Articles on: Clients

Step 4: Hiring Your Expert

You've read Step 3: Reviewing Applicants & Public Questions and you're ready to choose a freelancer.

To make the hire official you just need to click their profile within the job's management page and click the context menu, then click "Hire"

You'll be asked to make an optional upfront Vault payment via credit or debit card. This secures your freelancer and signals that the project is ready to begin. The funds are held safely by Twine, not released to the freelancer, until you choose to release them.

Making a payment

There are two ways to make a payment once a freelancer is hired:

Option	How it works	Best for
Vault Payment	Funds are held securely by Twine and released when you're ready, either at a milestone or project completion. Auto-released after 90 days if not released manually.	Projects with clear milestones, or where you want added confidence before releasing funds.
Direct Payment	Payment is sent to the freelancer immediately, without being held in the vault. Typically takes up to 14 days to process.	Smaller tasks, ongoing work, or where you've already established trust with the freelancer.

This is optional and you can still hire the freelancer if you wish to make payment at a later date.

Once this is done the freelancer will be moved into the "Hired" view.

You are welcome to communicate outside of the platform if you find this more convenient. Feel free to exchange phone numbers or email addresses to ease the process.

However, do put a copy of any agreed terms within your conversation in your Twine messages tab about hiring. That way, if any issues should arise, we have these messages to refer to. The same applies for payment.

External Links & Security:

Freelancers will frequently provide links to external sites on which their work is hosted. This is common practice because whitelisted work (commissions owned and potentially copyrighted by past clients) may not be publicly available to view.

However, we do ask you to be aware of possible security risks presented by opening links online such as Dropbox. Check that there is context given to the link supplied, and use common sense. Always check the link to a legitimate site that you recognise. If you are unsure at any time, please flag this to the Twine team either via the Intercom webchat or email support@twine.net

Declining Pitches:

There may be pitches that don’t pique your interest, they may not have examples of the style you’re looking for, or their quotation may not be aligned with your budget. It’s worth a message to clarify these points, but ultimately, we recommend declining responses from individuals you immediately know you won’t be following up with. A quick message to the freelancer as to why you’re declining is always appreciated, and will give insight into how they might be more successful in future.

Declining a pitch will free the freelancer up to pitch on other available jobs, but may well open up a spot for a more appropriate freelancer to pitch on your job. Win-win.

Continue to Step 5: Hiring, Payment and Project Management

Need help?

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Updated on: 13/03/2026

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