How to become Top Rated on Upwork

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What does Top Rated mean on Upwork?

Top Rated highlights professionals who consistently earn positive client feedback and have built a strong reputation on Upwork. They represent the top 10% of talent on Upwork.

What are the benefits of being Top Rated?

When you’re Top Rated, we put a dedicated badge on your freelancer, agency, or agency members’ profile, your proposals, and your projects on Project Catalog. It lets clients know you have a track record of great work and may increase your chances of being invited to interview. You also get these additional benefits:

Our Job Digest email to make it easier for you to find jobs that are a great match
Faster payments on hourly contracts
Ability to offer consultations to share expertise with clients

Note: If agency members have enough history to have a Job Success Score, their badge will display as a Top Rated badge. If they do not yet have enough history, it will be a Rising Talent badge as long as their profiles are at least 60% complete.

How do I become Top Rated on Upwork?

You earn a Top Rated badge by building an impressive reputation on Upwork and building great relationships with your clients.

To become Top Rated, in general you'll need to:

Have a proven history of success with multiple clients — communication and professionalism are key
Consistently delighting your clients with your work — choose projects that match your skills, provide quality work, and complete projects on time
Contribute to a safe and vibrant marketplace on Upwork by knowing and following the Upwork Terms of Service

Here are the specific criteria for becoming Top Rated as a freelancer or an agency:

Freelancers:

A current Job Success Score of 90% or higher
First project on Upwork was more than 90 days ago
Maintained Rising Talent status or a Job Success Score of at least 90% for at least 13 of the last 16 weeks
A 100% complete profile (90% for those who brought their profiles over from Elance)
12-month earnings of at least $1,000
Up-to-date availability (if unavailable now, set a date estimate)
An account in good standing with no recent account holds
Activity on the platform (proposal, accepted invitation, or earnings) in the past 90 days

Agencies (2+ team members, including the agency owner):

An agency Job Success Score of 90% or higher
An agency owner Job Success Score of 90% or higher (or none earned yet)
Maintained an Agency Job Success Score of at least 90% for at least 13 of the last 16 weeks
A 100% complete agency owner profile with photo
An agency profile with a logo, overview, and services offered
Agency member profiles that are at least 60% complete on average (50% for those who brought their profiles over from Elance)
12-month agency earnings of at least $10,000
Up-to-date availability (if unavailable now, set a date estimate)
An account in good standing with no recent account holds (including yourself, your agency, and all agency members including agency owners)
Activity on the platform (proposal, accepted invitation, or earnings) in the past 90 days

Note:

If you direct or accept payments outside of our payment system, or repeatedly communicate off Upwork before a contract is in place, you'll lose your Rising Talent, Top Rated, or Top Rated Plus badge. You won’t be eligible to earn them again for a period of six months.

Learn more about circumvention and why it’s against the rules here.

How do I know if I'm reaching my goal of becoming Top Rated?

You can monitor your progress and help manage your success by using your Stats and trends page to track your Job Success Score, 12-month earnings, and more. Learn more about your stats.