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Upwork

Largest listed freelance marketplace by gross services volume, headquartered in Palo Alto

Overview

Upwork is a work marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals across development, design, marketing, writing, finance and other categories. It is a Nasdaq-listed company with its principal executive office in Palo Alto, California, and its 10-K lists the earlier Elance and oDesk brands among its trademarks.[1]

Upwork’s annual report for 2025 states that its platforms enabled US$4.0 billion of gross services volume (GSV). Total revenue was US$787.8 million, up 2%, of which marketplace revenue was US$682.9 million and enterprise revenue US$104.9 million; the marketplace take rate rose to 18.7% from 18.0%, and the number of active clients fell 6% to 785 thousand from 832 thousand.[1] In August 2025 it launched Lifted, a wholly owned subsidiary providing enterprise solutions and managed services.[1] Management said in February 2026 that AI-related work was becoming more material to the business.[2]

Upwork charges talent a fee as a percentage of their billings and clients a fee as a percentage of payments to talent.[1] Its strengths are scale and category breadth. The downsides are fee layers on both sides, a falling active-client count and the time needed to filter large numbers of proposals.[1]

Upwork features

  • Open talent marketplace
  • Fees as a percentage of billings
  • Enterprise solutions through Lifted
  • Managed services through Lifted
  • AI-related work categories

Upwork pricing

Free to post jobs; Upwork charges clients a marketplace fee as a percentage of payments and charges talent a service fee as a percentage of billings. Marketplace take rate was 18.7% in 2025. Exact percentages were not verifiable on Upwork's pricing pages, which blocked automated access.

Upwork strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Largest published GSV
  • Covers almost every remote skill category
  • Audited disclosure of take rate and clients
  • Enterprise route through Lifted

Limitations

  • Fees charged to both sides
  • Active clients declining
  • Large proposal volumes to screen
  • Quality varies widely across talent

Appears in

Upwork alternatives and competitors

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