Is Upwork Worth It? Pros, Cons, and Top Tips from Freelancers

People all around the world use Upwork to find work as independent professionals, earning extra income and building freelance careers that fit their lifestyles. As an independent professional, you set your own rates and you choose which clients to say yes to and what projects to work on. Whether you want to be a digital nomad and travel the world, spend more time with family, or just cut out your daily commute, you get to work remotely on the types of projects that excite you.

Trying to decide if Upwork is the right freelance platform for you? We'll break down the pros and cons of the Upwork marketplace and compare it to some other popular freelancer platforms. See what experienced Upwork freelancers have to say about their experiences and their top tips for success.

What is Upwork?

Upwork is the world's work marketplace where businesses of all shapes and sizes go to find the expert independent talent they need for their projects. In 2022, 39% of the U.S. workforce engaged in some amount of freelancing. Freelancing has become a viable alternative to the 9-5 job and a convenient way to supplement your income.

As a freelancer, you can apply to projects, interview with clients, message back and forth, video chat, and get paid all within the Upwork platform. Clients can view your profile to get a feel for your skillset, read reviews, and see work samples. Everything you need to attract and retain clients, all in one place.

Upwork snapshot:

• 38% of the U.S. workforce (64 million people) freelanced in 2023
• We serve everyone from one-person startups to 30% of the Fortune 100
• Upwork is a global platform with talent in over 180 countries

Upwork is a work marketplace designed for everyone, anywhere. Clients range from small startups to large enterprises. Talent can be skilled professionals trying out freelancing for the first time or seasoned experts who've established full-time, independent careers. Whether you want to earn money on the side working a few hours per week or transition to freelancing full-time, Upwork can be your home.

"I get to meet new people, from different backgrounds, from different experiences, from different industries, and with projects with new technologies that I haven't yet laid my hands on. Working with clients from different areas of life teaches me a lot about the world around me, their mindset, and their way of life."
—Faraz Ahmed, PHP Developer

How Upwork works for freelancers

If you want to start freelancing on Upwork, all you have to do is create a free Upwork profile. After that, you can begin submitting proposals for jobs. As an independent professional, you set your own rates based on your experience and skill set. Most jobs have an estimated budget, and you let the client know what you'd charge for your services in the project proposal.

“The most productive freelancing site that I feel comfortable with for building revenues, billing, reviews and creating a freelancing future.”
— William T Cooper, Marketing and Sales Strategist

Ways to earn money as a freelancer on Upwork

Upwork has a number of ways to help freelancers and their clients connect, including:

• Talent Marketplace. Search hourly and fixed-priced, recently-posted projects from clients. Submit proposals using Connects to jobs that you think you'd be a good fit for.
• Client Invites. Receive invitations to interview from clients, which allows you to submit a proposal to their project without using any Connects.
• Project Catalog. Package your skills into purchasable projects with a fixed price and scope for clients.
• Consultations. Offer fixed-priced consultations to clients as a subject-matter expert.

Pro Tip: "Focus in the beginning on building your profile and ratings. Take smaller jobs that you're certain you can deliver on. This will get your positive ratings off on the right foot."

—Tim Goggin, PPC expert

Bid and boost using Connects

When you find a project that you want to bid on, you'll use Connects to submit your proposal and use ads to gain an edge to win work. These are a freelancer's virtual token on Upwork Connects are how you bid on projects, boost your proposals or profile, and turn on your Availability Badge.

The amount of Connects you'll need to submit a proposal depends on the length of the project and its budget. When clients create their job postings, Upwork automatically calculates the Connects needed.

How to earn Connects

After you register and create your Upwork account, you may be asked to purchase Connects or subscribe to Freelancer Plus—once chosen, you'll get 50 free Connects to help get you started. Freelancers with a basic account may receive 10 Connects every month. If you upgrade to a Freelancer Plus Account, you'll have 100 Connects to spend every month.

New freelancers who have strong backgrounds and show promise on Upwork early on can earn the Rising Talent Badge, which includes 30 Connects as a one-time bonus.

When you submit a proposal and land an interview with an established client, you'll get some of your Connects back. The amount of Connects will vary from client to client. Completing an Upwork Skills Certification, when you’re invited to participate, will earn you more bonus Connects too.

You can also buy Connects. Each one costs US$0.15, and you can purchase a bundle or choose your own amount. All of your unused Connects roll over each month (they expire a year after you get them).

Using your Connects to attract clients

You can use your Connects to run ads on Upwork. These ads can help you attract clients and win more proposals and job invites. If you want to run ads, you have three options: Boosted Proposal, Availability Badge, and Boosted Profile.

Boosted Proposal

If you find a project that you think is a great fit for your skills, you can boost your proposal to show clients you're serious about the job. Bid against other freelancers in an auction to be one of the four Boosted Proposals at the top of the client’s list.

Boosted Proposals increase the chance of getting hired by up to 24%

Set your max bid and then wait until the auction closes. The auction lasts for seven days or until the client hires someone, whichever comes first.

You can be outbid by other freelancers before the auction closes. If this happens, you aren't charged for the boost unless you have an eligible interaction (e.g., client opens your proposal). Clients can still see your proposal, but it won’t be shown in the top four boosted slots.

Availability Badge

Turn on the Availability Badge and let clients know when you’re looking to work. This badge helps you attract clients when you have openings in your schedule.

When clients are looking for freelancers to send job invites, your badge will appear next to your profile in the search results. Clients also have the option to choose "Available Now" as a filter when searching for talent.

Freelancers who have their Availability Badge turned on receive up to 50% more job invites. Accepting job invites and sending a proposal for invited jobs doesn't cost you any Connects. It's a simple but impactful step towards gaining more opportunities and showcasing your skills.

If you want to use the Availability Badge, decide how many Connects you want to spend on it during the week—this is your budget. The exact amount of Connects this badge costs may fluctuate based on demand. Upwork will keep your badge on until the budget runs out. You can also turn it off yourself whenever you want.

The overhead cost of Connects (what you need to bid on projects) is very reasonable compared to the costs of other competitors."
—Peter Ono

Boosted Profiles

Boosting your profile helps you stand out to clients when they search for freelancers to invite to their jobs. If you get a job invite from a client, you don't have to use any Connects to submit your proposal.

Boosted Profiles appear at the top of the "invite freelancers" results list for clients if they have published a job post or have an open job. These are the first profiles they'll see on the page. Boosting your profile can give you more visibility.

As a freelancer, you only pay for the client's first click on your profile for the job post. Choose the category you want to target and then set your bid. Boosted profiles are auction-style, like Boosted Proposals. You get to decide how many Connects you're willing to pay per click and your total budget.

Is Upwork worth it?

If you want to save time as a freelancer in business development and client management, Upwork can help you throughout the project lifecycle. Easily connect with clients, bidding on proposals or offering pre-packaged services, and enjoy streamlined billing and invoicing processes.

One of the main benefits of finding clients on your own is you don't have to pay any fees. The downside is you have to check job boards, advertise, or send cold emails to clients to see if they're interested in your services. You also have to handle your own invoicing and billing.

Freelancer platforms typically have service fees (Upwork charges a flat 10% for all new contracts) because they provide project management tools and services like payment protection and processing. When freelancing on Upwork, you don't have to worry about late payments or submitting complicated invoices, and you can market your services and bid on projects all on one platform. Once you've won a contract, you can wait until the project is funded (payment in escrow) and then feel secure with both fixed-price and hourly payment protection.

Evan Fisher dives into Upwork’s fee structure in his recent article “New Upwork Freelancer Fees 10 Percent? Your Questions, Answered" from the freelancer’s point of view “We think this isn’t just great, it’s awesome. New freelancers earn more. Pro freelancers largely unaffected. Upwork attracts best freelancers. Clients are more happy (with the exception of de minimis $4.95 one-time fees), trust Upwork, spend more."

You can use the Upwork Fee Calculator to see what your at-home pay would be after service fees for projects at different price points.

"There is a significant upside with Upwork as you become more established on the platform. For example, you can earn talent badges that distinguish you from the crowd and enable you to earn certain benefits such as bonus Connects, control over your Job Success Score, the ability to offer consultations, and more. Consultations are another revenue channel where clients reach out to you, not the other way around."
—Peter Ono

Pro Tip: "I work the fees into my hourly rate, so I don't let it affect me. Clients don't seem to mind, and it puts your mind at ease."
—Adam Palmer, Marketing Automation Expert

Pros and cons of using Upwork

What works for one person may not work for everyone. Whether or not Upwork is worth it depends on the type of work you do and what you're looking to gain from freelancing. Many highly skilled independent professionals choose Upwork because they enjoy longer client engagements and can specialize and become an expert in their niche.

Pros of using Upwork

Many independent professionals find that Upwork offers a range of important benefits, including:

• No cost to start. It's free to create an Upwork account and profile.
• High-paying jobs. Over 1/3 of U.S. freelancers on Upwork earn at least $50/hr.
• Job Search. Filter jobs on Talent Marketplace by category, budget, project length, hourly or fixed-price, and experience needed and find the right jobs for your unique skill set.
• Fixed price payment protection. Clients pre-fund the project into escrow before you begin. Once you submit your work, if they don’t approve or ask for changes after 14 days, you automatically get paid.
• Hourly tracking. Log your time using the Upwork Desktop app and feel secure knowing you'll get paid for the hours worked as long as it meets the hourly payment protection criteria.
• Talent badges. Get recognized for your hard work and expertise by earning Talent Badges that can help you stand out and attract more clients.
• Contract to Hire. Browse full-time employment opportunities and test-drive positions with Contract to Hire.
• Community. Once you decide to join Upwork, you can become a part of the Upwork Community and attend virtual and in-person events, learn with The Academy, take part in groups, and get tips through discussions and the community blog.

"Upwork is worth it for me because it provides me with everything I need. It's my main source of income and how I make a living."
—Faraz Ahmed

Cons of using Upwork

While Upwork’s mission is to create economic opportunities that enable people to live better lives, the structure of the platform may not be right for everyone. Some challenges freelancers mention facing on the platform include:

• Competition. Upwork is a popular freelancing platform with high-quality clients and talent. Standing out as an independent professional can be challenging at first until you grow your portfolio and client base.
• Review-based. Building a reputation as a freelancer is important, and clients look for experienced talent with a high Job Success Score and positive reviews. You may need to take on smaller and easier projects in the beginning to gain positive feedback.
• Fees. Upwork charges a 10% service fee on earnings in exchange for the freelancer services and features within the platform.
• Remote-based. The majority of jobs are work-from-home and remote, which may not be a great fit if you want to work in an office setting.
• Time-zones. While you can filter by time zone and location, Upwork is a global platform and you may work with clients in different time zones. Mastering asynchronous communication and planning ahead for meetings is important.

"As in all things in life, you get out of it what you put in. The path to making steady money won't come overnight, but if you're persistent and willing to experiment, I believe Upwork is a great place to start. The platform is intuitive with a tremendous amount of community and professional support. Most importantly, there's no shortage of job opportunities, and the bidding process is straightforward."
—Peter Ono

How does Upwork compare with other freelance platforms?

Upwork vs. Fiverr

Summary: Instead of submitting proposals to projects on Fiverr, you have to let clients come to you. Businesses turn to Fiverr for lower-cost one-time projects with a quick turnaround time like a logo, but the platform is not set up for hourly work and long-term engagements.

“The 10% service fees are more than fair and much better than Fiverr's 20% fees.”
— William T Cooper

Upwork vs. Guru

Summary: Like Upwork, Guru is set up for longer-term client-freelancer relationships and offers payment by project or hourly. Guru encourages freelancers to pay for different levels of membership ranging from $11.95 per month to $49.95 per month.

“Upwork has a wider breadth of high-paying clients than any other freelance platform I've tried.”
—Evan Fisher, Pitch Deck Expert

Upwork vs. Toptal

Summary: Toptal only accepts 3% of applicants in specific categories, and the approval process can take a few weeks. Toptal recruiters can match you with jobs, and you can also apply to posted client projects. Toptal also focuses more on long-term engagements that are part-time or full-time.

"I'd been searching for years to find a reliable freelancing platform, and Upwork checks many boxes for me. It's become my primary source of freelance work. Through it, I've been able to garner a loyal following of repeat clients, reducing time and effort searching for new work and preparing proposals. And with Project Catalog, it makes things even easier as I have clients reaching out to me."
—Peter Ono

How much can you make on Upwork?

What you earn as a freelancer on Upwork depends on your specific skillset, experience, and industry. You can take a look at the average hourly rates for popular categories and skills to get a better idea of the market rate for the type of work you do.

"Without sharing specifics, I believe the earning potential can be significant. As a freelancer gains experience through positive project completions, the more they can potentially demand in terms of compensation over time. In addition to job listings, other opportunities exist, such as consultations, Project Catalogs, and the ability to work with peers within an agency environment. While earning a decent income through part-time freelancing, I believe the possibility to double or even triple my income as a full-time freelancer is not out of the realm of possibility."
—Peter Ono

If you're new to freelancing on Upwork, you may want to charge less initially to build up your reputation, earn positive reviews, and have more samples for your portfolio. Once you've established yourself, you can start to raise your rates and charge new clients more as the demand for your services increases.

Pro Tip: "When you're just starting on Upwork, it's a good idea to begin with smaller projects. These projects will help you build your reputation on the platform, gain some positive reviews, and get some experience under your belt. That's how I also started. Additionally, the first 230 characters are the first part the client sees when they read your proposal, so when applying for a job, always make it about the client and their project in the beginning of the proposal and not about yourself."
—Faraz Ahmed

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Get started on Upwork

Getting started on Upwork as a freelancer is easy and free. All you have to do is make a freelancer profile. Your profile is how clients will evaluate your skills and decide if you're the best fit for their project. A complete Upwork freelancer profile includes the following:

• Profile picture
• Introduction video
• Title
• Overview
• Education
• Employment history
• Experience
• Skills
• Testimonials
• Certifications
• Portfolio

"As a new Upwork freelancer, you're no doubt hungry for work. Keep the following in mind as you start your journey on the platform:

1. Complete as much of your profile as possible. This includes your profile photo, portfolio, experience, and educational background. The more clients know about you, the more reassured they will be in engaging you and your services.
2. Try to narrow your focus of expertise. You may be a graphic designer, for example, with a broad set of skills and experiences. I've found that it's helpful to be specific about your service offering. While this may mean playing down other skills, establishing a niche can be a useful strategy.
3. As you're applying for projects, be sure to check the rating and reviews of job posters. Just as clients are looking for reputable and reliable freelancers, you'll want the same from a potential client. Look at their 5-star rating, their recent reviews, their total spend, and whether or not they've secured funding for their project."

—Peter Ono

How to make the most out of Upwork: Tips from real freelancers

We've asked independent professionals on Upwork what their best tips are for getting the most out of Upwork. Here's what they said:

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Start freelancing on Upwork

Whether you're looking to earn extra income outside of your regular 9-5 or want to start working as an independent professional, Upwork is where you can find the type of work that excites you. Decide on a niche and start building your reputation. See the jobs clients are posting right now. Choose the clients you want to work with and the projects to say yes to. Enjoy the flexibility of working remotely as an independent professional. You may never look back.

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Prices are current at the time of writing and may change over time based on each service’s offerings.

Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the third-party tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyze and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.