LinkedIn vs Upwork

Scores are each listing's published aggregate on the date shown, quoted as Trustpilot publishes them. A listing can mix reviews from clients, freelancers and candidates; we do not audit or adjust the numbers, and they can change the day after we check.

• Dice Job board Dice is a career marketplace focused on technology professionals, where employers and staffing firms post tech roles and search a resume database. United States Pricing Dice publishes a public rate card: a single job slot at $399 for 30 days, a Starter plan at $649 per month billed month to month or $549 per month billed annually, and a Standard plan at $899 per month or $749 per month billed annually. Candidate views into its resume database are bundled into the plans (250 per month on Starter, 500 on Standard). Dice states pricing "is subject to change and is valid for new customers only"; enterprise and Talent Solutions deals are quoted by sales. 3 of 16 rows sourced Alternatives
• Fiverr Freelance marketplace Fiverr is a gig-based online marketplace where freelancers sell productized services (gigs) at set prices and buyers purchase them directly. Global Pricing Sellers are credited earnings equal to 80% of the purchase amount on Gigs and of the hourly rate on Hourly Contracts, so Fiverr retains 20% on those orders. Fiverr's Payment Terms state that as of September 2025 buyers pay a service fee of 5.5% of the purchase amount, that purchases under US$200 carry an additional US$3.5 small order fee, and that new Hourly Contracts carry a US$5 Order Initiation Fee. Payment Terms last updated January 2026. 9 of 16 rows sourced Alternatives
• FlexJobs Job board FlexJobs is a subscription job board specializing in hand-screened remote, hybrid, and flexible job listings across many career fields. United States Global Pricing FlexJobs is a paid subscription for job seekers, and its pricing page localises the currency by visitor region. The US dollar card lists a $2.95 14-day full-access plan which, in FlexJobs' words, "auto-renews at $23.95 billed every 4 weeks", a 3-month plan at $29.85 up front and an annual plan at $71.40 up front, both auto-renewing. 5 of 16 rows sourced Alternatives
• Freelancer.com Freelance marketplace Freelancer.com is a crowdsourcing and freelance marketplace where employers post projects or contests and freelancers bid to win the work. Global Pricing Freelancers pay 10% of the project value or $5, whichever is greater, on fixed-price projects, and 10% on hourly projects. Employers post projects free but pay a project award fee of 3% or $3, whichever is greater, on fixed-price projects and 3% on each hourly payment, plus payment transaction fees of $0.30 plus 2.3%. Contests carry no employer fee. Per freelancer.com's own fees and charges page. 8 of 16 rows sourced Alternatives
• Guru.com Freelance marketplace Guru.com is a freelance marketplace where employers post jobs and hire freelancers, with payments managed through its SafePay escrow system. Global Pricing Guru's published job fee on freelancer earnings runs from 9% on the free Basic tier down to 5% on the Executive tier (Basic 9%, Basic+ 9%, Professional 7%, Business 6%, Executive 5%). 8 of 16 rows sourced Alternatives

A tick means our dataset holds a value the platform publishes itself, read from its own page on the date its citation carries. A cell reading "Not in our dataset" is a statement about our records, not about the company: it does not mean the platform publishes nothing.

The comparison ends here; this is our own data. Most articles comparing LinkedIn and Upwork quote prices that go stale. These numbers come from Flexiple's talent graph: real pool sizes and median salaries for remote engineers in India, refreshed with every site update.

From teams that hired through Flexiple

1. [1]Upwork · Upwork Help, "What is Expert-Vetted status on Upwork?": "The Expert-Vetted badge highlights independent professionals in the top 1% of their field on Upwork. To earn it, freelancers complete a rigorous evaluation process, including a 30-minute interview to assess both hard and soft skills." The badge is stated to be visible to Enterprise and Business Plus clients. That screening sits on top of an open marketplace: https://www.upwork.com/i/how-it-works/client/ tells clients to "Browse freelancer portfolios to see real examples of their work", "Read freelancer reviews to gauge their communication, reliability, and quality" and "Message or video chat with freelancers to learn more about their experience and skills."support.upwork.comchecked 12 Aug 2026
2. [2]LinkedIn · LinkedIn Help article a517695: "Your charge amount depends on your job posts' budget and the number of views from candidates."; "For any day that you edit your average daily budget, you'll be charged based on the highest budget that you set for that day."; "We'll never charge you more than your budget (excluding any applicable taxes)." Plus the free-repost and promotion rules quoted above. · LinkedIn Help: "The cost per click (CPC) for each job fluctuates per day based on the overall marketplace and activity."; "We'll never charge you more than your budget (excluding any applicable taxes)."; unused daily budget "will be rolled over into the next day to maximize your allotted spend"; "If you repost a free job within 7 days, you'll be required to promote it." The page does not describe the mechanism as an auction. · Promoted job posts bill per click, with spend capped at the employer's budget and daily cost per click fluctuating with marketplace activity.linkedin.comchecked 12 Aug 2026
3. [3]Upwork · Upwork Help: "With hourly contracts, you pay your freelancer by the hour. The minimum hourly rate is $3.00 USD ... Freelancers track their hours using a work diary ... You can set a weekly limit on how many hours can be billed ... You're billed based on hours logged each week." And: "With fixed-price contracts, you pay your freelancer a set amount for a defined project or deliverable (we call them milestones). The minimum project rate is $5.00 USD ... You can break the project into milestones (or keep it as one) ... You fund each milestone before work begins."support.upwork.comchecked 12 Aug 2026
4. [4]Upwork · Form 10-K FY2025 (filed 13 February 2026): "Effective May 2025, we introduced a variable pricing structure for talent service fees for new contracts. Under this variable pricing structure, talent on the Upwork Marketplace are charged a fixed fee for each contract ranging from 0% to 15% of their earnings, depending on platform-specific supply and demand factors... The applicable fee is disclosed at contract inception and remains fixed for the duration of the contract. For contracts formed prior to May 2025, we maintain a flat talent service fee of 10% for talent working with clients on the Upwork Marketplace." And: "We charge a client marketplace fee of 5% on each transaction-or 3% if paid via ACH for eligible clients. We also offer a Business Plus plan that includes premium features targeted at larger customers, which is subject to a client marketplace fee of 10% on each transaction-or 8% if paid via ACH for eligible clients." · Form 10-K FY2025: "clients of our Enterprise Solutions offerings can subscribe to a compliance service that includes worker classification services for an additional fee"; revenue policy note headed "Enterprise compliance service fees." · Upwork Form 10-K for fiscal 2025: "our platforms and workforce solutions include capabilities designed to support trusted and reliable remote engagements, such as escrow services, approval workflows, and dispute resolution processes that help ensure clients pay only for work that has been completed and talent are paid in full and on time." And: "we provide escrow services to our customers and maintain a subsidiary licensed as an internet escrow agent by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which we refer to as the DFPI." · Upwork Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, risk factor "We are subject to disputes with or between our customers": "Disputes sometimes arise between talent and clients, including with respect to service standards, payment, confidentiality, work product, and intellectual property ownership and infringement. If either party believes the contract terms were not met, the service agreements negotiated between our customers and our default terms provide a mechanism for the parties to request assistance from us and, for some contracts, a third-party arbitrator." · Form 10-K for FY2025 (filed 2026-02-13): "Upwork Inc. is incorporated in the state of Delaware and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California." · Reported revenue of $787.8 million for fiscal 2025, up 2% on 2024, in the Form 10-K filed 13 February 2026; common stock trades on Nasdaq under UPWK following an initial public offering in October 2018. · Effective May 2025 Upwork moved new contracts to a variable talent service fee of 0% to 15%, disclosed at contract inception and fixed for the contract; contracts formed before May 2025 stay on a flat 10%.sec.govchecked 12 Aug 2026
5. [5]Upwork · Upwork "How Upwork works" FAQ, "How fast can I hire a freelancer on Upwork?": "Most clients hire within three days of posting a job. Once your job is live, freelancers begin submitting proposals. You can also invite specific freelancers to apply or review suggested freelancer matches to move faster."upwork.comchecked 12 Aug 2026
6. [6]LinkedIn · linkedin.com/legal/l/refund-policy, stamped "Last updated: 1 month ago": "Pay-per-action products charge per click, impression, applicant, etc. These products include, for example, LinkedIn Ads, Sponsored Jobs, and any other product where you're charged per action. Any actions delivered and charged are non-refundable." And: "LinkedIn Premium subscriptions, such as Premium Career, Premium Business, Premium All-in-One, Premium Company Page, LinkedIn Learning, Recruiter Lite, and Sales Navigator may be refundable within 7 days from the date the subscription is charged without Premium usage."linkedin.comchecked 13 Aug 2026
7. [7]LinkedIn · about.linkedin.com: "LinkedIn began in co-founder Reid Hoffman's living room in 2002 and was officially launched on May 5, 2003." · LinkedIn describes itself as the world's largest professional network with more than 1 billion members in more than 200 countries and territories.about.linkedin.comchecked 12 Aug 2026
8. [8]Upwork · TechCrunch, 5 May 2015: Elance and oDesk merged and the combined company rebranded as Upwork. The 2015 date is the date of that rebrand, not of the predecessor companies. · Elance and oDesk merged more than a year before the rebrand; TechCrunch reported on 5 May 2015 that the combined company was rebranding as Upwork.techcrunch.comchecked 7 Aug 2026
9. [9]LinkedIn · LinkedIn Help, "User Agreement and Privacy Policy mailing address", gives for users outside the Designated Countries: "LinkedIn Corporation / Attn: Legal Dept. (Privacy Policy and User Agreement) / 1000 W. Maude Avenue / Sunnyvale, CA 94085 / USA" (and "LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company ... Wilton Plaza, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland" for the EU/EEA/Switzerland).linkedin.comchecked 12 Aug 2026
10. [10]LinkedIn · Microsoft announced its acquisition of LinkedIn on 13 June 2016 in an all-cash transaction valued at $26.2 billion, and said at the time that it expected to close within that calendar year.news.microsoft.comchecked 7 Aug 2026