Upwork’s Top Rated Plus Badge

As the next part of the Upwork Badge miniseries, this post explores the Top Rated Plus status, the third badge a freelancer can unlock on Upwork.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve posted about the Rising Talent badge and the Top Rated badge, the first two statuses freelancers must hold before achieving Top Rated Plus. Once a user is Top Rated Plus (TRP), freelancers become Expert Vetted, the highest distinction achievable on Upwork. (Stay tuned — I will talk about that badge in my next post!) Each badge is increasingly more challenging to acquire and more influential to a freelancer’s platform experience. Like other badges, the Top Rated Plus (TRP) badge appears on a freelancer’s profile, proposals, and Project Catalog submission. While TR and TRP status have overlapping requirements and benefits, progressing from TR and TRP requires a freelancer to achieve an entirely different level of success.

For context, the TR badge requires a freelancer to maintain a Job Success Score (JSS) of at least 90%, earn at least $1,000 in the past year-to-date, and maintain an accurate and updated profile. Freelancers with TR status have more control of their JSS (a metric calculated on client ratings/reviews), as this badge allows freelancers to periodically request the removal of client feedback from their profile. They can also access customized contract opportunities with Upwork’s talent specialists and Job Digest email.

One of the most significant benefits TR users unlock is faster payments on hourly contracts. Normal users wait ten days for their earnings: clients have five days to review a freelancer’s hours, and once they release payment, the money is placed in a five-day security hold before the user can collect. However, TR status cuts this timeframe in half by removing the 5-day security hold. Once clients release payment, TR freelancers can immediately collect the money without their earnings entering a security hold. While the TRP badge offers freelancers the same perks as TR status, the true bonus of becoming TRP is the positive impact on their profile identity.

While TRP status requires freelancers to sustain the TR badge for an entire year, the earnings requirement dramatically differs. TRP status requires a freelancer to have total earnings exceeding $10,000 during the 12 months. This is TEN TIMES the yearly earnings required for TR status! To advance from TR to TRP, freelancers must earn a portion of this $10,000 through “large contracts” with no adverse outcomes/client problems. Upwork’s definition of a large contract varies by sector: a “large” legal contract is worth $5,000, but a “large” customer support contract is worth $20,000. As opposed to the TR badge, TRP status indicates to prospective clients that a freelancer has had previous long-term success with large contracts.

A freelancer’s progression from TR to TRP changes their profile identity by demonstrating their differentiated level of experience in cultivating and maintaining platform-mediated client relationships. The high-stakes nature of large contracts causes clients to exercise extreme caution when selecting freelancers. Because digitally mediated relationships can be precarious, clients rely on a freelancer’s profile to make hiring decisions. The TRP badge is valuable currency to freelancers because it assures prospective clients they are trustworthy workers on large contracts.

A few of the freelancers we follow have achieved TRP status and have provided insights into their experiences with this badge. They acknowledge that achieving this status puts them in an advantageous position. TRP freelancers we have interviewed recognize how beneficial this badge is to their platform identity.

“I love the badges. I have a 100% job success score and I’m Top Rated Plus, so that means I provide a great experience and a great product for the user, for the client. So those key pieces are nice.”

“I’m a top-rated plus rating on Upwork. People have told me straight out that they will sometimes only hire people with that. They won’t even look at people who don’t have that.”

“Now I’m a Top Rated Plus freelancer… I’m glad that Upwork actually still recognized me among, I think, it’s the top 3% in the platform.”