Free tool
Upwork Connects ROI calculator
Enter the proposals you send, the Connects each one costs, and what came back. The calculator works out what you actually pay after free Connects, your cost per reply and per contract, what you earned, what Upwork's service fee takes, and the profit and return on Connects that are left. It also compares Basic against Freelancer Plus at your volume. It is arithmetic on your own numbers, not a forecast.
Last reviewed
Work out your Connect spend
The numbers below start on a typical month. Change them to yours and every figure updates as you type.
Your profit this month
Left from $1,800.00 of contracts after Upwork's fee and $70.50 of Connects.
Profit $1,549.50. Return on Connects 2,198%. Left from $1,800.00 of contracts after Upwork's fee and $70.50 of Connects.
- You keep$1,549.50
- Upwork fee$180.00
- Connects$70.50
Your month
Drag or type. Every figure updates as you go.
Your statement
480 Connects used, $72.00 at face value. Take home after the fee is $1,620.00.
From proposal to contract
- 40 proposals
- 6 replies15.0% of proposals$11.75 each
- 1 contract16.7% of replies$70.50 each
Is Freelancer Plus worth it?
$70.50
Pay per Connect
$76.99
$19.99 a month, 90 more Connects
At 480 Connects a month. Basic saves $6.49 on Connects alone. The 90 extra Connects are worth $13.50, so judge Plus on its other features.
How each number is worked out
Nothing here is estimated or modelled. Every figure is arithmetic on the numbers you enter, so you can reproduce all of it by hand.
- Connects used
- Proposals a month multiplied by Connects per proposal.
- What you actually pay
- Connects used, minus the free Connects you were given, multiplied by the price per Connect. Free Connects only offset Connects you actually spent.
- Cost per reply
- What you actually pay, divided by the number of replies.
- Cost per contract
- What you actually pay, divided by contracts won.
- Earned from contracts
- Contracts won multiplied by average contract value.
- Upwork service fee
- What you earned multiplied by your fee percentage. Upwork sets the fee per contract, from 0 to 15 percent, and shows it when you submit a proposal.
- Profit
- What you earned, minus the Upwork fee, minus what you actually pay for Connects.
- Return on Connects (ROI)
- Profit divided by what you actually pay for Connects, as a percentage. A negative figure means the Connects cost more than the month brought in.
A worked example
A freelancer sends 40 proposals in a month at 12 Connects each, which is 480 Connects, or $72.00 at $0.15 a Connect. The 10 free Connects they were given that month take $1.50 off, so the real bill is $70.50. Those proposals bring 6 replies, a reply rate of 15.0%, and 1 contract worth $1,800. That puts the cost of winning the contract at $70.50, which is 3.9% of what the contract pays. Upwork keeps $180.00 as its 10 percent fee, which leaves $1,620.00, and taking the Connects off that leaves a profit of $1,549.50. That is a 2,198% return on what the Connects cost.
Unused Connects do not disappear
Connects you do not spend roll over to the next month, and they expire one year after they were bought, awarded, or earned. A quiet month is not wasted money, so read the figures here as one month of a longer run rather than a use it or lose it budget. Connects also come back when a client cancels before a contract is made, or when Upwork removes a post for breaking its terms. They do not come back when a client picks someone else, when the post expires, or when you withdraw.
Freelancer Plus does not pay for itself on Connects
Some freelancers on Basic may receive 10 free Connects a month and Freelancer Plus includes 100, so Plus adds 90 Connects. At $0.15 each those Connects are worth $13.50, and Plus costs $19.99 a month. The gap does not close for someone who gets no free Connects on Basic either: 100 Connects are worth $15.00 against the same $19.99 fee. The subscription costs more than the Connects it returns at every volume, so the Connects alone never justify it. Plus can still be worth buying for its other features. It is simply not a way to make Connects cheaper.
What this can and cannot tell you
What it does
- What your Connects cost after the free ones are taken off
- What one reply and one contract actually cost you
- What you earned, and what is left after Upwork's fee and your Connects
- Your return on Connects as a percentage
- Whether Freelancer Plus is cheaper than Basic at your volume
What it does not do
- Predict how many jobs you will win next month
- See your Upwork account or your real spend
- Count the time you spend writing proposals
- Know your exact fee, which Upwork sets contract by contract
Why cost per contract beats cost per proposal
Cost per proposal is the number most freelancers watch, and it is the least useful one. It only tells you how much you spent to be ignored. Two freelancers can spend the same per proposal while one of them pays five times as much per signed contract, because the number that moves is the reply rate, not the Connects.
Raising your reply rate lowers every cost on this page at once. Sending fewer, better targeted proposals usually beats buying more Connects, because the Connects were never the expensive part. The proposals that went nowhere were.
Lower the number
Cost per contract falls when more of your proposals get read and answered.
Check a proposal before you spend
Seven writing checks on the proposal you were about to send, free and in your browser.
Stop bidding on the wrong jobs
Saved filters and plain language criteria that mark a job qualified or not before you spend a Connect.
When nobody replies
A proposal that was read and ignored is a persuasion problem, and it is the one that costs you most.
How long a proposal should be
Word counts by brief type, and the opening test that matters more than length.
Frequently asked questions
How much does one Connect cost on Upwork?
Connects cost 15 cents each and are sold in bundles, so 100 Connects costs $15. Upwork does not publish a fixed number per proposal. It sets the number job by job from project size, scope, and demand, and shows it on the job post before you apply.
Do free Connects change what I really pay?
Yes, and most calculators ignore them. Some freelancers on Basic may receive 10 free Connects a month depending on the offers running when they signed up, each talent badge adds 30, and new freelancers may get 50 once. Check your own Connects history, then put that number in. The calculator takes it off before working out your cost per reply and per contract.
Is Freelancer Plus worth it just for the Connects?
No. Plus includes 100 Connects a month where Basic may give 10, so it adds 90 Connects worth $13.50, and Plus costs $19.99 a month. Even with no free Connects on Basic, the 100 are worth $15 against a $19.99 fee. The subscription costs more than the Connects it returns at every volume, so judge Plus on its other features instead.
Does this include Upwork's service fee?
Yes. Upwork sets the freelancer service fee per contract, anywhere from 0 to 15 percent, and shows it when you submit a proposal. The calculator starts at 10 percent. Change it to the fee your contracts show, and it comes off your earnings before profit and return on Connects are worked out.
Can it predict what I will earn next month?
No. Everything here is arithmetic on numbers you already have. Reply rates move with your niche, your targeting, and the season, so treat the result as a measurement rather than a forecast.
Sources
Keep reading
- Upwork proposal checkerSeven writing checks on a proposal you paste, free and in your browser.
- All free toolsEvery free ProposalLift tool in one place.
- Upwork job alertsSaved filters that surface matching jobs before you spend Connects.
- How long should a proposal beWord counts by brief type, and the test that matters more than length.
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