Glossary
Member since
Member since is the date a client joined Upwork, printed in the About the client section of a job post and shown to freelancers the client messages as how long the client has been active on Upwork.
Updated
Also written: Client member since, Client join date.
Upwork lists "How long you've been active on Upwork" first among the facts a freelancer sees about a client who sends a direct message, ahead of spend, rating and job history. On a job post it appears as a date in the client panel. Upwork has no page that defines the field further; it is the account's start date, not the date of the client's first hire or first payment.
Upwork treats account age as trust. On the free Basic plan, one of the routes to direct messaging freelancers is having made a payment more than 90 days ago. Payment history is what earns that, not the join date alone.
Reading it. Age only means something next to activity. An old account with no client spend and no hires is a client who signed up long ago and never hired; a new account with a verified billing method and a clear brief is often a real first-time buyer. A recent join date on a post that asks for contact details off the platform or for free test work matches the red flags Upwork warns freelancers about. A long membership with steady spend and a healthy hire rate is the strongest form of the signal.
How Upsight uses it. Upsight stores the join date with every job and shows it as Member since in the job sidebar and as Since in a lead's client details. It is shown, not scored or filtered on.
Source
Upwork's definition: How to use direct messages, read on .