u/ecky--ptang-zooboing

171 people actually paid money to apply to this job. All these Connects are GONE. The client has didn't find a freelancer, and the freelancer lost his Connects. Only Upwork wins by pocketing the money, they don't even have to offer infrastructure for the client<>freelancer.

I don't mind paying Connects, it's a good system when used fairly and if the client would actually hire. Even if they don't hire me, I would accept someone else had a better proposal.

But some clients don't even bother viewing or messaging anyone. Not refunding these Connects is super dodgy practice from Upwork.

Please Upwork, refund Connects if the client never hires.

These are my stats for 2026. These 3 hires are all long-term contracts.

Some context:

• I'm in webdev, which is super competitive
• Out of the 16 interviews, I could have gotten 2 more hires, which I declined from MY end.
• I spent around 3000 Connects
• Because of my long-term inactivity I didn't earn enough in the years 2020-2025, so I'm not Top Rated Plus. I will get TRP from the new contracts soon hopefully. I do have Top rated and 100% JSS.
• 10 Years ago, sending 128 proposals would have gotten me more jobs for sure, but it is what it is, the amount of proposals clients get is massive these days. All of my 128 proposals were detailed custom-written, so it's super discouraging if they don't get viewed... but that's when you need to keep pushing and not give up. There's a constant flood of new job opportunities on Upwork.

So Upwork is definitely not "Dead" as some keep commenting. It just got crowded and there's a ton of AI slop: everyone can post proposals now, they don't even need skills... So you need to make yourself stand out in all the noise.

My proposal game was pretty bad in the beginning, until I started reading up - Read everything on the Upwork website (from both freelancer as client section, you need to know what clients see and how it works), and the Wiki on this subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Upwork/wiki/index/ - especially this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Upwork/wiki/writewinningproposals/

So yeah, some encouragement for those who actually have skills but want to give up because all the complaints: stick to it, it takes more effort in 2026 to get hired, but the opportunity is there.

Are these clients out of touch with reality?

Or is this reality?

Because the job post already has 20-50 proposals, with even someone bidding lower than the measly budget of $1,000. (this is not Upwork's fault of course)

$1,000 for a fully functional car rental website that can be used as a template for other websites. You kidding me?

RULE*

I don't mind spending 300 Connects on a proposal.

Even if they hire someone else, fine. My proposal or profile wasn't good enough, no problem. I take full responsibility, cut my loss and move on.

Ghost posts with 1000s of Connects spent from freelancers, which then never hire... that's a problem.

It's not fair imo. Jobs should have an expiry date. If nobody gets hired, freelancers should get their Connects back, or part of it at least.

I brought this up with Upwork Support and they even replied to it, mentioning that these ideas are all collected and taken into consideration.

So if you are a freelancer on Upwork with some influence, try tomake this suggestion to Upwork support.

If enough freelancers suggest it, there is a small chance they will implement it, as a cost to keep freelancers around and satisfied.