UpCity shut down in November 2025: where its agencies can list now
By Jean Luc Poitier, SEO and growth marketing strategist · Clutch Reviews · Updated September 28, 2026 · Grounded in UpCity's shutdown notice and each alternative's own pages
Disclosure: this site reviews Clutch and earns a commission if you sign up for it through our links. Clutch is one option below, and we say where it isn't the right fix.
What happened to UpCity
UpCity stopped operating in November 2025. The last normal capture of upcity.com in the Wayback Machine is from November 7, 2025. The capture from November 21 shows this notice instead: "This site is no longer supported. If you are looking for help finding software, please visit Capterra." We found no official announcement.
UpCity was founded in Chicago in 2009. Gartner acquired UpCity, LLC in October 2022, at a reported price of $6.4 million (S&P Capital IQ, via MarketScreener). UpCity never published its prices; agencies went through a sales form.
There is little review data to work from. Trustpilot shows a 3.7 from a single review, and UpCity's G2 page showed 4.4 from 54 reviews in a January 2026 capture. So this page matches each alternative to what you need from a listing now.
Match an UpCity alternative to what you need
| Compared on | Best alternative | Check before switching |
|---|---|---|
| A free profile where clients can review you | Clutch Basic (free) | No badge, no link to your site from directory pages, and competitors can appear on your profile |
| A trust badge buyers can check | Clutch Verified, $499 a year | Billed upfront for 12 months with no early cancellation, and you get the badge only if you pass Clutch's vetting, which includes a CreditSafe credit check |
| Project requests from US and UK buyers | Clutch Pay Per Lead | Bids from $25 a lead with a $1,000 monthly minimum, and you need Verified or an active advertising plan. Clutch says the leads are US- and UK-based; some of its reviewers say they got leads from other countries |
| A marketplace where you bid on specific projects | DesignRush | Memberships from $200 a month with a one-year minimum secured upfront; bids aren't refunded |
| A listing without lead bidding | GoodFirms | GoodFirms says it accepts about 23% of applicants; PRO is $49 a month billed annually ($588 a year) |
| Buyers in Europe | Sortlist | Sortlist+ from €129 a month billed annually, with an annual commitment; opportunities up to €650 each; refunds as credits |
Figures checked against each company's published pages and review-platform listings as of 2026-09-28. “Not published” means the company does not publish that figure.
The 4 best UpCity alternatives
Clutch
Free profile, checked reviewsClutch's Basic profile is free and lets past clients review you. Clutch says a human editor reads every review before it goes live and that it rejected 10% of submissions in 2025 for signs of falsified information. Verified ($499 a year) adds a badge backed by a CreditSafe credit check, placement above unverified firms, and a link to your site from directory pages. It also makes you eligible for Pay Per Lead, which Clutch says sends US- and UK-based project requests to Verified firms (bids from $25, $1,000 monthly minimum). Paid plans run 12 months with no early cancellation and renew automatically, and sponsored firms appear first by default. Its organic Trustpilot reviews average 3.49 from 135, and 2.89 across the 27 from the past 12 months, with complaints centered on paid plans that brought few or poor leads.
What Clutch's free and paid plans include →GoodFirms
No lead biddingGoodFirms lists agencies for free if it accepts them (it says about 23% of applicants get in), and it has no pay-per-lead product. PRO costs $49 a month billed annually ($588 a year) for featured placement below sponsors and a Verified Business badge, and sponsorship is listed from $300 a month. GoodFirms says buyers who post a project get 3 to 5 hand-picked agencies within 72 hours. Its 34 organic Trustpilot reviews average 3.68; the one-star ones, from 2020 to 2023, describe profiles created without consent and support that stopped answering.
Clutch vs GoodFirms compared →DesignRush
Bid on project leadsDesignRush has a free listing and a Marketplace where agencies bid for leads (from $50 for projects worth $5,000 to $10,000, with the 2 to 5 highest bidders winning each one), and it publishes sponsorship prices from $500 a month billed quarterly. Memberships start at $200 a month with a one-year minimum secured upfront, and bids aren't refunded. It says it only accepts agencies it considers legitimate and professional. Of its 100 most recent Trustpilot reviews, 87 came through its own review link; the 13 organic ones average 3.69.
Clutch vs DesignRush compared →Sortlist
For buyers in EuropeSortlist matches buyers to agencies from a brief and says it focuses its marketing on the Benelux, French, and Spanish markets. Profiles are free and open to freelancers. Sortlist+ costs €129 a month billed annually or €189 billed monthly, with an annual commitment either way, and opportunities cost credits on top, up to €650 each. Refunds are paid as credits. Its 38 organic reviews among the latest 100 on Trustpilot average 2.26.
Clutch vs Sortlist compared →
If you relied on UpCity
With upcity.com no longer supported, reviews and badges that point to it can't help buyers check you. Ask the clients who reviewed you there to review you on a platform that is still running, and take UpCity badges and links off your site.
Clutch's Basic profile costs nothing, and past clients can leave reviews on it that Clutch says an editor reads before they go live. Verified ($499 a year) adds the badge and a link to your site from directory pages, and it makes you eligible for Pay Per Lead, which Clutch says sends US- and UK-based project requests to Verified firms. Reviewers split on what a Clutch listing brings:
“Good Organization, providing Free of cost exposure to your company worldwide.”Anuj J., Clutch review on Trustpilot, March 2025
“I asked for leads that were US based and they kept giving me India, Dubai, etc.”Drew B., Clutch review on Trustpilot, February 2026
Paid plans run 12 months with no early exit, so read what each Clutch plan includes and how cancelling works before you pay for one.
How we sourced this: UpCity has one Trustpilot review, so there was no review set to analyze. The shutdown facts come from Wayback Machine captures of upcity.com (November 7 and 21, 2025) and a report of Gartner's acquisition (S&P Capital IQ, via MarketScreener). On September 27, 2026 we pulled Trustpilot reviews for each alternative: the 200 Clutch reviews visible without a login, all 35 for GoodFirms, and the 100 most recent for DesignRush and for Sortlist. Trustpilot's page data tags each review "Organic" when the reviewer posted it on their own and "BasicLink" when it came through a review link the company shares, and we averaged the two groups separately. Prices and terms come from each company's own pages, checked September 27 and 28, 2026. Quotes are verbatim.
UpCity alternatives FAQ
Is UpCity still running?+
No. UpCity stopped operating in November 2025. A Wayback Machine capture of upcity.com from November 21, 2025 shows the notice "This site is no longer supported. If you are looking for help finding software, please visit Capterra." We found no official announcement.
What are the best UpCity alternatives?+
Clutch, for a free profile with reviews that Clutch says an editor reads before publishing, plus Pay Per Lead for Verified firms, which Clutch says brings requests from US and UK buyers. GoodFirms if you'd rather not bid for leads, DesignRush if you'd rather bid on specific projects, and Sortlist if your buyers are in Europe.
Who owned UpCity?+
Gartner acquired UpCity, LLC in October 2022, at a reported price of $6.4 million. UpCity was founded in Chicago in 2009.
Where can an agency list for free now that UpCity is gone?+
Clutch's Basic profile, a Sortlist profile, and a DesignRush listing are all free, though DesignRush says it only accepts agencies it considers legitimate and professional. GoodFirms lists agencies free if it accepts them, which it says happens for about 23% of applicants. Free tiers have limits: Clutch Basic has no badge or link to your site from directory pages, and Sortlist's free profiles show competitors.