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Direct Contracts for pain-free payments
Use Direct Contracts and make paying global freelancers easy – no Upwork account needed.
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How to pay freelancers
Introducing Direct Contracts
With Upwork, your payment is safe and sound until you approve releasing it. No hassle. No Upwork account necessary.
Why Direct Contracts?
We’ll hold your payment for safekeeping until the work is complete (it’s called ‘escrow', in case that term comes up in the future).
Pay talent by credit card or Paypal worldwide, and even ACH bank transfers in the U.S.
If your project hits a snag, we can step in to help.
You don’t even need an Upwork account.
Frequently asked questions
With Direct Contracts, you and the freelancer get escrow protection in addition to the ability to easily make payments through Upwork. Freelancers feel assured because you’ve deposited the project funds into a third-party escrow partner and you don’t have to worry about paying for a project that doesn’t get completed or filing tax forms. If during the contract you want to cancel it, you can request to cancel and get your funds returned back to you.
Clients pay low to no fees. All transactions will occur in USD.
No, you will not have to create an Upwork account. Any time action is needed on your part we will send you an email and link to the webpage where you can take the needed action.
Currently, Direct Contracts are only available to freelancers and their clients in certain countries. If you attempt to sign up and you or your client are not eligible due to the country you live in, you’ll see this message: “We’re sorry to inform you that Direct Contracts are currently not available in your country.” We hope to expand Direct Contracts to more countries in the future.
With Direct Contracts, you and the freelancer get escrow protection in addition to the ability to easily make payments through Upwork. Freelancers feel assured because you’ve deposited the project funds into a third-party escrow partner and you don’t have to worry about paying for a project that doesn’t get completed. If during the contract you want to cancel it, you can request to cancel and get your funds returned back to you. You’ll also get dispute assistance should a problem arise.
Yes! You can fund Direct Contracts via credit card, ACH bank transfer, or PayPal account.
When you accept the contract, you’ll receive an email confirmation. That email will have a link to allow you to view the contract and request cancellation in case you decide to cancel an active contract.
With escrow service, your funds are protected and won’t be released until the work has been completed. Once the freelancer has completed and submitted work for the project, they will send you a request for payment. You’ll receive an email notification with the option to “Accept” or “Decline” the request.
If you accept the request, the funds are immediately released to the freelancer and the contract is closed. If you reject it, the funds remain in escrow and the contract is kept open. The freelancer can then make any necessary changes to the work and resubmit their payment request.
Important note: When your freelancer submits a payment request you have 14 days to review. If you do not take action, that is considered approval and funds will be automatically released to the freelancer.
How do you handle the U.S. tax filings?
To learn more, click here.
