Freelance day rate vs salary: the real comparison

How it is calculated

Turnover is the day rate multiplied by the days billed in the year. The modele-social engine, the one behind URSSAF's simulator, then calculates the micro-entreprise's contributions according to the type of activity (professional services, trade or craft), the net income, then income tax: under the standard scale with the micro scheme's flat allowance, or through the flat-rate option if you chose it. Your yearly costs are taken off at the end, because the micro scheme does not deduct them from the taxable base.

The equivalent salary is the gross pay of an employee whose net before tax equals that micro-scheme net exactly: the engine finds it by numerical inversion. The other way round, the tool starts from the target gross salary, calculates its net, then searches for the turnover that gives the same net under the micro scheme; the day rate follows by dividing by the billed days.

What the result includes

So that two people get the same figure from the same gross pay, the site always calculates from the same baseline situation. Each line can be changed in the calculator's options where it matters.

• General social security scheme (régime général), rates as of 26 October 2026 (rules from modele-social, the engine behind URSSAF's simulator).
• Permanent full-time contract (CDI), 35 hours a week, i.e. 151.67 h a month, paid over 12 months.
• Non-cadre by default (cadre status is one button away), collective agreement set to the general rules (“droit commun”).
• Company health cover (mutuelle) of €40 a month, of which €20 is deducted from pay, URSSAF's default setting; zero is possible in the options.
• Outside Alsace-Moselle (option available), without meal vouchers or benefits in kind.
• Income tax estimated with URSSAF's simplified model (tax withheld at source on taxable net pay); the “before tax” amounts are still shown.
• Minimum wage (SMIC) since 1 June 2026: €12.31 gross per hour (service-public.gouv.fr).
• Two statuses side by side: the micro-entreprise scheme (without Acre relief, unregulated professional services by default) for the freelancer, and the lines above for the equivalent salary.

Limits

A correct calculation for a typical situation is not your payslip. Here is what the tool does not know, so that you read the result as a reliable order of magnitude, not a promise.

• Collective agreement: sector minimums, seniority bonuses, compulsory thirteenth month and specific provident schemes are not taken into account (general rules only).
• Bonuses, variable pay, overtime, benefits in kind: left out, except in the tools that ask for them.
• Health cover and provident scheme: your actual contribution may be different; change it in the options.
• Alsace-Moselle: the option adds the local scheme's health contribution, without its other specifics.
• Public sector not covered: civil servants' pay scales and contributions follow other rules.
• Simplified tax: no tax reductions or credits, no exceptional income; the engine's “tax” module is flagged as experimental by URSSAF.
• Micro-entreprise only: a SASU, an EURL or umbrella employment (portage salarial) carry other contributions and other tax; the tool does not simulate them.
• Micro-scheme ceilings and VAT: above the turnover ceilings the scheme changes, and VAT becomes due above its thresholds; the tool does not check them.
• Social cover: the equivalence covers the net before tax, not unemployment, pension or holiday rights.

From day rate to salary, for a few rates

Over 218 billed days, professional services activity, no costs or Acre relief, tax under the standard scale for a single person: turnover, contributions, monthly net before and after tax, and the equivalent non-cadre gross salary.

Reading the comparison

The figure to remember is not turnover but monthly net: in the example, €9,083 of turnover a month leaves €6,740 net before tax, because contributions take 25.8% of turnover. The equivalent gross salary, €8,490 a month, is the amount to compare with job ads in your occupation; the employer cost of that salary, €12,166 a month, is what a company would pay to employ you rather than pay your invoices.

To set your day rate, start from the salary you would want, let the tool work out the floor rate, then add what employment provides and you will have to fund yourself: days without an assignment, holiday, insurance, pension, training. The guide to negotiating a job offer applies to an assignment too: state a rate, not a range, and back it up.

Beyond the micro-entreprise scheme

As soon as real costs become significant or turnover approaches the ceilings, a company (SASU, EURL) or umbrella employment may suit better: contributions are then calculated on pay, not on turnover. The auto-entrepreneur simulator details the micro scheme (Acre relief, flat-rate tax option, household), the employer cost tool shows the other side of a salary, and the gross-to-net converter turns any job offer into net pay.