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Contra vs Upwork

	Contra	Upwork
What it says it does	Connect with next-gen talent and tools to get work underway. Hire more independents. Start more projects. Get more creative.	Upwork is a large freelance marketplace where clients post hourly and fixed-price jobs, freelancers send proposals, and payments run through Upwork with payment protection and dispute resolution.
Pricing	Commission-free for freelancers; Free plan ($0, clients pay $15 or $29 per payment over $500, 5% capped fee on digital products); Pro $29/mo or $199/yr waives client and product fees (official)	Free to join; freelancers pay a 0%-15% service fee per contract, shown before you bid and locked once the contract starts; clients pay separate marketplace fees (official)
Website	https://contra.com	https://www.upwork.com/

Which to use

Contra wins when you are looking for clients and want to keep the commission, not when you need a back office. Upwork wins when you want volume: many clients posting jobs, with hourly payment protection and a fee you see before you bid.

Choose Contra if you want a commission-free network to find independent work.
Choose Upwork if you want the biggest pool of posted freelance jobs, both hourly and fixed-price.

This is an editorial fit note from each vendor's public site and docs, not a sponsored ranking and not a price quote. Descriptions in the table come from those sites. Confirm current prices there. How we review tools.

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