Umbrella Company or Micro-Enterprise: Which to Choose?
Want to work independently without forming a company? Two paths are open to you: the micro-enterprise, where you are your own boss, and umbrella employment (portage salarial), where you remain an employee of an umbrella company while finding your own assignments. Both let you invoice clients, but the experience, costs and protection differ radically. Here is how to decide.
Two opposing logics
In a micro-enterprise, you are a self-employed worker. You invoice clients directly, collect the revenue, pay your contributions and handle your admin. Maximum freedom, minimal costs, but limited social protection and no safety net.
In umbrella employment, an umbrella company employs you. You find your assignments, it invoices the client on your behalf, takes its management fee and pays you the balance as salary, with a payslip. You combine the freelancer's freedom with the employee's protective status.
The comparison that matters
| Criterion | Micro-enterprise | Umbrella employment |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Self-employed (TNS) | Employee (general scheme) |
| Levy on revenue | 12.3% to 25.6% contributions | ~45-50% (charges + fees) |
| Management fee | None | 5 to 10% of net revenue |
| Unemployment insurance | No | Yes |
| Pension | SSI | General scheme + supplementary |
| Revenue cap | €83,600 (services) | None |
| Administration | Your responsibility | Delegated |
Key takeaway: the micro maximises your immediate net income; the umbrella maximises your protection, including unemployment, at a markedly higher cost.
The real cost: a significant net income gap
This is the most concrete point. In a micro-enterprise, a BNC consultant invoicing €60,000 pays about 25.6% in contributions, leaving pre-tax income of around €44,600.
Under an umbrella, on the same €60,000, the company first takes its management fee (say 7%, or €4,200), then employer and employee social charges on the rest. Net salary before tax often lands around 50 to 55% of revenue, here roughly €30,000 to €33,000. The gap with the micro is substantial — but it funds real protection.
When umbrella employment becomes relevant
Despite its cost, umbrella employment has real strengths in certain situations:
- You want to keep your unemployment rights: this is the number-one argument. At the end of an assignment, you can open ARE rights, impossible under micro.
- You exceed the micro cap: the umbrella has no revenue limit.
- You hate admin: invoicing, chasing, declarations — all delegated.
- You are testing an activity while keeping a reassuring status, notably after a layoff.
When the micro remains unbeatable
- You start with small amounts: umbrella management fees weigh heavily on low revenue.
- You want to maximise your net and accept lighter social protection.
- Your activity is simple and admin does not scare you.
There is a third path: combining a micro-enterprise with unemployment benefits (ARE) at the start of an activity, to blend income and safety net. We explain it in combining ARE and micro-enterprise. To compare social protections in detail, see social protection for the self-employed, and estimate your micro net income with the simulator.