Your Connects history records every credit, deduction, return, reconciliation, and expiration on a freelancer or agency account. This article explains the most common entries and when an adjustment is expected.
In this article
- How to read Connects history
- Common credits and deductions
- Why a boosted proposal can show a charge, refund, and another charge
- How Availability Badge deductions work
- How Boosted Profile charges work
- When proposal Connects are returned
- When proposal Connects are not returned
- Expiration and rollover
- Refunds for purchased Connects
- Closed or suspended accounts
- Transfers between accounts
How to read Connects history
Open Connects history and first confirm that you are viewing the correct freelancer or agency account.
Each row is one of five types:
- Credit — a purchase, plan allocation, reward, promotion, or other award
- Spend — a proposal, ad product, badge, or identity verification badge
- Return — Connects put back after a qualifying event
- Reconciliation — a temporary boost charge returned and then replaced by the final charge
- Expiration — Connects removed one year after they were issued
The running total after the latest row is your current balance. A 7-, 30-, or 90-day view may not include older credits, so do not total only the visible rows to calculate your balance.
Common credits and deductions
| History entry | What it usually means |
| Purchased Connects | A separately initiated purchase. Upwork does not automatically refill Connects. |
| Monthly Connects renewal / Earned Connects by completing a task | A plan allocation, variable Basic monthly offer, or completed activity. Check the amount and date rather than relying only on the label. |
| Proposal | The base Connects needed to submit one proposal. |
| Boosted proposal | An extra bid, separate from the base proposal cost. Temporary and final auction rows may both appear. |
| Connects award / Refunded Connects for award | The base proposal cost may have been returned after eligible engagement. This does not necessarily return the boost bid. |
| Boosted Profile | A billable client interaction with a profile while it was promoted. |
| Availability Badge | One increment of the current weekly badge price. Several evenly spaced one-Connect rows can be expected. |
| Identity verification badge | The 35-Connect cost of the optional badge. The Connects are not refunded if verification cannot be completed or is not finished within seven days. |
| Expired Connects | Connects reached one year from their issue date. Expiration is not a proposal or ad charge. |
Why a boosted proposal can show a charge, refund, and another charge
Boosting has two separate costs:
- The base proposal cost is charged when you submit.
- Your boost bid is settled after the auction.
Upwork may reserve the boost bid, return that temporary amount while the auction is finalized, and then apply the final charge. A returned amount followed by an equal final charge is a net-zero reconciliation, not an extra charge.
Boosted Proposals use a top-four, first-price auction. You pay your own full bid when:
- You are in one of the top four positions when the auction closes, or
- A client has an eligible interaction with the proposal while it is boosted, such as opening, shortlisting, messaging, archiving, declining, or sending an offer
If you are knocked out before the auction closes and the client did not interact while the proposal was boosted, the boost bid is returned. The base proposal cost remains unless the job qualifies for a separate return.
If ad credits covered all or part of the boost, those ad credits are still considered used when you do not win the auction. Only the portion paid with regular Connects is returned.
Learn more about Boosted Proposals.
How Availability Badge deductions work
The current weekly price is deducted in one-Connect increments while the badge is on. This allows you to turn it off without paying the entire week in advance.
Approximate examples:
| Weekly price | Expected deduction pattern |
| 14 Connects | 1 Connect about every 12 hours |
| 21 Connects | 1 Connect about every 8 hours |
| 7 Connects | 1 Connect about every 24 hours |
| 3 Connects | 1 Connect about every 56 hours |
Several -1 Availability Badge rows are not duplicate charges when their total stays within the current weekly price and the badge was on. The timing changes if the weekly market price changes, but the total will not exceed the maximum you set.
If the total exceeds the weekly price, rows share the same timestamp, or deductions continue while the badge is off, troubleshoot the charge.
How Boosted Profile charges work
Boosted Profile is an interaction-based advertising product. A charge can occur when a client interacts with the promoted profile by:
- Clicking the profile
- Saving it with the heart button
- Selecting Invite to job
- Selecting Hire
- Viewing a Boosted Profile video, when applicable
A promoted impression without an eligible interaction is not itself a Connects charge. Connects pay for the eligible interaction, not a guaranteed invitation, interview, or hire.
Learn more about Boosted Profile charges.
When proposal Connects are returned
The base proposal cost is returned when:
- The client cancels the job before a contract is made, or
- Upwork removes the job post for a Terms of Service violation
For a Boosted Proposal on a job Upwork removes for a Terms of Service violation, both the eligible boost charge and base proposal cost are returned.
Returned Connects go back to the same freelancer or agency balance for reuse. They are not converted to cash.
When proposal Connects are not returned
Connects are not returned only because:
- The client rejects or declines the proposal
- The client hires someone else
- The client does not view or respond to the proposal
- The job expires without a hire
- You withdraw the proposal
- You are outbid after the client already had an eligible interaction with the boosted proposal
Submitting a proposal or using an ad product cannot guarantee a view, response, interview, or hire.
Expiration and rollover
- Every Connect expires one year after it was issued.
- Upwork does not send email notifications before Connects expire.
- Expired Connects cannot be restored, reissued, or refunded.
- All unused freelancer Connects roll over until they expire; there is no monthly freelancer rollover limit.
- An Agency Plus account can roll over up to 400 unused agency Connects each month. Agency Connects also expire after one year.
Refunds for purchased Connects
Purchased Connects are generally non-refundable and cannot be redeemed for cash.
If you accidentally made two or more identical purchases within a short period, contact Support promptly. An accidental duplicate purchase reported within 14 days may be reviewed. Approval is not guaranteed; if a cash refund is approved, the matching Connects are removed from the balance.
A Connects return and a cash refund are different:
- A Connects return puts tokens back in the same account balance.
- A cash refund reverses an eligible purchase to the original payment method and removes the corresponding Connects.
Closed or suspended accounts
Unused Connects are not refunded when an account is closed or permanently suspended. If a temporary account restriction is resolved, the previous balance remains available unless specific Connects expired during the restriction.
Transfers between accounts
Freelancer and agency balances are separate, and transfers are not available through self-service. If you need an exceptional transfer reviewed, contact Support with the source account, destination account, and amount. Approval is not guaranteed.