Payments & escrow
How escrow works
Money is provably in escrow before you start, and releases the instant work is approved.
Escrow exists to remove the oldest fear on both sides of freelance work. The developer worries “will I actually get paid?” and the founder worries “will I get code worth paying for?” Forke answers both by holding the money in the middle: the founder funds it up front so it's provably there, and it can only move to the developer when the work is approved. Neither side can rug the other.
Escrow lifecycle
Founder funds escrow
The task budget is deposited via Razorpay and held by Forke before any developer claims the task — so the money is visible and locked from the start.
You ship & it's approved
On approval, Forke merges a clean PR upstream and the escrow release is triggered. If the submission is rejected at the automated stage, no money moves at all.
Instant payout
Funds land in your UPI automatically — there's no withdrawal step, no waiting period, and no bank-wire delay.
UPI payout
Payouts go to the UPI ID set in your Settings (see Settings & payouts setup). Higher levels unlock intermediate payout tiers (LVL 7+). Forke takes a flat 10% commission from the founder — the developer always receives the full task budget. Track live balances in the Escrow and Earnings views.