How Do “Connects” Work on Upwork?

Keeping up with the freelance site is an important job skill

These are definitely what “connects” on Upwork look like. Photo by Jordan Rowland on Unsplash

In May of 2019, Upwork modified their process for bidding on work.

They introduced their internal currency, “Connects.” These figurative tokens are not credits, exactly, though they work much like credits. However, they’re called “connects.”

So there’s that.

Here is how the new system works:

When clients post their jobs, Upwork makes the cost of a bid somewhere between 1 and 6 “connects.” This is based on an internal assessment of several factors that appear to include the client’s history on Upwork, whether they have placed money in reserve, the size / scope of the work, and the overall cost of the project.

The most reliable clients and high-paying jobs cost 6 connects. The least credible clients and the smallest job cost 1 or 2. (I have not yet seen one that cost less than 2, so the 1 is a theoretical basement.)

If you wish to bid on a specific project, first verify that you have the requisite number of connects. Then you complete the bid process as you usually would. Enter your proposal price, either hourly or per milestone / work completed. Describe your qualifications and the skills you would bring to this particular project. Then…