How does billing work for Freelancer Plus?

How do I use a promo code for Freelancer Plus?

If you already subscribe, go to Membership and Connects and select Add a promo code to redeem it.

If you don’t have a membership yet, go to Membership and Connects and choose Change Plan. From there you can select Freelancer Plus, enter and apply your promo code, and Upgrade and Pay.

How do I pay for my Freelancer Plus membership?

Paying for your Freelancer Plus membership is easy. Just add a billing method, and we’ll automatically charge either your earnings balance on Upwork or your billing method each month.

If you have enough in your existing earnings balance, we’ll pull the cost from there. If you don’t have the required amount in your Upwork account, we’ll charge your preferred billing method for the total cost, if you have one on file.

If you’d like to keep money in your earnings balance to cover the cost of memberships, you can set up a reserve balance that won’t be disbursed with your automatic or manual withdrawals. Learn more about setting up a reserve balance.

My payment for Freelancer Plus failed. What do I do?

If your paid membership is set to renew but the payment can’t be processed on the renewal date, don’t worry—there’s a built-in five-day grace period before any changes happen.

Here’s how it works:

• Day 1: The system tries to renew your plan on your billing renewal date

• Days 2–4: If the first attempt fails, we'll automatically retry the charge once each day. This gives you a chance to review and update your billing method. 

• Day 5: If all attempts fail, your plan is downgraded to the free Freelancer Basic plan

Example:

Let’s say your billing cycle is September 13 to October 12, and your plan is due to renew on October 13.

• The first charge attempt happens on October 13

• Retry attempts are made on October 14, 15, and 16

• If still unsuccessful, you’re downgraded on October 17

A few things to know during this five-day period

• You can’t manually downgrade while the system is still trying to renew your plan

• Your plan will show as active even if the renewal payment hasn’t gone through yet

• If you’re wondering why your membership didn’t renew immediately, it’s likely still in this retry window
   

How does the billing cycle work when I sign up for Freelancer Plus?

Membership plans are billed immediately when you upgrade to a paid plan and recur monthly for as long as you remain enrolled in that plan. For example, if you upgrade to a paid plan on April 21, you will always be billed and have your Connects balance refreshed on the 21st day of the month. This is considered your membership billing cycle.

How do cancellations work for Freelancer Plus?

If you want to cancel your Freelancer Plus plan, you’ll need to do so before your renewal date, which begins at midnight UTC time. If you wait until the renewal date, you’ll be charged and your cancellation will not be effective until the following billing cycle.

For example, if your renewal date is March 15 and you cancel on March 15, you’ll be billed for March and your cancellation will be effective April 15. Or, if your renewal date is March 15 and you cancel on March 22, your cancellation will be effective April 15 since you'll be paid through then.

To cancel

1. Go to Memberships & Connects 
2. Select Change Plan and then choose Switch to basic 
3. Follow the prompts to select a reason for ending your membership, then confirm End Plus membership
    

Important: Exception for billing cycles that start at the end of the month

If you sign up for Freelancer Plus on the 29th, 30th, or 31st of the month, your plan will renew on the 1st of the following month instead. After that, your billing will follow a regular monthly schedule. On the 1st of each month, you’ll receive the full number of Connects and be charged the full plan cost.