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How many Connects does an Upwork proposal cost?
Across 1,040 proposals Upsight submitted in the 30 days to 3 November 2026, the job's apply form asked a median of 15 Connects, with the middle half between 10 and 20 and none above 27. The most common price was 20 Connects, one proposal in five, followed by 10 and 15. At Upwork's $0.15 a Connect, the median proposal costs $2.25 to submit, before any boost.
By Orhan G. Yalçın · Published
Sample and method
Sample. 1,040 proposals submitted through Upsight between 2026-10-04 and 2026-11-03, each with the Connects cost its apply form stated at the send. Most were sent by Vizio AI, the software agency that builds Upsight, so the job mix leans to software and AI development.
Method. When Upsight submits a proposal, it reads the Connects requirement from the job's own apply form and records it with the send. Boost bids are recorded separately and are not in this table.
How Upwork prices a proposal
Upwork sets the price per job, automatically, from the project's length and budget, and it can move while the post is live: "The number of Connects required for a proposal may change while a job post is live" (How to boost your proposal). Upwork publishes no range. A Connect costs $0.15 (Understanding and using Connects).
The distribution
| Connects | Proposals | Share | Cost at $0.15 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 15 | 1.4% | $0.90 |
| 7 | 15 | 1.4% | $1.05 |
| 8 | 81 | 7.8% | $1.20 |
| 9 | 54 | 5.2% | $1.35 |
| 10 | 130 | 12.5% | $1.50 |
| 11 | 67 | 6.4% | $1.65 |
| 12 | 21 | 2.0% | $1.80 |
| 13 | 34 | 3.3% | $1.95 |
| 14 | 53 | 5.1% | $2.10 |
| 15 | 111 | 10.7% | $2.25 |
| 16 | 29 | 2.8% | $2.40 |
| 17 | 59 | 5.7% | $2.55 |
| 18 | 36 | 3.5% | $2.70 |
| 19 | 14 | 1.3% | $2.85 |
| 20 | 210 | 20.2% | $3.00 |
| 21 | 91 | 8.8% | $3.15 |
| 22 | 4 | 0.4% | $3.30 |
| 23 | 3 | 0.3% | $3.45 |
| 24 | 1 | 0.1% | $3.60 |
| 26 | 5 | 0.5% | $3.90 |
| 27 | 7 | 0.7% | $4.05 |
With boosts, net of refunds
The submit fee is the floor. In a separate, older sample of 9,788 applications reconciled to Upwork's transactions, boosted proposals averaged 26.2 Connects each once refunds were taken off, and unboosted ones 14.3; the full comparison is in is boosting worth it.
What to budget. For an agency sending 300 proposals a month at the median, the submit fees alone are 4,500 Connects, $675. Boosting changes that more than anything else; see the bidder cost calculator for your own numbers.
Questions
How many Connects does a proposal cost on Upwork?
Upwork sets it per job and publishes no range. Across 1,040 proposals sent in October 2026, the median was 15 Connects, the middle half 10 to 20, and the highest 27.
How much does a Connect cost?
Upwork's help center says Connects cost $0.15 each and are sold in bundles, so a 15-Connect proposal costs $2.25 to submit before any boost.
Terms used: Connects · Connects per proposal · Boosted proposal · Connects ledger · All posts