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I am located in germany, work as a fullstack dev with frontend focus (react/vue). I have about 6 years of total dev experience[1]. For full time projects I cha

I am located in germany, work as a fullstack dev with frontend focus (react/vue). I have about 6 years of total dev experience[1]. For full time projects I charge 90-100€/h (+19% VAT) and I exclusively take on remote projects. When I started out at as a freelancer at the beginning of 2020 my rate was 80€/h. If I was approached with short term projects(as in less than 160h of work) I would charge significantly more but that hasn't happened yet, usually I get booked 3-12 months. As it turns out my yearly net income is significantly higher than that of my employed peers in every single project I have worked so far since the market is so starved for devs and I never had any downtime between projects. Sometimes I wonder if I could ask for even more given the market situation but I also feel somewhat overpaid tbh. [1] I learned programming on the side during my bachelor's in physics. During my master's I started working for a consultancy at night doing webdev while researching quantum computing and machine learning for my master's thesis. After I got a job as a full stack engineer after I finished my degree but I quit that job after about a year to go freelance.

silent_cal 4y ago
Where did you go to find your first freelancing gigs?
- Escapado 4y ago
  I sent my CV to recruiting companies such as Hays, Computerfutures, Gulp and a couple more as well as having a linkedin and xing profile. On my first job I actually worked with one of them as an intermediary for a larger company and when I quit I asked them if they could actually arrange it so I could continue to work there but as a freelancer. They agreed, my original contract did not forbid it and as I was the only dev at the company no harm was done.
dijit 4y ago
it's probably true that you're earning more; but you should know that the amount seen on the balance sheet isn't the whole truth. In fact, I'm quite sure you know, but for those reading: 80-100eur/h on a contract is roughly equivalent to 50-60eur/h salaried; due to social contributions, paid vacation (1.12th of your salary), pension contributions and other benefits relating to insurance in the even the business goes bankrupt. -- that doesn't include any other benefits you might get as a FTE. It's very hard to compare, and it's the same awkward comparison you have to make when talking to US folks, since US folks have as much job security as contractors do in Europe and get paid in a relatively similar way with similar benefits in some cases.
- Escapado 4y ago
  You are not wrong that they are not the same but the difference is smaller than you think. Let's run the numbers: Last year I worked for 210 days and I made 143.480€ (=85€/h) after deducting the 19% VAT. I paid 10.740€ for health insurance (which is capped) and 15.720€ for the pension fund (which I don't have to do but choose to do and this is the same rate an employer/employee would pay given that income) leaving me with 117.020€ taxable income. The income tax then is 117.020€ * 0.42 - 9.136€ = 40.012€ and 2.200€ Soli, leaving me with 74.808€ net income. When you are employed then your employer has to pay half of your health insurance and pension fund so to have a net income of 74.808€ you "only" need to make 131.940€ per year or about 78€/h all things equal. So we are talking about a 10% difference. Now you could argue that an FTE would not work for 210 days but 200 or 190 days which would add another 5-10% difference but it would still be off from your original 33%. To put this into perspective: I have been offered full time employment at almost every company I have worked for as a freelancer so far and the by far highest offer I got was 93.000€/year which is around 54.600€ net income - or about 20.000€ less net than I make right now. That is 2/3 of the average FTE income in germany.
  - number6 4y ago
    Thanks for the Financials. People in germany don't talk money very often.
  - sebasv_ 4y ago
    I'm missing one very important cost on the contractor side: unemployment insurance. I don't know about German law but in the Netherlands all the numbers are comparable, except that your employer is required to insure you against loss of income. This insurance runs up to 1/3 of your insured income, which would put your taxable income at about 87.000. Of course you don't _have_ to take this insurance but if you want an honest comparison it should be included on both sides.
lnsru 4y ago
Thank you for your post with financials! It’s really nice to have such information from the source.
zufallsheld 4y ago
Thanks for sharing this! If your username is the same as the one from the band, then great choice!

silent_cal 4y ago

Where did you go to find your first freelancing gigs?

Escapado 4y ago
I sent my CV to recruiting companies such as Hays, Computerfutures, Gulp and a couple more as well as having a linkedin and xing profile. On my first job I actually worked with one of them as an intermediary for a larger company and when I quit I asked them if they could actually arrange it so I could continue to work there but as a freelancer. They agreed, my original contract did not forbid it and as I was the only dev at the company no harm was done.

dijit 4y ago

it's probably true that you're earning more; but you should know that the amount seen on the balance sheet isn't the whole truth. In fact, I'm quite sure you know, but for those reading: 80-100eur/h on a contract is roughly equivalent to 50-60eur/h salaried; due to social contributions, paid vacation (1.12th of your salary), pension contributions and other benefits relating to insurance in the even the business goes bankrupt. -- that doesn't include any other benefits you might get as a FTE. It's very hard to compare, and it's the same awkward comparison you have to make when talking to US folks, since US folks have as much job security as contractors do in Europe and get paid in a relatively similar way with similar benefits in some cases.

Escapado 4y ago
You are not wrong that they are not the same but the difference is smaller than you think. Let's run the numbers: Last year I worked for 210 days and I made 143.480€ (=85€/h) after deducting the 19% VAT. I paid 10.740€ for health insurance (which is capped) and 15.720€ for the pension fund (which I don't have to do but choose to do and this is the same rate an employer/employee would pay given that income) leaving me with 117.020€ taxable income. The income tax then is 117.020€ * 0.42 - 9.136€ = 40.012€ and 2.200€ Soli, leaving me with 74.808€ net income. When you are employed then your employer has to pay half of your health insurance and pension fund so to have a net income of 74.808€ you "only" need to make 131.940€ per year or about 78€/h all things equal. So we are talking about a 10% difference. Now you could argue that an FTE would not work for 210 days but 200 or 190 days which would add another 5-10% difference but it would still be off from your original 33%. To put this into perspective: I have been offered full time employment at almost every company I have worked for as a freelancer so far and the by far highest offer I got was 93.000€/year which is around 54.600€ net income - or about 20.000€ less net than I make right now. That is 2/3 of the average FTE income in germany.
- number6 4y ago
  Thanks for the Financials. People in germany don't talk money very often.
- sebasv_ 4y ago
  I'm missing one very important cost on the contractor side: unemployment insurance. I don't know about German law but in the Netherlands all the numbers are comparable, except that your employer is required to insure you against loss of income. This insurance runs up to 1/3 of your insured income, which would put your taxable income at about 87.000. Of course you don't _have_ to take this insurance but if you want an honest comparison it should be included on both sides.

lnsru 4y ago

Thank you for your post with financials! It’s really nice to have such information from the source.

zufallsheld 4y ago

Thanks for sharing this! If your username is the same as the one from the band, then great choice!