What “Top Rated Plus” Actually Changed

I reached Top Rated Plus after four years and about a hundred and fifty jobs. I remember the morning the badge appeared on my profile. I was eating cereal at my kitchen counter, refreshed the page out of habit and saw the little purple icon next to my name. I took a screenshot, sent it to my sister and then sat there wondering whether anything would actually be different by lunchtime.

The badge changed less than people think — and more than I expected. Freelancers ask me about it constantly, usually hoping it is a magic switch that fills a calendar overnight. It is not. But over the following year it did reshape how I find work, how I price it and how I spend my week. Here is an honest look at both sides.

What the badge really means

On Upwork, Top Rated Plus is a recognition for freelancers with a long, consistent history of strong client feedback and substantial work on the platform. The exact criteria are set by the platform and can change, so I always point people to the official help pages rather than any blog post, including mine.

What the badge represents, in plain terms, is a track record. It tells a new client that many people before them hired this person, paid them and walked away happy. That signal matters a lot in a marketplace full of strangers. It does not make my designs better, and it does not guarantee that the next project will go well. Those still depend on the same habits that earned the badge in the first place.

Clients come to me

Most of my work now starts with an invite. I write maybe two proposals a month. Before the badge, I sent ten to fifteen proposals in a typical month and considered myself lucky to land two or three projects. Now, clients searching for designers find my profile, read a couple of case studies and send a direct invitation.

That shift changed the feel of my whole week. Writing proposals is real work, and it is unpaid. Getting back those hours meant more time for client projects, for learning new animation techniques and, honestly, for long walks. It also meant the first conversation with a new client starts from interest rather than from me trying to stand out in a crowd of forty applicants.

Not every invite is a fit

More invites also means more saying no. I turn down projects that are outside my skills, that come with unrealistic deadlines or that do not match the kind of work I want to be known for. Declining politely and quickly, often with a referral to another freelancer, keeps my reputation and my schedule healthy.

The badge is earned one honest update at a time.

Ava

I raised my rate twice

Clients who invite you already trust you. They negotiate less. In my first year with the badge, I raised my hourly rate twice, and I changed my fixed-price quotes to match. I expected pushback. Instead, most clients accepted my quotes as written, and the few who did not were usually not the right fit anyway.

I did not raise my rate because of the badge itself. I raised it because the badge made something visible that was already true: I had years of experience, a reliable process and a long list of happy clients. The badge simply made it easier for new clients to see that before our first call.

• I raised rates for new clients first and gave existing clients a few months of notice.
• I explained changes in terms of value delivered, not the badge.
• I kept a short list of long-term clients on their original rate for an agreed period.
• I reviewed my rates again six months later, based on demand and workload.

If you are thinking about raising your own rates, I am not the right person to give you financial advice, and every market is different. But I can say that pricing confidently, with clear explanations, felt very different from the nervous discounts I offered in my first year.

Better projects, not just better pay

The most valuable change was not the rate. It was the kind of work. Invitations tend to come from clients who have read my case studies and want exactly what I do best: thoughtful small business sites with careful animation and a clear purpose. I spend far less time on projects that are a poor match, and far more time on work I would happily show anyone. That alone made my weeks calmer and my portfolio stronger.

Longer contracts became more common, too. Several clients who invited me for a single landing page stayed for a year of improvements, seasonal campaigns and small redesigns. Repeat work like that is steady, predictable and much less stressful than starting from scratch every month.

What did not change

Here is the part people do not always want to hear. The badge did not make difficult projects easier. It did not prevent miscommunication. It did not stop me from making mistakes on a tight deadline. It also did not protect me from the same pressure every freelancer feels when a client is unhappy.

In some ways, the stakes felt higher. A badge earned over four years can feel fragile, and I noticed myself worrying more about every review. I had to remind myself that the best way to keep it is to keep doing exactly what earned it: clear scopes, honest updates, realistic timelines and good work delivered on schedule.

Advice for freelancers on the way

If you are working toward the badge, you are probably already doing more right than you realize. These are the habits I believe made the difference for me, more than any profile trick or keyword:

1. Send a short update to every client every Friday, even when nothing changed.
2. Write scopes in plain language and confirm them before starting.
3. Deliver a little early when you can, and never late without warning.
4. Ask for honest feedback halfway through a project, not only at the end.
5. Turn down work you cannot do well, even when you need the money.

None of these are glamorous. They are the quiet basics of being easy to work with. Over a hundred and fifty jobs, they add up to a reputation, and the reputation is what the badge reflects.

Key takeaway: Top Rated Plus did not change my work. It changed how quickly new clients could see the work I had already done.

The badge is a beginning

A year after that cereal-bowl morning, my business is calmer, more focused and more sustainable than it has ever been. I work with fewer clients at higher rates, I write very few proposals and I have time to invest in the craft I love. That is a real change, and I am grateful for it.

But the badge is not the finish line. Every new contract starts at zero trust with someone new, and every Friday update is another small promise kept. If you are four jobs in or four hundred, the path is the same: do honest work, communicate often and let the record speak for you.