Recruiting agencies on Upwork start at a median of $15/hr; the middle half start between $7/hr and $30/hr. That is the low end of the hourly range published by 194 recruiting agencies on Upwork that publish an hourly rate, as of Oct 31, 2026.
Agencies publish a range, for example "$25–$50/hr", and the figure here is its floor: the price an agency is prepared to start a contract at. The top of their published ranges has a median of $30/hr. The cheapest tenth start at $5/hr or less and the top tenth at $70/hr or more; the largest band is Under $15/hr, with 45% of agencies.
Team size matters. Solo agencies start at a median $18/hr; agencies of 51+ people start at $9/hr. By track record, agencies with under $100K in lifetime Upwork earnings start at $15/hr and those with $100K–1M at $16/hr.
A published rate is a starting point. Most agency work on Upwork is quoted per project, and Upwork adds a client marketplace fee on top; how much of the money flowing through Upwork it keeps is on the take rate page. For the whole market, see the average Upwork agency rate.
How much do recruiting agencies on Upwork charge?
Recruiting agencies on Upwork start at a median of $15/hr; the middle half start between $7/hr and $30/hr. That is the low end of the hourly range published by 194 recruiting agencies on Upwork that publish an hourly rate, as of Oct 31, 2026.
Are recruiting agencies on Upwork more expensive than freelancers?
Recruiting agencies start at a median $15/hr; the median freelancer with $10K+ in public Upwork earnings, across all skills, lists $30/hr, as of Oct 31, 2026. Agency figures are the floor of a published range, freelancer figures a single rate.