Add each offer: salary, bonus, stock with its vesting schedule, joining bonus and the rest. See total pay year by year, pay after tax and per hour, and which offer fits what matters to you.
Five steps. Each offer takes about two minutes.
Two made-up offers for the same job, in one currency. Every number in the table is this calculator’s own output for these inputs.
Harbor: salary 100,000 a year · bonus 10% of salary, expected in full · retirement money 4% of salary · in the office 5 days a week, 45 minutes each way · 20 days paid leave and 10 public holidays.
Lumen: salary 90,000 a year · joining bonus 10,000, paid back if you leave within 12 months · stock units worth 60,000, vesting evenly over 4 years, 12-month cliff, every quarter · retirement money 4% of salary · 2 office days a week, 30 minutes each way · the same leave.
| Harbor | Lumen | |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 total | 114,000 | 118,600 |
| Year 2 total | 114,000 | 108,600 |
| Year 3 total | 114,000 | 108,600 |
| Year 4 total | 114,000 | 108,600 |
| Total over 4 years | 456,000 | 444,400 |
| Certain money over 4 years (salary, joining and moving money, retirement, benefits) | 416,000 | 384,400 |
| Hours a year at work | 1,840 | 1,840 |
| Hours a year commuting | 345 | 92 |
| Pay per hour, year 1, commute counted | 52.17 | 61.39 |
| Decision score, every other factor at 3 of 5 | 66 | 71 |
Lumen pays more in year one (118,600 against 114,000), because the joining bonus and the first stock vest land in the same year. From year two, Harbor pays more every year, and over four years it is ahead by 11,600.
Harbor’s money is also safer: 416,000 of its 456,000 is certain, against 384,400 of 444,400 at Lumen. Stock can fall, and the calculator warns for Lumen: “The joining bonus is paid back if you leave within 12 months.”
But Harbor costs 345 hours a year on the road, against 92. Count those hours and Lumen pays 61.39 an hour against 52.17. That figure uses year one, joining bonus included; in year two, without it, Lumen still pays 56.21 an hour. With growth, team, security and the rest all left at 3 of 5, the decision table puts Lumen first, 71 to 66. Neither answer is the right one for everyone: the table shows which way the choice tips, and why.
Seven lines to check on every offer, for both offers.
Want each offer after tax, line by line? The take-home pay calculator shows every deduction. Not sure what a clause in the letter means? The offer letter reader explains it in plain words.
And what to do instead.
Once you know which offer you want, use the other one honestly: the salary negotiation coach turns a real competing offer into one clear ask.
Salary, bonus, joining bonus, stock with its vesting schedule and cliff, refreshers, retirement money and benefits, added up for each year. Stock options count only what they would be worth above the strike price, with the cash needed to buy them shown next to it.
Year-one pay, the four-year total, pay after tax, pay per hour with the commute counted, and a decision table where you weigh growth, the team, remote work and security against the money.
Set the lowest you would take, your target and the number to ask for. Add market figures with where you found them. Get the call script, replies for every push-back, and the emails: counter, confirm, more time, accept, decline. Four more for later in the talk: a follow-up when your ask gets no reply, a final ask after they move, a reply to a low offer, and a yes that asks for a later start date. When they answer, paste what they said and get the line to say and the email to send.
Pick the situation and the recruiter: friendly, tight budget or tough. Speak or type. The recruiter moves only when you give a number with a reason, and each reply gets a note: your number, your reasons, hedging words, what you gave away. The report marks six named moves and gives you the one to practice next.
Seven steps, for any job and any country.
Put both offers in the same terms: total pay for each year, the part of it that is certain, pay after tax and pay per hour with the commute counted. Then weigh what money cannot show, such as growth, the team and security. The calculator does both, and the worked example on this page shows one comparison in full.
For each year, add the salary, the bonus you expect to be paid, any joining or moving money paid that year, the stock that vests that year, and the retirement money and benefits the employer pays. Spread a stock grant over its vesting years and count nothing before the cliff.
Count it in hours first. Minutes each way times two, times office days, times working weeks, adds up fast: in the worked example on this page, a 45-minute commute five days a week comes to about 345 hours a year. The calculator adds those hours to your working hours, so pay per hour shows the cost.
Yes. Each offer keeps its own currency. Compare asks for the exchange rate you use, so type today's rate from your bank; an offer without a rate is left out of the totals. Living costs differ between places too, so compare what is left after rent and bills as well.
Base pay is certain and arrives now; stock vests over years, has a cliff and can fall or vanish if you leave. The table here shows each offer year by year with vesting and cliffs, so you see what is certain against what may come.
The one that wins on what you weigh, not only the biggest number. Compare year-one pay and the four-year total, pay after tax, pay per hour with the commute, and how much of it is certain (salary) against what may change (bonus, stock). Then rate growth, the team, remote work and security in the decision table.
Offers, plans and practice rounds are saved in this browser, with a delete button, and you can download a backup file. A PDF or photo of your offer letter is read in this tab and never uploaded. Only the AI buttons send text, and only what the note under each button names. What you send to the AI is saved to ClapAssist so our tools can fill it in for you next time; see or delete it at clapassist.com/my-data/.
For each year: salary (with the raise you expect), the bonus at the payout you expect, joining and moving money in the year it is paid, stock by its vesting schedule and cliff, refreshers if you count them, the employer's retirement money and the benefits you would otherwise pay for. Stock options count only what they would be worth above the strike price, at a share price you choose.
Ask a little above what you want, because the answer usually comes back at or under the ask. The page starts your ask about 10% above your target (our own rule, shown as a starting point you can change) and warns you if the ask is below your target or far above the offer without strong evidence.
Keep it out of the talk: the Levels.fyi negotiation guide (26 Sep 2025) says your last salary is not a reason for this job's pay. In the US, many states and cities stop employers from asking it; HR Dive's list (updated 28 Apr 2026) includes California, Colorado, Illinois, New York and Washington.
The job post's own pay range first: a range is required in job posts in states such as California, Colorado, Illinois, New York and Washington (Trusaic pay transparency tracker, updated 4 Sep 2026). Then government surveys (US BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 data released 15 May 2026; UK ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, April 2025 data) and pay sites where people share offers. Write down where and when you found each figure.
Pick the situation and the recruiter (friendly, tight budget or tough), then speak or type. The recruiter has a hidden limit, made up for practice, and moves toward it in steps only when you give a number with a reason, said without apologizing. Each reply gets notes and a mark: the number you asked for and the reason you gave weigh double, tone, confidence, protecting your position and the whole package weigh once, brevity half; a reply with no number and no reason after the opener scores low. Replies that name no number do not test tone, confidence or privacy, and a round that never names a number scores 30 or less. The end report shows your skills, the money you gained and how much of the room you took, then what you missed and the one move to practice next: anchor, reason, stop after the number, ask "how", the whole package, or get it in writing.
ClapAssist is a Mac and Windows app that listens to the interview and shows you what to say, so you reach the offer stage with room to negotiate.
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