Your CTC isn't your salary.

Know what you'll actually earn.

Upload your offer letter and CTCtruth breaks down fixed pay, variable pay, bonuses, equity, PF, tax and estimated take-home, so you can compare offers on real numbers.

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  • Private by design
  • Transparent calculations
Offer letterTech lead offer · Headline CTC ₹36L
Illustrative example
Compensation breakdown
  • Fixed pay₹25.1L
  • Employer PF + gratuity₹2.4L
  • Variable pay₹4.5L
  • Joining bonus₹2.5L
  • Equity₹1.5L
Estimated take-home, recurring
₹20.1La year

≈ ₹1.68L a month in your bank

Headline CTC₹36LEstimated take-home₹20.1L56% of CTC
Worked out by the analyzer's engine for a sample offer; ₹1,67,740 a month.
The problem

₹20L CTC doesn't always mean the same thing.

The same headline can be packed with very different mixes of fixed salary, variable pay, employer PF, gratuity, joining bonus and equity.

Offer A

₹20L CTC · mostly fixed pay
₹1,38,069estimated take-home a month
Fixed pay
92% of CTC
Employer PF + gratuity
₹60,062
Bonus, joining and equity
₹1,00,000
Difference₹35,334a month≈ ₹4.2L a year

Offer B

₹20L CTC · padded with PF, bonuses and equity
₹1,02,735estimated take-home a month
Fixed pay
71% of CTC
Employer PF + gratuity
₹1,34,462
Bonus, joining and equity
₹4,50,000

Illustrative example Two hypothetical offers, not real employers, worked out by the same engine as the analyzer. The gap is before counting whether Offer B's bonus is paid in full or its equity is ever worth anything.

Compensation anatomy

What's inside your CTC?

A typical ₹16L product-company offer, rupee by rupee. Structures vary by company; the analyzer reads yours.

  • Fixed pay₹10.9L · 68%Paid monthly, then taxed
  • Employer PF + gratuity₹1.1L · 7%Retirement savings and a provision
  • Variable pay₹1.8L · 11%A target, not a promise
  • Joining bonus₹1.2L · 8%Once, often repayable
  • Equity₹1L · 6%Paper value

Not every ₹1 in CTC becomes ₹1 in your bank account.

Of this ₹16L headline, about ₹10.1L a year (63%) is estimated to reach your bank as salary, after your PF, professional tax and income tax. Illustrative example

How it works

From offer letter to decision in four steps.

Turn a complicated offer into clear, auditable compensation intelligence.

  1. 01

    Upload

    Add your offer letter as a PDF or Word file, or paste its text.

  2. 02

    Understand

    Identify salary, variable pay, PF, gratuity, bonus, equity and anything unexplained.

  3. 03

    Calculate

    Work out recurring cash, estimated take-home and tax under both regimes.

  4. 04

    Decide

    Compare offers, explore four-year scenarios and prepare questions for HR.

See the full walkthrough

Our core rule

We don't guess your money.

If your offer letter doesn't provide enough information, CTCtruth shows what is unknown instead of silently inventing a number.

Unknown is a valid answer.

Blank means unknown and zero means zero. An unknown part of the CTC is never counted as salary; it's shown on its own, confidence drops, and you get the question to ask.

Every value is labelledIllustrative example
  • Basic salaryStated in the offer letter
    ₹12,00,000Known
  • Employer PF12% of Basic, by a stated rule
    ₹1,44,000Derived
  • Variable payoutLabelled, and yours to change
    75% of targetAssumed
  • Gratuity inside CTC?Not stated, so not counted. Ask HR
    —Unknown
What it analyzes

Everything your offer letter can hide in plain sight.

Each part of the CTC is read, classified by what it really pays, and carried through to the numbers you decide on.

In your offer

  • Fixed payMonthly, then taxed
  • HRAMonthly, partly tax-free (old regime)
  • Variable payWhen paid, if paid
  • Employer PFRetirement savings
  • GratuityOn exit, if eligible
  • Joining bonusOnce, may be repayable
  • EquityPaper value
Before you sign

Questions your offer letter doesn't answer.

When an offer leaves something out, the analyzer turns the gap into a question to ask, written for your offer. These come up most.

  • Variable pay

    Is the variable pay guaranteed, or does it depend on ratings and company results?

  • Payout timing

    When is the variable pay actually paid: monthly, quarterly or once a year?

  • Employer PF

    Is employer PF included in the CTC, and is it 12% of full Basic or of the ₹15,000 wage ceiling?

  • Gratuity

    How is gratuity treated in this CTC if I leave before five years?

  • Equity

    What happens to unvested equity if I leave, and how long is the exercise window?

  • Joining bonus

    Does the joining bonus have a clawback, and is the repayment prorated?

Get the questions for your offer

Resources

CTC jargon, decoded.

The words on your annexure, and whether each one reaches your bank every month.

CTCMonthly cash: Partly
Cost to company: everything the employer budgets for you in a year, including money you never receive as salary.
Fixed payMonthly cash: Yes
Recurring compensation that forms the core of your salary: Basic, HRA and allowances, paid monthly and then taxed.
HRAMonthly cash: Yes
House rent allowance, part of fixed pay. Under the old regime, part of it can be tax-free if you pay rent.
Variable payMonthly cash: No
Performance-linked pay quoted at target. It may not equal guaranteed cash, and it's often paid once a year.
Employer PFMonthly cash: No
An employer contribution often included in headline CTC. It goes to your PF account, not your monthly take-home.
GratuityMonthly cash: No
A statutory benefit with eligibility conditions, generally payable only after five years of service.
Joining bonusMonthly cash: No
One-time compensation in year one, often repayable if you leave within a set period.
EquityMonthly cash: No
ESOPs or RSUs: potential future value that vests over years. Not equivalent to cash compensation.
Why CTCtruth

Every number has a story.

Next to each figure, the analyzer shows where it came from and how it was worked out, so you can check it instead of trusting it.

Employer PF₹1,44,000Derived

Based on

  • Basic salary: ₹12,00,000 a year
  • PF policy: 12% of full Basic
  • Counted inside the CTC: yes
View calculation
Variable pay₹6,00,000Known

Source

  • Offer letter: “Performance bonus: INR 6,00,000 per annum”
  • Target, not a guaranteed payout
  • Kept out of monthly take-home
View calculation
The offer-letter reader listing each value it found, from total CTC to joining bonus, next to the exact line in the letter, with tick boxes to confirm each oneThe offer-letter reader listing each value it found, from total CTC to joining bonus, next to the exact line in the letter, with tick boxes to confirm each one

The offer-letter reader: each value next to the exact line it came from. Scroll the image sideways to read it.

  • Transparent calculationsEvery rule it applies is listed with the result.
  • Source-aware numbersEach value says whether it's from the letter, from you, derived, assumed or a sample.
  • Explicit assumptionsNothing is assumed silently. Assumptions are labelled and editable.
  • Visible uncertaintyConfidence is shown as high, medium or low, with the reason.
  • Privacy-first designThe offer letter is read in your browser and never uploaded.
  • 180 of 180 engine checks passAutomated checks you can run inside the analyzer.

Illustrative example Figures in the two cards are for illustration.

Privacy

Your offer letter never leaves your device.

Your compensation data stays under your control. You can export or delete saved offers at any time.

Read the privacy policy

  • Read on your devicePDF and Word files are read by code in your browser tab.
  • No accountNothing to sign up for. Saved offers stay in this browser.
  • No trackingNo analytics or third-party scripts. Everything is served from this site.
FAQ

Questions, answered

Is CTCtruth free?

Yes. There's no sign-up, no paid tier and no ads.

Does my offer letter leave my device?

No. PDF and Word files are read by code running in your browser tab, and nothing about your offer is sent to a server. Saved offers stay in this browser's local storage, where you can export or delete them. The only thing that leaves your device is a message you choose to send through the contact form.

Can CTCtruth calculate tax?

It estimates income tax under both the new and old regimes for tax year 2026–27 (the Income-tax Act, 2025) and for FY 2024–25 and FY 2025–26, including the standard deduction, the rebate with marginal relief, surcharge and cess. It's an estimate from what you enter, not tax advice.

What happens when my offer letter doesn't mention something?

That value stays unknown. It isn't treated as zero and it isn't counted as salary: the unexplained amount is shown on its own, confidence drops, and the analyzer suggests the question to ask HR.

Can I compare multiple offers?

Yes. Save offers in your browser as you collect them and put up to three side by side: take-home, year-one cash with bonuses, retirement savings and paper equity.

How does CTCtruth treat equity?

As paper value. ESOPs and RSUs are kept out of monthly take-home and shown on their own rows in the four-year view, with vesting and value growth as separate assumptions. No cliff is assumed unless you confirm one.

Can I use CTCtruth for old offers?

You can enter any offer's numbers, but tax is only modelled for FY 2024–25 onwards, so an older offer's tax is worked out under one of those years' rules rather than the year it was made.

How are assumptions handled?

Only where one is unavoidable, such as how much of a variable target is paid out (75% by default, which you can change). Every assumption is labelled as assumed and listed next to the result, so you can see exactly what it depends on.

Have an offer?
Know what it's really worth.

Upload your offer and get a transparent breakdown of your compensation, in about five minutes.

  • No account required
  • Private by design
  • Transparent calculations