Upwork’s Partnerships Enable Clients and Talent To Achieve New Goals

The Upwork Partners program has grown steadily since we launched in Q2 2024. This program brings together leading third-party companies to expand the Upwork ecosystem and create new opportunities, all while helping clients and talent achieve their goals more effectively.  

Whether you’re looking to hire an expert for your everyday business software, purchase a turnkey project to meet an immediate need, or want a new way to showcase your skills to motivated clients, our partnerships unlock new tools and innovative solutions for success. This makes Upwork the premier destination for you to build your business.

We’re excited to announce our latest updates to the Upwork Partners program–introducing managed project services, adding more Upwork Partner Experts, expanding our apps and offers, and forging new education partnerships.  

Managed project services

Managed project services is a first-of-its-kind integration that lets third-party organizations offer their customers access to fully managed projects delivered by Upwork in a way that feels like an extension of their own product. Our partners can now quickly implement and offer managed services and tailored projects at a competitive price to deliver outcomes for their customers, without bearing the full cost and challenge of managing it all in-house.

For businesses

When our partners offer managed projects by Upwork, you have easy access to professional services right in the solutions you use to run your business every day—whether you need help getting your new website set up, designing a logo, crafting an engaging social media strategy, or something else!

Let’s say you need a new website to increase visibility and drive leads for your business. The website building platform you’re using is an Upwork partner, and they offer a managed project that delivers a website tailored to your business goals within seven days. The all-in-one, fixed-price project includes:

• A clear and defined scope
• Specific deliverables
• An established timeline
• A vetted pro who’s ready to start work right away
• A project management team at Upwork that ensures quality and timely delivery

Once you select and start a project offered by our partner, you’ll be guided through a simple onboarding process to gather your specific project details, driven by Uma, Upwork’s Mindful AI. The information collected by Uma is used to match your needs with a trusted freelancer on Upwork. We’ll then connect the freelancer to your project to get work started within one business day. A dedicated project manager will be there to oversee each step, conduct a customized quality review to ensure the deliverables meet your project’s requirements, and deliver completed work within the specified timeframe.

Check out who’s partnering with us to offer managed projects delivered by Upwork:

• Lettuce customers can access logo designers and website developers, helping them establish their business identity along with business formation
• Ocoya users can enhance their experience and social engagement by purchasing seven or 30 days of social media content and strategies
• TheWordsmith combines AI agents with SEO editing services to help users create compelling, search-friendly content that drives engagement and boosts visibility
• Builderall (Coming soon) users can purchase projects to create a website, build their funnel, or implement marketing automation to attract more leads and increase conversions

For talent

Managed project services by Upwork gives freelancers a new way to leverage their skills. If you’re skilled in a partner’s product or solution, you can work on pre-scoped projects offered exclusively to those partners’ customers. These managed projects have clear deliverables and defined terms ensuring expectations with clients are set from the start and maintained throughout the project.

The types of services required for managed projects are dependent on each partner and can span a wide variety of categories. As a result, opportunities to work on managed projects for partners’ customers are by invitation only. Therefore, it's always a good idea to highlight specific technology and tools you have expertise in to increase your visibility for these opportunities.

“It’s exciting to see Upwork expand with partner products. It brings more diverse opportunities for people to enhance their workflow, and creates a bigger and more robust platform because people now have more options to use Upwork in any way that works best for them.” — Pam Cheney, graphic designer

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Upwork Partner Experts

End-to-end managed projects aren’t the only way we connect users of a partner’s product with talent on Upwork. The Upwork Partner Experts program continues to grow, offering direct access to professionals who specialize in the tools and platforms businesses rely on every day. When you hire and work with an Upwork partner expert, you’ll guide the process yourself and communicate with freelancers through Upwork Messages.

Our partners have curated a collection of trusted service providers, skilled in their product or service, to be featured on their dedicated Upwork Partner Experts page. This makes it easy for their users to find, hire, and work with experts directly on Upwork for projects of any size, scale, or complexity in just minutes.

For businesses

If you’ve ever been setting up a new system or website and found yourself wishing you could easily find and hire a trusted expert right then and there, now you can. Upwork partner companies have curated lists of freelance professionals who are skilled in specific platforms and solutions. You can quickly find and hire help with confidence on a dedicated Partner Experts page.

You, as the user, can browse these professionals’ profiles on Upwork and see detailed information about each expert, too, including metrics related to:

• Job completion
• Client satisfaction
• Money earned
• Prior projects
• Professional experience

When you find an expert who offers the kind of help you want, you can hire them directly on Upwork. You can decide if you’d like to embark on a long-term project, set up a quick collaboration, or schedule a one-off consultation—the way you and the freelancer work together is totally flexible based on what you need and how they offer help.

Some of the newest partners making it easier for their users to hire experts for business solutions include:

• Bubble: Experts for no-code application development, web & native mobile design, and integrations.  
• Camtasia: Experts for translation services, voice talent and audio engineering, video editing, and graphic design
• Everlance: Experts for marketing, finance & accounting services, graphic design, and tax advice
• MailerLite: Experts for campaign and site creation, automation and API, and account management
• Podia: Experts for email marketing, course design, and no-code design
• Prezi: Experts for presentation design
• Recharge: Experts for optimization & analytics, shopping cart conversion, and integration & customization
• Smartsheet: Certified experts who completed their Core, Project Management, System Admin, and Control Center certification programs
• Vista Social: Experts for social media management, employee advocacy, and reputation management
• Webflow: Experts for web development, SEO audit & optimization, and web design

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For talent

If you’re a professional on Upwork, more partnerships with top technology companies means new motivated clients who are looking to get work started right away. Simply make sure that your Upwork profile is complete and sign up to be notified when new partners are looking for experts to feature. If you’re selected, your profile will appear on the partner’s experts page as part of a curated collection of freelancers shared with their customers.

If you’re hired by a partner’s customer, you’ll continue to work with clients and be paid in the same way as always—right here on Upwork, with the payment protection and support you trust.

Apps and offers

We continue to grow a list of exclusive apps and offers that help freelancers on Upwork get access to tools, resources, and exclusive offerings to support their work and life. With a freelancer account, you can access offers from a wide range of industry-leading companies—from resources for physical and mental healthcare to the best generative AI apps and educational content.

Taking advantage of these offers is easy. Just log in to your Upwork account and check out one of our new offers below, or see our full apps and offers list.

Our newest apps and offers include:

• Microsoft: One month free and 20% off annual Microsoft 365 subscriptions
• BetterHelp: One month free
• Freshbooks: 20% off
• Unbounce: 15-day free trial and 20% off
• Snagit: 40% off
• Coverdash: Up to 30% off
• Hooray Health: Use for free
• Guardian: Premium discounts
• Stride: Free access to affordable coverage

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Education partners

Upwork partners with leading tech education providers to give their alums more visibility and chances to use their skills. Education partners can invite graduates from programs of their choice—including ones offered by General Assembly, Udacity, and Podium Education—to join Upwork. After joining, these professionals can create a comprehensive profile that showcases in-demand skills and offers access to clients around the world.

For businesses

Whether you’re looking for freelancers to help you implement cutting-edge solutions or you need a specialized skill for a one-time project, Upwork’s partnerships with tech education providers make the hiring process easy. You can easily find, onboard, and work with freelancers who have the specific knowledge you need—and are ready to deliver high-quality work from day one.

For talent

If you’re a graduate of a partner program, you can highlight this experience on your Upwork profile and immediately begin accessing remote opportunities and relevant projects. You can begin putting your new education to use by working with clients around the world and building a professional portfolio right here on Upwork.

Upwork’s partnerships unlock new possibilities

We’ve grown the Upwork ecosystem to bring more opportunities to enhance the way work gets done, both on and off the platform. Whether you’re a freelancer looking to grow your independent career or a business seeking skilled talent to help tackle your project needs, the Upwork Partners program delivers benefits for talent and clients alike.

Are you a business looking to partner with Upwork?

Check out our Upwork Partners page to learn more about our partnership opportunities and get in touch with our team.