Freelancing in France as a Foreigner: Auto-Entrepreneur vs SASU vs Portage Salarial (2026 Guide)

If you're trying to figure out how to start freelancing in France as a foreigner, you're not alone.

Every year, thousands of people move to France and face the same problem. The system is complex, the rules are unclear, and most of the information online is either outdated or written for French citizens.

So you end up asking the same questions everyone else asks. Can you legally freelance in France? Which status should you choose? And more importantly, how much money will you actually keep?

Because that's usually where the real surprise is.

The truth is simple: choosing the wrong structure can cost you thousands of euros every year. And most freelancers only realize it once it's too late.

Freelancing in France is absolutely possible as a foreigner, but your situation matters more than you think. If you are from the EU, the process is relatively straightforward. If you are not, your residence permit becomes the key factor. In many cases, you will need a status that explicitly allows self-employed activity. Without it, your options are limited, and that's often why people end up choosing solutions like portage salarial without fully understanding the alternatives.

Portage salarial is usually the first option people come across. On paper, it sounds ideal. You don't need to create a company, you don't deal with administration, and you receive a salary every month. For someone new to France, it feels safe.

And that's exactly why so many people choose it.

What is less obvious is the cost. Once everything is deducted — contributions, taxes, and management fees — the difference between what you invoice and what you actually receive becomes massive. On 10,000 euros invoiced, the net income is often around 3,600 euros. For some, that trade-off makes sense. If your visa depends on having a salary, or if you are only staying for a short period of time, the simplicity can be worth it. But in many cases, people choose it simply because no one explained the alternatives clearly.

The alternative most freelancers turn to is the auto-entrepreneur status. It is by far the simplest way to start freelancing in France with a proper legal structure. The setup is fast, the administration is minimal, and the system is easy to understand — even if you are not familiar with French bureaucracy.
However, there is a revenue cap (77 700 € excluding tax), which means it is not designed for every situation, but for many freelancers starting out, it is more than enough.

There is also a detail that many foreign freelancers miss entirely — and it's actually two separate things.

The first is ACRE. When you register as an auto-entrepreneur, if you're receiving unemployment benefits or meet certain other conditions, you qualify for a 50% reduction on your social contributions for the first year. That brings the rate from 26.1% down to around 13%. On 10,000€ invoiced, that's a meaningful difference.

The second is ARCE. This is a separate scheme, managed by France Travail. Instead of receiving your unemployment allocation month by month, you can choose to take 60% of your remaining balance as a lump sum — paid in two instalments when you launch your activity.

The condition for both: your job loss must have been involuntary. A resignation doesn't qualify. And the ACRE application is not automatic — you need to submit a request to URSSAF immediately after registering your auto-entreprise. Most foreign freelancers find out too late.

As your income grows, the limitations of the auto-entrepreneur status eventually become more visible. This is usually the moment when people start looking into creating a company, and the SASU is often the structure that comes up.

A SASU gives you much more flexibility. There is no revenue limit, and you can structure how you pay yourself in a more optimized way. But this flexibility comes with additional complexity. You will need accounting support, you will have more administrative responsibilities, and the fixed costs are higher. It is not the kind of structure you choose when you are just getting started. It only becomes relevant when your revenue justifies it.

If you put all three options side by side, the difference becomes very concrete. On 10,000 euros invoiced, an auto-entrepreneur will typically keep just over 7,000 euros in the first year. A well-structured SASU can go slightly higher, depending on how it is set up. Portage salarial, on the other hand, usually brings that number down to around 4,200 euros.

Read that again.

Out of 10,000 euros invoiced, more than 5,800 euros is gone. That's the real cost of zero admin and full employee protection. Sometimes it's worth it. Often it isn't — and the only reason people choose it is that nobody ran the numbers for them.

So what is the best status for freelancing in France?

The honest answer is that it depends — on your nationality, your residence permit, your income level, and how long you plan to stay. The right choice for someone staying six months is not the same as for someone building a long-term business.

What matters is making that choice before you start, not after.

That's exactly why we built Cleo — to help you compare your options, understand your real net income, and choose the structure that actually fits your situation. Because in France, the difference between a good decision and a bad one is often several thousand euros a year.