This article explains the updates and key features of Direct Contracts on Upwork, which allow freelancers to work with clients who do not have an Upwork account while paying a reduced 5% freelancer service fee. Freelancers can create and send contract proposals to these clients via email, and clients must create an Upwork account to accept the proposal. Direct Contracts offer benefits like escrow protection, contract management, and dispute assistance. Freelancers must initiate new contracts through the Direct Contracts page to continue receiving the discounted service fee, and both hourly and fixed-price contracts are available under this option.
Direct Contracts let you invite clients who don't have an Upwork account to work with you on Upwork. You'll pay lower freelancer service fees on contracts with those clients, while getting the benefits of escrow protection, simple contract management, and dispute assistance should a problem arise.
How Direct Contracts work
With Direct Contracts, you can create and send fixed price or hourly contract proposals to your clients who aren't on Upwork yet. You'll send the invitation by email to your client.
If your client wants to accept your invitation, they'll need to create an Upwork account and accept your proposal. (If you try to invite a client who has already signed up for Upwork, you'll get an error message that the email is already associated with Upwork and you won't be able to send the invitation).
You can see your pending contracts on the Direct Contracts page. Once a client accepts a contract, you'll see it in Your active contracts.
After your client signs up for Upwork and accepts your proposed contract, it will work just like other Marketplace contracts, except you'll pay a reduced freelancer service fee. Also, if the contract closes, you'll need to initiate future contracts with that client through the Direct Contracts page to continue to receive the discount.
- You pay a 5% freelancer service fee on the earnings you make on Direct Contracts. The fee is 5% of the total value of the contract. For example, if your earnings are $100 USD you'll be charged a fee of $5 USD
- Your client will pay the Client Marketplace Fee and a Contract Initiation Fee
Please note that all transactions are in USD.
- Direct Contracts can only be used with clients who do not have an Upwork account. Please confirm with your client that they have never signed up for an account on Upwork. You cannot invite them using Direct Contracts if they have, even if they have not been actively hiring on the platform
- As a freelancer, you'll pay a 5% freelancer service fee instead of 10%
- You create the contract terms and send proposals to your client
- You'll need to initiate every contract with your Direct Contracts client through the Direct Contracts page to receive discounted freelancer services fees
Frequently Asked Questions
Freelancers are charged a 5% freelancer service fee for contracts initiated through the Direct Contracts page.
After your client accepts your invitation, you'll need to initiate future contracts with them through the Direct Contracts page to receive the discounted freelancer fees.
A Direct Contracts contract will have the same impact on your metrics as other contracts. You and your client can leave each other feedback, which can impact your JSS score and Rising Talent or Top Rated status, and the number of contracts and dollar earnings will be counted in your totals.
Yes! You can have both hourly and fixed-price contracts with the Direct Contracts option.
Go to Find work > Direct Contracts and choose Create a contract to get started.
You can't edit a proposed contract that hasn't been accepted yet. If your client wants changes, you will need to create a new contract.
Once the contract is accepted, a contract can only be edited in the same ways as Marketplace contracts. For other changes, such as a different contract title, for example, you'll need to create a new contract. These are the changes you can make:
- Hourly: You can lower an hourly rate or your client can raise it
- Fixed-price: You can request edits or clients can make edits to future milestones only. You and your client cannot edit an active milestone or a contract with no milestones
Go to Your active contracts to find the contract. From the contract workroom, select the (...) and you'll see an option to End contract.
Payment occurs the same way that it does for Marketplace contracts. Hourly contracts will be billed weekly based on time you log with the Time Tracker or add manually, and you'll submit work for payment for fixed-price contracts.
Please don't. Your client does not have an Upwork account yet, so they need a special link to access the contract information. We will send that via email — so let them know to be on the lookout for an email from Upwork.com.
If your client cancels a fixed-price contract with you, any money deposited into escrow will be returned to them. If you need to dispute that return of escrow, learn how to file a dispute on a fixed-price contract here.
If your client cancels an hourly contract, you will be paid for all billed hours, unless the client files a dispute of your hours within their allowable time frame. Learn how to respond to a client's hourly dispute here.
Yes, you and your client can share feedback on Direct Contracts.
Existing contracts on Upwork cannot be changed to a Direct Contracts contract.
Yes, you'll log time for Direct Contracts in the Time Tracker, just like for other contracts.
