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How many proposals does an Upwork job get after 12 hours, by category?
Twelve hours after it was posted, the average Upwork job had 20.8 proposals, measured across 79,245 jobs posted between 4 October and 2 November 2026. The spread by category is wide. AI Apps & Integration averaged 61.6 and Web Development 51.5, while Lead Generation & Telemarketing averaged 9.2, Corporate & Contract Law 6.7 and Photography 6.2. A proposal in a crowded category is one of five dozen; in a quiet one it is one of half a dozen.
By Orhan G. Yalçın · Published
Sample and method
Sample. 100,172 jobs posted on Upwork between 2026-10-04 and 2026-11-02 that crossed Upsight's feed; 79,245 of them had a proposal count read about 12 hours after posting. 58 of Upwork's 64 categories had at least 100 measured jobs and are shown.
Method. Upsight reads the proposal count Upwork shows on every open job once an hour and keeps the reading nearest 12 hours after posting. A job that closed or filled before then has no reading and is left out, never counted as zero. The figure is the mean per category: total proposals divided by measured jobs.
The table
| Category | Group | Jobs posted | Measured at 12 h | Avg proposals at 12 h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI Apps & Integration | Web, Mobile & Software Dev | 500 | 389 | 61.6 |
| Web Development | Web, Mobile & Software Dev | 5,808 | 4,245 | 51.5 |
| AI & Machine Learning | Data Science & Analytics | 1,267 | 996 | 41.5 |
| Web & Mobile Design | Web, Mobile & Software Dev | 4,175 | 3,073 | 40.6 |
| Mobile Development | Web, Mobile & Software Dev | 1,405 | 1,086 | 40.1 |
| Scripts & Utilities | Web, Mobile & Software Dev | 862 | 656 | 39.4 |
| Data Entry & Transcription Services | Admin Support | 1,339 | 993 | 34.7 |
| Ecommerce Development | Web, Mobile & Software Dev | 2,077 | 1,563 | 34.7 |
| Data Mining & Management | Data Science & Analytics | 250 | 191 | 33.6 |
| DevOps & Solution Architecture | IT & Networking | 620 | 481 | 32.9 |
| Data Analysis & Testing | Data Science & Analytics | 678 | 522 | 32.2 |
| ERP/CRM Software | IT & Networking | 247 | 187 | 28.9 |
| Data Extraction/ETL | Data Science & Analytics | 374 | 283 | 28.4 |
| Product Management & Scrum | Web, Mobile & Software Dev | 149 | 111 | 26.6 |
| Branding & Logo Design | Design & Creative | 1,889 | 1,446 | 25.3 |
| Accounting & Bookkeeping | Accounting & Consulting | 1,997 | 1,567 | 24.0 |
| QA Testing | Web, Mobile & Software Dev | 907 | 738 | 23.5 |
| Desktop Application Development | Web, Mobile & Software Dev | 129 | 103 | 23.4 |
| Project Management | Admin Support | 889 | 699 | 22.1 |
| Digital Marketing | Sales & Marketing | 12,565 | 10,196 | 21.1 |
| Other - Software Development | Web, Mobile & Software Dev | 242 | 197 | 20.8 |
| Graphic, Editorial & Presentation Design | Design & Creative | 7,227 | 5,493 | 20.8 |
| Customer Service & Tech Support | Customer Service | 1,993 | 1,634 | 20.1 |
| Virtual Assistance | Admin Support | 5,137 | 4,128 | 19.9 |
| Network & System Administration | IT & Networking | 662 | 488 | 19.9 |
| Interior & Trade Show Design | Engineering & Architecture | 349 | 278 | 18.5 |
| Financial Planning | Accounting & Consulting | 491 | 408 | 18.3 |
| 3D Modeling & CAD | Engineering & Architecture | 1,525 | 1,149 | 17.9 |
| Sales & Marketing Copywriting | Writing | 342 | 281 | 17.1 |
| Game Design & Development | Web, Mobile & Software Dev | 265 | 198 | 16.9 |
| Editing & Proofreading Services | Writing | 875 | 668 | 16.7 |
| Management Consulting & Analysis | Accounting & Consulting | 525 | 429 | 16.2 |
| Building & Landscape Architecture | Engineering & Architecture | 636 | 496 | 16.1 |
| Art & Illustration | Design & Creative | 1,614 | 1,274 | 15.8 |
| Information Security & Compliance | IT & Networking | 523 | 383 | 15.8 |
| Electrical & Electronic Engineering | Engineering & Architecture | 615 | 474 | 14.5 |
| Audio & Music Production | Design & Creative | 575 | 459 | 14.2 |
| Professional & Business Writing | Writing | 550 | 440 | 13.8 |
| Marketing, PR & Brand Strategy | Sales & Marketing | 2,311 | 1,900 | 13.5 |
| Video & Animation | Design & Creative | 12,466 | 10,128 | 13.5 |
| Product Design | Design & Creative | 873 | 720 | 13.0 |
| Content Writing | Writing | 1,867 | 1,468 | 12.6 |
| Contract Manufacturing | Engineering & Architecture | 730 | 607 | 12.4 |
| Translation & Localization Services | Translation | 1,759 | 1,434 | 11.8 |
| Community Management & Tagging | Customer Service | 238 | 182 | 11.6 |
| Other - Accounting & Consulting | Accounting & Consulting | 481 | 376 | 11.5 |
| Personal & Professional Coaching | Accounting & Consulting | 175 | 140 | 11.4 |
| Recruiting & Human Resources | Accounting & Consulting | 1,160 | 969 | 11.1 |
| Market Research & Product Reviews | Admin Support | 1,550 | 1,241 | 10.9 |
| Civil & Structural Engineering | Engineering & Architecture | 793 | 591 | 10.7 |
| Energy & Mechanical Engineering | Engineering & Architecture | 461 | 375 | 10.5 |
| Physical Sciences | Engineering & Architecture | 223 | 185 | 9.9 |
| Lead Generation & Telemarketing | Sales & Marketing | 7,635 | 6,311 | 9.2 |
| Language Tutoring & Interpretation | Translation | 382 | 316 | 8.5 |
| Public Law | Legal | 158 | 132 | 8.2 |
| Corporate & Contract Law | Legal | 1,530 | 1,228 | 6.7 |
| Performing Arts | Design & Creative | 2,129 | 1,760 | 6.6 |
| Photography | Design & Creative | 575 | 473 | 6.2 |
What the spread means
Volume and competition are different things. Digital Marketing and Video & Animation each posted more than 12,000 jobs in the month, and averaged 21.1 and 13.5 proposals. Lead Generation & Telemarketing posted 7,635 and averaged 9.2. AI Apps & Integration posted 500 and averaged 61.6. A category with many jobs is not necessarily a crowded one.
Software and data work is the most contested. Eight of the ten most crowded categories sit under Web, Mobile & Software Dev or Data Science & Analytics.
The average hides the long tail. A mean of 20.8 includes jobs with a handful of proposals and jobs with hundreds. Upwork shows freelancers on its Basic plan only a band, such as 20 to 50; see proposals range.
How Upsight uses it. The same reading, averaged per tracked keyword, is Upsight's keyword difficulty, shown next to how many jobs the keyword matched in the window (search volume).
What this does not show
Each category's own page, refreshed nightly, is in the category index.
It does not show who won. A proposal count says how many people applied, not how many the client read, shortlisted or hired. It covers the jobs that crossed Upsight's feed, not every job on Upwork, and no invite-only posts. And it is one month: the next update will say whether the order holds.
Questions
How many proposals does an Upwork job get?
Across 79,245 jobs posted between 4 October and 2 November 2026, the average was 20.8 proposals twelve hours after posting. It ranged from 61.6 in AI Apps & Integration to 6.2 in Photography.
Which Upwork category gets the most proposals?
In October 2026, AI Apps & Integration averaged 61.6 proposals per job at twelve hours and Web Development 51.5, the two highest of 58 categories with at least 100 measured jobs.
Which Upwork categories are least competitive?
Photography (6.2), Performing Arts (6.6), Corporate & Contract Law (6.7) and Public Law (8.2) had the fewest proposals per job at twelve hours in October 2026.
Terms used: Proposals at 12 hours · Keyword difficulty · Search volume · Proposals range · Job feed · All posts