Trust is the most important thing we are building. Code is the second-most important thing. This post is a short version of how we approach trust on Clapwork — what we promise, what we will not say, and what we are still working on.
Where we are today
Clapwork is a new platform. The honest version of that is:
- A small but growing number of active users.
- A handful of completed contracts each week.
- Zero verified customer case studies on the public site (because we will only publish ones the customer signs off on).
- Zero published testimonials with anonymous quotes (we don't do those).
You can verify this for yourself by looking at our case studies page and about page. The empty states are real.
What we will not say
We avoid four common patterns we see across the industry.
1. We will not invent numbers
No fake user counts. No "10,000+ freelancers" if we have fewer than that. No "millions paid out" if we have not paid out millions. When we publish a stat, it will be a real number tied to a date.
2. We will not publish anonymous testimonials
A testimonial only makes it onto the site if the person agreed to it in writing, with their full name, role, company, and the work described. If we cannot reach those bars, the slot stays empty.
3. We will not rank our fee against the rest of the market
We charge 3% on completed projects. That is a fact. Whether it is cheap or expensive depends on which platforms you compare us to, and the comparison shifts over time. We will say what we charge. We will not rank ourselves on a scale we did not publish.
4. We will not say a feature is "live" when it isn't
If something is on the roadmap, we will say "planned" or "in beta". You should not have to guess which features actually exist when you sign up.
How we handle the platform fee
The fee is a flat 3% on completed projects. It is on the pricing page. It is not hidden, time-limited, or "introductory". If we change it later, we will publish the change and explain the reasoning.
How we handle disputes
Escrow holds project funds until milestones are approved. If something goes wrong:
- The client and freelancer try to resolve it directly.
- If they cannot, our review team looks at the contract, the deliverables, and the messages.
- We decide a fair outcome and apply it.
This is not a guarantee that every dispute ends the way you want. It is a guarantee that we will look at the evidence.
How we handle your data
- We follow the privacy rules of the jurisdiction you sign up from (India DPDPA, GDPR for EU users, US state privacy laws where they apply).
- You can export your data and ask us to delete your account.
- We do not sell your data to third parties.
The full details are in our privacy policy.
What we are still building
Some trust features are partially built. We will not pretend they are finished:
- Verification badges for skills, identity, and prior platforms. Some of this is live; some is being rolled out.
- Public work history that lets a client see the past contracts on a freelancer's profile (with the freelancer's permission). This is shipping in phases.
- Reputation imports so freelancers can carry verified history from other marketplaces. Partial support today.
If you see a checkbox or badge that confuses you, ask support. We would rather explain than over-promise.
What we ask of you
If you see copy on the site that feels inflated or misleading, please tell us. We keep a short policy doc, content-guidelines.md in our repository, that defines what we will and will not publish. We update it when we learn something new.
Thank you for trusting us to get the basics right.