Malt Fee Calculator

Malt’s Help Centre sets the standard freelancer service fee at 5% (excl. VAT), deducted from your invoice. For certain projects in France, Spain and Belgium, it starts at 10% and drops to 5% after 6 months on the same assignment. Malt shows the exact fee and your net amount on the quote page before you send it. Clients pay their own, separate service fee on top. Quote €800/day at 5% and €760 reaches you before processing — compared with €720 at Upwork’s typical 10% and €640 on Fiverr (20%).

After Malt’s fee, processing (1.5–3% depending on method) and your own taxes reduce your payout further. At €800/day, after each platform’s fee, 2% processing and a 19% tax reserve:

• France TVA: 20% · Germany MwSt: 19%
• At €700/day × 160 billable days/year: roughly €16,500 more before tax than the same volume on Fiverr

Malt supports two contract types — each with different risk and scope dynamics:

• TJM (daily rate): Log days worked, invoice per day, client approves. Scales naturally as scope expands. Standard for tech and consulting.
• Fixed-price: Agree on deliverable + total price, invoice on completion. Requires strict scope discipline. Best for clearly-defined design or content work.

TJM — Taux Journalier Moyen — is how Malt and French clients benchmark freelancer cost. To earn €5,000/month net after Malt’s 5% fee, 2% processing and a 20% tax reserve, you need to bill ~€6,715 gross.

• 10 billable days/month → TJM of €671/day
• 8 billable days/month → TJM of €839/day
• Most freelancers price by market feel — the right approach is to work backwards from your income goal.

Malt's search placement is driven by a profile score. A dormant profile with 10 old reviews ranks lower than an active one with 5 recent ones. Four factors dominate:

• Profile completeness — photo, bio, skills, portfolio, availability status
• Verified reviews from completed missions (recency matters more than volume)
• Response rate to client messages
• Activity recency — update availability regularly, respond within 24 hours, request a review after every mission

Malt Boost is a paid visibility feature that increases your placement in client search results. It amplifies what's already there — a sparse profile boosted is still a sparse profile.

• New profile (few reviews): Boost can bridge the credibility gap and accelerate early traction
• Established freelancer (strong review history): Organic ranking typically performs as well
• Rule: build profile quality first, use Boost as a multiplier — not a substitute

Malt's client base is predominantly French enterprises and mid-sized companies, with growing presence in Germany, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Average mission value: €3,000–€30,000+.

• Dominant categories: tech (dev, data, cloud), design, marketing
• Best for freelancers with 3+ years of expertise, commanding €300+/day B2B rates
• Not suited for early-career freelancers — Upwork's global marketplace gets you more work below €250/day
• Non-European freelancers: fewer relevant opportunities and more friction on every payment