Going Freelance as a Consultant in France: Statuses, Steps and Costs in 2026

You have the expertise, maybe a client lined up, and the urge to stop depending on an employer. What's left is picking the right structure.

To go freelance in France in 2026, you pick a status (micro-entreprise, SASU, EURL or wage portage), declare your activity on the one-stop shop, then secure a first client. The right choice depends on your daily rate, your need for social protection and how much admin you can stomach.

Consultant or freelancer? Estimate your net pay under wage portage in two minutes from your daily rate with the WEEPO salary simulator.

How to Go Freelance: The 5 Steps in Order

Going freelance takes five steps: validate a first mission, set your daily rate, choose a status, register it, then protect yourself (insurance, accounting, unemployment). Order matters, because the status depends on the revenue you expect, not the other way round. Setting up a company before you have a client is a classic mistake.

1. Validate a first mission, or at least a serious lead. To find clients, see the channels that work to land freelance missions.
2. Set your daily rate (TJM). The WEEPO 2026 Barometer, built on 20,000 payslips of portage consultants, shows a median TJM of 526 €, with half of consultants between 450 € and 600 €.
3. Choose your status (see the next section).
4. Declare the activity, or sign your contract under portage.
5. Protect the business: professional liability insurance, a dedicated bank account, bookkeeping, and a plan for months without a mission.

Your rate also sets your living standard. To go from a daily rate to a monthly net, the daily rate to net salary breakdown walks through each deduction.

Which Status Should a Consultant Choose?

For a consultant billing 450 € to 600 € a day, micro-entreprise is enough to start, SASU or EURL make sense above the ceiling, and wage portage suits those who want employee status without setting up a company. Each option has a price in admin and in protection.

One figure to remember: in 2026 the micro-entreprise ceiling for a liberal activity is 83,600 € of revenue, according to service-public.fr. At the WEEPO Barometer median rate of 526 €, 160 billed days are enough to cross it (84,160 €).

Micro-entreprise: Simple but Capped

A micro-entreprise is created online and needs only light bookkeeping. It works for testing a market. Once missions pile up, the ceiling becomes a brake, so compare wage portage and micro-enterprise before committing.

SASU or EURL: More Room, More Admin

A company gives you a lasting structure and real latitude over your pay, but it brings articles, accounting and filings. The trade-off is social protection against contribution costs, covered in our SASU or EURL comparison. If you hesitate between a company and employment, the page on portage versus SASU sets the figures side by side.

Wage Portage: The Status With No Company to Create

Wage portage lets you negotiate missions like a freelancer while being an employee of the portage company. At WEEPO, the wage portage company for consultants, fees are 3% management fees, capped at 550 € per mission, plus 2% of additional fees (professional liability insurance, occupational health, factoring and financial guarantee, CVAE). On 10,000 € billed, that is 300 € of management fees and 200 € of additional fees. WEEPO holds the "Zéro Frais Cachés" label issued by the Fedep's.

The WEEPO 2026 Barometer reports a median monthly revenue of 10,260 € for a median net salary of 4,200 €. To see your own result, go through the wage portage company and its simulator.

Going Freelance With No Money: What's Possible

You can go freelance with no capital: a micro-entreprise needs none, and neither does wage portage, since no company is created. What really costs is the time without revenue, especially waiting for the first client payment.

As for help to go freelance, former employees on unemployment benefits can sometimes keep part of their allowance during the launch. The cumulation rules change often, which is why we cover them in combining unemployment benefits with self-employment.

No Degree or Experience: What Really Counts

A degree is required only for regulated professions; in IT or consulting, references and successful missions are what count. You can go freelance without a degree in most digital jobs, as long as you can prove your level.

The same goes if you want to go freelance without freelance experience: a former IT services employee already has client references, and that is what buyers look at first.

Steps to Go Freelance, Status by Status

The steps go through the one-stop shop for business formalities, except under wage portage, where you simply sign a contract with the portage company. Here is what changes from one status to another.

Whatever the status, the first three months come down to one thing: invoice fast and chase without waiting. Open a dedicated bank account on day one, keep every receipt, and note each invoice's due date. These habits limit cash gaps.

Leaving a Permanent Job to Go Freelance

Leaving a permanent job to go freelance means planning three things: how the contract ends, whether you keep unemployment benefits, and your first client. Take Karim, a developer on a permanent contract at 4,000 € gross: he negotiates a mutual termination, starts looking for a mission a month before leaving, then picks his status based on the rate he lands.

For the employer-side details, read our guide to quitting your permanent job to freelance. A few tips to go freelance calmly: save several months of expenses, sign before resigning if you can, and keep a reversible status in the first months.

Want to compare concretely? See how wage portage for IT consultants works at WEEPO, from contract to invoicing, and judge for yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you go freelance when you are an employee?

First read your contract clauses (exclusivity, non-compete), then choose a status and formalise the termination or the side activity. Portage lets you start a mission without closing the door on employment.

Can you go freelance without setting up a company?

Yes. A micro-entreprise is not a company, and wage portage spares you any registration: you stay an employee of the portage company.

Which status suits an IT freelancer?

For a daily rate of 450 € to 600 €, micro-entreprise works as a test, portage as soon as social protection matters, and SASU once revenue clearly exceeds the ceiling.

Do you need a degree to become an independent consultant?

No, except for regulated professions. In IT, your references and mission portfolio are what count.

Does wage portage let you start with no risk?

It reduces administrative and social risk, but it does not guarantee missions: you still have to find and negotiate your clients.

Key Takeaways

• To go freelance, validate a client before choosing the structure.
• The liberal micro-entreprise ceiling is 83,600 € in 2026.
• The WEEPO 2026 Barometer median daily rate is 526 €.
• Portage removes company setup and keeps employee status.
• Work out your net before signing, with the net salary calculation under portage.

Related Articles

• How to find freelance missions
• Wage portage vs micro-entreprise
• Daily rate to net salary