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Historical Archive: Taskcity and a Freelance Marketplace Checklist

This article was first published on August 16, 2011. The old version recommended Taskcity as a “global project outsourcing platform” and contained traffic-routing links, recruitment language, personal earnings statements, and independently unverified claims about project volume, free services, response times, payments, and delivery protection. Those claims have been removed. The context below is a historical record, not a registration recommendation or income promise.

Historical commercial-interest disclosure

The old article did not link directly to Taskcity. It repeatedly used an intermediary address under an income-themed subdomain, while its payment-tool link led to another income-focused website. It also promoted WordPress JAM, which the author then used to solicit WordPress projects, and used the author's own blogging and project income to persuade readers to try freelancing.

Those arrangements created a commercial-interest and traffic-routing conflict that was not adequately disclosed: a reader could not tell whether a redirect generated commission, traffic revenue, or another benefit. This revision removes every intermediary, referral, and recruitment link. I have no record proving whether the author actually received compensation from Taskcity or a payment provider at the time, so I will not speculate.

Verification results as of September 1, 2026

Taskcity now presents itself as 智城外包网. Its public pages are reachable, but “the website is online” and “marketplace activity is verified” are two different conclusions.

Check	What can currently be confirmed	What remains unconfirmed
Website and connection	The login, projects, help, and membership pages on taskcity.com open over HTTPS that passes normal validation.	A page loading does not provide third-party verification of projects, users, escrow, or payments.
Page activity	On the review date, the project list displayed postings dated through August 28, 2026, along with bid counts.	These are the platform's own data. I did not verify client identities, genuine bids, contracts, delivery, or actual payment.
Current positioning	The site says it provides software-outsourcing bidding, identity verification, project management, escrow, and membership services.	“Verified,” “escrow,” “protected,” and “zero commission” are self-descriptions, not substitutes for checking the operator, custody arrangement, and dispute liability.
Fees and payment	The current membership page lists paid verification, paid service tiers, and a withdrawal fee; the help page still says membership is free and retains other payment descriptions.	The public pages conflict, so they do not establish the complete current cost of registration, bidding, withdrawal, foreign exchange, or dispute handling.
Operator	The footer displays links for an ICP filing and public-security filing.	I could not independently resolve the current legal operator through the dynamic MIIT or National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System searches, and I did not find a clear, public, version-dated set of service terms and privacy terms.

The supported conclusion is therefore limited: the site is reachable and its pages display recent listing activity. I cannot independently confirm how many genuine clients are active, how many recent transactions completed, which entity lawfully holds escrow funds, whether users can withdraw as described, or whether dispute handling works. This article neither endorses nor condemns a platform; it asks readers to complete the checks below first.

What the 2011 article recorded

The old article described Taskcity as a bidding, project-management, translation, and payment platform for Chinese and international IT buyers and freelancers. It claimed an ample supply of projects, some free services, fast responses, and reduced risk through milestones. Those statements only record what the article and platform marketing said at the time. Without contemporaneous contracts, fee schedules, completed-transaction records, or an independent audit, this article no longer presents them as facts.

Freelancing is not stable income by default. Finding a listing, winning a bid, passing acceptance, and receiving final payment are four separate stages. A portfolio, skill, and hours invested do not guarantee a contract or payment.

A current checklist for freelance and task marketplaces

1. Identify the platform first

Find the legal operator, registration number, registered address, service regions, and formal complaint channel. The name should match the domain, contract, invoice, and payment recipient.
For a Chinese site, check company status in the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System and the domain filing through the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's ICP/IP/domain filing system. A filing helps identify a sponsor; it does not prove that a project is genuine or will pay.
Read version-dated service terms, privacy terms, the complete fee schedule, and dispute rules. If there are only marketing slogans, or different pages conflict, ask the platform for written clarification first.
Find out exactly what a “verification” badge checks, how often it is renewed, and whether the platform accepts liability. A badge cannot replace your own checks on a client and project.

2. Verify the project and client independently

Require a named project owner, scope, deliverables, acceptance criteria, budget, deadline, and required skills. Reject invitations that discuss high pay but not the work.
Use the client's official domain and company-registry information to confirm that the contact is authorized. Do not rely only on an in-platform avatar, chat account, screenshot, or rating.
Search for mass duplication of the project description and check whether attachments and links fit the publisher's identity. Do not run an unknown program, macro, or “test tool.”
A sample or trial should be small and have a defined purpose. A “free test” large enough to use in production may be an attempt to obtain unpaid work.

3. Calculate every fee and payment route before working

List registration, verification, membership, bidding, transaction, escrow, withdrawal, currency-conversion, tax, and refund costs separately. “Zero commission” does not mean zero cost.
A platform fee that is publicly disclosed and written into its terms is different from a client or recruiter demanding a deposit, training fee, equipment payment, or unlock fee before you can work. The latter is a serious warning sign.
Identify the legal entity or licensed payment provider that holds escrow, when funds are credited and released, whether refunds are possible, and what happens if the platform fails or an account is frozen. Do not rely on a “funds protected” icon.
Refuse off-platform transfers, gift cards, cryptocurrency, purchase errands, and requests to return an “overpayment.” Current U.S. Federal Trade Commission job-scam guidance identifies paying to get work or get paid, and depositing a check before sending part of it back, as standard scams.

4. Control scope, acceptance, and intellectual property with a contract

State both parties' complete names, scope, milestones, delivery format, acceptance deadline, revision allowance, delay handling, payment conditions, and governing law.
Put requirement changes in a change order with the additional time and price. Do not rely on a chat message saying the cost will be worked out later.
Define rights in source code, designs, data, third-party assets, and open-source components. An intellectual-property transfer should normally correspond to a confirmed payment milestone.
Make confidentiality, warranty, and liability limits enforceable. A marketplace template is only a starting point and may not fit your jurisdiction or project.

5. Protect data and accounts

China's Personal Information Protection Law requires a clear and reasonable processing purpose and limits collection to the minimum necessary scope. Find out who collects identity documents, work history, portfolios, and payment details, how long they are retained, who receives them, and how to correct or delete them.
Do not provide complete identity documents, bank details, verification codes, private keys, or work-account passwords before confirming the platform and client. Use a unique platform password and multi-factor authentication.
Include only work you have the right to show in a portfolio. Remove client keys, internal addresses, and personal data; use an authorized excerpt or watermarked sample when appropriate.
Keep requirements, versions, submissions, acceptance, and payment communications in a formal channel that can be exported. Do not leave the only evidence in a private chat that can disappear.

6. Start with one limited, paid milestone

Keep the first milestone limited in value and scope, but make it genuinely paid work—not a free version of the full project.
Confirm that escrow funds have actually arrived through a route you independently verified before starting the corresponding work. A platform screenshot or a client's “payment successful” image is insufficient.
Deliver only what that milestone specifies, and continue only after written acceptance and fund release.
Pause immediately and preserve records if identities do not match, scope keeps expanding, someone pressures you to leave the platform, an advance payment is demanded, or another fee is required to withdraw.

The current conclusion on Taskcity

Taskcity's public website and recent listing dates show continued page updates, so it would be inaccurate to say that it has disappeared entirely. But visible listings, bid counts, and the platform's own descriptions do not prove genuine transactions or reliable payment. Its fee information conflicts, and I did not independently verify the operator or current legal terms during this review.

Before submitting identity data, paying for membership, or investing project hours, obtain written evidence of the legal operator, complete current fee schedule, entity holding escrow funds, withdrawal rules, privacy terms, and dispute process. Then test the process with one limited, paid milestone. This historical article and the platform homepage are not enough to make the decision.

Primary sources checked

Checked on September 1, 2026. Platform pages, prices, and company status can change; verify them again on the day you register, pay, or sign a contract.