Glossary

The terms behind the numbers

Every term is defined in one sentence first, then explained, then tied to how this index measures it, with the live figure where one exists. Upwork's badges and scores are summarised from Upwork's published criteria; marketplace terms follow Upwork Inc.'s SEC filings. The numbers themselves live on the stats pages.

Job Success ScoreJSS: The Job Success Score (JSS) is Upwork's 0–100% measure of a freelancer's or agency's record of successful contracts, calculated from client feedback on work completed over the past 24 months.
Top Rated Plus: Top Rated Plus is the highest of Upwork's standard talent badges, awarded automatically to Top Rated freelancers and agencies that also show substantial recent earnings, including work on a large contract, in the past twelve months.
Top Rated: Top Rated is Upwork's badge for freelancers and agencies that hold a Job Success Score of 90% or higher, have a complete profile with at least $1,000 earned and 90 days of history, and have no recent account holds, re-checked every two weeks.
Expert-Vetted: Expert-Vetted is Upwork's invitation-only designation for the top one percent of talent in selected categories, granted after Upwork reviews a freelancer's skills and conducts a screening interview.
Gross services volumeGSV: Gross services volume (GSV) is the total amount clients paid through Upwork in a period, including Upwork's fees on both sides, before Upwork's own revenue is separated out.
Upwork agency: An Upwork agency is a business account on Upwork, run by an owner or business manager, through which a team of freelancers bids on and delivers work under one profile, one Job Success Score and one earnings record.
Take rateUpwork take rate: Take rate is the share of gross services volume that Upwork keeps as revenue, computed as revenue divided by GSV for the same period.