Terms of use

Welcome to FreelancerPeople, a premium freelance marketplace where buyers commission work and independent sellers deliver it, all protected by full escrow. These Terms of Use (the "Terms") form a binding agreement between you and FreelancerPeople and govern your access to and use of our website, applications, and related services (together, the "Platform"). They describe what you can expect from us and what we expect from you, whether you join as a buyer, a seller, or both.

By creating an account, browsing listings, placing an order, offering a service, or otherwise using the Platform, you agree to these Terms and to the policies referenced within them, including our Privacy Policy, Refund & Cancellation Policy, Payment Terms, IP & Copyright Policy, and Community Guidelines. Please read everything carefully. If you do not agree with these Terms, do not use the Platform.

1. Acceptance and eligibility

These Terms apply to everyone who uses the Platform, whether you are buying, selling, or simply browsing. By using the Platform, you confirm that you have read, understood, and accepted these Terms and the policies referenced in them, and that you have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract.

To register and transact, you must meet these baseline requirements:

• You are at least the age of majority in your place of residence, and old enough to form a legally binding contract under the laws that apply to you.
• You are not barred from using the Platform under any applicable law, sanctions program, or trade restriction.
• You have not previously been removed from the Platform by our Trust & Safety team, unless we have expressly reinstated your access.
• The information you provide is accurate, current, and complete, and you will keep it that way.

If you use the Platform on behalf of a company or other organization, you represent that you are authorized to bind that entity to these Terms, in which case "you" refers to that entity.

2. Your account and security

To use most features, you must create an account. You are responsible for everything that happens under your account, including all activity, content, orders, and contracts. You agree to maintain one account per person unless we have authorized otherwise, and to keep your login credentials confidential.

You agree to:

• Provide truthful registration details and keep your profile, contact information, and tax or payout details up to date.
• Use a strong, unique password and enable any additional security options we make available, such as verification codes.
• Notify our Support team promptly if you suspect unauthorized access to or misuse of your account.

Some actions, in particular withdrawing earnings, require identity verification (KYC). Sellers may be asked to verify their identity before payouts are released, and our Payment Team or Trust & Safety team may request additional documentation to confirm who you are. We may limit, suspend, or close accounts that share credentials, impersonate others, or evade prior enforcement.

3. Buyer and seller roles

The Platform connects two kinds of users: buyers who commission work, and sellers who perform it. The same person may act in both roles at different times, and the obligations that apply to you depend on the role you are taking for a given transaction.

FreelancerPeople is a marketplace and intermediary. We provide the tools, escrow protection, messaging, and dispute resolution that make transactions possible, but the underlying service is agreed and performed directly between buyer and seller. Sellers are independent contractors and are not employees, agents, partners, or joint venturers of FreelancerPeople. We do not control, supervise, or guarantee the quality, legality, or outcome of any work, and we are not a party to the contract for services formed between a buyer and a seller.

• Buyers are responsible for clearly describing what they need, funding orders, reviewing deliveries in good faith, and communicating respectfully.
• Sellers are responsible for accurately representing their skills and listings, delivering what was agreed on time, and complying with all laws, taxes, and licensing requirements that apply to their work.

4. SERVEs and custom contracts (fixed and hourly)

Sellers offer work in two primary formats. A "SERVE" is a packaged, pre-defined service with a described scope, deliverables, timeline, and price that buyers can purchase directly. A "custom contract" is a tailored arrangement that a seller and buyer negotiate for work that does not fit a standard package.

Custom contracts come in two billing models:

• Fixed-price contracts, where the buyer funds an agreed total for a defined scope of work, released to the seller as the agreed deliverables or milestones are accepted.
• Hourly contracts, which are billed on a weekly basis for hours worked, with each billing period funded in advance and settled after a review window.

Sellers must describe every SERVE and custom offer honestly, including what is and is not included, any third-party costs, and realistic delivery times. Listings and offers that are misleading, that bait buyers with one price and charge another, or that conceal material terms may be edited or removed by our Marketplace Team, and repeated abuse may lead to account action by our Trust & Safety team.

5. Placing orders, delivery and acceptance

When a buyer purchases a SERVE or accepts a custom offer, a binding order is created on the terms shown at that moment, including scope, price, and delivery timeline. Buyers should provide all requirements, files, and access the seller reasonably needs to begin work; delays caused by missing information may extend the delivery date.

Once work is complete, the seller submits the delivery through the Platform. The buyer then has a review window to inspect it and either accept the work or request revisions consistent with the agreed scope. An order is considered accepted when the buyer marks it complete, or when the review window closes without action, whichever comes first. Acceptance moves funds from escrow toward the seller, subject to the clearance and payout rules described below.

Revisions are limited to what was agreed in the SERVE or contract. Work outside the original scope is a new request that may require an additional order or offer. Buyers and sellers should keep all order-related communication and files on the Platform so that, if a question arises later, there is a clear record.

6. Payments, escrow and the platform fee

FreelancerPeople protects every transaction with 100% escrow. When a buyer funds an order, the money is held securely by our Payment Team and is not released to the seller until the work is delivered and the order is accepted, or until the review window closes. Buyers gain the security of escrow, and sellers know the funds are committed before they begin.

Key points about payments:

• Buyers can fund orders from a buyer wallet or another supported payment method. Amounts added to the wallet are held for use on the Platform.
• A platform fee applies to transactions and is always shown before you confirm an order or offer, so you see the total before you commit. The exact amount depends on the transaction and any plan benefits in effect.
• After an order is accepted, the seller's earnings become available for payout after a short clearance window, which gives time for the transaction to finalize.
• Sellers withdraw cleared earnings to a supported payout method once identity verification (KYC) is complete. Our Payment Team may place a hold on funds where required for verification, risk review, or to resolve a dispute.

Taxes. Where the law requires it, an indirect tax such as GST or VAT may be added to a buyer's order based on the buyer's location, calculated on the order subtotal and shown as a separate line at checkout before you confirm. Business buyers in regions that allow it (such as the EU) may provide a valid tax identification number for reverse-charge treatment. Any tax we collect is held separately from seller earnings and our fee, and is returned with a refund if an order is refunded. This indirect tax is separate from the income and business taxes each user owes on their own account, for which each user remains responsible. Full details are in our Payment Terms.

Fees, taxes, currency handling, and payout mechanics are described in more detail in our Payment Terms. You are responsible for any taxes that apply to your earnings or purchases. Attempts to circumvent the Platform's payment system, including arranging payment off-Platform to avoid fees or escrow, are prohibited.

7. Cancellations and refunds

Orders may be cancelled in limited circumstances, such as when a seller cannot deliver, when delivered work materially differs from what was ordered, or when both parties mutually agree to cancel. Because funds are held in escrow until acceptance, a cancellation generally returns the held amount to the buyer's wallet rather than leaving it with the seller.

Refunds are issued by our Payment Team in line with the outcome of a cancellation or a dispute. A refund usually returns funds to your wallet, from which you can re-spend or withdraw, depending on the original payment method and applicable rules. Completed and accepted work is generally not refundable simply because a buyer later changes their mind.

The full rules on when cancellations and refunds apply, who can request them, and how they are processed are set out in our Refund & Cancellation Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

8. Disputes and the Resolution Center

Most disagreements are best solved by clear, respectful communication between buyer and seller. If you cannot reach agreement, either party may raise the matter in the Resolution Center, where structured tools help both sides explain their position and propose a resolution.

If a dispute cannot be settled between the parties, the Resolution Center escalates it for review. While a dispute is open, our Payment Team may hold the relevant escrowed funds so that they are neither released to the seller nor returned to the buyer until a decision is reached. A resolution may result in a full release, a partial release, a refund, or another fair outcome based on the evidence, the agreed scope, and these Terms.

You agree to participate in the dispute process honestly, to provide accurate evidence, and to abide by the resolution reached. Using disputes or payment chargebacks in bad faith, for example to obtain free work, may lead to account action by our Trust & Safety team.

9. Reviews, ratings and feedback integrity

Reviews and ratings help the marketplace stay trustworthy, so their integrity matters. After an order, buyers and sellers may leave honest feedback reflecting their genuine experience. Feedback should be relevant to the actual transaction and free of abusive, deceptive, or unrelated content.

The following are prohibited and may result in feedback being removed or accounts being actioned by our Trust & Safety team:

• Posting fake, incentivized, or coerced reviews, or trading reviews between accounts.
• Threatening or pressuring another user to leave, change, or remove a review.
• Manipulating ratings through duplicate accounts, self-dealing, or fabricated orders.
• Including personal data, off-Platform contact details, or content that violates these Terms within a review.

Our Marketplace Team or Trust & Safety team may review, withhold, or remove feedback that breaches these rules, while preserving the overall honesty of the rating system. Sellers may publicly reply to reviews on their own work in a professional manner.

10. Keeping work and communication on-Platform

To protect both sides with escrow, dispute support, and a verifiable record, all ordering, payment, file exchange, and order-related communication should happen on the Platform. Keeping interactions on-Platform is what allows our Payment Team to safeguard funds and the Resolution Center to help if something goes wrong.

You agree not to use Platform messaging or listings to solicit or move a transaction off-Platform in order to avoid fees, escrow, or these Terms. There are legitimate reasons to share contact information during a project, for example to grant access needed to perform the work, and these Terms are not meant to prevent that. What is prohibited is circumventing the Platform's payment and protection system, which undermines the safeguards we provide and may lead to account action by our Trust & Safety team.

11. Prohibited conduct

You agree to use the Platform lawfully and respectfully, and not to engage in conduct that harms other users, the Platform, or third parties. Prohibited activity includes, without limitation:

• Offering, requesting, or delivering anything illegal, fraudulent, infringing, hateful, sexually exploitative, or otherwise harmful.
• Impersonating another person or entity, or misrepresenting your identity, skills, or affiliations.
• Posting malware, attempting to breach security, scraping the Platform without permission, or interfering with its normal operation.
• Harassing, threatening, or discriminating against other users, or spamming the Platform.
• Circumventing fees, escrow, account restrictions, or enforcement actions.

A more detailed description of what is and is not allowed appears in our Community Guidelines and any prohibited-uses policy referenced there. Violations may be addressed by our Trust & Safety team, up to and including removal from the Platform.

12. Intellectual property and licensing of deliverables

FreelancerPeople and its licensors own the Platform itself, including its software, design, branding, and the content we provide. These Terms do not grant you any rights in our intellectual property except the limited right to use the Platform as intended.

For work created by sellers, ownership and licensing of the deliverables are determined by the SERVE description, the custom contract, and our intellectual property rules. As a general principle, once an order is fully paid and accepted, the agreed rights in the final deliverables transfer or are licensed to the buyer as described in the listing or contract, while sellers may retain rights in pre-existing materials, tools, and general know-how unless otherwise agreed. Sellers must hold the rights to everything they deliver and must not infringe the intellectual property of others.

The detailed framework, including how rights transfer, how disputes over ownership are handled, and how to report infringement, is set out in our IP & Copyright Policy. You also grant FreelancerPeople a limited license to host, display, and process the content you submit solely to operate and improve the Platform.

13. Confidentiality

In the course of a project, buyers and sellers may exchange confidential information, such as business plans, source files, credentials, or personal data. Each party agrees to keep the other's confidential information private, to use it only for the purpose of the project, and not to disclose it to others without permission, except where disclosure is required by law.

Confidentiality obligations continue after an order ends. Sellers should not reuse a buyer's confidential materials for other clients, and buyers should not misuse a seller's proprietary methods or files beyond the rights they received. Where a project involves especially sensitive data, the parties are encouraged to agree additional terms, but the baseline duty of confidentiality applies even without a separate agreement. Our own handling of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy.

14. Account suspension and termination

You may stop using the Platform at any time and may request account closure through our Support team, subject to completing any open orders, contracts, or payout obligations.

Our Trust & Safety team may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access, and may remove listings or content, where we reasonably believe that:

• You have breached these Terms or any policy referenced in them.
• Your activity poses a risk to other users, to the Platform, or to the integrity of the marketplace.
• Action is required to comply with law, regulation, or a valid legal request.

Where it is reasonable to do so, we aim to act proportionately and to explain the basis for an action, naming the responsible team. On termination, escrowed funds tied to legitimate, completed work are handled by our Payment Team in accordance with these Terms and our payment policies, and obligations that by their nature should survive, such as confidentiality, intellectual property, and liability provisions, will continue to apply.

15. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

The Platform is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, FreelancerPeople disclaims all warranties, whether express or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not guarantee that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, and we do not warrant the conduct, quality, legality, or outcome of any buyer, seller, listing, or deliverable.

Because we are an intermediary and not a party to the contracts for services formed between users, we are not responsible for the acts or omissions of buyers or sellers. You use the Platform and transact with other users at your own discretion and risk.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, FreelancerPeople and its affiliates, officers, employees, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, data, goodwill, or business, arising out of or related to your use of the Platform. Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the maximum extent the law allows. Nothing in these Terms limits any liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

16. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless FreelancerPeople and its affiliates, officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of or related to:

• Your use of the Platform or your violation of these Terms or any referenced policy.
• Content you submit, deliverables you provide, or services you commission or perform.
• Your violation of any law or the rights of a third party, including intellectual property, privacy, or contractual rights.

We may, at our discretion, assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, and you agree to cooperate with our defense of such claims.

17. Governing law, severability and changes to these Terms

These Terms, and any dispute arising from your use of the Platform, are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. You agree that the courts located in Pratapgarh, Rajasthan, India shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform, subject to any mandatory consumer protections that apply where you live.

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will continue in full force. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later.

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in the Platform, the law, or our practices. When we make material changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify you, such as posting the updated Terms with a new effective date. Your continued use of the Platform after an update means you accept the revised Terms. Current service-fee rates are always shown at checkout before you confirm an order, and apply equally to every seller — there is no subscription or paid membership.

18. Questions and contact

If you have questions about these Terms, need help with your account, or want to report a problem, we are here to help. Reach out through our Contact page, where you can connect with the right team for your request.

• For account help, verification, or general questions, contact our Support team.
• For payments, payouts, holds, or refunds, your request is handled by our Payment Team.
• For listing reviews and publishing, reach our Marketplace Team.
• For safety concerns or to report abuse, contact our Trust & Safety team.
• For an active order disagreement, open a case in the Resolution Center.

Thank you for being part of FreelancerPeople. By using the Platform, you help keep it a safe, fair, and professional place to do great work.