How to Get Top Rated Plus on Upwork: The Complete Guide (2025)

If you're serious about freelancing on Upwork, there's one badge that changes everything: Top Rated Plus. It's the highest achievement a freelancer can earn on the platform — and it comes with perks that directly translate to more money.

Top Rated Plus freelancers get a 30% project bonuson eligible contracts, priority placement in search, a special badge next to their name, and access to high-budget jobs that aren't visible to most other freelancers. Freelancers I've coached who earned the badge saw their monthly income jump by 40–70% within two quarters.

In this guide, I'll break down exactly what Top Rated Plus is, how it differs from regular Top Rated, the hard requirements you need to meet, and a step-by-step 90-day plan to get there.

What Is Top Rated Plus on Upwork?

Upwork has a tiered badge system that signals trust to clients. From lowest to highest:

1. Rising Talent — for new freelancers showing early promise
2. Top Rated — for freelancers with a strong track record (90%+ JSS, $1k+ earnings)
3. Top Rated Plus — for elite freelancers who consistently deliver large, high-value projects
4. Expert-Vetted — an invitation-only tier above Top Rated Plus for specialists in certain categories

Top Rated Plus was introduced to reward freelancers who handle bigger, more complex projects. The "plus" isn't just cosmetic — it comes with real financial benefits.

Top Rated vs. Top Rated Plus: What's the Difference?

Many freelancers confuse the two. Here's the key distinction:

• Top Rated rewards consistency across many smaller contracts.
• Top Rated Plus rewards proven ability to deliver large, long-term, or high-budget projects.

You can be Top Rated for years and never reach Top Rated Plus. The Plus tier requires that at least one of your recent contracts hit a significant size threshold — proof that clients trust you with serious money.

Top Rated Plus Requirements (2025)

Upwork updates its badge criteria periodically, but these are the stable requirements as of 2025. You must meet all of them simultaneously:

1. Job Success Score of 90% or higher on your main profile (and no single contract can drag your eligibility). Your JSS recalculates every 2 weeks based on your last 24 months of work.
2. $10,000+ in total earnings on Upwork in the last 12 months. This is the minimum earnings threshold across all your contracts.
3. At least one large contract in the last 12 months that meets the category-specific minimum. For most categories this is $5,000+ on a single contract, though some high-end categories require $10,000+. The contract must be completed and closed successfully.
4. 100% complete profile with a professional photo, title, overview, skills, education, and at least one portfolio item.
5. Verified identity and a clean account with no recent account holds or violations.
6. Available statusset to "available now" or a specific availability window — inactive accounts lose the badge.

The badge is evaluated automatically every 2 weeks. If you drop below any requirement at evaluation time, you lose the badge (and the 30% project bonus) until you qualify again.

Why Top Rated Plus Is Worth the Effort

Before we get into the plan, let's quantify what you're working toward:

• 30% project bonus on eligible contracts. Upwork adds a 30% bonus to your earnings on projects that qualify. A $10,000 contract becomes $13,000. This is the single biggest financial perk on the platform.
• Higher search ranking. Top Rated Plus freelancers appear above Top Rated and non-badged freelancers in client search results. More visibility = more invites.
• Access to higher-budget jobs. Some clients filter by Top Rated Plus only. These jobs typically have budgets 2–3x higher than the platform average.
• More client trust. The badge is a trust signal. Clients are more likely to hire you, pay your rate, and skip the interview process.
• Lower effective fees.The project bonus effectively offsets a large chunk of Upwork's service fee, improving your take-home rate.

In practice, freelancers who earn Top Rated Plus report earning 40–70% more per month than they did as regular Top Rated freelancers — and often working fewer hours because the projects are bigger.

The 90-Day Plan to Earn Top Rated Plus

Here's the exact roadmap I give to freelancers who want to earn the badge in a quarter. It assumes you already have a completed profile and some Upwork history.

Days 1–30: Audit and Optimize Your Foundation

1. Check your current JSS.If it's below 90%, fix it first — the badge is impossible without it. Read our guide on how to get a 100% Job Success Score for the full playbook.
2. Count your earnings.Pull your earnings report for the last 12 months. If you're under $10,000, calculate how much more you need and how many jobs that requires.
3. Review your contracts. Do any single contract reach $5,000+? If not, this is your biggest gap. Identify clients you could upsell into a larger project.
4. Polish your profile. Ensure your profile is 100% complete, your photo is professional, and your portfolio has at least one strong sample for your niche.
5. Set your availability. Mark yourself as available now. Inactive accounts are ineligible.

Days 31–60: Land Your Large Contract

The single large contract is the make-or-break requirement. Here are three proven ways to get one:

1. Upsell an existing client.This is the fastest path. If you've done great work for a client, propose a larger scope. For example: "I loved building your landing page. I could also rebuild your entire marketing site, set up analytics, and create 4 landing page templates — all as one $6,000 project." Clients who already trust you are far more likely to say yes.
2. Bundle small projects into one contract. If you typically do $1,000 projects, pitch a 6-month package at $6,000. Structure it as one fixed-price contract with monthly milestones. The client gets a discount for committing upfront, and you get a single large contract on record.
3. Bid strategically on large jobs.Filter Upwork jobs by budget ($5,000+) and apply only to those where you have a strong relevant portfolio piece. Your proposal must lead with a similar large project you've completed and its results.

If you're struggling to win proposals at higher budgets, using a tool like ProposalAI to generate tailored, high-converting proposals can speed this up dramatically.

Days 61–90: Lock It In and Protect the Badge

1. Deliver the large contract flawlessly. Get a 5-star review. Communicate proactively. Deliver early if possible. This single contract needs to end cleanly.
2. Keep your JSS above 90%.Don't take risky jobs that could tank your score. Avoid clients with red flags (we covered these in our red flags guide).
3. Maintain earnings. Keep billing steadily so you stay above the $10,000/year threshold at the next evaluation.
4. Wait for the next evaluation cycle. Upwork evaluates every 2 weeks. If you meet all criteria, the badge appears automatically.

Real Example: From Top Rated to Top Rated Plus in 75 Days

Marcus, a WordPress developer I coached, was stuck at Top Rated for 18 months with a 92% JSS. He earned about $14,000/year but his largest single contract was only $1,800.

Here's what we did:

1. He listed 3 past clients who had been happy with his work.
2. He pitched each one a larger bundled project (site redesign + maintenance + SEO setup).
3. One client, an e-commerce store owner, accepted a $7,500 fixed-price contract with 4 milestones.
4. Marcus delivered ahead of schedule on every milestone and earned a 5-star review.
5. At the next 2-week evaluation, he had: 94% JSS, $18,000 12-month earnings, and a $7,500 completed contract.
6. The Top Rated Plus badge appeared on his profile within 24 hours of the evaluation.

Within 3 months of earning the badge, Marcus's monthly income went from $2,800 to $5,200 — thanks to the 30% project bonus, higher search ranking, and access to bigger jobs.

5 Mistakes That Cost You the Badge

1. Taking one bad job. A single 1-star review can drop your JSS below 90% and erase months of progress. Vet every client carefully before accepting.
2. Letting contracts stay open. Upwork evaluates completedcontracts. If your $6,000 project is technically still "open," it doesn't count. End contracts cleanly and ask the client to close them.
3. Going inactive. If you set yourself to unavailable or stop logging in, you lose the badge even if you meet all numerical criteria. Stay active.
4. Ignoring the 12-month window.The earnings and contract thresholds look back 12 months, not your lifetime. A $10,000 contract from 13 months ago doesn't help you now.
5. Not tracking your eligibility. Check your badge status in your Upwork dashboard regularly. Knowing exactly where you stand makes it easy to course-correct.

What About Expert-Vetted?

Above Top Rated Plus sits Expert-Vetted, an invitation-only tier for specialists in select categories (development, design, marketing, finance, etc.). You can't apply for it — Upwork identifies candidates based on category expertise and invites them to complete a screening.

If you're a specialist in a high-demand category, focus on Top Rated Plus first. Expert-Vetted often follows for freelancers who consistently deliver at a high level.

Win More High-Budget Contracts to Qualify Faster

The fastest path to Top Rated Plus is landing one strong large contract — and that starts with a winning proposal. Most freelancers lose high-budget jobs because their proposals don't convey enough value to justify the price.

That's where ProposalAI helps. Paste a high-budget job description, and it generates 3 optimized proposals that lead with your relevant large-project experience, quantify the outcome, and position you as the safe choice for a serious budget. It's trained on thousands of winning proposals, including high-value contracts.

Try ProposalAI free → and start winning the contracts that earn you Top Rated Plus.

For more on protecting your score while you pursue the badge, read Upwork Job Success Score: How to Get 100% and Keep It. And if you're still working on your first contracts, start with How to Get Your First Job on Upwork.