Upwork is one of the largest freelancing websites, where businesses connect with talented freelancers to get more done. Many professional freelancers prefer it over other freelance platforms because it’s known for having quality clients and fewer bids.

Starting in May, freelancers will be charged anywhere from $0.15 and $0.90 to submit a job proposal, as opposed to being free. To help freelancers and employers alike prepare for the transition, here is a comprehensive guide to the Upwork Connects pricing changes with everything you need to know.

Upwork Connect vs Proposal

You might ask; How much am I going to pay for submitting a proposal? Before running the numbers, let me explain the BIG difference between Connect and Proposal. Each proposal requires a certain amount of connects, according to the job size:

  • Small Jobs ($49 or less — 2 days or less): 2 Connects ~ $0.3
  • Medium Jobs ($50-$599 — 7 days or less): 4 Connects ~ $0.6
  • Large Jobs (+$600 — 1 week or longer): 6 Connects ~ $0.9

Why?

Why Upwork will charge $0.15 per connect?

According to Upwork, here’s why:

We want to help professional freelancers like you win more jobs. With paid Connects, we expect freelancers will submit fewer proposals, increasing your likelihood of winning projects and making it easier for clients to identify high-quality talent.

Basically, Upwork has SO MANY freelancers, and they make it even harder for newcomers to start freelancing, by preventing them from submitting proposals unless they pay for it. For professional freelancers, it might be a good feature to differentiate themselves and get more jobs. But wait, differentiate themselves from whom? Everyone MUST pay to submit a proposal, so it’s in Upwork & Employer’s favor, not us – Professional Freelancers – and if they truly want to help us, there are so many ways to do that instead of charging for submitting a proposal…

What about the clients?

Again, Upwork doesn’t charge the clients/employers any fees, only the freelancer. Unfortunately, freelancers on Upwork already pay 20% fees, and now – They will pay additional “Connects” cost. While the clients read The 4-Hour Workweek book, and hire more slaves to do their job… Stop that!

My question here is; What if I paid to submit a proposal and the client ignored that job posting?

Let’s remind Upwork that Freelancer.com takes 3% fees only

Do you agree to pay $0.15 per connect on Upwork?

When Upwork announced that change, the majority of freelancers disagreed and replied aggressively on their tweet:

Do you think this change will help you as a Freelancer on Upwork, or it’s just a way for Upwork to make some money on top of our work?

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Did I mention that Freelancer Plus Plan price will be changed from $10 to $15? Again, they just want to help freelancers, don’t they?

For more information & FAQs about this change, please check Upwork’s Connect Page