Upwork vs Direct Client Comparison

Upwork charges 10% on earnings above $10k per client, plus there are connect costs and slower payment cycles. Direct clients cost time and money to acquire. This tool calculates your true effective hourly rate after all costs for both channels.

Shared inputs

Quoted hourly rate ($)

Billable hours/month

Income tax rate (%)

Upwork specifics

Upwork fee tier (%)

Monthly Connects spend ($)

Hours/mo finding clients on Upwork

Direct client specifics

Monthly marketing spend ($)

Hours/mo on business dev