Software engineering salaries

Company: Stealth Startup Role: Not specified Years of Experience: 5 Base Salary: 65 LPA ESOPs: 35 L over 4 years (~8.75 L per year) Total Compensation: 73.75 LPA

I have approximately 10 years of experience. I was recently promoted to Principal this month. I want to stay on the IC path and grow further as a Principal / Director. The startup is shifting more towards AI-based services work. I am not seeing strong traction or clear long-term product direction. My current company might match salary if I stay. My goal is to reach a strong Principal level in the next few years, work on solid system design / architecture problems, and keep good options open for future switches.

I received an offer from a US based Startup. Details are as follows: Base: 25LPA PF (Employer side): 1.5 LPA Joining Bonus: 1.5 LPA Variable: 10% of base RSU's: 2500 units (vested over 4 years) Hybrid (2 days WFH)

I received an offer to join a very early stage AI startup that currently has only 3 people. The compensation includes 14 lakhs (in hand) plus 1% ESOPs worth 16 lakhs. The role is remote. I am considering this switch for the real impactful learning opportunities.

My education: B.Tech. My years of experience: 5 years My prior experience: Product based company. The company: Startup (founded - 2023). The role/level: Senior Backend Engineer. The location: Gurgaon. The base salary offered: 60L + 10L performance bonus. Relocation assistance: 0.5L. Signing Bonus: 4L. ESOPS bonus (paper money): 30L (vesting - 25% each yr). My calculated total compensation (CTC): 81.5 LPA. I rejected this offer.

I received an offer from a Fintech Startup based in India, for a remote position. The details are as follows: Base salary: 35 LPA (EPF included) ESOPs: 30 LPA

Education: B.Tech Tier 2 non-cs Years of Experience: 1.5 Prior Experience: SDE 1 FAANG Date of the Offer: Sep 2025 Location: Delhi NCR Salary: 42L (INR) Relocation: 0 Signing Bonus: 2.5L + 4L yearly performance(INR) Stock bonus: 20L over 4 years Total comp (Salary + Bonus + Stock): 53L (INR) Negotiated hard, made them increase initial offer. Heard from previous SDEs that this startup hires and fires. Also heard managers are egoistic. Given the current job market, this risk doesn't seem good to me early in my career.

I received an offer from an AI startup for a Senior Backend Engineer role. Total Compensation: 54 LPA (all fixed)

I received an offer from a US-Based Series D Fintech startup. My Years of Experience (YOE) are 2.4. The compensation offered is 32 Lakhs Fixed salary plus 5 Lakhs in ESOPS. I am currently considering this offer while awaiting interviews from JP Morgan. I am happy with this new offer even though it doesn't provide a significant hike.

I received an offer from a Series A startup. The position offered is MLE-2. My fixed salary is 31 LPA. I will also receive a 3 LPA yearly bonus. I will receive a 1 Lakh joining bonus. The job is remote.

This is a contract role with an option to convert to FTE later. The role is for a 'part time' job. I would need to work on just one project at a time. I won't have any support. I won't have oncall responsibility.

I have been lucky enough to receive a quite good offer from a startup. The base salary component is 20 LPA. This offer is killing any motivation I have for prepping for Google.

Company culture: 6 days WFO + hustle + lots of opportunities to take responsibilities and lead

I received an offer from a remote startup. My experience is approximately 5.5 years (rounded to 6 years for YOE). The base salary offered is 52 LPA. Total compensation includes a 10% performance bonus and additional stocks which I consider useless.

I have 2.2 years of experience. The offer is for a Senior Software Engineer role at an AI startup. The offer includes a base salary of 27 Lacs, a retention bonus of 3 Lacs, and 12 Lacs in ESOPs. My total compensation (excluding ESOPs) is 30 LPA. I am an immediate joiner.

Role: Software Engineer 1 Base: 13.1LPA Performance bonus: 5% of Base (~65k) Joining Bonus: 50k Benefits: Relocation assistant (flight ticket + 7 day hotel stay), Health insurance, Gratuity, etc. Total cash comp: 14.25LPA (After negotiation, initially 13LPA was offered)

Base: 30L Bonus: 5L ESOPs: 15L Total Compensation: 50L

I received an offer for an Applied AI Engineer role. The offer is from an early-stage startup. The pay is 10-15% higher than my current salary. I am a fresher with approximately 4 months of experience.

I am already selected in this mid-startup company. The company is going to IPO in 3-4 years. My start date is very near, around X October. The CTC is around 75 LPA. The base salary is 55 LPA. The remaining compensation is ESOPs.

In September 2025, I cracked an offer. The offer was for ₹19 LPA CTC (₹17 base) at a Bangalore-based B2B SaaS startup.

I have received an offer from a health tech startup. The base salary offered is 12 LPA. The total compensation includes a 12 LPA fixed component, a 30k relocation bonus, and approximately 2 LPA performance bonus, bringing the total offer to ~14.3 LPA. I have 2.6 years of experience (including a 4-month internship). I am relocating from Delhi to Bangalore for this role. HR is currently only considering my current base salary of 8.37 LPA in negotiations, stating their 12 LPA offer is a large hike, but it is only ~12% more on my current total package of 11.6 LPA. I initially asked for 18 LPA, then reduced my ask to 15 LPA. I have already resigned from my current company and currently do not have any other offers.

I have received an SDE Intern offer from a fast-growing SaaS startup in AI space. The internship stipend is ₹50k/month (6 LPA). After a successful conversion, the Full-time SDE role would have an estimated CTC of 18 LPA.

I have been offered an AI-focused role on the latest tech (agents, AI systems). This is a hybrid role requiring relocation to a different city. The offer has higher pay and rapid learning potential. I was informed there are no extra perks besides salary. The company is an Indian Startup with 10 employees.

I am a 2025 Pass-out and received an offer for a Backend Developer role from a Fintech Startup. My Total CTC is ₹30 LPA, with a fixed salary of ₹15 LPA. The offer includes ESOPs valued at approximately $17K USD (₹15 L), vesting over 4 years (25% after 1 year, then monthly vesting). The startup is in the Fintech sector, with Series A funding expected in 2025. Perks include a strong work culture, team ownership, monthly outings, and startup growth exposure.

I received an offer from Startup B with a Base Salary of 49 Lakhs INR. The offer includes RSUs worth 140K USD over 4 years.