What Squadrie deliberately does not do
Every product has a list of things it does not do, and most keep it to themselves. This one is written down: no automatic identity checks, a balance you can only withdraw, no bidding war, no calls inside the app, nothing deducted for tax, and no claim that escrow makes anybody do good work.
Last reviewed 18 October 2026 · 6 minute read
A list of absences is more useful than a list of features, because it is where expectations go wrong. Everything below is true of the deployment you are reading it on, and each item is a fact about the code rather than a plan.
The short version
Identity checks are done by a person comparing the names a bank gives us, not by an API. A balance can be withdrawn and not spent. There is no bidding war, no cover letter, no call button inside the app, and nothing is deducted from a freelancer's earnings for tax yet. Escrow decides when money moves, not whether the work was good.
No automatic identity or PAN check
The verification service that checks a PAN against the tax department's records is open only to a closed list of institutions, and a marketplace without a registered entity cannot buy it at any price. The check is therefore done by an operator who compares the name the bank holds with the member's own name and records what they checked and why. A page here that implies an automated check is wrong, and we would rather hear about it.
A balance cannot be spent, only withdrawn
Earnings and refunds both land in a balance, and the only way out is a withdrawal to a bank account. Nothing in the software spends a balance on a project. Somebody arriving from another platform will expect a wallet they can spend; here it is closer to a queue that empties into a bank.
Nothing is deducted for tax yet
Payments to individuals in India carry a withholding question that our accountant still owns: the rate, and what it applies to. So the software tracks what a deduction would need — each member's receipts across the Indian financial year, and who is over the threshold without a PAN — and deducts nothing. None of this is tax advice.
No bidding war, and no cover letters
There is no price auction and no pitch document. Applicants do a small piece of real work against a rubric with their names hidden, and the client scores it. That removes the usual freelance ritual of undercutting and writing about yourself, and replaces it with unpaid work on a bounded task. That cost is real, and the guide on blind hiring states it outright rather than burying it.
No calls, meetings or screen sharing inside the app
There is chat on a contract, and there is no voice or video call. Nothing in the product rings, and a meeting happens wherever the two people arrange it. We are not pretending a call feature exists behind a menu.
No off-platform protection, and no exceptions
- Arranging or paying for work outside the platform is a breach of the terms.
- The app screens messages, profiles and projects for contact details and off-platform payment attempts, and never tells the other side that their counterpart was flagged.
- Repeats are escalated by hand. Staying on the platform is what makes escrow, disputes and the audit trail mean anything at all.
No guarantees we cannot keep
- Escrow does not make work good. It makes the timing of money predictable.
- A rubric does not make a client a good judge. It makes the decision explainable.
- A backup is not off-site. It protects a dump from leaving the laptop, not the laptop from being taken.
- This is a beta running on free infrastructure, built to be replaced by better infrastructure, and the pages that describe it say so.
Questions people ask
Do you verify identity automatically?
No. An operator compares the name a bank gives us against the member's name and records what they checked. No service available to us does it automatically.
Can I spend my balance on another project?
No. A balance can only be withdrawn to a bank account, and the copy on this site says so rather than implying otherwise.
Is tax deducted from what I earn here?
Nothing is deducted today. The software tracks what a deduction would need, and the rate and base are with our accountant. This is not tax advice.
Does escrow guarantee the work will be good?
No. Escrow controls when money moves. Quality is a judgement made against the brief and the rubric, by the client.
Is there any way to call inside the app?
No. There is chat, and there is no voice or video calling. Meetings happen wherever both sides arrange them.
Are the payment keys live?
No. This deployment runs on test keys, which is why the site never claims real payouts are automated, and why paying test money on a live rail is refused by design.
Ready to see it from the other side?
Post a project with a rubric, or browse the freelancers and squads who are already working this way.