Want to find freelance gigs on Upwork? It’s going to cost you.
In an April 2 email, Upwork CEO Stephane Kasriel announced plans to charge the platform’s 14 million freelance users to bid on — or in Upwork lingo, “Connect” with — projects and jobs. Freelance membership fees will also increase.
By the end of Summer 2019, freelancers will have to buy “Connects” to express interest in job listings. Connects must be purchased in batches of 10 or more, and each one costs 15 cents. The business that creates the job listing determines how many Connects it costs freelancers to apply, ranging from one to six — or in other words 15 cents to 90 cents.
Using Connects on any given listing is no guarantee of getting the job or project. This feature only shows the business that you’re interested. Connects also expire at the end of the month and must be repurchased, again, in batches of at least 10.
Additionally, Freelance Plus monthly memberships, which include 70 Connects, will increase 50%, from $10 a month to $15. Upwork did not announce the membership price increase in the email from Kasriel, and did not respond to a request for comment from The Penny Hoarder.
Upwork also charges freelancers a 20% service fee for all completed projects. These fees are not affected.
The changes will be in effect for new and existing users by May 2.
All of it adds to the mountain of expenses freelancers already face, including steep quarterly tax considerations and a lack of benefits. The added costs to apply to Upwork gigs, plus the platform’s 20% cut off the top have some freelancers searching for alternatives.
Freelancers Respond to New Upwork Fees
Following the announcement, Upwork freelancers took to Facebook advice groups to discuss the fee changes. And, generally speaking, they’re not happy.
Kayleigh Fossett, an administrative assistant based out of Lakeland, Florida, is new to Upwork and freelancing. She’s discouraged by the changes.
“I feel like I haven’t even got my foot in the door, and there’s already another obstacle,” she said.
So far, Fossett has completed three jobs on Upwork. Getting those three jobs took her 22 proposals or 44 Connects. Under the announced changes, it would cost Fossett $6.60 to land those projects.
“Plus, they take the additional 20% when you do complete a job,” she said. “It is not worth it. I will be looking elsewhere for work.”
Some proponents of the changes argue that the additional costs to apply to gigs will lessen the competition.
Freelance platforms like Upwork make it easier for freelancers to find clients. And that’s a big pain point for most new freelancers, says Laura Poole, a North Carolina-based freelance business owner.
Poole is a non-fiction editor with more than two decades of full-time freelance experience. She trains other freelancers to “be bold and make your own opportunities” at conferences and workshops across the nation.
“[Upwork] should be a launch point,” Poole says. “But you don’t have to be locked into it forever.”
Alternatives to Upwork
If Upwork fees are too much for you, there are plenty of alternatives to score good freelance work.
Other Freelance Websites
In the budding stages of your freelance career? You may be most comfortable with freelance platforms, and Upwork isn’t the only one. Be sure to check out other freelance websites for job opportunities, and compare their fees to find what works best for you.
Some notable examples include Fiverr, Freelancer and Guru — all of which run on a bidding system similar to Upwork’s old fee structure. Their service fees run between 10% and 20% of each project.
Pro Tip
PRO-TIP: One of the biggest mistakes beginning freelancers make is pricing themselves too low, Poole says. Factor in the fees and extra work that freelancing entails when setting your hourly rates.
Professional Organizations
According to Poole, freelancing is all about networking. The more people you know, the less you’re beholden to the ever-growing services fees of freelance websites.
“Figure out who your ideal client is,” she says. “Then go directly to your clients.”
Poole is a member of ACES, an international society for editors. She uses the perks of her membership to present at ACES conferences and network with people in her industry. She highly recommends presenting and public speaking.
“If you can present something useful, [clients] will remember you,” she says. “Better than handing out business cards. Better than even placing an ad.”
Several industries popular with freelancers have national organizations, such as the American Advertising Federation and the Society of Professional Journalists. Each organization has local chapters that host events and offer resources to members. Their websites often post niche jobs and freelance opportunities in the industry as well.
Pro Tip
PRO-TIP: A great, free resource for freelancers of any field is the Freelancers Union. The organization helps its members with job boards, legal representation, freelancing guides, assistance with hea
Job Boards
Freelance and remote work is booming in popularity. As a result, there are free job boards out there that specialize in this type of work. While they’re not as comprehensive as freelance platforms like Upwork or Fiverr, they do aggregate related jobs… for free.
- Remote.co: While Remote.co doesn’t post 100% freelance gigs, it does post 100% remote jobs, many of which are freelance. Industries include clerical work, editing, writing, marketing, software development, engineering and customer service.
- The Penny Hoarder’s Work-From-Home Job Portal: Our journalists personally vet every single job and company that we write about on our Work-From-Home Job Portal. Our focus is on hourly jobs at legitimate companies. Plenty of our posts are about freelance work, but we also include full-time and part-time gigs as well. Customer service, writing, editing, marketing and IT jobs are the most popular.
- Mediabistro: As its name implies, Mediabistro is focused on jobs in the media industry, an industry ripe for freelance work. While the job board posts all kinds of media jobs, you can filter out exactly what you want to see — freelance, full-time, part-time, by industry and by location.
Pro Tip
PRO-TIP: To make your freelance gig search a bit easier, set up email notifications for new job listings. You can typically choose the exact type of job you want and the frequency of each email.
The Old-Fashioned Way
A cold pitch never hurt anyone. The worst a company can do is say no. So find a business or publisher in your field and send them an email.
“A polite, cold email can get good results,” says Poole.
Our guide, The Art of the Pitch, walks you through exactly what to include in the email and gives tips on how to find the right people to pitch.
Pro Tip
PRO-TIP: After a successful project, Poole recommends following up with a client to say, “Did you know I can also help with XYZ?” This can help establish recurring work.
Adam Hardy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. He specializes in ways to make money that don’t involve stuffy corporate offices. Read his latest articles here, or say hi on Twitter @hardyjournalism.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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