How to use the salary comparison calculator
Start with two offers, using the first as your baseline-often your current job. Enter annual fixed gross cash salary, not the total CTC. Add basic pay, HRA and recurring allowances from each salary breakup. Do not add employer PF or gratuity to fixed gross; those belong in employer benefits.
Enter the target annual variable amount and the percentage you expect to receive. Open Benefits, bonuses & deductions to include employee PF, professional tax, other payroll deductions, non-cash employer costs, equity and first-year bonuses. A third offer can be added without changing the comparison basis.
Income tax is excluded by default. If you have a reliable full-year tax estimate for each offer, enable the tax option and enter every estimate. Use the Income Tax Calculator with its explicitly stated tax year, or your payroll estimate. The comparison does not infer your current tax liability from CTC.
Recurring CTC = Fixed gross + Target variable + Benefits + Annualized equityRegular monthly cash = (Fixed gross − Entered payroll deductions − Included tax) ÷ 12Expected annual cash = Regular annual cash + Target variable × Payout %First-year cash = Expected annual cash + Joining bonus + Retention bonusWhy CTC alone can hide the difference
Two equal packages can support very different monthly budgets. An offer with a larger variable component or stock grant may have less fixed cash. Employer PF, gratuity provisions and insurance can be valuable benefits, but they are not regular bank-credit salary.
The graph switches between regular monthly cash and recurring CTC so you can see this distinction. The annual cash view includes the variable payout assumption, while the first-year cash view adds entered joining and retention bonuses. Neither annual total should be interpreted as a promise of equal monthly payments.
Equity is an annualized offer estimate only. Vesting schedules, sale restrictions, valuation changes and tax can affect its real value. One-time bonuses can have repayment conditions if you leave early. Check the written offer rather than counting these as recurring money.
A worked job-offer comparison
In this page's initial comparison, Offer A has recurring CTC of ₹11,84,000, versus ₹15,20,000 for Offer B. Regular monthly cash is ₹77,133 versus ₹86,467, before income tax.
Expected recurring annual cash is ₹10,25,600 for Offer A and ₹12,37,600 for Offer B. Including first-year joining and retention bonuses changes those figures to ₹10,75,600 and ₹13,87,600. These are different questions from which package has the largest headline CTC.
This reading example reflects the inputs used when loading the page. Calculate again to update the dashboard; a copied result link reloads all applied numeric assumptions.
What to check before accepting an offer
Get the full breakup
Ask for fixed gross, target variable, employer costs, employee deductions and the payout schedule. Avoid comparing fixed pay in one offer with total CTC in another.
Budget the move
Include extra rent, commute or childcare that changes with the new job. Monthly work costs are a budgeting comparison, not a deduction in your payslip.
Read the conditions
Check bonus clawbacks, notice periods, equity vesting, dependent insurance and remote-work policy. Consider role and growth without assigning them a misleading universal score.
Highest monthly cash is not a recommendation to accept that job. If tax is excluded, do not spend the full displayed amount in your household plan. If tax is included, the monthly calculation spreads the entered full-year estimate evenly; actual TDS timing can differ, especially around bonus payouts.
Frequently asked questions
How do I compare two salary offers?
Enter each offer's annual fixed gross salary, target variable pay and known deductions on the same basis. Then add employer benefits, annualized equity and first-year bonuses separately. Compare regular monthly cash, recurring CTC and first-year cash rather than using CTC alone.
Does a higher CTC mean a higher in-hand salary?
Not always. CTC can include employer PF, gratuity, insurance, variable pay and equity that do not arrive in your monthly bank credit. The comparison keeps non-cash benefits and equity outside cash salary, and excludes variable pay and one-time bonuses from regular monthly cash.
Is income tax included in the comparison?
By default income tax is not included, and results say before income tax. Enable Enter annual income tax and enter a full-year tax estimate for every offer to see an after-entered-tax comparison. The tool spreads that entered tax over 12 regular paychecks; it does not independently calculate tax, rebates, surcharge or equity taxation.
How is variable pay compared?
Recurring CTC includes the target annual variable amount. Expected recurring cash includes that amount multiplied by your assumed payout percentage. At 50% payout, a target bonus of 200000 contributes 100000 to expected annual cash. It is not treated as guaranteed monthly salary.
Are joining and retention bonuses part of recurring salary?
No. This calculator treats the entered joining and retention bonuses as first-year-only cash, paid in full in that scenario. They are excluded from recurring CTC and regular monthly cash. Check payment dates, conditions and clawback clauses; adjust the amounts if they are not payable in your first year.
How should I enter PF, gratuity and stocks?
Enter employer PF, gratuity provisions, insurance and similar employer costs together as annual employer benefits. Enter employee PF separately as a payroll deduction. Enter only one year's vesting value for equity, not an entire multi-year grant. Equity is shown as a non-cash estimate without assuming a sale, liquidity or guaranteed value.
Does the calculator pick the best job for me?
No. Highest monthly cash is a financial comparison only. Work model and benefit notes are displayed without scoring them. Consider role, learning, commute, stability, insurance coverage and family needs before choosing a job. Monthly work costs show an additional budgeting scenario and are not payroll deductions.
Will a result link preserve my comparison?
It preserves the applied numeric assumptions, tax inclusion choice and work models. Company names and personal benefit notes are omitted. Salary details remain in the URL and may be visible in browser history, recipients' devices and server logs. No account or calculator database is required.