Every freelance platform advertises one number: its service fee. But the money that actually reaches your bank has passed through several more deductions, and some of them are paid on work you never win. Here is how to add it all up.
The fee each platform charges freelancers
- Upwork: a Freelancer Service Fee of 0% to 15% per contract since May 2025. You see the exact rate on the offer or when you send a proposal, and it is locked for that contract.
- Fiverr: a flat 20% of every order.
- Freelancer.com: on fixed-price projects, 10% or $5, whichever is more.
Many guides still describe Upwork's retired 20% / 10% / 5% tiers, or say the fee is a flat 10%. Neither is correct for new contracts: the rate varies, so always read it from your own offer.
The costs that aren't in the headline
On Upwork, each proposal costs Connects, and each Connect costs $0.15. If you win one job in ten, the Connects spent on the nine proposals you lost belong to the cost of the job you won. Then your payout method charges to move the money to your bank.
Service fee
$1,000.00 × 10%equals$100.00
Connects
10 proposals × 12 × $0.15equals$18.00
Take-home
$1,000.00 − $100.00 − $18.00 − $2.00equals$880.00
So 12% of this job went to fees, not 10%. The gap grows when your win rate drops or when a job needs more Connects to apply.
How to charge so you keep your target
To keep a set amount after a percentage fee, divide by one minus the fee, don't add the fee on top. To keep $1,000 after a 10% fee you must charge $1,111.11, because 10% of $1,100 is $110, not $100. Include your expected Connects and withdrawal costs in the amount you want to keep.
Tip: Improving your win rate lowers your real fee. Sending 5 targeted proposals instead of 10 generic ones halves the Connects cost of every job you win.