Finally, I broke the $10K threshold at Upwork. It’s been a couple of crazy weeks on a personal level, but there’s a small celebration in order. 

When I first joined Upwork, I had two goals: to see if I managed to survive in it and make $10,000. Why $10,000? Because if I did so in the allotted time I had given myself, I could make it only using this platform. 

Then, life got in the way. I got a full-time job, other freelance jobs popped up, and burnout occasionally peeked into my life. So, I had to ditch one of my income sources, and Upwork usually paid the price. The pace with which I worked on Upwork slowed down. It became more of an occasional dab for when I wanted some spare change. 

Remember that it’s not bringing the platform down by no means. It’s the total opposite. Once you establish a solid clientele on Upwork, your workload can remain constant with minimal effort. It just takes a really long time to get there. 

How long did it take to make $10,000 in Upwork? 

It took a long time: 1085 days, to be precise, or two years and ten months. That’s not to say that I worked every day on the platform or worked on it monthly. 

The following chart (yes, I love charts!) shows the monthly workload since I started. As you can see, there were some stagnant months in which I didn’t work, be it because I didn’t want to or because my mind simply wasn’t there. Each count is either a fixed-price job or a bonus for a quick fix. 

As you can see, I never did one task per day in a month. The busiest month was, by far, May 2021, which was peak freelancing performance. However, besides then, there were no months in which I felt overwhelmed with Upwork tasks. It’s important to highlight that I took up many other jobs as someone who could hardly say no. So, I was burdened, but because of the many platforms and gigs I had. 

I started my full-time job on July 1st, 2021. From there, there’s an evident drop in monthly tasks. As I had already gone through burnout once, I knew I had to keep the (in)famous work-life balance. So, while I had some loyal clients, my income did slow down in Upwork, as you can see in the following chart.

Still, it’s a performance that I’m proud of, and there’s no denying that you can generate a decent income as a side hustle. However, there’s a bigger question people have. 

Can you make a good living in Upwork?

It depends on what you consider a good living in Upworkl. I believe it’s an excellent platform for those who live in cheaper countries. For example, I live in Costa Rica. It’s expensive, but more affordable than the US and some European countries. So, I see it possible to have a decent salary on the platform. Plus, now that the 10% commission is fixed, you don’t have to sacrifice 20% of your initial jobs. 

The problem is that the platform might have too low wages for expensive countries. If I make a rough estimate, I’d average between $35 to $70 an hour, depending on the job. For me, that was great back then, but my skill has increased, and so has my rate. So, finding good-paying jobs in Upwork becomes a challenge. 

Still, I love the platform! I will keep freelancing there. After all these years, I’ve become quite adept at understanding how much work I need to put into it. Plus, there’s a big elephant in the room: I had a full-time job. Still, I averaged $3,000 a year, which is a decent chunk of change.

So, I invite you to try this freelancing platform, considering it can initially be challenging. However, once you get the rhythm of it, who knows? Perhaps, you, too can make $10,000. Be sure to shoot any questions you have this way!