Collaboration can unlock bigger opportunities for you and your business. With team proposals, you can link with other freelancers to work on marketplace jobs together.
How it works
When you find a job that could use a few helping hands, you can invite up to four other freelancers from your network to submit a proposal together with you. This feature allows you all to work on the same project and charge your own individual rates.
Details you should know:
- You need to be Top Rated to use this feature
- If team proposals are allowed for a job, you’ll see a team opportunity badge in the job post, highlighted in blue
- To work with other freelancers, you need to be connected on your network
- There will be a “team lead.” This is the person who submits the proposal. The Connects needed for the job proposal are pulled from the team lead’s balance
- When the team lead adds collaborators to the proposal, they’ll be notified and have an opportunity to set their own rate
- After all the freelancers agree and set their rate, the team lead will submit the proposal
- The client can reach out to your team lead with questions before hiring
How to submit a team proposal
Submitting a team proposal is the same process for a fixed-price and hourly job:
- Choose Submit a Proposal
- Choose any freelancers from My Network that you’d like to partner with on project
- Select Start a team proposal
Once you complete the above, we’ll let your collaborators know you added them, and they can add in their rate. You’ll be able to see a draft proposal in My Proposals, and it’s not complete until everybody submits their terms. Once everyone has added their terms, you’ll be notified and can submit your proposal to the client.
After you’re hired
When your proposal is selected and your team is hired, you can get right to work. Your rate is different from your collaborators and your client is able to manage and pay you separately.
The team lead can open a shared message room between everyone, including the client, so project updates, questions, etc. can be shared easily.
Frequently Asked Questions
This is a beta feature. We're working on making it available to everyone soon!
Team proposals allow you to join with other freelancers to submit a proposal together. This allows you to come together and collaborate on high-value opportunities without being part of an agency.
Sometimes clients need help with high-value projects that require a few different people. It can be overwhelming for clients to hire different and separate freelancers that don’t collaborate. For example, clients might like a website built. They may need a copywriter and a web developer, but would like them to work together.
Team proposals allow you to collaborate on a project-by-project basis without joining an agency.
Right now, only Top Rated freelancers who use My Network are eligible. If you’re Top Rated, view your network here.
If you’re eligible and the job is eligible, you’ll see an option to start a team proposal when you start a proposal. From the proposal window, you can add collaborators and choose Start a team proposal. The process is the same for hourly and fixed-price proposals.
Five people total can join a team proposal.
My Network is a beta test within Upwork where you can connect with other professionals.Right now, only Top Rated freelancers have access to the network.Learn more about building and using your network.
Yes, you need to add freelancers to your network before you can add them as collaborators on a team proposal. Not everyone needs to be in network with everyone on the proposal. But the team lead will need to be linked with every collaborator.
Right now, only Top Rated freelancers are eligible to join the My Network feature. If you’re Top Rated, view your network here. If you’re not Top Rated, you can join the waiting list here to access the feature when it’s opened to a broader audience.
The Connects are pulled from the balance of the person who submits the proposal —they are considered the team lead.
The team lead begins the proposal and adds collaborators to it, but each person sets their own rate. After someone is added to a team proposal, they’ll be notified to complete their terms, like rate. When everyone’s finished, the team lead can submit the proposal.
The team lead can message with the client before hiring, add collaborators before submitting the proposal, and can remove a collaborator before hiring. They also cover the Connects needed to submit the proposal.
You can always opt out from the proposal after being added. You’ll be notified after being added to a team proposal, and can decline. If your team already sent the proposal and you changed your mind, you can ask your team lead to remove you.
Yes, you can view your team proposal as normal under the My Proposals tab.
The team lead can add or delete collaborators at the draft stage. They can also remove collaborators after submitting the proposal but before hiring. However, once a collaborator is removed, the team lead can’t add them back in. The team lead will need to make a new proposal to add someone back in.
Each team member can end their contract with the client the way they normally would. Team members cannot remove each other from the job after hiring.
No, you’ll need to make a new proposal.
No, only jobs that have a team opportunity badge, listed in blue at the top of a job post, are eligible.
You can view the proposal under My Proposals and see the status of each collaborator’s terms in the terms section.