What GEHALT.de does

GEHALT.de is a German salary-information and comparison platform that operates as a brand and business unit of StepStone Deutschland GmbH, the legal entity of the StepStone Group. The company maintains a proprietary database of more than 3.6 million salary records spanning over 800 occupations, refreshed with up to 250,000 new data points per year through direct employee surveys and employer submissions; all data passes statistical plausibility checks before publication. Its consumer-facing product suite includes the Gehaltsvergleich salary-comparison tool, the personalized GehaltsCheck service, a Brutto-Netto-Rechner, a Kurzarbeitergeld-Rechner, a job board surfacing over 222,000 listings with embedded salary information, an editorial section of salary studies (Gehaltsatlas, Führungskräfteatlas, Gender Pay Gap analyses), and the Karriere A–Z career lexicon. The sub-brand Gehaltsvergleich.com operates a parallel consumer portal.

The business operates a hybrid freemium-to-B2B model. Individual job seekers access the salary tools, calculators, and job listings free of charge, in exchange for newsletter opt-ins that build a first-party marketing database. B2B revenue is generated through the Compensation Partner sub-brand, a subscription-based compensation benchmarking and analytics platform serving approximately 500 corporate customers across industries including automotive (Deutsche Post), professional services (KPMG), media (RTL), and staffing. A secondary revenue stream is employer job-posting fees channeled through StepStone's "All Jobs" recruitment package, with postings remaining live until filled at up to 75% lower cost per application than traditional job ads.

GEHALT.de was founded in 1999 in Hamburg under the name PersonalMarkt and was acquired by the StepStone Group in 2019, becoming a strategic asset within Germany's largest online job platform. The company employs approximately 70 people, draws nearly 4 million monthly users (with 2.6 million reported under Germany's Digital Services Act), and operates exclusively in the German market. Distribution is anchored by deep integration with StepStone's job board and sales channels, complemented by an SEO-driven content marketing engine and newsletter marketing through MailChimp and Selligent. The company is GDPR-compliant, with all data handling under DS-GVO and relevant German federal data protection law.

Name

GEHALT.de

Legal name

StepStone Deutschland GmbH

Website

https://gehalt.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

GEHALT.de is a Hamburg-founded German salary information platform (now part of StepStone) operating a 3.6 million-record salary database across 800+ occupations. It serves individual job seekers with free comparison tools and ~500 corporate customers through its B2B Compensation Partner benchmarking subscription.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Salary Information and Compensation Benchmarking

NAICS

Payroll Services (541214), Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (5412)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Global Payroll & Multi-Country Payroll Management (BPACAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

National Generalist Staffing Firms (BPACACAI)

Keywords

• Salary comparison platform
• Compensation benchmarking
• Job board listings
• Salary data analytics
• Payroll calculator tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Consumer Salary Tools (Free): Free salary comparison and calculator tools for individual job seekers. Revenue generated indirectly through user acquisition that drives employer/B2B services.
2. Compensation Partner (B2B): Corporate compensation benchmarking and salary data services for employers. Approximately 500 business customers across various industries use this paid service.
3. Job Board Integration: Integration with StepStone job board providing job listings with salary information. Revenue through employer job postings and StepStone partnership.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

GEHALT.de operates Germany's largest salary information and comparison platform, drawing on more than 3.6 million salary records covering 800+ occupations. It offers free consumer tools (Gehaltsvergleich, GehaltsCheck, Brutto-Netto-Rechner, Kurzarbeitergeld-Rechner) and a job board with 222,271+ listings, plus the Compensation Partner B2B platform that provides subscription-based compensation benchmarking and analytics to approximately 500 corporate customers.

Product overview

GEHALT.de is a salary information and comparison platform operated by StepStone Deutschland GmbH, offering a suite of tools and content for both job seekers and employers. The core offering consists of the GEHALT.de salary database (with Gehaltsvergleich and GehaltsCheck), which draws on over 3.6 million salary records across more than 800 professions, supplemented by free calculators (Brutto-Netto-Rechner, Kurzarbeitergeld-Rechner) and a job board with over 222,271 listings that integrates salary data. Supporting the consumer platform are sub-brands: Gehaltsvergleich.com (a parallel salary comparison portal) and Compensation Partner (a B2B SaaS tool serving approximately 500 corporate clients with compensation benchmarking and analytics). Content features include a news and studies section publishing salary research and press releases, and a Karriere A–Z career lexicon. The portfolio is integrated into the StepStone Group ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gehaltsvergleich.com: A salary comparison platform operated alongside GEHALT.de.
• Compensation Partner

Products and services

• GEHALT.de Salary Database / Gehaltsvergleich Germany's largest salary database and comparison platform, enabling users to look up market-rate salaries by profession, industry, region, and experience level, drawing on more than 3.6 million records across 800+ occupations.
• GehaltsCheck Personalized salary comparison service that matches a user's age, gender, education, profession, industry, location, and personal responsibilities against anonymized market data to deliver a tailored salary benchmark. Users consent to receive a job and salary newsletter as contractual consideration.
• Brutto-Netto-Rechner Free gross-to-net salary calculator that lets users estimate their net take-home pay from their gross salary, with no personal data collected during use.
• Kurzarbeitergeld-Rechner Short-time work allowance calculator that estimates reduced pay during Kurzarbeit (short-time work) periods, processing user input data anonymously.
• Compensation Partner B2B subscription platform for corporate clients providing compensation benchmarking, analytics, and salary data to design fair and market-competitive pay structures; approximately 500 customers across automotive, professional services, media, and staffing industries.
• Gehaltsvergleich.com Companion salary comparison brand operated by StepStone Deutschland GmbH alongside GEHALT.de, providing similar salary data and comparison functionality as a separate web property.
• GEHALT.de Job Board Job listing aggregation platform presenting over 222,271 job postings sourced from various job boards, integrated with salary information for each listing. Includes the 'All Jobs' recruitment package that keeps postings visible until filled at reduced cost per application via StepStone.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 4 million monthly users rely on the platform for salary information

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• StepStone GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019GEHALT.de has been part of the StepStone Group since 2019. StepStone is a leading online job board in Germany. The partnership enables integration of GEHALT.de's salary tools with StepStone's job listing platform, including the Gehaltsplaner feature accessible through StepStone's website. GEHALT.de operates under the StepStone Deutschland GmbH parent company.
• Compensation PartnercoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternal B2B brand of GEHALT.de serving approximately 500 corporate customers with compensation benchmarking and salary data services. Customers range from automotive manufacturers to staffing companies. The brand operates as part of the same company under StepStone Deutschland GmbH.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Indeed: Global job aggregator publishing salary data on listings and competing for German job board traffic. A broad incumbent in online recruitment that increasingly overlaps with salary transparency use cases.
• XING (NEW WORK SE): Leading German-language professional network, parent of Kununu. Comparable as a DACH platform with overlapping salary and employer data, plus a broader professional networking and recruitment portfolio.
• StepStone: Parent company and Germany's leading online job board. While the platform itself hosts the job board that GEHALT.de aggregates and integrates with, StepStone is the broader incumbent in German online recruitment.

Direct peers

• Payscale: US-based compensation data and software company providing salary benchmarks, pay ranges, and HR analytics to enterprises. Closest pure-play comp benchmarking peer, although US-focused.
• Kununu: Austria-founded employer review and salary transparency platform, now part of NEW WORK SE / XING. Directly comparable as a DACH salary and workplace insights platform serving both job seekers and B2B employer branding customers.
• Glassdoor: US-headquartered platform combining anonymous salary data, company reviews, and job listings, owned by Indeed. Most direct international peer in salary transparency and employee-generated compensation content.
• Salary.com: US-based compensation data and HR software provider offering salary surveys, pay structures, and comp management tools. Comparable enterprise compensation benchmarking business model.
• Levels.fyi: Tech-focused compensation benchmarking platform providing salary, equity, and total comp data. Comparable as a data-driven salary transparency business that has expanded enterprise offerings.

Others

• Haufe Group: German provider of HR, payroll, tax, and compliance information, software, and services. Adjacent ecosystem participant serving German HR and compensation professionals with overlapping but distinct offerings.

Regional players

• Lohnsteuer kompakt: German tax and salary calculation platform offering Brutto-Netto calculators and pay-related tools. Overlaps with GEHALT.de's free calculator and gross-net tools, but more focused on tax filings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/gehalt_de

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about GEHALT.de