How much does Upwork take from contractors?
Mia Ramsey
Published Feb 10, 2026
20% for the first $500 you bill your client. 10% for total billings between $500.01 and $10,000. 5% for total billings over $10,000.
Are Upwork contractors 1099?
While all freelancers submit their information for Form W-9 (U.S.-based) or Form W-8BEN (international) to Upwork, Upwork doesn’t send freelancers Form 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC, either.
How do I get my money from contract Upwork?
Withdraw Your Earnings Manually
- Go to the Settings › Get Paid.
- Click the Get Paid Now button.
- Choose the amount to withdraw.
- Click Get Paid Now.
Who are the highest paid freelancers on Upwork?
Top Upwork skills and their average hourly rates:
- Property and equipment leases – $175.
- SQR – $170.
- S Corporation – $170.
- Patents – $170.
- IT strategy – $165.
- C Corporation – $165.
- Lucene search – $165.
- Orcad – $165.
Do you have to pay Upwork service fees?
As the client, you will pay Upwork Payroll Service Fees, which are 23% of the bill rate. Your staffing vendor employee’s gross wages will be 77% of your bill rate, and the employee will not pay any service fees. You may need to increase your bill rate to maintain the same pay rate for the employee.
Where can I find a contract for Upwork payroll?
Official timekeeping will occur between the employee and their employer; the contract on Upwork will be “paused” to prevent duplicate reporting. Upwork Payroll is generally available for administrative and professional level environments such as clerical, legal, technology, video production, etc.
Can a client create a direct contract with Upwork?
There is no ability/need for a client to create an Upwork account with Direct Contracts. Clients can access the contract via email from Upwork. If a client decides to create an Upwork client account, new contracts with that freelancer will be subject to freelancer service fees and client payment processing fees.
What’s the minimum fee for a freelancer with Upwork?
In general, the fee is 12% of the estimated annual income based on the freelancer’s hourly rate, with the minimum fee being $1,000 and the maximum set at $50,000. The hourly rate we use to calculate the fee will be the greater of these:
