Escrow for Freelancers: Pay Only for Approved Work
Escrow for freelancers on SuperGig means every milestone is funded before work starts and released only when you approve the delivery. Your money sits in a protected escrow account, not in anyone's pocket. No approval, no payment.
Escrow is built into every project and every plan, from the brief onward. It is step three of how to hire a freelancer on SuperGig.
This is the whole product
Escrow receipt
Funded before work starts. Held while work happens. Released the moment you approve. Every SuperGig project produces receipts exactly like this one.
The flow
How milestone escrow works, in 4 steps
01 · Fund
Fund the milestone
You fund milestone 1 with a written scope and delivery date. The freelancer sees it is funded and starts, secure that the budget is real.
02 · Work
Work happens
The money stays in escrow the whole time. Nobody can move it: not the freelancer, not SuperGig, not anyone.
03 · Review
You review
Check the delivery against the written scope. Request changes until it matches. You decide when it is done.
04 · Release
Approve and release
You approve, escrow releases the same day, and the freelancer keeps 100% of their rate.
Step-by-step detail, including partial releases and multi-milestone projects, in our guide to how does freelance escrow work.
Protection
What freelance escrow protects you from
Paying for work that misses the brief
On most platforms you pay first and argue later. Here, nothing releases until you approve the milestone. If a delivery misses the written scope, you request changes or decline to release, and your money has never left escrow.
Released on approval, only
A freelancer who disappears
Rare after 4-stage vetting, but covered anyway. If a project stalls, the funded milestone returns to you and a fresh shortlist arrives within 48 hours.
Funds return · rematch in 48h
"That was never included"
The scope is written down when the milestone is funded, so the argument ends before it starts.
Scope agreed at funding
More edge cases, from refunds to multi-currency payouts, are answered in the SuperGig FAQ.
If you disagree
Disputes end with a human, not a form
Most disagreements never become disputes, because the money is frozen and the scope is written. When one does, a person reads the scope and the delivery and decides within 3 business days. No ticket loops, no automated verdicts.
Flag the milestone. Funds stay frozen in escrow while the dispute is open. Nobody is paid, nobody is out of pocket.
A dispute specialist reviews. A human compares the delivery against the written milestone scope and rules within 3 business days.
Resolution. Full release, partial release or refund to you. Want to keep going? A free rematch puts a new shortlist in your inbox within 48 hours.
In practice
A $4,800 milestone, start to finish
A fintech team hires a senior product designer at $120/hr for a 40-hour app-redesign milestone: $4,800, funded into escrow before day one. The designer ships on day 12, the team requests one revision, approves on day 14, and escrow releases the same afternoon.
On the Marketplace plan the team paid a 10% project fee of $480 alongside the milestone: $5,280 all-in, one line on one invoice, and the designer kept the full $4,800. The complete fee math lives on the freelance marketplace fees page.
Milestone timeline
Released before approval
$0
Auto-release timers
0
Dispute resolution
3 business days
Free rematch
48h
Fund your first milestone with confidence
Brief us today, get a vetted shortlist in 48 hours, and pay through escrow that releases only when you approve the work.