Understanding Upwork Fees

As an experienced freelancer on Upwork, I’m here to give you a breakdown of the platform’s fee structure. Upwork charges freelancers a sliding fee based on the freelancer’s lifetime billings with a specific client.

Here are the details:

• For the first $500 you bill your client across all contracts, Upwork charges a 20% service fee.
• For total billings with your client between $500.01 and $10,000, Upwork’s service fee drops to 10%.
• Once you bill a client over $10,000, the service fee is further reduced to 5%.

It’s important to note that:

The fees are calculated on a per-client basis and not on the overall amount you’ve billed on Upwork. This means the more you earn from a single client, the less Upwork’s fee will be.
Also remember, these fees are deducted automatically before the funds are made available for you to withdraw.

Example:

On a $600 project with a new client:

• The first $500 will be charged at 20%, meaning $100 will go to Upwork.
• The remaining $100 will be charged at 10%, meaning $10 will go to Upwork.
• You’d receive $490 from this project (minusing the fees).

I hope this helps clear up any confusion about Upwork’s fees!