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What a good job means in pay

~8 min

In short

A good software job depends on the company type, the level you are hired at, and the city. Pay ranges differ a lot. Service companies start lower and rise slowly. Mid-size product companies start higher. Top product companies and some quant firms pay the most, but they select heavily. Every number below is self-reported and should be read as a range, with total compensation and base kept separate.

Read the numbers correctly

According to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026), the headline figures on its pages are total compensation: base salary, plus stock per year, plus bonus. Stock vests over several years and its value depends on the share price, so the total in one year can be very different from the next. When you compare offers, write down base and total separately.

The Levels.fyi pages label their per-level tables as "average", but their own FAQ describes them as medians. So treat the per-level numbers as typical values, not exact ones.

All India, all experience levels

  • According to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026), the median total compensation for software engineers in India is 30.2 LPA from 21,986 submissions.
  • The same source gives the 25th percentile as 17.4 LPA, the 75th as 48.9 LPA, and the 90th as 69.2 LPA.
  • City medians, same source and date: Bengaluru 38.5 LPA, Noida 30.3 LPA, Gurgaon 29.4 LPA.

These figures mix freshers with people who have 15 years of experience, so they are not a fresher benchmark.

Service companies

  • Infosys, according to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026): Systems Engineer about 5.5 LPA, Technology Lead about 15.1 LPA. The page itself is inconsistent, so treat these as rough.
  • Wipro, according to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026): Software Engineer (entry) about 9.7 LPA, Senior Software Engineer about 16 LPA, Lead about 21.7 LPA, Architect about 29.3 LPA.
  • Fresher packages quoted by a third-party salary guide (secondary, indicative, 2026): TCS Ninja about 3.36 LPA, Infosys System Engineer about 3.6 LPA, Wipro Elite about 3.5 LPA, TCS Digital about 7 LPA. Check the offer letter, not a guide.
  • One advocacy article reports that mass-hiring fresher pay has been roughly flat at 3-4 LPA for years. This is a single secondary source, so treat it as a claim to check, not a fact.

Mid-size product companies

  • Freshworks, according to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026): Software Engineer (entry) about 14 LPA, Senior about 26.1 LPA, Lead about 49.7 LPA.
  • Swiggy, according to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026): SE I (entry) about 20.3 LPA total, with base about 17.9 LPA. SE II about 37.8 LPA total.
  • Flipkart, according to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026): SDE 1 about 22 LPA total, SDE 2 about 35.9 LPA total.

Top product companies

  • Google India, according to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026): L3 about 38.4 LPA total, with base about 25.0 LPA. L4 about 73.7 LPA total, with base about 40.6 LPA.
  • Amazon India, according to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026): SDE I about 28.0 LPA total, with base about 21.6 LPA.
  • Microsoft India, according to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026): level 59 about 27 LPA total.
  • Atlassian India, according to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026): P30 (junior) about 43.5 LPA total.

Quant and trading firms

Quant firms publish very high totals, but the samples are small and bonus is a large share.

  • Tower Research Capital India, according to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026): median total about 72.2 LPA from 84 submissions. Median bonus about 16.7 LPA.
  • Graviton Research Capital India, according to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026): median total about 80.6 LPA from 22 submissions, with median base about 49.8 LPA and median bonus about 30.9 LPA.
  • Jane Street India: Levels.fyi did not have enough submissions to show data. No number is given here.

Inference: bonus at these firms is a large share of the total, so the total can change a lot from one year to the next.

What to take from this

  • Entry-level pay at most companies sits well below 50 LPA total compensation. According to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026), the entry-level top-company figures above run from about 27 to 44 LPA total.
  • The gap between a service company and a product company is large at entry. Inference: the company type you start in often sets the range you see for the next few years.
  • Base is what you live on. Inference: when two offers look close on total, the one with the higher base is usually the safer choice.

Try this

Pick three companies you would really apply to. Open each Levels.fyi India page and write the entry-level total compensation and base in a small table. Mark any row where the sample size looks thin.

Sources

  • Levels.fyi, India software engineer pay (all levels), checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/india
  • Levels.fyi, Infosys software engineer pay in India, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/infosys/salaries/software-engineer/locations/india
  • Levels.fyi, Wipro software engineer pay, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/wipro/salaries/software-engineer
  • Levels.fyi, Freshworks software engineer pay in India, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/freshworks/salaries/software-engineer/locations/india
  • Levels.fyi, Swiggy software engineer pay in India, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/swiggy/salaries/software-engineer/locations/india
  • Levels.fyi, Flipkart software engineer pay in India, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/flipkart/salaries/software-engineer/locations/india
  • Levels.fyi, Google software engineer pay in India, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/google/salaries/software-engineer/locations/india
  • Levels.fyi, Amazon software engineer pay in India, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/amazon/salaries/software-engineer/locations/india
  • Levels.fyi, Microsoft software engineer pay in India, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/microsoft/salaries/software-engineer/locations/india
  • Levels.fyi, Atlassian software engineer pay in India, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/atlassian/salaries/software-engineer/locations/india
  • Levels.fyi, Tower Research Capital pay in India, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/tower-research-capital/salaries/software-engineer/locations/india
  • Levels.fyi, Graviton Research Capital pay in India, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/graviton-research-capital/salaries/software-engineer/locations/india
  • Third-party fresher salary guide (secondary, 2026): https://faceprep.in/article/it-jobs-for-freshers/
  • Advocacy article on fresher pay (secondary, 2026): https://letsdatascience.com/news/india-it-employers-keep-fresher-salaries-flat-7335a707