Heads up: As part of our efforts to reduce confusion around payments and improve your experience, we're rebranding the term "escrow" to "project funds" across the platform.
What you need to know:
- You’ll now see "project funds" instead of "escrow" when sending offers, setting milestones, and reviewing your transaction history, among other places
- Project funds still provide the exact same level of protection and secure payment you’re used to
- Legal agreements (like our Terms of Service) will still reference “escrow” where needed because project funds are still securely held by Upwork Escrow Inc.
- This change will appear across the website starting in May 2025
This article explains Upwork’s payment protection measures for both clients and freelancers. Hourly Payment Protection ensures freelancers are paid for logged hours that meet Upwork’s criteria, while clients can dispute hours that don’t qualify. Fixed-price contracts require clients to deposit funds upfront, with payments released upon milestone approval or automatically after 14 days. Dispute assistance is available if payment issues arise. - AI helped create this summary.
To help protect your payments, we offer several levels of protection.
Hourly Payment Protection
For clients:
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You can monitor your freelancer's work diary to see work-in-progress snapshots and confirm what work is being invoiced to you
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If your freelancer logs hours not related to your project you can file a dispute for the previous week's hours. You will be refunded for any hours that do not qualify for Hourly Payment Protection
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Upwork Hourly Payment Protection doesn’t apply to bonuses or fixed-price projects. See the Upwork Terms of Service for full terms and conditions
For freelancers and agencies:
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On hourly contracts, you will invoice your time by logging it with the Upwork Desktop App
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As long as your hours meet Hourly Payment Protection criteria you will be paid for the time you invoice
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Upwork Hourly Payment Protection doesn’t apply to bonuses, manual time, or fixed-price projects. See the Upwork Terms of Service for full terms and conditions
Fixed-Price Contracts and Dispute Assistance
For clients:
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You and the freelancer agree on deliverables in the form of milestones and you deposit funds (minimum $5.00 USD per milestone)
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Work is submitted for your approval before funds are released
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You can ask for changes to the work or request an refund if necessary
For freelancers and agencies:
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Your client deposits funds before you start working and you submit work for their approval
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Funds are automatically released to you 14 days from submission if your client does not approve the work or request changes
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You can file a dispute if your client refuses to release the payment for a completed milestone. See the Upwork Terms of Service for full terms and conditions