When you're searching for freelancers or agencies, your primary focus should be on finding the right fit for your company and your project.
Search for talent
- Go to search section of the Talent page
- From here, search by keyword or browse by category
- After your initial search, use the filters in the box to the left to refine your results further
Narrow your results with filters
Filters are a powerful tool for refining your search to get better matches. Filter options include:
- Categories and specializations
- Location and timezone (currently available only in the U.S.)
- Talent type:
- Freelancer — independent professionals
- Agencies — groups of professionals working together
- Hourly rate
- Job Success Score
- Amount earned on Upwork
- Hours billed on Upwork
- Self-reported English level
- Other languages
To refine your search even further, use the Advanced Search function to have Boolean logic applied to your search.
PRO TIP
If you have hired talent before and you'd like to rehire them, find those profiles on the My Hires tab. You can also choose to save a profile and return to it later — find those profiles on the Saved tab.
Need help finding talent or posting a job? Enterprise clients can log into their platform to start a chat with an Enterprise Talent Specialist. For more hands-on assistance, contact your rep to learn more about our program management offering.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does search work? What are the best practices?
The Upwork search algorithm uses both platform-generated data — things like number of completed projects and client feedback — and freelancer-generated information such as descriptions of their offered services.
Search for talent by one of the following ways:
- Inputting your target keywords into the search box
- Using the Advanced Search
- Using your published job post
If you type in your published job post title in the search box, you can click on it under “Open Jobs” in the autosuggestion dropdown to conduct a search using the specifications you included in your job post.

Boolean search works by applying complex logic to keywords and keyword strings. Our Advanced Search function automatically applies Boolean operators to your searches.
To find a specific freelancer, type their name directly in the search box on the Talent Search page. You’ll see People suggestions in the dropdown menu. This functionality is currently supported only on desktop.
We currently support location-specific search for talent for the US only. Use the “Location in the U.S.” filter to select the specific location or time zone.
Search results from the Talent Search page are specific to your search query, while results in Proposal Manager are recommendations based on the specifications of your job post. To search from job post specifications from the Talent Search page, click in the search box and select the desired job from the “Open Jobs” portion of the dropdown menu.
Searching for Projects in the Project Catalog works the same way as searching for freelancers. For more information, click here.