Trust & Safety
Trust isn't a feature. It's the product.
Most freelance marketplaces compete on price and volume. We compete on whether the people meeting on Corelance can actually do the work, get paid for it, and trust each other to honor the deal. Everything below is how we make that real.
The mechanics
Five concrete things that happen behind every match.
Every freelancer is certified, not just claimed
Before a freelancer can apply for any project on Corelance, they pass a written quiz on the role they're certifying for and a hands-on skills test graded against a 10-question rubric. There is no “self-rated expert” tier. Either you passed the cert for that role, or you can't apply.
We re-examine certs when feedback patterns suggest a freelancer is operating below the level they were graded at. Freelancers can pause or retire a cert at any time.
Identity is verified on both sides
Freelancers submit a government photo ID and electronically sign their Business Partner Agreement before they can accept work. Companies sign a Master Services Agreement and verify their legal entity before they can post a project. We don't store sensitive identity documents on our application infrastructure. They live in an encrypted vault separate from the application database and are only accessed on review.
Money is held in escrow, not promised
Skills-test bounties and contract amounts are escrowed at the moment they're agreed to, not at the moment work is delivered. A freelancer doesn't start the test until the bounty is funded; a contract doesn't go ACTIVE until the escrow has cleared. Stripe handles the payment plumbing, so we never see card numbers, and refunds and releases run through the same idempotent ledger every charge does.
If a skills test goes unreviewed past the 7-day window, the bounty auto-releases to the freelancer. Clients don't get to drag a decision indefinitely while someone's work sits.
Disputes resolve with evidence, not opinion
When a skills-test outcome is disputed, the application freezes in a structured state with the scorecard, the freelancer's submission, the client's written rationale, and the chat record all preserved. An admin reviewer makes a binding decision on the escrow within a fixed window. The reasoning lives on the dispute record, not in a private email chain.
Bad actors lose access fast
Pass / hire / reject decisions on both sides are signal we feed into ranking. A freelancer who passes excessively sees a smaller feed; a client who rejects every applicant sees their listings rank lower for new freelancers. Fraud attempts (identity misrepresentation, payment manipulation, off-platform circumvention) are grounds for immediate account termination, with funds in escrow returned to the counterparty.
Community standards
The rules everyone (clients, freelancers, our team) agrees to.
- i
Represent yourself honestly
Your profile, credentials, identity, work samples, and proposals must be your own and accurate. AI-generated work without disclosure is misrepresentation. Inflated credentials are misrepresentation. Either gets the account closed.
- ii
Honor what you commit to
Clients pay for approved work. Freelancers deliver what they proposed. If something changes, say something before the deadline. Silence during an active project (we call it ghosting, you might too) is itself a violation.
- iii
Stay on the platform
Don't try to move communication, payment, or hiring off Corelance to avoid fees. The fees pay for the protections everyone relies on. Soliciting an off-platform deal is itself a reportable offense.
- iv
Be civil
Harassment, threats, discrimination, hate speech. None of it is tolerated. We don't moderate disagreement; we moderate behavior that makes the marketplace unsafe for someone else to operate in.
- v
Don't game the signal
Manipulating ratings, soliciting friend reviews, sock-puppet accounts, vote-trading rings. They all corrupt the matching system everyone else here relies on, and we treat all of it as fraud.
- vi
Comply with the law
Activity on the platform must comply with applicable law in your jurisdiction. We cooperate with law-enforcement requests where legally required.
Reporting
If you saw something wrong, tell us.
Use the flag icon on any profile, message, project, or application to file a report. Reports are confidential. Your identity stays protected, and our trust team triages every one within 24 hours.
For something time-sensitive (an active scam, a payment problem, a safety concern), contact us directly. We'd rather hear it twice than miss it once.