Top Rated Plus is our way of highlighting freelancers and agencies who consistently perform on large contracts at the highest level. They put in the effort and we want to make sure they’re recognized for it. They stand out by delivering premium quality on high-budget or longer-term jobs.
Top Rated Plus freelancers and agencies work in a wide range of categories around the world.
Benefits
As a Top Rated freelancer or agency, you’ll have a dedicated badge on your profile and proposals. It will display on your profile and on your projects on Project Catalog™. You’ll also get the following perks:
- Reduced fees (starting at 10%) on Featured Jobs
- More control over your Job Success Score
- Invitations to submit proposals to jobs assisted by Talent Specialists
- 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
- Premium customer support, including phone and chat
Become Top Rated Plus
You can earn Top Rated Plus status by building an impressive reputation on Upwork with both large and longer-term contracts. As with Top Rated status, you must have a proven history of success with multiple clients, delight your clients with your work every time, and contribute to a safe and vibrant marketplace by knowing and following the Upwork Terms of Service.
PRO TIP
If you've already earned Top Rated status and want to learn more about becoming Top Rated Plus, check My Stats to find a breakdown of your progress so far.
Criteria
In addition to earning and maintaining Top Rated status, Top Rated Plus must have the following qualifications:
Criteria for individual freelancers and non-exclusive agency members:
- Total earnings over $10,000 in the past 12 months
- Agencies have total earnings over $20,000 in the past 12 months
- Worked or working on one or more large* contracts in the past 12 months without negative outcomes.
- You must earn funds on your large contract within the past 12 months for it to remain qualified. Otherwise, it does not qualify for Top Rated Plus.
- Maintained Top Rated status
Criteria for agencies and their exclusive agency members:
- Agencies have total earnings over $20,000 in the past 12 months
- Worked or working on one or more large* contracts in the past 12 months without negative outcomes (<10% for agencies)
- Maintained Top Rated status
NOTES
Freelancers working with an agency can be a non-exclusive agency member or an exclusive agency member to be awarded the Top Rated Plus status. All exclusive agency members in an agency, who are eligible to get the Top Rated Plus badge, will inherit the agency's Top Rated Plus badge too! Learn more about the difference between exclusive and non-exclusive agency members here.
A large contract must occur without interruption (rate changes are allowed, pauses are allowed). Sums of different contracts with the same client do not qualify as a large contract.
Large Contracts
The criteria for a “large contract” is specific to the contract category. We base these amounts on the opportunities currently available on Upwork. For example, in certain categories, a large contract might be one with earnings of $5,000 but in others it might be a $20,000 or $30,000 contract.
For now, we define large contracts as shown below.
Freelancers
| Category | Large Contract Amount |
|---|---|
| Accounting and Consulting | $10,000 |
| Admin Support | $10,000 |
| Customer Support | $20,000 |
| Data Science and Analytics | $10,000 |
| Design and Creative | $5,000 |
| Engineering and Architecture | $5,000 |
| IT and Engineering | $10,000 |
| Legal | $5,000 |
| Sales and Marketing | $10,000 |
| Translation | $5,000 |
| Web, Mobile and Software Development | $15,000 |
| Writing | $5,000 |
Agencies
| Category | Large Contract Amount |
|---|---|
| Accounting and Consulting | $20,000 |
| Admin Support | $20,000 |
| Customer Service | $20,000 |
| Data Science and Analytics | $20,000 |
| Design and Creative | $10,000 |
| Engineering and Architecture | $10,000 |
| IT and Networking | $20,000 |
| Legal | $10,000 |
| Sales and Marketing | $20,000 |
| Translation | $10,000 |
| Web, Mobile and Software Development | $30,000 |
| Writing | $10,000 |