Freelancing as a student works in four steps. You define an offer, collect work samples, calculate a price and win your first orders through platforms or your network. There are also three formalities. You register the activity with the trade office or the tax office, write invoices with the correct details, and check your health insurance, because under family insurance your total income may not exceed €565 a month.
The legal details on trade, tax and insurance are in the article on registering a trade as a student (in German).
Key points at a glance
- Start with a clearly defined offer that builds on your studies or a hobby, and back it up with two to three work samples.
- For your hourly rate, add your desired profit to your costs and divide by the hours you are actually paid for. Acquisition and bookkeeping are not included.
- As a small business owner, you do not have to show VAT as long as your turnover was at most €25,000 in the previous year and does not exceed €100,000 in the current year. In the year of founding, the €25,000 limit applies.
- You register a trade with the trade office and liberal professions with the tax office. You submit the questionnaire for tax registration within one month of starting.
- You remain family insured only if your total income is at most €565 a month and the self-employment is not full time.
Which skills can you sell as a student?
Anything that others have no time or knowledge for, and that you can deliver without expensive equipment, can be sold. Start with your studies: what do you have to be able to do anyway, and what do fellow students regularly ask you? Then look at hobbies and other experience.
| Offer | Typical order | Work sample |
|---|---|---|
| Copywriting and proofreading | Blog articles, product texts, proofreading of theses | Two to three text samples, a before-and-after example |
| Graphics and design | Logos, social media templates, presentations | Online portfolio with your own designs |
| Web and programming | Landing pages, scripts, small tools | Your own website or a project in a code repository |
| Social media | Managing channels, planning posts, editing reels | Your own channel or a concept for a fictional client |
| Translation | Websites, documents, subtitles | Translated passage alongside the original |
| Tutoring | One-to-one lessons by video in your subject | Short profile with subject, level and learning goals |
| Photo and video | Event photos, portraits, editing short videos | Gallery with examples |
What matters is that your offer can be described in one sentence. “I write product texts for online shops” sells more easily than “I write everything”. With a specialisation, it is also easier for clients to recommend you.
How do you build a portfolio without client experience?
A portfolio consists of work samples that show what you deliver. You do not need paid orders for this. Take texts, designs or code from your studies that you are allowed to show, or create examples for a fictional client, such as a logo for an invented café or a blog post on a topic that interests you.
A simple page with three examples, a short introduction and a contact option is enough to start. Show it to fellow students in advance and ask what is unclear. When you have clients, gradually replace the examples with real orders, with the clients’ permission.
What hourly rate can you charge as a freelance student?
Your hourly rate has to cover your desired profit and your costs. Calculate with the hours a client actually pays for. Time for acquisition, quotes, coordination and bookkeeping comes on top and is not paid.
Example: You want to make €500 profit a month (assumed, and below the €565 limit for family insurance). Software and hosting cost €50 a month. You invest 12 hours a week, of which 8 hours are paid client work. That is 8 × 4.35 weeks = 34.8 paid hours a month. Calculation: (€500 + €50) ÷ 34.8 hours = around €15.80 per hour.
This figure is the lower limit at which the order pays off for you. For comparison, employees have been entitled to at least €13.90 gross an hour since 2026, and to at least €14.60 from 2027. As a self-employed person, you also pay for your own health insurance and, where applicable, taxes, and you are not paid when you are ill. If platform fees apply, include them in your price.
Many beginners also offer flat fees per project, for example “logo with two designs”. That creates clarity for both sides. To calculate this, estimate the hours in advance and determine how many revision rounds are included in the price.
How do you use freelance platforms to get started?
Freelance platforms and tutoring portals connect you quickly with clients. Competition is fierce, and many providers keep part of your fee. Fees and terms differ, so read them before signing up and compare several providers.
- Complete your profile in full and name one concrete offer instead of a long list.
- Apply for projects you can really deliver, and address the client’s task in your cover message.
- Deliver on time and ask for a review after the order. The first reviews decide whether you get further orders.
- Keep communication and payment within the platform if clients try to steer you to other channels.
If you would rather work for an employer from home, ideas are in the article on remote jobs for students (in German).
How do you get your first orders?
Your first clients usually come from your own network. Tell family, friends, fellow students and lecturers what you offer. Small businesses in your city, associations and founders often need support with texts, social media or websites, and they have no agency.
A profile on a business network with your offer makes you findable. Local meetups for freelancers and founders are an opportunity to make contacts. Ask satisfied clients for a short recommendation that you may include in your portfolio.
Record every order in writing: service, price, deadline, number of revision rounds and payment term. An email confirmation is enough to begin with, and it protects both sides.
How do you write an invoice as a freelancer?
The information an invoice must contain is set out in the German VAT Act (§ 14 UStG). Usually, this includes your name and address and your client’s, the invoice date, a sequential invoice number, a description of the service with the date of performance, the amount and your tax number. The tax office sends you your tax number by post after it has checked the questionnaire for tax registration. If in doubt, the tax office will clarify whether your invoice is complete.
As a small business owner, you do not show VAT, and you note on the invoice that the small business rule under § 19 UStG applies. It applies as long as your turnover was at most €25,000 in the previous year and is at most €100,000 in the current year (ELSTER). In the year of founding, turnover above €25,000 is already subject to standard taxation. What counts is turnover, not profit. All self-employed activities of one person are added together.
Create a separate file for each invoice, number them consecutively, and keep your receipts. This way you keep track for your tax return.
What do you need to register and insure before you start?
You register a trade with the trade office and liberal professions with the tax office. Within one month of starting, you submit the questionnaire for tax registration to the tax office via ELSTER. There you estimate your turnover, and the estimate should be realistic.
For health insurance, family insurance remains possible if your total income is at most €565 a month and the self-employment is not full time. In student health insurance, the self-employment must remain a side occupation, and as a guide 20 hours a week during term applies. Even below that, an activity can be full time. The details are in the article on health insurance for self-employed students (in German). For orders carrying a liability risk, for example in programming or consulting, it is also worth asking whether professional liability insurance makes sense.
Income tax only applies above the basic allowance of €12,348 a year. However, self-employment may create an obligation to file a tax return. If you use a laptop for work, you can claim it, up to €800 net as a low-value asset in the year of purchase. Set aside a part of your income regularly for taxes and insurance.
Freelancing is only one of several options. A position as a student assistant (in German) offers fixed hours and contributions paid by the employer. How to find a side job (in German) is covered in a separate article, and the overview of jobs for students (in German) shows all paths with their limits.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a trade registration as a freelancer while studying?
That depends on the activity. A trade is registered with the trade office. For a liberal profession, you register directly with the tax office. The tax office decides which classification applies to you, based on your details. In both cases, you submit the questionnaire for tax registration within one month of starting.
How much can I earn as a self-employed student?
For family insurance, the total income limit is €565 a month, and the self-employment must not be full time. For student health insurance, the activity must remain a side occupation, and as a guide 20 hours a week during term applies. Income tax only applies above €12,348 a year.
Do I have to charge VAT as a freelancer?
Not if the small business rule applies: your turnover was at most €25,000 in the previous year and is at most €100,000 in the current year. You then note on the invoice that you use the small business rule. In the year of founding, the €25,000 limit applies.
What is a good hourly rate for beginners?
There is no universal figure. Calculate your rate from desired profit, costs and paid hours. In the example above, this comes to around €15.80 per hour as a lower limit. The clearer your offer and the better your work samples, the easier it is to justify a higher price.
What to do now
- Define your offer in one sentence and collect two to three work samples.
- Calculate your hourly rate from desired profit, costs and paid hours.
- Register the activity with the trade office or tax office, and submit the questionnaire for tax registration within one month.
- Inform your health insurance fund about the self-employment before your first order starts.
- If you want to talk through your situation, you will find the way to advice on the Academycon homepage (in German).
You can find reviews of us on ProvenExpert, Trustlocal and Trustindex. Academycon has been mentioned, among other places, in a report in the VersicherungsJournal. An overview of all mentions is on the press page (in German).
Related articles
- Earning money alongside your studies: these options are worth it (in German)
- Self-employed while studying: trade, tax and insurance (in German)
- Health insurance as a self-employed student: what you need to know (in German)
- Finding a side job as a student: where to look and what to watch for (in German)
Last updated: October 2026. This guide is general information, not individual advice or tax advice. The German version is authoritative.
