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Upwork fee calculator

What you take home after Upwork’s freelancer fee, and what to bid to receive the amount you want.

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Upwork shows your rate (0 to 15%) on each contract.

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Since May 2025 Upwork's freelancer fee varies by contract, from 0% to 15%; you see it before you accept an offer. Set the percentage to the one on your contract. Withdrawal fees to your bank are extra. Check the current rates at Upwork: Freelancer service fees.

How Upwork's fees work

Since May 2025 Upwork has charged freelancers a variable service fee of 0% to 15% on each contract, instead of the old flat 10%. The rate for a job is shown before you send a proposal or accept an offer, and stays the same for that contract. Clients pay their own marketplace fee on top, which doesn't come out of your earnings.

Getting paid out also costs a little: direct transfers to a local bank are usually free or cheap, while wire transfers and some other methods have a fixed fee.

Charging so you receive the full amount

Adding the fee percentage to your price doesn't quite work, because the fee is charged on the higher amount too. To receive exactly what you want, divide by what's left after the percentage:

Amount to charge = (amount you want + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − percentage fee ÷ 100)

For example, to receive 500 when the fee is 2.9% + 0.30: (500 + 0.30) ÷ 0.971 = 515.24. Choose "I want to receive" in the calculator and it does this for you.

Can you pass fees on to customers?

It depends on where you are and who you sell to. In the UK and the EU, businesses may not add a surcharge for paying with consumer cards. In the US, card surcharges are allowed in most states, with limits and disclosure rules. Everywhere, you can simply set your prices to cover your costs, and offer a cheaper way to pay, such as a bank transfer. Our invoice generator puts your bank details on every invoice.

Fees are a business cost

Payment and platform fees are normally a deductible business expense. Keep your monthly statements from Stripe, PayPal or the platform for your accounts. To set a rate that covers fees, costs and time off, try our day rate calculator.

Other fee calculators

Stripe · PayPal · Upwork · Fiverr · All providers

Questions people ask

›What percentage does Upwork take?

Between 0% and 15% of your earnings on each contract. The rate is shown before you accept the job. Older contracts at the flat 10% fee kept that rate.

›Why doesn't adding the fee percentage to my price cover it?

Because the fee is charged on the whole amount, including the part you added. To receive 100 after a 3% fee you need to charge 100 ÷ 0.97 = 103.09, not 103.

›Are these fees up to date?

They're the published standard rates as we last checked them (October 2026). Providers change their pricing, rates differ by country, and larger businesses often get custom pricing, so every value in the calculator can be changed to match your own statement.