Got a Negative Upwork or Fiverr Review? What Freelancers Can Do

If you get a negative Upwork review, you usually can’t delete it, but you can limit the damage. Check whether it breaks Upwork’s rules and report it if it does, post one calm public response, and then outweigh it with strong work on your next contracts. Fiverr works much the same way: reviews are removed only when they break the platform’s rules, and your public reply and the reviews that follow are what future clients weigh. If you decide to leave the platform instead, our guide on how to delete a Fiverr account covers the steps.

One bad review feels enormous when your profile is how you get paid. In practice, clients read the whole profile: your recent feedback, your replies, your portfolio and how you describe your work. This guide covers what each platform allows, what to write, and how to make sure one contract doesn’t define you.

How Upwork feedback works

At the end of a contract, the client and the freelancer each leave public feedback: a star rating and a written review. Feedback is revealed once both sides have submitted it or the feedback window closes, so neither side sees the other’s review before leaving their own.

• Public feedback appears on your profile and in your work history, and it counts toward your Job Success Score.
• Private feedback has historically been collected from clients alongside public feedback, and you couldn’t see it. Upwork has changed how private feedback works over time, so check its help center for how it’s currently collected and whether it affects your Job Success Score.
• Job Success Score (JSS) is Upwork’s overall measure of how clients rate their experience with you, calculated from your contract outcomes and public feedback over time. Upwork doesn’t publish the exact formula, so treat it as a trend, not something one review decides forever.

Can a negative Upwork review be removed?

Usually not. Honest feedback about your work stays up even if you think it’s unfair. Upwork removes feedback only when it breaks its rules, for example if it was used to pressure or extort you, contains abusive or offensive language, is completely unrelated to the contract, or comes from a conflict of interest.

If you believe the feedback breaks the rules, find the contract in your work history, use the option to report the feedback, and explain clearly why, with any messages or files that support your case. Upwork reviews the request and tells you its decision. Keep the report factual; “the client was unreasonable” isn’t a policy violation, but “the client said they’d leave one star unless I did extra unpaid work” may be.

Payment disagreements are a separate matter. If the problem is about money, such as a withheld milestone payment, use Upwork’s dispute process for the contract rather than the feedback system.

How Fiverr reviews work

Fiverr lets the client leave a star rating and a public review when an order is completed, and the seller can review the buyer. Fiverr’s rules on reviews are strict about seller behavior:

• You can’t ask a buyer to change or remove a review after it’s published.
• You can’t make anything conditional on a review, such as final files, bonus content, discounts or refunds.
• You can’t offer something in exchange for a positive review, or use guilt or emotional appeals to influence one.
• Fiverr removes reviews only if they break its Terms of Service or Community Standards. A harsh but honest review stays.

Breaking these rules can put your account at risk, which would cost you far more than one review. The same logic applies on Upwork: pressuring clients about feedback is against the rules there too.

How to respond professionally

Both platforms let you post a public response to a review. On Upwork you get one response, it can’t be edited, and it has to be posted within a limited time after the contract ends. On Fiverr, a response can’t be edited or removed once published. So write it carefully, once.

1. Wait until you’re calm. Draft it, leave it for a few hours, and reread it as a future client would.
2. Thank the client and acknowledge the issue. Name the specific problem in neutral terms.
3. Own what was yours. If a deadline slipped or the brief was misread, say so briefly.
4. Add one line of context if it helps. For example, that scope changed mid-project. Don’t list grievances.
5. Show what you’ve changed. This is the line future clients remember.

An illustrative reply:

Thank you for the feedback, and I’m sorry the final delivery came two days later than planned. The scope grew to include a second landing page partway through, and I should have flagged the new timeline in writing as soon as that happened. I now confirm any change to scope and deadline in writing before starting the extra work. I appreciated the chance to work on this project.

Our guide on how to respond to negative reviews has more example replies. It’s written for businesses, but the structure works the same for freelancers.

Protect your next contracts

The fastest way to soften one negative review is several good ones after it. Clients tend to focus on recent feedback.

• Take on well-scoped work you know you’ll do well. A few smaller, clear projects rebuild your recent record faster than one risky large one.
• Put scope and deadlines in writing at the start of every contract, and confirm changes in the platform’s messages.
• Check in at the midpoint. Asking the client for feedback partway through can surface problems while there’s still time to fix them.
• End contracts cleanly. Deliver, confirm the client is satisfied, and close the contract promptly.
• Don’t pressure anyone about feedback. You can ask a satisfied client to leave honest feedback. You can’t ask for a particular rating or tie anything to it.

Build a presence outside the platform

A profile on one marketplace is a single point of failure. Many clients look you up by name before hiring, and what they find there can matter as much as your star rating.

• A portfolio site with case studies of your best work, written in your own words.
• A strong LinkedIn profile. Our guide to optimizing your LinkedIn profile for search covers how to make it rank for your name.
• Recommendations from past clients on LinkedIn or your own site, given freely and honestly.
• Useful public work such as articles, talks, open-source contributions or design samples.

Over time, these give anyone who searches you a fuller picture than one marketplace review. Our guide on how to rank for your own name explains how to make sure they’re what shows up first.

A worked example

This is an illustrative scenario, not a real client.

Sofia, a freelance copywriter on Upwork, gets a two-star review saying her website copy was “not what we asked for.” She had delivered to the original brief; the client changed direction after the first draft but never updated the contract.

• She checks whether it breaks the rules. It doesn’t: it’s the client’s honest opinion of the work. She doesn’t report it.
• She writes a short response thanking the client, acknowledging the mismatch, and noting that she now confirms any change of direction in writing before revising.
• She takes three smaller, clearly scoped projects over the next two months, confirming scope in writing each time, and asks for feedback at the midpoint of each.
• She adds two case studies to her portfolio site and links it from her LinkedIn profile.

The two-star review is still there, but it now sits below three recent positive reviews and next to a calm, professional reply. How much that helps her score or her win rate depends on her overall history, but prospective clients now see the full picture.

Common mistakes

• Messaging the client to ask them to change the review. Against Fiverr’s rules and a bad idea on Upwork.
• Offering a refund or free work for a better rating. Conditioning anything on a review breaks platform rules.
• Replying in anger. Your response is permanent on both platforms.
• Reporting honest reviews as violations. It wastes time and rarely works.
• Relying on one platform for all your work. Build a presence you control.

When to get help

Most freelancers can handle one negative review themselves with a calm reply and good work afterward. Help is worth considering when a dispute has spilled beyond the platform, for example into social media posts, forum threads or search results for your name. Our personal reputation management service works on what appears when clients search you, and we’ll be honest that platform reviews themselves stay under the platform’s control.

Frequently asked questions

Can I delete a negative review on Upwork?

Not if it’s honest feedback about your work. You can report feedback that breaks Upwork’s rules, such as extortion, abuse or content unrelated to the work, and Upwork decides whether to remove it.

Does private feedback affect my Job Success Score?

Upwork has changed how private feedback is collected and used over time, and it doesn’t publish the exact Job Success Score formula. Check Upwork’s help center for the current rules, and focus on what you control: clear scope, good work and clean contract endings.

Can I ask a Fiverr buyer to change their review?

No. Fiverr’s rules prohibit asking a buyer to edit or remove a published review, and prohibit tying files, discounts or refunds to a review. Doing so can put your account at risk.

Should I reply to a negative Upwork review?

In most cases, yes. A short, calm, specific response shows future clients how you handle problems. You only get one, and it can’t be edited, so write it carefully.