For clients and project owners

Terms for clients

Last updated: 16 August 2026

Language notice: this English text is provided so that international members can read our terms in full. The Arabic version remains the legally binding reference. Where the two differ, the Arabic text prevails.

The purpose: to protect developers and designers from exploitation, and to keep the platform fair for everyone. Just as you have rights over the freelancer, you have obligations towards them.

1. Respect

Required of you
  • Communicate respectfully and professionally
  • Value the freelancer's time and expertise
  • Keep a decent tone even in disagreement
Strictly forbidden
  • Insults, belittling, or bullying
  • Threats or blackmail
  • Discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion, gender, or nationality
  • Requesting or hinting at any inappropriate content

2. Clear requirements

Required of you
  • Write a clear, detailed project brief before ordering
  • Provide all references and requirements (images, copy, standards)
  • Define the scope of work precisely before contracting
  • Review the package, extras, custom offer or consultation schedule before accepting its price, timing and scope
  • Record any change to the requirements in writing
Strictly forbidden
  • Withholding material information about the project
  • Expanding the scope after contracting without extra payment (scope creep)
  • Changing core requirements after work has started
  • Requesting features that were not in the original brief without adjusting the price

3. Commitment to escrow

Full payment up front (100%) is a basic condition. It is held in escrow and does not reach the freelancer until you accept the work. No exceptions:

Required of you
  • Pay the full amount before any work starts (held in escrow)
  • The amount stays protected until you receive and accept the work
  • Accepting a conversation offer creates an order awaiting payment; it is not acceptance of delivered work
  • Honour the agreed payment schedule
Strictly forbidden
  • Asking for free work as a «test» before payment
  • Proposing cash or off-platform payment (this results in a ban)
  • Demanding a refund on flimsy grounds after accepting the work

4. Revisions

Revisions fall within the original scope of the service and within reason:

Required of you
  • Request the reasonable revisions stated in the service description
  • Give clear, specific feedback for each revision
  • Communicate constructively to improve the result
Strictly forbidden
  • Endless revision requests on the grounds of dissatisfaction
  • Completely changing the project's original vision
  • Requesting extra work beyond what was agreed
  • Using revision requests to delay payment

5. Honesty

Strictly forbidden
  • Claiming the work was not delivered, or is incomplete, to avoid paying
  • Downloading or copying the work and then refusing to pay by alleging poor quality
  • Making a false refund claim after receiving and using the work
  • Damaging the freelancer's reputation with a dishonest review
  • Lying to the mediation team during a dispute

6. Ownership and use

Required of you
  • Use the work for the commercial purposes you agreed on
  • Ask what the intellectual-property transfer covers before ordering
Strictly forbidden
  • Reselling the work to a third party without an explicit agreement with the freelancer
  • Using the work before payment is complete (ownership transfers after final delivery)
  • Taking the freelancer's code and misleadingly presenting it as your own
  • Removing the freelancer's credits without an agreement

7. Communication on the platform

Required of you
  • Communicate through Mahara's messaging system
  • Record every agreement in writing inside the platform
  • Keep any call or meeting summary documented in the platform messages
Strictly forbidden
  • Asking for the freelancer's phone number or email in order to talk outside the platform
  • Offering to pay the freelancer directly to bypass the platform commission
  • Proposing an «off-platform» deal for any reason

Reminder: any communication or payment outside the platform voids escrow protection. Mahara will not intervene in any dispute that results. See the clause

8. Ratings and reviews

Required of you
  • Rate the work on its actual quality
  • Write an objective review that helps other clients
  • Amend your rating within 7 days if you learn something new
Strictly forbidden
  • Using a rating as leverage (threatening a bad review to get free work)
  • A dishonest review that damages the freelancer's reputation without basis
  • Creating fake accounts to leave repeated negative reviews

9. Fair cancellation and refunds

The refund policy:

  • Before work starts: a full refund within 24 hours
  • While work is in progress: a partial refund through the mediation team, calculated on the proportion of work completed
  • After final delivery is accepted: no refund, except where documented fraud is discovered

10. Penalties for violations

  • WarningA first instance of poor conduct, or minor scope creep
  • Temporary suspensionRepeated complaints, or documented dishonest reviews
  • Permanent banFraud, systematic off-platform contact or payment, blackmail, threats
  • Legal actionStealing work, large-scale financial fraud, passing off someone's work as your own

11. What we guarantee you

In return, Mahara guarantees you:

  • Escrow protection: your money is safe until you receive work you are satisfied with
  • Free, neutral mediation in disputes
  • A fair refund route if the agreement is breached
  • Protection of your data under the privacy policy
  • Support in Arabic and English