Frontend Engineer Salary in Berlin 2026: €50K–€130K Complete Guide

# Frontend Engineer Salary in Berlin 2026: €50K–€130K Complete Guide

Berlin has cemented itself as one of Europe's top destinations for frontend engineers. With over 400 funded tech companies — from unicorns like Zalando and Delivery Hero to fast-growing fintechs like Trade Republic and N26 — the demand for React, TypeScript, and Next.js talent remains high in 2026.

But what does the market actually pay? Here is the complete breakdown by experience level, employer type, and tech stack. For live percentile data, see the frontend engineer salary tool for Berlin.

Frontend Engineer Salary by Level in Berlin (2026)

Total compensation includes base salary, annual performance bonus (5–20% of base), and equity (RSUs or options at scale-ups and late-stage startups). Figures represent gross annual salary before German income tax and social contributions.

Junior roles cluster at €48K–€55K for bootcamp graduates at early-stage startups, rising to €58K–€62K at established companies with structured onboarding. Mid-level is the largest band and most competitive: engineers with 3–4 years of React and TypeScript experience can realistically target €72K–€82K. Senior engineers with production-scale experience and team mentorship track records command €90K–€110K base at scale-ups.

Top Berlin Employers and What They Pay

Berlin's frontend job market is anchored by ten major employers that consistently appear in salary benchmark data:

Zalando — Europe's largest fashion e-commerce platform. Senior frontend engineers earn €95K–€120K base, with RSU grants of €20K–€40K per year at senior levels. React and GraphQL are the primary stack. Strong engineering culture with dedicated frontend guilds. Trade Republic — Berlin's fastest-growing fintech. Pays top-of-market for product engineers, with senior frontend roles reaching €100K–€125K. TypeScript and React are mandatory; performance and mobile web experience are highly valued. Delivery Hero — Global food delivery giant headquartered in Berlin. Mid-level engineers earn €70K–€88K; senior engineers €90K–€115K. Micro-frontend architecture and React are standard. N26 — Digital bank with a strong focus on frontend product quality. Frontend engineer salaries: Junior €50K–€62K, Senior €88K–€112K. Vue.js historically, shifting toward React for new projects. Spotify — Stockholm-founded but Berlin office is a major engineering hub. Compensation is benchmarked to Stockholm levels, putting senior frontend engineers at €95K–€118K with meaningful RSU grants. SoundCloud — Audio platform with a Berlin engineering core. Mid-to-senior salaries: €75K–€105K. React and TypeScript are the core stack. HelloFresh — Meal kit company with a large Berlin engineering org. Frontend engineers: Mid €68K–€85K, Senior €85K–€108K. Strong investment in developer experience and tooling. Klarna — Swedish fintech with a growing Berlin presence. Pays above-market for senior React engineers, with total comp regularly exceeding €115K at senior level. GetYourGuide — Travel experience marketplace. Senior frontend engineers earn €85K–€108K. React, TypeScript, and Next.js are the primary frontend stack. Flixbus — European mobility platform. Technology-forward for its sector; senior frontend salaries €80K–€100K. React and Vue.js are both present.

Tech Stack and Salary Premiums

The Berlin frontend market in 2026 is heavily React-centric. Here is how specific skills affect compensation:

React + TypeScript — Standard combination at every major employer. Expected for mid-level and above; no standalone premium, but being weak here disqualifies you from most roles. Next.js — Growing demand as companies adopt SSR and SSG for performance and SEO. Engineers with production Next.js experience earn 5–8% above pure client-side React specialists. GraphQL (Apollo / Relay) — High demand at data-heavy companies like Zalando and Delivery Hero. Adds roughly €3K–€6K to mid-level offers where it is core to the stack. Vue.js — Niche in Berlin but present at N26, Flixbus, and some German corporates. Switching from Vue to React for a Berlin role is a common transition that unlocks a broader market. Performance optimization / Core Web Vitals — Premium skill as Google ranking factors and user retention metrics drive investment. Engineers who can articulate LCP, CLS, and FID improvements command senior-level rates even at 4 years of experience. Testing (Vitest, Playwright, Cypress) — Not a standalone premium but frequently cited as a differentiator in senior hiring. Companies like Zalando and Trade Republic weight testing discipline heavily.

Berlin vs Munich vs Amsterdam

If you are choosing between European tech cities, here is how frontend engineer salaries compare:

Munich pays the most in absolute terms — typically 12–18% higher than Berlin for equivalent roles. However, Munich rents (€20–€28/m² for a one-bedroom) eat significantly into that premium. Berlin rents remain lower at €14–€20/m², making the after-housing take-home more competitive than raw salary figures suggest.

Amsterdam is close to Berlin in salary levels, with the Dutch 30% tax ruling (for international hires earning above a threshold) providing a major net pay boost for non-Dutch engineers. Without that ruling, Dutch income tax rates are comparable to Germany's.

For engineers prioritizing startup equity upside and vibrant tech community over maximum base salary, Berlin remains the top choice in Continental Europe. For maximum raw compensation, Munich or remote-first roles at US-headquartered companies dominate.

See also: Software Engineer Salary in Berlin 2026 and Tech Salaries in Germany 2026 for broader context.

German Benefits: What the Package Actually Includes

German employment law mandates a benefits package that significantly supplements gross salary. Understanding these is critical when comparing Berlin offers to remote or non-EU roles:

Sozialversicherung (Social Insurance) — Employer and employee each pay approximately 20% of gross salary into the social insurance system (Krankenversicherung, Rentenversicherung, Arbeitslosenversicherung, Pflegeversicherung). For an employee earning €80K, this means roughly €16K in employer-side contributions that do not show on your payslip but are part of your total employment cost. Altersvorsorge (Pension) — Statutory pension contributions (Rentenversicherung) are split 50/50, with each party paying 9.3% of gross. Many scale-ups offer additional betriebliche Altersvorsorge (company pension scheme) with employer top-ups of €50–€200/month. Urlaubsgeld and Weihnachtsgeld — Some employers (more common in German corporates than startups) pay an additional holiday allowance (Urlaubsgeld) and Christmas bonus (Weihnachtsgeld) equal to 50–100% of one month's salary. Startups typically replace this with performance bonuses. Minimum paid leave — 20 days by law; most tech companies offer 25–30 days. Senior engineers at Zalando, Spotify, and similar companies receive 28–30 days plus German public holidays (9–13 days depending on Berlin's calendar). German job security — After 6 months, German employment law (Kündigungsschutzgesetz) applies, requiring employers to have valid reasons for termination and notice periods of 4 weeks minimum (growing with tenure). This protection has real monetary value, especially for engineers who have experienced US-style at-will employment.

Negotiation Tips for Berlin Frontend Roles

1. Use salary data proactively. Berlin employers expect candidates to know their market value. Citing CareerCheck's Berlin frontend salary tool or Glassdoor ranges signals professionalism, not greed. 2. Separate base from total comp. When a startup says "€65K + meaningful equity," model the equity separately. Ask for the current valuation, your percentage, the vesting schedule (4-year with 1-year cliff is standard), and when the last funding round was. Do not let equity replace market-rate base. 3. Negotiate the full package. Berlin employers are often flexible on professional development budget (€1K–€3K/year), remote-work flexibility, and equipment allowances even when base salary is at the band ceiling. 4. Time your ask. Berlin companies make the most room for negotiation at the offer stage — not after you have started. Counter the first offer; most companies have 5–10% headroom built in. 5. Reference German benefits when comparing. If you are comparing a Berlin offer to a Swiss or UK remote offer, factor in the employer-side social contributions, job security protections, and paid leave entitlements. The gross salary differential narrows significantly when you account for total employment cost.

Summary

Berlin's frontend engineering market in 2026 offers solid compensation with strong legal protections and a rich ecosystem of product companies. The €85K–€115K range for experienced engineers at scale-ups like Zalando, Trade Republic, and Klarna is genuinely competitive within Europe, even if it falls short of Munich or remote FAANG-adjacent roles.

For the latest market data by percentile, see the live Berlin frontend engineer salary tool. For broader Germany comparisons, see Tech Salaries in Germany 2026.