At some point most European Python developers wonder whether to go freelance. The day rates look enormous next to a salary, and the freedom is appealing. The honest answer is that contracting is not a raise — it is a different job, with different maths and different risks. Here is the honest version.
The rate looks bigger because it is doing more work
A €400/day contract rate sounds like roughly €100k a year if you bill every working day (about 250). You will not. Realistically you bill maybe 200–220 days after holidays, gaps between contracts and admin — €80k–€88k before any of the costs below. And from that gross you now pay things an employer used to cover:
- Your own pension and social contributions.
- Holiday and sick days — unpaid, every one.
- An accountant, insurance, and the hours you spend on invoicing and chasing payment.
- The dry spells between contracts, which always come.
A useful rule of thumb: a day rate needs to be meaningfully higher than the daily equivalent of a salary just to break even on stability.
Where contracting genuinely wins
- Specialists in demand. If your niche is scarce, the rate premium can clear all of the above and more.
- People who value autonomy over security and are disciplined about saving for the gaps.
- Those who want variety — new domains every few months instead of years on one product.
Where full-time still wins
- Predictability. A salary, paid holiday, and someone else handling tax is worth real money in peace of mind.
- Early career. You learn faster embedded in a team that mentors you than billing solo.
- Equity and progression. Contractors rarely get either.
The admin reality nobody mentions
Each EU country has its own rules for freelancers — registration, VAT thresholds, social contributions, invoicing requirements. Some are smooth (Estonia, Ireland); some are genuinely heavy (looking at parts of Southern Europe). Budget time and an accountant before you romanticise the freedom. And read up on the local equivalent of "false self-employment" rules — working full-time for one client through a one-person company can be reclassified, with consequences.
How to decide
Run the actual numbers for your country and situation, not a generic comparison. Then ask what you want more right now: stability and mentoring, or autonomy and upside. Both are valid; they just suit different chapters.
Whichever you pick, the work is on the same board — some roles list contract, some permanent, and the region and engagement type are spelled out on each one so you are not guessing.