Upwork Business Plus clients can let teammates automatically join their company on Upwork using verified email domains. Learn how to add, verify, and manage domains securely.
In this article
- How does letting teammates automatically join my Upwork account work?
- How do I set up my Upwork account so teammates can join it automatically?
- How do I review, add, and delete the email domains that can be used to automatically join my Upwork account?
- What happens if the system is not able to verify our email domain?
- What notifications will I receive once I set up the option for teammates to join automatically?
- Can my company still allow teammates to join automatically if I downgrade to a Basic plan on Upwork?
- Can I use domains like gmail.com or outlook.com for joining automatically?
- How many domains can I add to my Upwork account so teammates can automatically join it?
- What roles can I assign to teammates who join automatically?
- Is the process for joining automatically secure?
- Why can't my teammates see the option to join our company's Upwork account automatically?
How does letting teammates automatically join my Upwork account work?
If you're a Business Plus client, you can allow teammates to automatically join your business account on Upwork when they register with a company email address (like @yourcompany.com). Once verified, they'll land directly in your team—no invites or manual approval needed. Setting up this option can:
- Prevent duplicate company accounts
- Streamline hiring and collaboration
- Instantly give new team members access to the information you permit them to have based on their role, such as shared settings, freelancers, or payment methods
How do I set up my Upwork account so teammates can join it automatically?
If you're an admin, you can set it up by adding and verifying your company’s email domain under Settings > Members & Permissions:
- Go to Settings > Teams & Members
- Select the Company settings tab
- Choose + Add domain
- Enter your company’s email domain (your domain is the part after the "@". For example, if your email address is jsmith@bestbiz.com, your domain is @bestbiz.com)
- Choose the default role for new teammates (Messenger, Recruiter, Hiring Manager)
- Select Add domain
- Verify domain ownership (follow the onscreen steps)
- Log in to your domain provider in another tab or browser
- Go to your domain provider’s DNS settings
- Choose to add a new TXT record
- Copy and paste the info from Upwork to create the TXT record
- Once you’ve taken steps to verify your domain, select Verify on your Upwork screen
Domains can take up to 72 hours to verify. Once we verify it, the domain status will change from “Unverified” to “Active.” If we’re unable to verify, it will change to “Failure.”
How do I review, add, and delete the email domains that can be used to automatically join my Upwork account?
You can manage domains under Settings > Teams & Members > Company settings. From there, you can:
- See the status of each domain (Verified, Unverified, Failed)
- Edit default roles
- Re-check domain verification
- Remove a domain if needed
What happens if the system is not able to verify our email domain?
If domain verification fails (e.g., TXT record not found), you'll get a notification with the specific error. You can retry the verification at any time.
Double check that you:
- Entered the domain correctly
- Copied the exact TXT content from us
Upwork continues checking the DNS record for one week before giving up. If verification fails after that, you’ll need to restart the setup.
What notifications will I receive once I set up the option for teammates to join automatically?
These alerts show up both in your bell notifications and email:
- New team member added automatically
- Domain verified successfully
- Verification failed, with error details
Can my company still allow teammates to automatically join if I downgrade to a Basic plan on Upwork?
If you switch from Business Plus to Basic:
- The ability to have teammates join automatically will be turned off
- Unverified or failed domains will be removed
- Verified domains will become available for other clients to claim
You’ll also see a message in your downgrade flow explaining the impact.
Can I use domains like gmail.com or outlook.com for joining automatically?
No. This feature only works with custom business domains (e.g., @yourcompany.com). Generic email providers aren’t supported.
How many domains can I add to my Upwork account so teammates can automatically join it?
You can add up to three domains total per organization. You’ll need to add them one at a time.
What roles can I assign to teammates who join automatically?
Admins can choose one default role per domain, and you can update it at any time:
- Messenger
- Recruiter
- Hiring manager
Once a teammate joins, you can update their specific role in your company settings, if needed — including adding them as an admin.
Is the process for joining automatically secure?
Yes. It requires domain verification through DNS records. Only users with access to your company’s domain can enable it, and all new users still go through Upwork's standard onboarding and verification.
Why can't my teammates see the option to join our company's Upwork account automatically?
If you’ve enabled the ability to automatically join but your teammates aren’t seeing it, check to make sure your email domains are verified and that their emails match the correct domains.