nrtechstudio.com · career tools
Base salary is only one line of a job offer. Compare job offers side by side on total compensation — up to three offers, scored on bonus, RSU equity and vesting, 401(k) match, health premiums, PTO value, taxes, and the real cost of commuting.
Step 1 · Enter the offers
Fill in each offer from the offer letter. Leave anything you don't have at 0 — the math still works. Currency is display-only; no conversion is applied.
Step 2 · The scoreboard
The highlighted cell in each row is the highest of the three — a neutral fact, not a recommendation. Scroll the tabs for the full breakdown, vesting, taxes, and commuting.
Offer A
$0
Offer B
$0
Offer C
$0
| Component (per year) | Offer A | Offer B | Offer C |
|---|
Deep dive
Three headline numbers per offer, plus exactly where each dollar comes from.
Equity visualizer
Realized grant value per year. The gold cliff tag marks money that vanishes if you leave before 12 months. This models the grant as stated — it does not predict stock price changes or refresh grants.
Offer A
Offer B
Offer C
| Year | Offer A | Offer B | Offer C |
|---|
US only · rough estimate
Estimated federal income tax per vesting year for a single filer using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,750 standard deduction. Taxable income each year = base + bonus + vested equity + stipend + signing bonus (year 1).
The hidden pay cut
An onsite offer that pays more on paper can pay less after commuting. Enter each offer's commute; the tool subtracts the annual cost (and optionally the time value) from total comp.
Offer A
Offer B
Offer C
| Commute cost (per year) | Offer A | Offer B | Offer C |
|---|
Negotiation worksheet
Pick the offer you want to improve and the annualized total comp you're targeting. The worksheet runs a gap analysis — then translates that gap into the exact ask in three different currencies: base salary, bonus percentage, or signing bonus.
Path 1 · Base salary
+$0
Ask for this raise on base. It also lifts your bonus, 401(k) match, and PTO value — the multiplier is shown in the methodology.
Path 2 · Target bonus
+0.0 pts
Ask for this many extra percentage points of target bonus instead of a base raise.
Path 3 · Signing bonus
+$0
One-time payment that closes the gap in year-1 cash and the 4-year total. Often the easiest concession when salary bands are rigid.
If the ask is granted
$0
New annualized total comp after the Path-1 base raise — verify it matches your target above.
How the math works
base + base × bonus% + grant ÷ vesting years + base × match cap% × match% + employer health premiums + pto days × (base ÷ 260) + stipend.base + bonus + signing bonus + stipend. The 401(k) match is not cash in hand and PTO value is unrealized, so both are excluded.4 × (annualized total comp − equity slice) + signing bonus + full grant, matching the standard vesting window.1 + bonus% + match cap% × match% + pto days ÷ 260 in total comp. The worksheet divides the gap by this multiplier.Worked example
Two offers both pay a $140,000 base. Watch what happens when the rest of the package differs:
| Component | Offer X — $140k base | Offer Y — $140k base |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $140,000 | $140,000 |
| Target bonus | 10% → $14,000 | 5% → $7,000 |
| Equity (annualized) | $80,000 ÷ 4 → $20,000 | $0 |
| 401(k) match | 50% on 6% → $4,200 | 100% on 4% → $5,600 |
| Employer health share | $8,000 | $12,000 |
| PTO value (15 vs 20 days) | $8,077 | $10,769 |
| Annualized total comp | $194,277 | $175,369 |
Identical base salaries, an $18,908 per year difference — nearly $75,600 over four years before the signing bonus is even counted. This is why offers must be compared on total compensation, never on base alone. (PTO value = days × $140,000 ÷ 260.)
Questions
Put every offer on the same total-compensation footing before you compare: base salary, target annual bonus, the annualized slice of any equity grant, the employer 401(k) match, the employer's share of health premiums, the dollar value of PTO days, and any stipend. This calculator computes all seven for up to three offers at once, so a lower base with strong equity can be judged honestly against a higher base with none.
Total compensation is the annualized dollar value of everything an employer pays on your behalf: base salary plus target bonus, the yearly slice of equity (grant value divided by vesting years), the 401(k) match, employer-paid health premiums, PTO valued at your daily rate, and stipends. Two offers with the same $150,000 base can differ by $30,000+ a year once bonus, match, and equity are counted.
Take the total grant value and divide it by the vesting period: a $120,000 grant vesting over four years is $30,000 per year of annualized compensation. The equity visualizer in this tool also shows the realized value year by year, including the effect of a vesting cliff. Remember that a grant is worth its value only if you stay through the vesting schedule.
A cliff means nothing vests until you pass a milestone, typically 12 months; with a one-year cliff on a four-year schedule, the first 25% of your grant vests all at once at the one-year mark. Leave before the cliff and you walk away with zero equity. The visualizer marks the cliff explicitly so you can see which dollars are at risk if you leave early.
A higher base salary usually wins over time: it recurs every year, and it raises everything tied to salary — your target bonus, the 401(k) match, and the value of each PTO day. A signing bonus is paid once and is gone after year one. Use the negotiation worksheet to see how much base increase it takes to close a given gap versus a one-time signing bonus.
Multiply your base salary by the match cap, then by the match rate: for example, a 50% match on up to 6% of a $100,000 salary is worth $3,000 per year. That is free compensation you only get if you contribute enough to capture the full match. This calculator computes it per offer so you can compare match formulas directly.
Divide your base salary by 260 working days to get your daily rate, then multiply by the number of PTO days: 15 days at a $100,000 base is worth about $5,769 per year. This is a comparison value, not cash in hand — you only 'collect' it by taking the time off.
The tax-adjusted mode estimates federal income tax for a single filer using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,750 standard deduction, applied per vesting year to base plus bonus, vested equity, stipend, and any signing bonus. It is a rough estimate: it ignores state and local taxes, Social Security and Medicare, and pre-tax deductions. Treat the result as a planning number, not a tax filing.
Subtract the real cost of being onsite: annual mileage at the IRS rate ($0.70 per mile for 2025), parking, and transit, plus the time value of your commute (hours per year times your hourly rate). A $10,000 higher onsite salary can be fully erased by a long commute. The remote-vs-onsite mode computes both the cash cost and the time cost.
First compute the gap between the current offer and your target in annualized total comp, 4-year total, and year-1 cash. Then the worksheet translates that gap into three concrete asks: the base-salary raise that closes it (accounting for the way a raise also lifts your bonus, match, and PTO value), the equivalent target-bonus percentage, or a one-time signing bonus. Ask in the currency the employer can actually move.
Base salary compounds every year and lifts bonus, match, and PTO value with it, so it is usually the most valuable dollar to win. Signing bonuses are one-time but often the easiest concession for an employer with rigid salary bands. Extra equity is valuable only if you believe in the company and will stay through vesting. The worksheet shows the same gap expressed in all three so you can mix them.
A cost-of-living comparison answers 'which city leaves me with more spending power' by adjusting pay for local prices and taxes. This tool answers a different question: 'which offer is worth more' by breaking each offer into its total-compensation components. If you are relocating, use both: compare offers here, then run the winner through a cost-of-living calculator such as nrtechstudio.com's cost-of-living-lab.
No. It is an arithmetic planning tool that produces estimates from the numbers you type in. It is not financial, tax, or legal advice, and it cannot know your vesting risk, tax situation, or career goals. For decisions with real money at stake, verify the math with the offer letter and consider a qualified professional.
The core total-compensation math is currency-agnostic and works anywhere — enter amounts in your own currency. Only the tax-adjusted mode is US-specific: it uses 2025 federal brackets for a single filer and ignores other countries' tax systems entirely.
The 4-year total adds four years of recurring compensation plus the signing bonus and the full equity grant, matching the standard four-year vesting window. It exposes cliffs and back-loaded equity that the annualized number can hide, and it is the fairest single number for comparing offers with very different equity structures. It does not model refresh grants or stock price changes.
Yes. Every calculation runs locally in your browser with JavaScript; nothing you type is sent to any server, and there are no external requests at all. You can verify this by opening the page with your network disconnected — it keeps working.
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