How many connects does an Upwork proposal cost?

There is no single number. Upwork sets the connect cost per job, and shows it on the job post before you apply. Two jobs posted on the same day in the same category can cost different amounts, and Upwork has changed how the cost is worked out more than once. Any article that quotes a fixed table of connect costs is describing a past version of the system.

The number that matters is the one you can only get from your own account: what you paid, on average, for each proposal you sent - in dollars, with boosts counted and refunds taken off.

A submitted proposal can use connects in up to two ways:

• The apply cost. The connects the job asks for. It is shown on the job post and again on the proposal form, and it is spent when you submit.
• A boost, if you add one. Boosting is a bid in connects on top of the apply cost, to place your proposal near the top of the client’s list. You choose the amount, so it can be larger than the apply cost itself.

Sometimes connects come back. Upwork returns them in certain cases, and each one appears as a line in your connects history. Only what you did not get back is a real cost.

Invitations and direct offers are different: a client who invites you is not charging you connects to answer. Keep those out of your proposal figures, or your cost per proposal will look lower than it is.

Connects are bought in bundles, so the price of one is easy to lose track of. Work it out from what you actually paid:

• Price per connect = what you paid for a bundle ÷ connects in it
• Cost of a proposal = (apply connects + boost connects − refunded connects) × price per connect

The example shows why boosts need watching. The apply cost was $2.40; the boost turned it into a $6.90 proposal. That can be money well spent, but only if boosted proposals are opened and answered more often than your unboosted ones. The boost guide covers how to check.

Write down the connects for every proposal as you send it - the apply cost and the boost separately. After a month, add them up, subtract refunds, and divide by the number of proposals. That is your average connects per proposal. Multiply by your price per connect for the dollar figure.

Then go one step further and divide the same spend by the clients who hired you. Cost per proposal tells you what you are spending; cost per hire tells you whether it is worth it. The cost per hire guide walks through it with a worked example.

• Skip jobs you would not open yourself. A vague brief from a client with no hiring history costs the same connects as a good one.
• Boost on purpose, not by habit. Decide per job, and compare the results of boosted and unboosted proposals as two separate groups.
• Record refunds. They are easy to miss and they change the true cost of a month.
• Answer invitations first. They cost you nothing to reply to.

ProposalIQ keeps purchases, proposals, boosts and refunds in one connect ledger. You type the connects once, on the proposal, and it shows the dollar cost as you type, at the price you actually paid. Your balance, average cost per proposal and cost per hire come from that ledger. See the connect ledger in the docs.