Accurate salary data is the foundation of effective negotiation. Here's a detailed comparison of the best salary benchmarking tools available to Indian professionals in 2026.
Glassdoor India: The largest salary database in India with over 1 crore salary entries. Strengths: broad coverage across industries and companies, salary by role and experience, company reviews, and interview experiences. Limitations: data can be outdated for fast-moving roles, some entries may not be verified, averages can be skewed by outliers. Best for: general salary research across all industries.
AmbitionBox: India's most comprehensive salary benchmarking platform. Strengths: detailed CTC breakdowns (base, HRA, bonus, PF — not just total CTC), India-specific data, salary comparison tool, and verified employee reviews. Limitations: smaller dataset than Glassdoor for niche roles. Best for: understanding exact salary structure at Indian companies.
Levels.fyi: The gold standard for tech company compensation. Strengths: salary data by specific company levels (Google L4, Amazon SDE-2), includes base, bonus, and stock breakdowns, very accurate for top tech companies, crowd-sourced and verified. Limitations: primarily tech companies only. Best for: tech professionals targeting product companies and FAANG.
LinkedIn Salary Insights: Leverages LinkedIn's professional network data. Strengths: salary data linked to professional profiles (more reliable), filtered by title, experience, and location, and premium members get detailed insights. Limitations: requires LinkedIn Premium for full access, smaller Indian dataset than Glassdoor. Best for: non-tech professional roles.
Other useful tools: PayScale India (cross-industry salary data with cost-of-living adjustments), Blind (anonymous professional network — extremely candid salary discussions), Indeed Salary (basic salary data from job postings), and Fishbowl (professional community with salary discussions).