LinkedIn is building a gig marketplace

LinkedIn is building a gig marketplace
aimgroup.com

The same is true of Upwork. I guess you're being sarcastic, because obviously many people do make more than $25 / hour through the platform.

There are good arguments against using Upwork, though these arguments are more for beginners who haven't yet found their footing as a business offering services.

From a buyers perspective, Upwork feels more solid than Fiverr. In terms of freelancers and system functionality.

One thing that is annoying on both platforms is that they send you an invoice after every gig. The first one that will offer to send you one combined invoice per month will win my trust in a big way.

In my opinion, the weakness of both, Upwork and Fiverr is that they focus too much on the demand side. It is really hard to find real experts. For example developers, who are writing clean code and refactor their stuff before they deliver. You usually get something that works but is a bunch of chaos under the hood. I think it is telling, that Fiverr's affiliate program only pays when you bring them buyers. They should find a way to pay for talent as well.

Speaking of affiliate programs: I think it is a mistake on Upwork's side to not have an affiliate program at all. Look at the biggest market place in the world: Amazon. Search for any product name on Google and you basically get a search results page full of links to pages that promote Amazon. Affiliates bring in qualified visitors so much cheaper then advertisements.