If you've ever wondered if you're underpaid, you probably are. But salary transparency is still relatively taboo in India, meaning most frontend engineers negotiate offers blind.
We're fixing that. We aggregated verified compensation data from LeetCode offers, Levels.fyi, and Glassdoor for over 90 companies actively hiring frontend talent in India. These aren't estimates. They are actual offers accepted by engineers.
Note
All figures represent annual base salary in Lakhs Per Annum (LPA). We intentionally excluded joining bonuses, performance bonuses, and equity (ESOPs/RSUs)—though equity can easily add 20-100% on top of base at tier-1 companies. We restricted this explicitly to Frontend Engineer, UI Engineer, and React Developer roles.
Tier 1: The Outliers
These companies routinely pay north of ₹40L base for Senior roles, usually accompanied by heavily weighted equity packages.
Zepto
Zepto has become one of the most aggressive hirers in quick commerce. Their frontend team in India is small but well-compensated.
| Level | india |
|---|---|
| Junior (0-2y) | ₹15L – ₹25L |
| Mid (2-5y) | ₹24L – ₹52L |
| Senior (5-8y) | ₹52L – ₹70L |
| Staff (8y+) | ₹70L – ₹90L |
What the data says: An SDE2 with roughly four years of experience can clear ₹52-70L total compensation here. They rely heavily on internal referrals, so cold applying is rarely the best route.
PhonePe
PhonePe separated from Flipkart in 2023 and has been aggressively building its own tech team. Salaries have increased significantly post-separation.
| Level | india |
|---|---|
| Junior (0-2y) | ₹18L – ₹30L |
| Mid (2-5y) | ₹30L – ₹50L |
| Senior (5-8y) | ₹50L – ₹75L |
| Staff (8y+) | ₹75L – ₹1.0Cr |
Dream11
The largest fantasy sports platform in the country relies heavily on React Native for mobile and React for web. They're well known for offering strong base pay combined with actual work-life balance—a rare combination in this tier.
| Level | india |
|---|---|
| Junior (0-2y) | ₹15L – ₹25L |
| Mid (2-5y) | ₹25L – ₹45L |
| Senior (5-8y) | ₹45L – ₹65L |
| Staff (8y+) | ₹65L – ₹90L |
Tier 2: The established players
These companies don't always match Tier 1's chaotic upside, but they offer high liquidity, strong engineering brands, and very clear promotion ladders.
Swiggy
| Level | india |
|---|---|
| Junior (0-2y) | ₹15L – ₹25L |
| Mid (2-5y) | ₹25L – ₹40L |
| Senior (5-8y) | ₹40L – ₹55L |
| Staff (8y+) | ₹55L – ₹90L |
Zomato
| Level | india |
|---|---|
| Junior (0-2y) | ₹15L – ₹25L |
| Mid (2-5y) | ₹25L – ₹45L |
| Senior (5-8y) | ₹45L – ₹70L |
| Staff (8y+) | ₹70L – ₹1.0Cr |
Meesho
Meesho has built one of the fastest-growing frontend teams in India over the last two years, maintaining a deep conviction in product engineering velocity.
| Level | india |
|---|---|
| Junior (0-2y) | ₹15L – ₹25L |
| Mid (2-5y) | ₹25L – ₹38L |
| Senior (5-8y) | ₹38L – ₹60L |
| Staff (8y+) | ₹60L – ₹85L |
Myntra
| Level | india |
|---|---|
| Junior (0-2y) | ₹15L – ₹25L |
| Mid (2-5y) | ₹25L – ₹45L |
| Senior (5-8y) | ₹45L – ₹70L |
| Staff (8y+) | ₹70L – ₹90L |
Tier 3: Solid mid-market
Good pay, excellent scale, and great learning environments, though they typically index slightly lower on cash compensation than the top two tiers.
Razorpay
| Level | india |
|---|---|
| Junior (0-2y) | ₹10L – ₹18L |
| Mid (2-5y) | ₹18L – ₹27L |
| Senior (5-8y) | ₹27L – ₹45L |
| Staff (8y+) | ₹45L – ₹65L |
Groww
| Level | india |
|---|---|
| Junior (0-2y) | ₹10L – ₹17L |
| Mid (2-5y) | ₹17L – ₹28L |
| Senior (5-8y) | ₹28L – ₹42L |
| Staff (8y+) | ₹42L – ₹53L |
ShareChat
| Level | india |
|---|---|
| Junior (0-2y) | ₹12L – ₹20L |
| Mid (2-5y) | ₹20L – ₹35L |
| Senior (5-8y) | ₹35L – ₹55L |
| Staff (8y+) | ₹55L – ₹75L |
Leveling translated
Titles are notoriously inconsistent across companies, but the expectations generally track like this:
| Level | Years | Typical Title | The actual job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior (SDE1) | 0-2y | Junior Engineer | Shipping 1-2 features per sprint under strict senior guidance |
| Mid (SDE2) | 2-5y | Software Engineer | Owning features end-to-end without hand-holding |
| Senior (SDE3) | 5-8y | Senior Engineer | System design, cross-team architecture, and mentoring mid-levels |
| Staff | 8y+ | Staff / Principal | Setting the technical vision for an entire vertical |
Tip
The single most lucrative jump you can make in the Indian ecosystem is SDE2 to SDE3. At most product companies, the jump from Mid to Senior triggers a massive compensation re-calibration—often paying 40-80% more than the SDE2 band. Optimize ruthlessly for this promotion early in your career.
5 rules for negotiating a frontend offer
- The first offer is a test. They left buffer room. Counters are expected, particularly for SDE2 and above.
- Anchor on LPA. Always negotiate the annual base (LPA) rather than monthly payout to prevent math tricks with bonuses.
- Clarify the variable. A ₹40L offer with a 30% variable component means your reliable take-home is only ₹28L. Value guaranteed cash over "potential" cash.
- Scrutinize the paper money. Standard ESOP vesting is a 4-year cycle with a 1-year cliff. Ask explicitly what the current strike price is and when the last secondary sale occurred.
- Get it in writing. Email trumps a recruiter call. It forces exact numbers and gives you time to evaluate.
Open roles
The reality check
Is ₹20L good?
₹20L is a completely reasonable mid-market base for an SDE2 in Bengaluru. However, if you are a Senior (5+ years) at a product company, ₹20L means you are significantly under-indexed against the market.
Does location still matter?
Yes. Bengaluru still dictates the market ceiling, followed by Hyderabad and Pune. However, remote-first companies headquartered in Bengaluru will generally pay you Bengaluru rates regardless of where you sit.
MNC vs Startup?
If your primary metric is compensation, well-funded Indian product startups (Series B and later) out-pay traditional MNCs across the board. The gap is most severe at the Senior level, where a Swiggy or Zepto SDE3 will easily clear ₹15-20L more per year than an equivalent engineer at a legacy multinational.