Payment Processing Fee
Clients are charged a 2.75% processing fee on all payments.
The fee is assessed any time we charge your billing method and will show up as a separate item on your transaction history and payment receipt. The fee is calculated as a percentage on top of the payment you are making. For example, if you make a payment of $1,000, Upwork will charge an additional $27.50 fee for processing the payment.
For hourly projects, billing occurs weekly, so the processing fee is assessed when we charge your billing method each week and on any additional bonuses. For fixed-price projects, the processing fee is charged each time you fund a milestone or give a bonus.
Alternative Flat $25 Monthly Processing Fee
Do you have more than $910 in payments each month? Save on fees by opting into an alternative flat $25 monthly payment processing fee (instead of the 2.75% per-payment fee).
This option is available only to qualifying clients with Bank Payments or Local Currency Credit Card Billing as their primary billing methods. Only eligible clients will see these options in their Settings > Billing Methods. Minimum eligibility requirements:
- Bank Account – US bank account and history of on-time payments on Upwork
- Local Currency – Billing address in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, or most Euro countries, and credit card in that local currency
What is my billing cycle? The fee is automatically charged monthly on your enrollment date. If you pay the non-refundable alternative flat fee and then opt back out you will return to standard per-payment fees at the end of your pre-paid monthly billing cycle. Clients who choose flat fee will be charged $25 monthly — no matter how many teams, freelancers, contracts, or payments you have.
Once enrolled, if for any reason a payment is made with a different billing method, the standard 2.75% processing fee will apply.
Switch Between Fee Types
- Go to Settings > Billing Methods
- Click the View/Edit button in the Payment Processing Fee section
- Select Percentage Fee or Flat Monthly Fee
When switching to the Monthly Fee it will be charged and take effect immediately. When switching back to the Percentage Fee, it won't take effect until your current billing cycle ends (since you've already pre-paid the month's fees).
Exceptions
The above fees and options don’t apply to the following clients
- Clients who’ve signed a contract for Upwork Enterprise services
- Clients who’ve signed legacy payment agreements with Upwork (or formerly oDesk)
- Clients making payments on Elance or Elance Private Talent Cloud contracts
- Upwork Pro program fees (payments made to freelancers on Pro contracts are not exempt)