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Free, and it takes about two minutes

Can you actually freelance in Germany?

Tell us your visa status and what you want to do. You'll get a personal, ordered checklist — not another 40-page guide you have to interpret yourself.

Five languagesNo account neededFree forever
Step zeroQuestion 1 of 3
What's your current residence status?
StudentEU Blue CardEmployee (§18)§21 applicantEU citizen
CLEARONE STEP FIRSTASK A HUMAN
Who it's for

Start where it actually starts

Your permit type decides what you're allowed to do before anything else, and most guides skip straight past it. Startklar begins exactly there.

01EU / EEA citizenClear
02EU Blue Card holderOne step
03Employee (§18 permit)One step
04Student residence permitDepends
05§21 freelance applicantDepends
06Already freelancing, unsureAsk
Your critical pathONE STEP FIRST
You're on an EU Blue Card, doing freelance design work for EU clients.
Your permit allows side self-employment with permission
!Get Nebentätigkeit approval from the LEAdo first
Register with the Finanzamt (Fragebogen)then
Decide Kleinunternehmer statusthen
Confirm health-insurance basislast
Five steps, ordered by dependencySaveable
At a glance

Clarity in minutes

Not a weekend of forum reading, and not a PDF you have to interpret yourself.

Time to answer
2 min
From "am I even allowed?" to a clear next step
Honest outcomes
3
Clear to go, one step first, or ask a human
Cost
0 €
Free. No account, no card, no signup wall
Languages
5
Answers in your language, with more to follow
How it works

How it works

Answer a few questions once, then the path sorts itself — or you get the name of exactly who to ask next.

1

Tell us your status

Student, Blue Card, employee, §21 applicant — whatever it is.

StudentBlue Card§18§21EU
2

We classify it, honestly

A fixed decision tree, never a bot improvising — and every figure names the law it comes from.

Permit scopeChecked
Side-work rule1 step
Business formNext
3

You get your checklist

Ordered by dependency — or a named human if it's genuinely unclear.

NebentätigkeitDo first
FinanzamtThen
KrankenkasseLast
Or start fromWebTelegramWhatsApp, soon
Three honest outcomes

We never guess when we shouldn't

No verdict on a genuinely unclear case. Either you get a checklist, or you get the name of exactly who to ask — free counseling or a lawyer, not a shrug.

CLEARProceed — here's your ordered path.
ONE STEP FIRSTOne named permission before you invoice.
ASK A HUMANToo specific for a bot — routed to a person.
STARTKLAR // OUTCOMEESCALATED
statusASK A HUMAN
reasonBlue Card side-work, unconfirmed
we willnot guess this one
refer toMigrationsberatung — free
ask them"does my permit allow it, when?"
Where to go

Where you'll actually have to go

The offices behind the checklist, on one map. Pick a pin to see what each one does and what to bring.

RingbahnSpreeWeddingMoabitMittePrenzlauer BergCharlottenburgTiergartenFriedrichshainKreuzbergSchönebergNeukölln

Addresses checked 26 July 2026 against berlin.de and each authority's own site. Appointment rules change often, so treat them as a starting point and confirm before travelling. Which Finanzamt is yours is decided by where you live, not where you work — use the Finanzamt-Suche on the linked directory. Building images are illustrations, not photographs of the actual sites.

Scope

What this is, and isn't

An independent tool that explains and organizes — never an advisor that decides. Knowing that line is what keeps it trustworthy.

Startklar does
+Explain what your permit type allows, in plain language
+Sort you toward Freiberufler or Gewerbe on public criteria
+Build your personal, ordered registration checklist
+Tell you honestly when a case is too specific for a bot
Startklar doesn't
Give you a binding legal or tax opinion
Guess on genuinely ambiguous cases — it hands you off
Replace a Fachanwalt für Migrationsrecht or a Steuerberater
Claim any official or government status

Startklar is an independent, private tool — not affiliated with the Ausländerbehörde, the Finanzamt, or any German government body. For binding advice on your specific situation, we point you to Migrationsberatung (free) or a licensed professional.

Topics

Common questions

Answered straight, in plain language. Every guide is sourced and carries the date it was last checked.

Get started
It takes about two minutes

Stop guessing, ask properly

You'll know exactly where you stand — or exactly who to ask next.

Startklar is an independent, private tool — not affiliated with the Ausländerbehörde, the Finanzamt, or any German government body.

Startklar turns publicly available information from German authorities and legislation into structured, step-by-step guidance. It is not legal or tax advice.