A two-sided freelance marketplace with Stripe Connect escrow and dispute resolution — built in 12 weeks.
The client was building a marketplace for specialized creative professionals. The complexity was in the money movement: client pays into escrow, work delivered, client releases payment, disputes handled by admin with partial refund capability. Stripe Connect handles all of this correctly — if you implement it correctly. We did.
Building a two-sided marketplace with Stripe Connect escrow and dispute resolution without a technical cofounder who understood the Stripe Connect account model
The client had a clear marketplace concept and had raised $180k pre-seed. The previous developer they'd hired understood basic Stripe integration but not Stripe Connect — the product that handles money movement in platforms and marketplaces. After 3 months and $22,000, they had a marketplace UI with a payment flow that moved money directly to the client's Stripe account (not the freelancer's), with no escrow, no multi-party payout, and a refund mechanism that would have required manual bank transfers for every dispute. The money movement architecture was wrong from the ground up.
Stripe Connect has three account types (Standard, Express, Custom) with different tradeoffs for control vs. complexity. The correct choice for this marketplace: Express accounts for the freelancers (fast onboarding via Stripe's hosted flow, Stripe handles KYC, payouts direct to their bank) with the platform holding funds in the Stripe balance (escrow) until the client releases.
Production marketplace with Stripe Connect platform accounts, escrow workflow, milestone-based release, and dispute resolution with partial refund capability
Freelancer onboarding via Stripe Connect Express onboarding flow — identity veri
Client payment via PaymentIntent held in the platform's Stripe balance (escrow)
Milestone-based payment release: client approves milestone → platform transfers
Partial release capability for partial completion scenarios
Dispute workflow: admin reviews, can transfer partial amount and refund remainde
Freelancer profile with portfolio and Stripe onboarding status
Project posting and proposal flow
Contract creation with milestone breakdown and amounts
Messaging system for client-freelancer communication
Review and rating system on contract completion **Platform economics:**
8% platform fee applied at payment release via Stripe's `application_fee_amount`
1099-K reporting handled by Stripe for freelancers above the IRS threshold
One honest number to start.
Fixed-scope, fixed-price. The number below is the starting point — final scope is built from your brief.
Production marketplace with Stripe Connect platform accounts, escrow workflow, milestone-based release, and dispute resolution with partial refund capability
Three steps, every time.
The same repeatable engagement on every project. No surprises, no mystery, no billable ambiguity.
Brief & discovery.
We send you questions, then get on a call. Output: a written scope with every step, feature, and integration listed.
Build & ship.
Fixed schedule, weekly reviews. No scope creep unless you change the scope — and if you do, we reprice it transparently.
Warranty & retainer.
30-day warranty on every launch. Most clients stay on a monthly retainer for ongoing features and maintenance.
Results
- First transaction processed on launch day
- 47 freelancers onboarded via Stripe Express in first 2 weeks
- Zero disputes requiring manual bank transfer (all handled via Stripe Connect)
Related engagements.
Questions, answered.
Standard: freelancers have a full Stripe account, full visibility, and manage their own payouts — most transparent, less platform control. Express: freelancers complete Stripe's onboarding, Stripe handles KYC, payouts are direct — right for most marketplaces. Custom: the platform controls everything — maximum flexibility, highest compliance burden for the platform. Express was correct here.
Stripe automatically generates 1099-K forms for Express account holders who receive more than the IRS reporting threshold. No manual tax reporting required from the platform.
Two-sided marketplace with Stripe Connect escrow: from $35k. Fixed-price.
Tell Ryel about your project.
Describe what you’re building and what outcome you need. You’ll have a written, fixed-price scope within the week.