Upwork Freelancer Plus membership fee increased—worth the pay or not?
After my first earnings on Upwork, I ‘upgraded’ from Freelancer Basic to Freelancer Plus. Freelancer Plus is a paid membership option for freelancers on Upwork. I find it a way to automatically buy connects, which helps me resist not investing in connects. Upwork’s currency, called connects, is what we spend when bidding for jobs and is extremely important for winning projects on Upwork, especially for new freelancers.
Recently, Upwork has increased the Freelancers Plus membership fee. Was it worth it? Now, with the increased fee, is it still worth paying for?
Why the increment?
Most platforms are pay-and-win, and I honestly don’t see Upwork as any different. They want to make a profit, as every company should, and as freelancers making money through the Upwork platform, we should be willing to pay our dues, but it is essential that we evaluate our options, make suggestions to Upwork, and channel our complaints. In line with this, I will analyse the worthiness of the feature for both top-rated freelancers and Upwork beginners as well.
Is the Upwork membership upgrade worth the pay for freelancers? Is it necessary? As a freelancer, I had recently experimented with buying connects separately, as normal 133 connects for $20, compared to the 80 connects in Freelancer Plus. Is that a better deal, given the extra features of Freelancer Plus? Are the so-called extra features really worth the higher cost?
Upwork’s Freelancer Plus membership fee is set to increase from $14.99 to $21/month on 2/16/2024. I realised that if you are an iPhone user, this has taken effect already, but if you use your browser, it’s still $14.99.
Is Freelancer Plus worth it?
I will analyse the advertised benefits of Upwork’s Freelancer Plus membership for you
1. You’ll be visible. We keep your profile active, even if you take a break.
Positive: This makes Upwork not switch your account to private even if you are absent on the platform for a while.
Consideration: I think this is not useful if you are an active freelancer on Upwork.
2. You’ll gain insight. See what bids your competitors are making on a posted job:
Positive: This benefit offers a competitive advantage by providing insights into how other freelancers bid on projects.
Consideration: It assumes that knowing competitors’ bids translates directly into improved success. No, it doesn’t. By the way, I charge what I deem fit for my level of expertise and my personal evaluation of how tasking the project is not other freelancers’ bid.
3. You’ll get 80 Connects per month (70 included with your plan purchase, and 10 free from Upwork!) to help you find great new projects:
Positive: It’s an alternative way of buying connect, and I love the fact that this can be automatic, so I am encouraged to buy connect and send proposals with it to get more jobs.
Consideration: It costs more to buy connect this way than to outright buy the same amount of connects. It’s not a viable option for freelancers who need or want less than 80 connects.
The value of extra Connects depends on the individual freelancer’s activity and needs.
4. Upwork will give you a customised profile URL so clients can remember how to find you:
Positive: Offers a personalised touch to the freelancer’s profile, potentially enhancing brand recall.
Consideration: The impact might be limited if clients primarily use the Upwork search feature, and for clients you send the link to, none will memorise the link. You can also use a free link shortener or hyperlink.
5. You’ll get free coaching. Attend Upwork coaching office hours:
Positive: This is intended to help with skills enhancement and help freelancers learn more about Upwork.
Consideration: This is a vague promise. I pay for Freelancer Plus and can tell you this online exists on paper. You can learn from channels like mine (www.YouTube.com/@thespeakingpen) or Upwork’s YouTube channel for free.
6. You’ll pay 0% freelancer fees when you bring new clients to Upwork (they must not have an existing Upwork account):
Positive: This is one of the most valuable advantages of Upwork Freelancer Plus. Direct Contract incentivizes freelancers to bring in new clients.
Consideration: This benefit means nothing to freelancers who do not bring clients from outside Upwork to Upwork. Most freelancers don’t. I have only used Direct Contract once.
7. You’ll have access to an exclusive Freelancer Plus group. Learn from and network with your peers.
Positive: This was intended to offer a sense of community and networking opportunities, in theory.
Consideration: I personally find zero value in this and didn’t feel any sense of community or engagement that I can recommend that you pay for. The general Upwork community, which is free and open to all freelancers, is way more valuable.
8. You’ll get your skills certified faster. Skip the line for Upwork Skills Certifications:
Positive: Upwork promises to help you jump the queue for the skills certification process for freelancers if you are a Freelancer Plus member.
Consideration: This is valuable as many freelancers want the Upwork Skill certification, which can help you stand out a bit more in the eyes of clients who view your profile.
9. You can keep your earnings private. Want to keep your earnings confidential? You can with Freelancer Plus:
Positive: Provides an option for freelancers who prioritise keeping their earnings confidential.
Consideration: Clients to whom you submit applications will have access to view all your earnings. Also, by keeping your earnings private your profile will not visible to clients who use minimum earnings filter in their searches,
Overall, the benefits address various aspects of freelancing on Upwork, but their impact can vary based on individual preferences and the freelancer’s specific needs.
These are cool in theory, but not worth much in reality. Could there be algorithmic advantages of Upwork Freelancer Plus not explicitly stated by Upwork? I don’t think so.
The fee increment ladens freelancers with further financial burdens among other recent ladens.
My recommendations
A. To make Freelancer Plus more valuable, Upwork should include free use for “Available Now” and probably boosted profile features.
B. Freelancer Plus members should receive badges that stand out.
C. The customised link should be available to all freelancers and not put behind a pay wall or once a freelancer pay once, its should be available for. life.
D. There can be two or more tiers of Freelancer Plus for freelancers to choose from, as freelancers earn different range of income on Upwork.
E. Freelancer Plus members should receive preferential treatment in the algorithm.
F. Upwork can also add a Freelancer Plus filter for clients to search freelancers that are on the Upwork Freelancer Plus plan. This would make Freelancer Plus worth it more, but this may not be fair to freelancers on Free Basic and offers no significance to clients.
G. Boost Your Profile feature is worth spending connect on than boosting proposals. Perhaps Upwork should add this as benefits for Freelancer Plus.
Conclusion:
If, for example, a new freelancer A pays $20 for Freelancer Plus and a new freelancer B stays on Free Basic membership and buys connects for the same amount, Upwork’s present additional features do not exceptionally enable Freelancer A to thrive better than Freelancer B. The major difference I noted is that freelancer A can see the average bid amount of freelancers who sent proposals before him, and freelancer B cannot but can apply for more job opportunities than freelancer A.
Every freelancer will ultimately need to evaluate which of these two works best for him or her
