Learn how to hire freelancers or agencies directly from your job post on Upwork, update offer details, and withdraw an offer.
In this article
- How do I hire a freelancer or agency directly from my job post?
- What happens after I send the offer?
- How do I change or withdraw an offer I made to a freelancer?
- How do I resend a contract offer?
- Can I hire a freelancer without creating a job post first?
Note:
We're testing some design updates in the offer flow, so your page might look a bit different from what's shown here.
How do I hire a freelancer or agency directly from my job post?
- Go to Hire talent > Job posts and proposals
- Open the job post
- Locate the freelancer or agency you want to hire
- Select the Hire button. Be sure to update the offer to include the project title, description, payment terms, and milestones (if a fixed-price job).
- Send the offer
Note: When hiring an agency, your offer is sent to a specific team member—but payments go to the agency, not that individual. The agency handles internal payments to their team outside of Upwork.
Create milestones with Uma™, Upwork's Mindful AI
For a fixed-price job post, you may see the option to have Uma™, Upwork's Mindful AI, help you generate milestones for your project. Note: We're testing this out, so it's not available to everyone yet.
To get help from Uma:
- In the milestones section, select Generate milestones
- You can accept, edit, add, or delete the suggestions, or ask for new suggestions
- If you generate milestones with Uma, you’ll still be able to see any milestones the freelancer suggested in their proposal.
What happens after I send the offer?
The freelancer or agency can respond in one of several ways:
- Accept the offer, and you'll have a contract
- Request changes to the offer directly from the offer (not available to agencies)
- Message you to discuss different terms
- Decline your offer and withdraw their proposal
The freelancer or agency has seven days to respond before the offer expires. If they request changes, the original offer still stays open for the initial seven days unless you send a revised offer. A new seven-day window begins once you send an updated offer.
Heads-up if you’re just getting started:
If you're new to Upwork or haven't hired (and paid) a freelancer yet, you might notice a limit on how many offers you can send each day. No worries—it’s just a temporary cap to help keep things safe for everyone. If you hit your daily limit, you’ll see a message letting you know.
How do I change or withdraw an offer I made to a freelancer?
You can withdraw or change your offer — as long as the freelancer or agency hasn’t already accepted it. You can even switch between hourly and fixed-price. If your offer has already been accepted, you’ll need to end the contract.
To change your pending job offer:
- Go to Hire talent > Pending offers
- Find their pending offer and select See Offer
- Select Modify offer
- Select Continue
To withdraw your pending job offer:
- Go to Hire talent > Pending offers
- Find their pending offer and select See Offer
- Select Withdraw offer
Important: If you withdraw an offer on a fixed-price contract, any funds you’ve already deposited for milestones—along with any associated fees—will be automatically refunded. It can take up to five business days for the refund to appear.
How do I resend a contract offer?
If you withdraw an offer by mistake, change your mind, or the freelancer accidentally declines it, you can easily send a new one.
- Go to your conversation with the freelancer in your messages
- Find the message that contains the offer and select View offer
- Open the offer’s menu (...) and choose Make new offer
- Update the offer terms and select Send offer
Can I hire a freelancer without creating a job post first?
Yes. To do so, open the freelancer’s profile and choose Hire to create and send the offer terms. If you’ve worked with someone before, you can choose the Rehire button on their profile and send your offer. Learn more about hiring directly.