just want you to spend those connects lol.

Hello,

I recently entered into a contract at a rate of $35 per hour.

The client initially suggested a meeting, but we couldn't find a time that worked for both of us, so it never took place. It has now been a few days since the contract was signed, yet I have received no guidance on how to begin the work.

I have reached out several times, but I have received no response. I haven’t logged any hours, and naturally, I haven’t been paid anything.

In this situation, should I keep the contract open while I look for other work, or would it be better to end the contract after a certain period?

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Could leaving an inactive contract open affect my "Job Success Score" (JSS) or my profile in any way?

Hey everyone!

If you look at my 30-day screenshot, I sent 17 proposals. In just the last 7 days, I sent 9 of those proposals and finally got 4 views. It really feels like I am making progress and getting close. But I still have zero interviews and zero hires. I just need to figure out how to get that very first person to trust me and say yes. I do AI video generation and editing. I make cinematic scenes, ads and short films using the latest AI tools. If you have any advice on how to cross the finish line and get that first job please let me know. Also, if anyone reading this just happens to need some AI video work done, feel free to message me directly. I am ready to start right now.

I've been using Upwork for about 9 months, paying for Freelancer Plus and buying Connects along the way.

Here are my 2026 stats:

- 168 proposals sent

- 23 viewed

- 15 interviews

- 5 hires

- Around $2,000 earned in total

I'm a full-stack developer with 12 years of experience.

What really bothers me is that out of 168 proposals, only 23 were even viewed. That's less than 14%.

I spend time reading job descriptions and writing personalized proposals, but most of them never even get opened.

And I've noticed quite a few jobs where the client never ends up hiring anyone. It makes me wonder how many of these opportunities are actually real.

At this point, I'm seriously thinking about giving up on Upwork and spending that time building my own SaaS products instead.

For those of you still active on Upwork, are you seeing similar numbers? Is this normal now?

All freelancers should stop applying for new jobs, that's the real punishment for upwork

Can anyone tell what is problem, my card work everywhere but not on upwork, why is that, I got my all clients from referral's and no client, my future is blurry I think, i have also try to used other platform like contra, but there is no way, also on this sub reddit I saw posts which says upwork is now gambling , what should I do,

Im IT layoffs are happening, so what to do

I get an invitation to apply for a job today and I immediately started the process of sending it over to apply for it. By the time I'm done and go to send it which was maybe 30 minutes the job is no longer available it is says! Like dude! Then it's all asking me for some stupid profile available badge that will get me more jobs if I pay this many connects a week. I'm sick of it! They have either agencies that are monitoring all the jobs so that they are first to apply. or the only way to do this is give your AI access to apply to the jobs for you not knowing what it's going to send or say. I'm going to do one last go at this where I'm going to give it 200 connects and I'm going to tell it to apply to whatever fits my abilities and let it do it's thing and if I don't get a job from it I'm deleting the account.

Hey, just wanted to vent here. I have an Indian client right now, and I’ve been working for almost 5 months in sales. The offer was around 30k with commission, to which I agreed because the initial role was to call and get appointments. A month after I got the job, they told me they wouldn’t be sending leads anymore. They gave me access to sites like RocketReach and more for me to do my own lead mining. They asked me to work more than 8 hours to cater to all time zones in the US. They even asked me to work on weekends for the leads.

While I understand that sales is a broad role, doing everything for 30k and expecting fast results is absolutely frustrating!! They casually say rude things in meetings, like “you’re not doing enough,” “you’re not a good salesperson,” “waste of time and money,” and “no common sense.”

I plan to leave and find another client. This client was given to me by a friend, so I wanted to put in the effort and give them results, but lately it’s getting unbearable.

Hi, Is anybody using it? How are the results from using it ? Got any jobs and got hired ?? Or is it still making problems like banning people... Also with what you are integrated with ? GPT or Claude? I just want to know other people's opinions about whether I try it or not ...

I'm relatively new to Upwork, and I've been exploring the platform over the past few days to see how things work. Honestly, I don't understand how I'm supposed to land clients when almost every job has 50+ proposals.

Applying early doesn't seem to make much of a difference either. People spend huge amounts of Connects to boost their proposals, pushing everyone else down the list, so even if you apply early, you can easily get buried.

Is it even worth applying to jobs like these? What's the best strategy for landing your first few clients in such a competitive market?

So I've talked about the behavioral changes on Upwork that I've seen due to AI. Largely, it's not AI replacing me. It's prospects creating more work via AI while grasping at reassurance. Over the years, I've encountered prospects who tried to maintain daily correspondence with me via Upwork without ever committing to a call. My thoughts are that it would require a level of vulnerability from them, accountability, and the potential that they might encounter uncomfortable questions.

I remember once a prospect asked for my prices from a local business networking group. She never responded once I sent it to her, and then she saw me across the street one day while walking to the group and nervously walked faster to keep ahead of me. (I'm a woman too.) She definitely was an odd one, and I've never experienced that before. I'm not a high-pressure seller at all, but I've seen some leads get excited about my services, imagine what they could do if they contracted me, even commit verbally, and then just go MIA. I think they're living in a fantasy world instead of just saying "I'd love to hire you, but I don't have the budget right now." But as I've said before, real-world introduces more of a feeling of accountability IMO than in-person.

I do get many people on Upwork asking for calls and trying to specify what they want me to provide on a call which would be part of a paid engagement based on what GPT told them instead of realizing that they need to answer questions about their project. I have started sending them outlines of questions they need to answer. No, I'm not going to give you a 90-day plan of how I'd address a vaguely-defined problem. You're going to spend the call actually telling me what your problem is and what historical data you have, what resources you have already, and I'll let you know if I can help and how I'd approach this at a high-level overview. In fact, I'm getting much more top-of-the-funnel activity these days but from people who want reassurance without doing buyer-side labor.

One thing I'm seeing much more is them trying to carry on conversations in messages and sending me all this random stuff, wanting me to give much more details on myself and on their projects without them doing their part to explain what they're doing. Of course, even if they source labor from everyone, it's going to be useless because it's all based on unclear foundational data. And they'll even emphasize that they don't want to get on a call. I've also had more calls lately where people got offended when I asked basic operational questions. For example, one woman--it turned out--had an agency but had not actually secured a large contract yet. She was looking for someone who had my credentials who could help her win the contract. I have worked on large RFPs before, so I was like "so to clarify, you are intending to pay for pursuing this contract, right?" I also mentioned that I knew how hard it was to find someone with my background (a common thing clients tell me), and she somehow was offended by this and ran to archive my proposal after the call. Another person did this after I asked him some questions about his business goal in an area where I'd already had immense success in a subject matter niche (which past Upwork prospects tended to feel relieved about as there wouldn't be a learning curve involved). He also had mentioned being impressed by my work history and credentials but got offended when I started asking him basic questions--these are basic questions that most people tend to say are good questions that help them think. He said he realized he actually didn't want someone senior to challenge him. He just wanted a doer, ran and archived my proposal after I ended the conversation there as he seemed to expect that I would just keep talking to him.

These people are getting weirder, man. I don't see any bot activity that I can tell. Just a bunch of weirdos.

There still are some serious people who show up, like the way I help them think through problems, and take responsibility for communicating their problems, and don't make big promises they can't follow through on. But they too are not converting at as high a level as in the past, and I believe it's just general economic uncertainty.

I have been seeing posts about data entry recruitments, but they all lead to discord links and websites where you have to sign up.

Where can i get real gigs?

Requesting Expert level, and a list of qualifications across software, hardware and PCB design for a fixed $70 price. Easily months of work for 70 dollars! lol

It seems like a typo and maybe they meant $70/hour but their billing history ($355 across 5 hires) and reviews suggest otherwise.

Well, alright. But why did you send me a notification, then?
Not a day goes by without a joke. Though I’m not even sure if it is a joke.

I saw some posts here about clients using Claude to check whether proposals are AI, so out of curiosity, I checked mine too. Surprise surprise, apparently 90% of it is AI🙄 This is a proposal I came up with years ago, before AI was even a thing. Like, what the hell??

Job: VA, $4 to $6/hr, no experience needed. Client literally says “looking for lowest rates.”

Proposal count: 469.

What client did with 469 proposals:
A. Opened: 13
B. Shortlisted: 1
C. Interviewed: 0
D. Offered: 0
E. Hired: 0

413 proposals. Untouched. Client logged in 2 hours ago and did nothing.

Now look at who is bidding. Average applicant stats:
A. JSS: 98%
B. Completed jobs: 15
C. Total hours: 2,341
D. Total earned: $10K+

These are not beginners. These are experienced, high rated freelancers with years of work history. Begging for $5/hr. Median bid landed at exactly $5.

Someone in this pool bid 154 connects ($23) to boost. To rank first. In front of 468 other people. For a job with zero interviews and zero hires.

Upwork collected connect fees on all 469 proposals. Client paid nothing. Freelancers paid everything.

The platform is working exactly as designed. You are literally buying your own exploitation.

Honestly, guys, Upwork has become completely flooded with low-cost freelancers from low-wage countries. On top of that, there are countless AI-generated job posts and profiles, often filled with generic text and cheap-looking icons that appear to have been thrown together with ChatGPT in just a few minutes.

Clients are looking for professional work and high-quality results, yet some are offering just $4 a hour for a job. Despite that, these listings can attract over 100 proposals, with what feels like 80% of them being AI-generated and submitted within just two minutes of the job being posted.

Meanwhile, freelancers are constantly being pushed to buy more Connects just to apply for jobs, boost their proposals, or earn some badge that supposedly improves their chances of getting hired.

Honestly, I'm starting to seriously question how many of these clients are even legitimate. Some job listings give the impression that their real purpose isn't to hire anyone at all, but rather to encourage freelancers to keep spending money on proposals.

Upwork was supposed to be a platform where clients and skilled professionals could connect. Instead, it increasingly feels like freelancers have to pay just to get a chance at landing a job, while quality, fair compensation, and genuine opportunities are pushed further into the background.

Is it realistic to make $1,000–$2,000 per month freelancing as a beginner, or am I being too optimistic?

I'm a college student looking for a way to earn a decent income remotely while continuing my studies. I'm currently learning video editing and graphic design. I'd say my skills are decent but far from perfect, and I'm actively learning and improving every day.

I'm also learning web development and plan to offer that as a service once I reach a good enough level.

I understand that freelancing is highly competitive, especially for beginners, and that building a portfolio and finding clients takes time. I'm not expecting to make thousands of dollars overnight. However, I'd like to know whether earning around $1,000/month is a realistic goal to work toward, eventually increasing that to $2,000/month as I gain experience and improve my skills.

Since I'm a student, my schedule can get pretty tight sometimes, so having flexible working hours is important to me.

I'd really appreciate some advice from people with actual freelancing experience:

How realistic is earning $1,000–$2,000/month in these fields, especially when starting from scratch?

Which of these skills has the best potential for earning a decent income as a freelancer?

Is it better to focus on one skill initially or offer multiple services?

How long did it take you to start earning consistently, and what would you recommend to someone just starting out?

Which freelancing platforms would you recommend for beginners? Are websites like Upwork and Fiverr worth trying, or are there better alternatives?

Finally, how do you balance freelancing with university without burning yourself out?

I'd especially appreciate honest answers from people who have actually done this, including the difficulties and mistakes I should expect along the way.

I'm willing to put in the work and keep improving. I just want to know whether this is a realistic path to pursue or whether I should consider other remote opportunities as well.

I'm new on Upwork and I live in England. I am here for one month. I sent around 8 proposals in this time. A few were viewed, and one client wrote to me, but I have no job yet.

I make chatbots that answer from a company's PDFs. I made a demo for a fake travel agency and I put it in my portfolio.

I have some questions.

Is this niche too small for a beginner? Maybe I need to apply for normal Python jobs too?

My proposals are short. Is this bad?

I used 10 connects to boost one proposal. Was this a waste?

Please tell me the truth, even if it is hard. Thanks a lot.

I started with an empty profile and zero reviews. It took about five weeks and 54 proposals before my first real client message showed up, and it did not come from any of those proposals.

What didn't work: sending lots of proposals. When I went through the recent job feed carefully, about 80% of it was off target for what I actually do. Of my first 44 proposals, only 3 were even opened. More volume would have just meant more of the same.

What worked: a project listing with the scope and the turnaround written up front, plus a profile that said clearly what I do. The client found the listing, read the scope, and messaged me. He had already researched developers before he wrote, so the page had answered his first questions before we ever talked.

The project grew past the listing once we spoke, so we agreed a smaller first version, split it into two milestones, and I delivered the first one six days early.

What he valued, from his review (a marketing agency owner in New Zealand, 5-star review on Upwork): "He approached the work as a collaborative partner rather than simply someone following a technical brief." And he wrote that I "quickly emerged as the clear front-runner", which tells me the research he did before messaging me mattered more than any pitch I could have written.

My takeaway: the proposals did not get me the first client, being easy to understand and easy to say yes to did.

For people who landed their first client recently, did it come from a proposal or from them finding you?

1. For those who actively work on Upwork, what type of clients do you mostly get?

• Solo founders / one-person businesses
• Early-stage startups (pre-seed, seed or series A or else)
• Small businesses (under 50 employees)
• Mid-sized companies
• Large companies / enterprise clients

1. Whats the rough percentage split of these types from your own experience in your niche domain?

2. Where are they mostly based?

I’m trying to understand whether Upwork is mostly small clients and solo founders, or whether mid-sized and enterprise clients are common enough to target.

Sounds too good to be true since I’ve been struggling to land one job the past few months even though I’ve applied to many and I have a 100% JSS. And there’s no way to check their hiring history because it wasn’t an invite to a job post. Just a direct message. I’m afraid it will some kind of scam

I thought the sub might appreciate this. I used Claude to review proposals to a job I posted. Here is what it reviewed. I was alarmed that it did not review the freelancers' profiles, job history etc. I did end up hiring one of the freelancers it flagged though, after reviewing some profiles of freelancers who stood out to me. Generally, I thought it cut out the B.S. proposals.

What's also interesting is that it opens all proposals so proposal view is going to be less and less of a reliable metric.

I reviewed the proposals only, not their profiles.

What I reviewed

Your job posting: the description, budget and the 6 to 8 hours per week requirement.

The full cover letter for all 28 applicants. I opened each proposal in full, not just the preview.

Proposal terms: hourly rate and any scheduled rate increases.

Upwork’s flags: which applicants paid to boost their proposal, and which Upwork marked “Recommended.”

Attachment names: I could see that someone attached a resume or samples, but I did not open the files.

What I did not review

Profiles: no Job Success Score, hours worked, reviews, work history or Top Rated status. The Upwork tool does not return this data with proposals.

Attachments: resumes, portfolios and sample spreadsheets were not opened.

External links: Google Drive portfolios, [redacted] portfolio site and the voice introduction from [redacted] were not opened.

Claims: I did not verify any experience the applicants described.

Your posting had no screening questions, so there were no answers to compare.

What this means

The list ranks how well each person described relevant experience and a plan for your work. It does not reflect their track record on Upwork. A strong proposal from someone with poor reviews could still be on the list.

Hey everyone!

I've been spending a lot of time building web applications and improving my development skills, and I wanted to become more active in communities where developers share ideas, experiences, and feedback.

My main areas of interest are MERN Stack and Java Spring Boot, particularly full-stack applications, backend APIs, authentication, database design, and solving real-world technical problems. I've also been exploring AI integration and Laravel.

One thing I've learned is that building a project is only one part of development. Getting feedback, discussing different approaches, and learning how other developers solve problems are just as valuable.

I'm currently exploring freelance opportunities and looking forward to working on interesting projects with people who value good communication and maintainable code.

I'd also genuinely appreciate advice from people who've been through this journey:

• What helped you land your first few freelance clients?
• What makes you trust a developer when reviewing their portfolio?
• What technical skills would you recommend focusing on for freelance work?

If anyone enjoys discussing MERN, Spring Boot, backend architecture, or personal projects, I'd be happy to exchange ideas and learn from your experience.

Thanks for having me in the community! 🤝