I dove into the world of freelance writing in 2016. I started writing part-time, taking on little projects here and there. By 2018 I was doing it full-time, and it stayed that way until 2020. Today, I work a full-time copywriting job with a telecommunications company. The job is fully remote and very flexible, and I have never stopped freelancing on the side. During one slow period a little over a year ago, I found Draft.co and thought it was interesting. But is Draft.co legit?

Essentially, Draft is a content writing service that allows vetted and approved writers to access the platform and openly claim jobs that clients post. While it doesn’t pay spectacularly well, they offer 5c per word, which is a lot more than other similar programs. 

Sounds great, right? Well, there are some hidden issues that they won’t tell you about. Read on to learn more about my experience with Draft.co and why you probably shouldn’t bother. 

Is Draft.co Legit? My Experience

Once accepted onto the platform, you can begin claiming jobs. Each potential job can have the following information: 

• Brief/outline. This can be a single sentence about the topic, a full outline with headings and talking points, or anything in between. 
• Keywords to be used
• Helpful links for reference and research 
• Other instructions
• Word count requirement
• Due date 

Other than word count and due date, all of this is optional. I saw many detailed briefs and great instructions, and I saw some that were very bare bones. Luckily, you can take your pick. Once claimed, there is a messaging box where you can ask the client further questions or leave your own notes to them if you want. 

Once a job is submitted, you can’t change it or contact the client anymore; it’s out of your hands. 

Unfair Ratings

Once they receive it, the client can choose whether or not to leave a star rating from 1-5. 

As you accumulate ratings, you develop an average. 

For a while, I had a perfect 5-start average as 5 stars was all I was getting from the clients that did choose to rate. At any given time, I had anywhere from ten to 40+ jobs to choose from on the dashboard. 

For about three weeks, I was in freelancer heaven. I was pulling in a few hundred each week, supplementing my income nicely. Since I could choose exactly what to write about, I found some very interesting topics and thoroughly enjoyed myself. 

Then, I got a 3-star rating that did not provide proper feedback or a chance to make things right. This dropped my average a little. I was confused and disappointed as I had followed the brief closely. 

Fast Response, No Results

I sent an email to support, just asking what they thought. They were prompt and friendly and conducted a review. The person I spoke to agreed with me that the content was good quality, and they, too, disagreed with the rating. However, they could do nothing, but they would “leave a note on my file,” presumably because an average that is too low can lead to probation. 

I accepted this and moved on. Then another low rating came in—also without feedback or a rewrite request. This brought my average down to 4.4 stars, which isn’t even tragic—one would think, anyway. 

And then I realized—my dashboard was empty. This was over a year ago, and it’s been empty ever since. I tried to inquire about this, but I was told that “work changes over time and throughout the year. Check back often for more work.” 

But I thought there was no way I could go from 40+ jobs at my fingertips to nothing ever. 

Cue the Soft Ban

They do not say so anywhere, but there is no doubt in my mind that anything less than a perfect rating and you’re not officially banned, but you lose access to work. I was confused and very upset as I had thought this was going to be a fantastic and reliable stream of extra income. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand wanting only the best writers taking on jobs. But countless 5-star reviews and only a couple of low ratings are enough to take you off the roster; something isn’t right, especially when, after a review, staff don’t even agree with the rating. 

When the ratings are subjective and some clients will be harsher than others, it’s not right to leave the fate of a working writer in the hands of clients with whom they can’t even communicate anymore. 

It’s worth noting that I’m not the only one with this experience – see this reddit thread detailing almost the exact same sequence of events. 

Room for Improvement

There are a few things I think they could do to make this system fairer if they insist on letting your rating average determine your access to work: 

• Require clients to rate after a job. This would create a much truer average. 
• Allow for contact with clients after a job is submitted, thus allowing issues to be resolved before a rating is given. 
• Allow writers to dispute ratings and potentially have them removed after a review. 

Would this create a perfect, fair, and objective system? Probably not, but it wouldn’t be so skewed and unfair. 

Sadly, I don’t think the people at Draft care too much. This is probably because new people sign up all the time and start getting jobs done. By the time new people are “soft-banned” like this, someone else is claiming work. 

As long as the work is getting done, a revolving door of people is fine, right? 

Not in the long run, though. Draft would be smart to put a little more effort into holding on to good people, especially since they offer free rewrites if a client is unhappy. I believe this for a few reasons: 

• Consistency. Good writers will produce at the same quality every time, meaning clients will always be happy the first time and will continue commissioning work from Draft. 
• Fewer free rewrites. This is a no-brainer that’ll save them money. 
• Fewer bad writers will slip through the cracks. It’s inevitable – despite a vetting process, not everyone let onto the platform will be top-notch. Though they’re able to get rid of bad-quality writers, they’ll have to offer a few freebies first. They might even lose a client or two. 
• Less vetting. If they keep a constant roster of great writers active, they won’t need to test, vet, and onboard a steady stream of newbies. They can re-route effort and resources into a more involved rating system that keeps things fair. 

All of that being said, this would require Draft to care about their writers. If they only care about getting work done and hoping most clients stay happy, they’ll pour time into the revolving door rather than a fair and equitable system that keeps writers happy. Cest la vie, as they say. 

Is Draft.co Legit? Maybe Don’t Bother

While technically not a scam or anything, it’s up to you whether you want to give it a go. I’m sure some people last longer than me, but eventually, everyone will probably get that crabby, crappy client who rates 1 star for no discernable reason. And then you can’t fix it! 

I did earn around $1000 before I lost access to the dashboard, so if you don’t mind going through their process, you could dive in for a short-term cash infusion. But in the end, I can’t recommend it as a viable, long-term addition to your freelancing ventures.