Upwork Fee Calculator

Indy is a complete freelancer work management platform. You can use a single system to manage your entire workflow, from making contact with new clients through to receiving payment after you send the invoice. Here are some parts of your work Indy can help you with:

• Form creator you can use for new client intake and outreach
• Templates and a simple editor for creating proposals for new clients
• Contract writer and manager to protect your work
• Task and project management, including time tracking
• Full invoicing system for creating, sending, and managing invoices
• File approval tool for sharing files and getting final sign-off

The Upwork agency service fees change based on your lifetime billings with the client. Here is an Upwork service fee invoice breakdown based on your earnings:

• $0-$500 = 20% Upwork service fee
• $501 - $10,000 = 10% Fees paid on this income
• $10,001 and up = Lower service fee of 5% on these earnings

This sliding fee based on total billings rewards freelancers who develop long-term relationships with clients.

Businesses hiring on Upwork do not pay fees on the same sliding scale. Instead, businesses pay payment fees, but these are relatively small.

There are a few ways to lower or avoid Upwork fees. Here are the best ways to increase your net take home pay:

• Work on larger projects over a longer period. These are good for your ratings, and as long as you work and increase your total agency billings, you'll pass a fee threshold and pay less.
• Do more projects for the same company. Your sliding fees are calculated based on your lifetime billings for a client. This means working on multiple projects for the same business will lower your total Upwork fees.
• Invite your own clients to Upwork. If you can bring clients to Upwork, those agency contracts begin at the 5% fee threshold. So you'll pay lower service fees from the beginning of your work. Upwork's 5% fees may be less than you spend on your own admin, thus saving you money.
• Take on a job with Upwork payroll. Freelancers participating in this service do not pay any service fees. It is only available through a third party staffing firm, and these jobs are not common. Most of them are enterprise contracts with large enterprise clients who are using the Upwork payroll service to reduce their payroll costs.
• Work for your own clients. While Upwork has many advantages, you can build up your clientele by taking on new clients who are not on Upwork. You will not pay any fees for their work.