Know your number before the call.
A salary negotiation is a math problem before it's a conversation. You need your current in-hand, the gap worth closing, and a number you can defend — before the recruiter calls. This tool runs the counter-offer, raise, and notice period buyout scenarios and generates scripts with actual rupee figures already filled in. FY 2025–26.
Pick the conversation you're walking into.
We'll work the numbers — hike percentage, monthly delta, inflation erosion, buyout breakeven — and hand you three email scripts you can paste and edit. Everything stays in your browser.
Five chapters, three emails.
- 01Setupinputs · context
- 02Gapnumbers · hike %
- 03Anchorstarget · mid · floor
- 04Scriptsthree tones
- 05Plantiming · objections
Why most negotiations fail before they start
The most common mistake is negotiating CTC against CTC. A ₹28 LPA offer feels like a ₹6L jump from ₹22 LPA — but if the new offer has 30% variable and the old one had 10%, your guaranteed monthly in-hand may actually be lower. The number that determines whether a move makes financial sense is in-hand, not CTC. Run both before you respond to anything.
67% of Indian professionals accept the first offer without negotiating. This isn't because offers are fair — it's because candidates don't know the range or don't have a number ready. Recruiters build headroom into initial offers and routinely expect a counter. A well-framed counter with a specific number and one clear reason is almost never held against a candidate.
The lever most candidates miss entirely: the joining bonus. When a company's base salary band is capped, joining bonuses come from a separate budget and are significantly easier to approve. ₹3–5 lakh is standard at mid-level; ₹10–20 lakh exists at director level. If you don't ask, it's never offered.
What the tool calculates
Counter-offer mode takes your current CTC and the new offer, computes the monthly in-hand difference under both, identifies the gap, and suggests a specific counter number based on the market delta you input. It generates an email you can send — with the rupee figures already in the right places.
Raise mode takes your current CTC and a hike percentage and shows the exact monthly in-hand delta — after tax, PF, and professional tax. Most people estimate a 15% hike means ₹15,000/month more. At ₹25 LPA in the 20% slab, a 15% hike delivers around ₹8,400/month extra after all deductions. The script frames the ask in terms of in-hand impact, not percentage.
Buyout mode calculates your notice period cost at your daily gross rate (monthly gross ÷ 26 working days × days short), then models how to structure recovery from the new employer — as a salary increase rather than a lump-sum joining allowance — to avoid paying tax twice on the same money.