Trust & security
Your money's safe space
A marketplace asking you to pay a stranger has to earn that twice: once on how the money is held, and once on how disagreements end. Here is exactly how both work.
Milestone escrow
Funded before work. Released on approval. Refunded on cancellation.
Money never sits with the specialist on trust, and it never sits with AdSTARS at all. Each milestone is funded into escrow with Stripe, our regulated payment provider, before the specialist starts it.
AdSTARS is not a bank and does not hold client funds directly. Escrow terms apply and are linked below.
- The specialist can see the milestone is funded before starting
- You approve each deliverable before its funds release
- Nothing auto-releases on a timer without your review
- Cancelled milestones are refunded under the escrow terms
Step 1 · Funded
You fund the milestone. The specialist can see it is funded, and starts.
Step 2 · Held
With Stripe, our regulated payment provider. Not with the specialist, and not with AdSTARS.
Step 3 · Released
On your approval only. Commission is deducted at this point, never before.
Illustrative milestone. AdSTARS is not a bank and never holds client funds directly — see the escrow terms.
Fund
You fund milestone one. It is held by the payment provider, not released.
Work
The specialist delivers against the scope in the signed contract.
Approve
You review against that scope and approve, or ask for changes.
Release
Funds release to the specialist, commission deducted at that point.
Read the escrow terms for the full mechanics, including cancellation windows and partial release.
Verification
Three levels, always labelled
The difference between a marketplace and a directory is whether anyone checked. We check — and then we tell you how thoroughly, on every single result.
A level reflects the evidence available at review. Levels can be downgraded or withdrawn if evidence lapses or consent is revoked.
Self-reported
Declared by the specialist. Displayed as declared — we have not checked it.
Evidence reviewed
Reporting submitted to AdSTARS and reviewed by a person against the claim.
Platform-verified
Read from the connected advertising account, with client consent on file.
What a verified result contains
A number is not a claim until it has a baseline
Every published result names the metric, the starting value, the ending value, the period it covers, and the level of verification behind it. A percentage with none of that is marketing; a percentage with all of it is evidence.
Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
- Metric named explicitly, not implied
- Baseline and result values, not just an uplift
- A fixed, stated period
- Client consent recorded, and revocable
Verified result
Platform-verifiedCost per qualified lead
−38%
€142 → €88 · Mar–Jun 2026 · read from the connected ad account, reviewed by AdSTARS
Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Disputes
Decided against the scope, not the loudest email
Most disagreements are scope disagreements. That is why the contract is generated from the brief you approved, and why a dispute is judged against that document rather than against whoever writes the better complaint.
AdSTARS decides milestone disputes under the escrow terms. This is a contractual process operated by the platform, not arbitration or a legal judgment, and it does not remove either party's legal rights.
- 1
Either side files, from inside the project
The milestone is frozen. Funds stay in escrow — they do not release to the specialist and they do not return to the client while the dispute is open.
- 2
Both sides submit evidence, within a fixed window
Deliverables, chat history, files and approvals are already in the workspace, so evidence is largely a matter of pointing at what is on the record.
- 3
AdSTARS reviews against the signed milestone scope
Not against later expectations, and not against what either side wishes had been written down.
- 4
Funds are released, split or refunded
The decision and its reasoning are recorded on the project. Partial outcomes are normal — most disputes are partly right on both sides.
Reviews & approvals
Only paid work can leave a review
Reviews are attached to released milestones, both directions. A specialist reviews the client too — so unclear briefs, absent approvals and scope creep are visible to the next person considering that client.
Tied to released funds
No review exists without a funded, approved, released milestone behind it. There is nothing to farm and nothing to buy.
Both directions, both published
Client and specialist review each other after release. Both appear; neither can be quietly deleted for being unflattering.
Approval is a checklist
A copilot generates the acceptance checklist from the milestone scope, so approval is a decision against criteria rather than a mood.
Security & privacy
What we hold, and what we never do
The honest version, including the parts that are boring.
What we do
- Hold your project data under row-level access control, per account
- Route all payments through Stripe, a regulated payment provider
- Require identity verification before a specialist can be matched
- Log approvals, releases and dispute decisions immutably on the project
- Publish only what a specialist and their client have both consented to
What we do not do
- Hold client funds ourselves — AdSTARS is not a bank
- Sell advertising placement inside shortlists or the directory
- Publish a verified result without recorded client consent
- Let AI output be treated as professional or financial advice
- Share your brief or project data with other clients or specialists
Report a security issue to info@adstars.app. We will acknowledge and tell you what we are doing about it.
Have questions?
Trust FAQs
Who actually holds the money?
Is my money protected like a bank deposit?
Can AdSTARS overrule my refusal to approve?
What happens to a verified result if the client withdraws consent?
Do you use my project data to train AI?
AdSTARS Connect is a marketplace operated by AdSTARS. It introduces businesses to independent marketing specialists and is not a party to the resulting contract.
- 1Escrowed milestone funds are held by Stripe, our regulated payment provider, under the published escrow terms. They are not bank deposits and are not covered by any deposit guarantee or compensation scheme. AdSTARS is not a bank and does not provide banking, credit, deposit-taking or investment services.
- 2Verification confirms what the available evidence showed at the time of review. It is not a prediction, an endorsement, or a guarantee of future performance, and it does not transfer liability for the engagement to AdSTARS.
- 3Milestone disputes are decided by AdSTARS under the escrow terms as a contractual process. This is not arbitration, does not constitute legal advice or a legal determination, and does not affect either party’s statutory or contractual rights outside the platform.