SASU or Auto-Entrepreneur: Which Status Should You Choose in 2026?

Lea designs visual identities for cosmetics brands. She's been freelancing for three years, and she just signed a 45,000-euro yearly contract with a new client. Her micro-entreprise is starting to creak at the seams. She's facing the question most French freelancers eventually ask: SASU or auto-entrepreneur, which status should you choose? In 2026, the answer mostly comes down to your expected revenue over the next twelve months, how much social protection you'd need if things went wrong, and how much admin work you're genuinely willing to handle day to day. The auto-entrepreneur status wins on simplicity. The SASU wins on room to grow.

Auto-entrepreneur: the simplest way to start invoicing

The auto-entrepreneur status (also called micro-entreprise) lets you start invoicing immediately, with no share capital and no complex bookkeeping, as long as you stay under an annual revenue cap. There's no company registration, no articles of association to draft, and no accountant required. A simple online declaration gets you a SIRET number, usually within two weeks.

The catch? That cap. For 2026, the revenue threshold for services (whether commercial or professional activity) sits at 83,600 euros per year, compared to 188,700 euros for goods sales. Cross it for two consecutive years and you're automatically moved to a standard tax regime. Social contributions stay proportional to what you actually collect: roughly 21.2% for commercial or craft services, 25.6% for liberal professions under the general scheme, and 23.2% for regulated liberal professions affiliated with CIPAV.

In practice, Lea invoices, gets paid, and pays contributions on what she's actually collected. It's simple. But if her revenue keeps climbing, every euro past the cap turns from good news into an administrative headache.

SASU: a structure built to absorb growth

The SASU (single-shareholder simplified joint-stock company) has no revenue cap at all, and lets the founder be classified as an assimilated employee, with social coverage close to that of a regular salaried worker. In exchange, it requires registration with the commercial court, formal articles of association (usually drafted with professional help), and double-entry bookkeeping maintained all year round. For the full walkthrough of setting one up and running it day to day, our complete guide to the SASU covers every step.

The SASU president contributes to the general social security scheme through URSSAF, which unlocks a pension and health coverage comparable to a regular employee's. There's no unemployment insurance by default though, unless you take out a private policy. Another nuance: social contributions only apply to the salary actually paid out, not to total revenue. A founder who pays themselves a modest salary and leaves the rest in the company's cash reserves pays lower immediate social charges, though dividends distributed later get taxed differently, often through France's flat tax.

For Lea, switching to a SASU would mean being able to invoice 80,000, 120,000, or 200,000 euros without worrying about any ceiling, all while keeping solid social coverage. The tradeoff: heavier administration, and often the cost of hiring an accountant, which becomes a fixed monthly expense.

Taxation: two very different logics

Under the micro-entreprise regime, income tax follows either the progressive scale after a flat-rate deduction, or a final flat withholding if income conditions are met; under a SASU, the company pays corporate tax, and the founder is only taxed personally on what they actually withdraw. That difference changes everything about how you manage your income.

Auto-entrepreneurs can't deduct any real expenses, no equipment, no travel, no subcontracting. Tax authorities apply a flat-rate allowance meant to represent those costs (34% for liberal activities, for example), whether they're accurate or not. A SASU, by contrast, lets you deduct all justified business expenses before calculating corporate tax: a laptop, software subscriptions, a coworking space, travel to client meetings. For activities with heavy real costs, this mechanic changes the bottom line dramatically.

Social protection: coverage when things go wrong

A SASU president classified as an assimilated employee gets health, maternity, and retirement coverage aligned with the general social security scheme, while auto-entrepreneurs fall under the self-employed social security system, which typically pays lower daily allowances calculated under different rules.

A concrete example says more than a theoretical explanation. A freelance developer who breaks a leg skiing, as an auto-entrepreneur, gets daily sick-leave allowances calculated on their declared income over the past three years, often with long waiting periods. As a SASU president paying themselves a regular salary, they'd receive standard social security sick pay, potentially topped up by company-provided insurance. Neither status includes unemployment coverage by default, which remains a blind spot for both unless you plan ahead with private insurance.

What if neither option is actually the right one?

Wage portage offers a third path for freelancers who want full employee-level social coverage without managing a revenue cap or company bookkeeping. The portage consultant invoices clients through the wage portage company, which pays out a salary after deducting social contributions and management fees, typically between 5% and 10% of invoiced revenue.

This hybrid status particularly appeals to people in transition (employees testing an independent activity before fully committing) or consultants who invoice large amounts without wanting to run a company. Compared to a SASU, it skips the legal entity and the bookkeeping that comes with it. Compared to auto-entrepreneur status, it removes the revenue cap while adding unemployment coverage, a real payslip, and retirement contributions calculated just like for a salaried employee. Our wage portage vs micro-enterprise comparison breaks down the numbers to help you decide based on your own revenue.

Criteria	Auto-entrepreneur	SASU	Wage portage
Revenue cap	83,600 € (services, 2026)	None	None
Company setup	No, simple declaration	Yes, articles and registration	No, contract with the portage company
Bookkeeping	Simplified revenue log	Full bookkeeping required	Handled by the portage company
Social coverage	Self-employed social security	General scheme (assimilated employee)	General scheme (employee)
Unemployment insurance	No	No, unless private policy	Yes, under conditions
Deducting real expenses	No (flat-rate allowance)	Yes, in full	Yes, business expenses

For the full rules on contribution rates and thresholds, URSSAF's auto-entrepreneur portal publishes updated caps and rates every year, while service-public.fr details registration steps for each status. SASU's legal framework itself sits in the French Commercial Code on Légifrance.

How to decide based on your situation

The choice between SASU and auto-entrepreneur mostly comes down to your expected revenue over the next twelve months: under 60,000 euros with few business expenses, auto-entrepreneur status usually stays more cost-effective; above that, or with significant deductible costs, a SASU or wage portage becomes more advantageous.

Three questions clear things up fast. How much will you invoice this year, and next? Do you have significant real expenses (equipment, subcontracting, travel) that the flat-rate allowance doesn't cover? Do you want employee-level social protection, even if it means heavier or outsourced administration? Depending on the answers, the best status isn't always the one you had in mind at the start, and our guide to choosing your professional status walks through every option, salaried, freelance, wage portage, or SASU. In 2025, micro-entrepreneurs accounted for 65% of all business creations in France, with a record 758,600 new registrations for the year, according to INSEE. Many of these independents will eventually switch status once their activity stabilizes.

Frequently asked questions

Which status pays the least in social charges?

It depends on revenue and real business expenses. Under 60,000 euros a year with few costs, auto-entrepreneur status is generally cheaper. Above that, or with significant deductible expenses, a SASU or wage portage often allows better optimization, particularly by balancing salary against dividends in a SASU.

What's the point of setting up a SASU instead of a micro-entreprise?

A SASU removes the revenue cap, lets you deduct real business expenses, and provides employee-level social coverage. It also makes it possible to raise funds or bring in investors, something a micro-entreprise simply can't do.

What are the downsides of a SASU compared to auto-entrepreneur status?

Setting one up takes longer, requires full bookkeeping all year, and usually means paying an accountant. A SASU president also doesn't get unemployment coverage by default, unlike a regular salaried employee.

What's the average monthly cost of running a SASU?

Between accounting fees (often 100 to 250 euros a month depending on activity volume), social contributions on the salary paid out, and possible business banking fees, running a SASU rarely costs more than 300 euros a month for a typical consulting or freelance activity, excluding the founder's own pay.

Can you combine auto-entrepreneur status with wage portage?

Yes, within certain limits. A consultant can invoice some assignments as an auto-entrepreneur and route others, especially larger ones, through a wage portage company, as long as the activities and clients stay clearly separated to avoid administrative or tax confusion.

What to remember

• Auto-entrepreneur status fits activities under 83,600 euros in annual revenue (services, 2026) with few expenses to deduct.
• A SASU removes the revenue cap and allows deducting real expenses, at the cost of heavier administration.
• A SASU president gets social coverage close to the general scheme, unlike an auto-entrepreneur.
• Wage portage combines no revenue cap with employee-level social coverage, without setting up a company.
• The right choice depends on expected revenue, real business expenses, and the level of social protection you need.

Related articles

• SASU: everything you need to know about this status
• Wage portage vs micro-enterprise: which one to choose?
• Which professional status? Employee, freelance, portage, SASU (2026)