Malt Reviews 

A service that’s utterly useless. They market themselves as a freelance marketplace, but the likelihood of finding a client on this platform is virtually zero.

I’ve been registered for over a year; I need to look for clients from time to time, and I’ve used Malt for this, amongst other things. Over the course of a year, I’ve only had a couple of pointless chats with irrelevant clients (they were most likely sending out mass requests).

Not a single valid enquiry, and no way whatsoever to influence my visibility to clients. I used every available tool – I got a review from a previous client, created a portfolio, wrote a profile description, and constantly kept my profile active – but to no avail.

It’s important to note that my working language is English; perhaps this affects search results for clients. However, Malt states that they operate in countries where English is part of the cultural environment – Germany, Netherlands, UK and Belgium – and it’s hard to believe that, over the months I’ve been active, there weren’t enough clients matching my profile and language.

What’s more, looking at other freelancers’ profiles, I haven’t seen anyone with more than three jobs.

Another form of mockery is the way the portfolio is implemented on Malt. It’s simply a carousel of SEPARATE images with a short caption. There’s no option to create proper case studies: photos, descriptions, and links for a single completed project.

I definitely wouldn’t recommend this service as a source of freelance jobs. Had I known beforehand just how useless it is, I wouldn’t have wasted a single minute of my time on a profile on Malt.

I don't even know where to begin. MALT are like the slave trade but in 2026. I worked with a client through MALT and have completed the assignment. I'm owed a significant amount but its been 3 months since I started (over 2 months since ending) and I have yet to be paid. Why? Because MALT didn't even bother signing a contract with the client before I started work - even though there is a valid contract between MALT and me (the freelancer). I have been chasing MALT almost on a weekly basis only for them to come up with myriads of excuses and lies. Sometimes its something so absurd as "we don't know the email of the person on the client side to send the contract to", other times its more dramatic such as the "client requires the MALT CEO to fly down from France to sign the contract". They admit I have done the work and I'm owed money but they just cannot get the contract signed with the client in order to pay me. MALT's own platform has a disclaimer saying I shouldn't start work until the funds have been paid and held by MALT but their own representatives had asked me to start work anyway and this is what it has come to. The customer service has just started ignoring me and the project representatives reply to me once in a while after chasing them multiple times - just making silly excuses saying it will be signed "tomorrow or this week". This has been happening for over 9 weeks now. I ultimately don't think I'll get paid - and even if I do - its has not been worth going through the stress of chasing/following up/frustration. I know I'll never work with MALT again and in the meantime I am speaking to labour representatives and seeking legal advise to proceed with legal action.

My profile is still visible in Google and i have no profile on Malt any more. Tried to delete it again and this is of course not working, because my email adress is no longer recognised. If i try to contact them I end up on a completely empty contact page. Don't choose them. Look further.

Time wasting website with 0 activity and they just harvest your data and spam you. They try to build up THEIR network while wasting your time.

A company with a great human touch and a portfolio of awesome freelancers

If you're going to have reviewers that call you via applications, probably best that they speak enlglish

Unfortunately, my experience with Malt has been disappointing.
The verification process takes an unreasonably long time, with no transparency or clear timeline. Even more frustrating is that direct questions to the Malt team remained unanswered, which gives the impression of poor support and low responsiveness.

For a platform positioning itself as professional and freelancer-friendly, timely communication and efficient verification should be a basic standard. At the moment, Malt falls short in both areas.

I moved to Malt after being assured the platform could meet the same payment reliability standards as alternatives like Upwork. Unfortunately, my experience over time has not matched those assurances.

In 2025 alone, 25% of my payments were delayed, despite all work being completed on time and timesheets properly validated. These were not isolated incidents, and the delays occurred without clear justification or proactive communication.

What makes this especially frustrating is the recurring pattern:
• Repeated assurances that issues were “resolved”
• The same payment problems reappearing months later
• Vague, generic responses from support instead of concrete answers
• Long periods of silence when payments were already overdue

In several cases, including the most recent one, support stopped responding for hours during business days without providing any concrete explanation or next step, despite the payment already being overdue.

In the most recent case (payment due December 27), support initially stated that they were “prioritizing immediate checks” and would trigger the payout “straight away.” Hours and then days passed without release, followed by generic replies stating that the finance team was “looking into it.”

What was particularly concerning was being told that delays are “expected,” even after the payment was already overdue. For a platform positioning itself as a reliable intermediary for freelancers, this seriously undermines confidence.

As a freelancer, predictable cash flow is essential. Internal processes, end-of-year periods, or payment partners should not be passed onto freelancers once work has been delivered and validated.

At this point, trust in the platform has been significantly damaged, not only due to repeated late payments, but also due to the lack of accountability and clear communication when issues arise.

I’m sharing this experience so other freelancers can make an informed decision. If payment reliability and support transparency improve consistently over time, I would be open to revisiting this review in the future, but based on my experience so far, Malt has fallen well short of what was promised.

Update – Payment still not resolved

Following my original review, Malt confirmed in writing that the payment was being “prioritized” and that immediate checks were underway to release the payout.

Several hours later, and now days past the original payment deadline the payment remains unreleased. Support responses have been vague, repetitive, and without ownership, despite multiple follow-ups and clear confirmation that the work was completed and the timesheet validated.

This reinforces the core issue described above: promises are made, but accountability and execution do not follow. What was initially framed as an exception has become an ongoing pattern, further eroding trust in the platform’s ability to handle freelancer payments reliably.

Update (Jan 2):
After previously confirming that this payment was being escalated and handled as urgent, support has now stated that there is no payment date and that they merely “expect an update next week.”

This means the payment will be approximately 10 days past the agreed due date, with no concrete timeline, no accountability, and no resolution provided.

At this stage, despite repeated follow-ups and written confirmations that the work was completed and validated, there is still no clarity on when—or if—the payment will be released. This reinforces the core issue described above: promises are made, but execution does not follow.

Update January 9 2026

Malt has since stated that payouts are calculated as 10 business days, despite both the dashboard and Help Center clearly stating “10 days” with no reference to business days, weekends, or bank holidays.

For over 2 years, my payouts consistently followed 10 calendar days, exactly as displayed in the interface and communicated during onboarding. This interpretation was only introduced after a payment delay occurred.

If Malt internally applies business days, this distinction must be clearly disclosed in advance. Retroactively redefining timelines undermines predictability and makes cash-flow planning unreliable for freelancers.

The issue is not the length of the delay, but the contradiction between what is shown to users and how payments are later justified.

A client requested us to use Malt for a project and it was an awful experience. DO NOT USE. There was difficulty in setting up the project in the first place which Malt did help with. BUT Malt were 133 days late paying, after confirmed project completion. This breached the TS & CS of using Malt and contract with the end client and subsequently we are legally entitled in FR and UK law (and in Malt Ts & Cs) to a late payment penalty. Malt have failed to acknowledge or reply to our late payment request. Totally breaching their Ts & Cs and our legal rights. TERRIBLE! We will be taking further legal action against them.

Our client asked us to use Malt to charge for our design work. The set up process was very complex as the platform does not seem well set up for international transactions. Then, after us constantly chasing them, it took Malt 133 days - 6 months to pay our invoice - and they still charged us their usual fees.
They're currently ignoring our claims for late payment fees.

User-friendly platform with hundreds of options to find the correct freelancer for my project.

Solution pratique et efficace

malt supports end to end in getting great clients until payment.

Very good experience with Alima in customer relations. I had a problem with one of my documents in my company set up. Alima and her team reached out to me and proactively solved the issue without me having to chase them or request their attention. Very impressive for an online business. Thank you!

It's a great website with a great platform. Besides that, Léo in support is excellent to help with access/setup issues. Thank you!

Very poor communication. My requests were completely ignored by the Malt team.

Interfaces intuitive, environ deux opportunités/mois en tant que développeur. Malt est une source de lead interessante.

It took me several weeks to get documents validated in spite of explaining several times to different people from the customer support team. Very polite people but extremely ineffective….

I hate this: the only leads they give are scams but you get penalized for not replying to them.