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Is Freelancer Plus worth it? Doing the maths

Upwork's paid plan bundles Connects with a few extras. A simple way to work out whether it pays for itself at the number of proposals you send.

By The Upwork Agents teamOctober 5, 20262 min read

Upwork offers a free Basic plan and a paid plan called Freelancer Plus. Whether Plus is worth it is mostly a question of arithmetic, plus a couple of extras you may or may not use.

What you get, at the time of writing

  • Price: $19.99 a month on the website (subscribing through an app store can cost more).
  • Connects: 100 a month, against 10 on the free plan. Your first month can be slightly lower, depending on when you upgrade.
  • Extras: such as a lower fee on Direct Contracts with clients you bring to Upwork, and other perks Upwork lists on its plan comparison page.

The Connects maths

Bought on their own, Connects cost $0.15 each. That makes the 90 extra Connects in Plus worth about $13.50 at list price, against a $19.99 subscription. So on Connects alone, Plus costs roughly $6.50 a month more than buying the same Connects, however many you use. The extras are what you are really paying that difference for.

Work it out for yourself:

  1. Count the Connects you used last month (your Connects history shows this).
  2. If you used 10 or fewer, you do not need more Connects at all. Stay on Basic unless the extras matter to you.
  3. If you used more, Plus covers up to 90 extra. Ask whether its other perks are worth about $6.50 a month to you on top of the Connects.

When Plus makes sense

  • You send proposals every week and regularly run out of Connects.
  • You bring your own clients to Upwork and would use the lower Direct Contract fee.
  • You value the other perks Upwork lists for Plus members.

When to stay on Basic

  • You apply only now and then, or mostly receive invitations (responding to an invitation can use fewer Connects than a fresh proposal).
  • You are still finding your niche. Fixing your profile and targeting raise your reply rate more than extra Connects do. See finding your niche.
Prices, Connects allowances and perks change. Compare the plans on Upwork before deciding, and remember that more Connects only help if each proposal is worth sending.

Further watching

Freelancers share their take on Plus in these videos. We have not reviewed their advice, and prices may have changed since:

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