How much does a recruitment agency cost in 2026?

Updated on 5 October 2026.

Recruitment agency fees: the 2026 ranges

On contingency, the fee is calculated on the gross annual salary for the role, at a rate between 15 and 25%. Here is what that comes to in euros, at both ends of the range and at a mid rate of 20%.

Gross annual salary for the role	Fee at 15%	Fee at 20%	Fee at 25%
€35,000	€5,250	€7,000	€8,750
€45,000	€6,750	€9,000	€11,250
€55,000	€8,250	€11,000	€13,750
€70,000	€10,500	€14,000	€17,500
€90,000	€13,500	€18,000	€22,500

These amounts fall due when the employment contract is signed, never before. A developer role at €55,000 therefore costs between €8,250 and €13,750 depending on how scarce the profile is and how urgent the search. A leadership role at €90,000 sits towards the top of the range, because it is almost always filled through direct approach.

Fees by type of service

The percentage depends first on how the agency works. The more the search relies on headhunting candidates who are not looking, the higher the rate.

Service	How it is billed	Typical range
Contingency recruitment	Percentage of gross annual salary, paid on hire	15 to 25%
Headhunting for a scarce profile	Percentage, sometimes with a deposit agreed in advance	20 to 30%
Executive search	Percentage, often paid in instalments (launch, shortlist presentation, hire)	25 to 35%
RPO, dedicated recruiter	Monthly fee, regardless of the number of hires	Quoted on request, depending on volume and duration

Fees, commission, rate or recruitment charge: these words describe the same amount. What matters is the basis of calculation (base salary only, or base plus variable pay) and when the invoice is due, two points to check in the engagement letter.

The two main billing models

Almost every agency works on one of these two models, and sometimes both depending on the assignment.

Contingency recruitment: a percentage of salary

This is the most common model for a specific role. You pay only when you hire a candidate the agency introduced. The fee is a percentage of the gross annual salary for the role, usually between 15 and 25%. The rate rises for profiles in heavy demand (data, cybersecurity, leadership) where direct approach takes more work.

In practice, for a role paying €50,000 gross a year, a fee at 18% comes to €9,000, due on the day the contract is signed. Most agencies include a guarantee: if the candidate leaves within the first three months, the search restarts at no extra charge. This is the model behind Momento's contingency recruitment.

RPO: a fixed monthly fee

When the need covers several hires on an ongoing basis, a fixed fee becomes better value than the sum of contingency fees. A dedicated recruiter is embedded in your team and invoiced monthly. You spread the cost and gain hiring capacity without employing a recruiter in-house. That is the principle behind Agile RPO.

What moves the bill

• How scarce the profile isThe tighter the talent pool, the more direct approach weighs on the rate.
• How senior the role isA leadership role costs more than a junior one, both in absolute terms and as a percentage.
• How fast you need itAn urgent search puts more resources to work in parallel.
• ExclusivityGiving the agency the role exclusively usually earns a softer rate.

For a senior leadership role

A sales director, a CFO or a CTO is almost always hired through headhunting, from a narrow and discreet pool. The rate usually sits between 25 and 35%, calculated on gross annual pay, often including on-target variable pay: check the basis before you sign. For a role at €90,000 base and €20,000 on-target variable pay, the invoice therefore ranges from €27,500 to €38,500.

For a medical practitioner or healthcare professional

When the position is not salaried (self-employed collaboration, partnership in a practice), there is no gross salary to calculate a percentage on. Agencies specialising in healthcare then usually charge a flat fee agreed in advance. For a practitioner employed by a clinic or a health centre, the percentage rule applies as usual.

What does a bad hire cost?

This is the question that should come before the one about fees, and it is almost always the other way round. A failed hire does not cost you the fee. You have to add up what was paid out, what was lost, and what has to be spent a second time.

Here is the total for a role at €45,000 gross a year, on a departure after five months.

Cost item	Amount	Why
Salary paid, fully loaded	≈ €26,000	Five months of gross salary plus employer contributions
Onboarding time	≈ €6,000	Training, support, time from the manager and the team
Output not delivered	Varies	A salesperson who misses their threshold, a developer whose releases slip
New search	€6,750 to €11,250	The hire has to be run again, and the role stays open in the meantime
Observable total	over €38,000	Close to a year of salary, excluding lost output

The rule of thumb used across the profession is one year of salary for the role concerned, and it is on the cautious side. It counts neither the effect on team morale nor the clients or projects lost along the way. That is the figure an agency fee should be weighed against, not against zero.

A replacement guarantee therefore shifts the equation further than two points knocked off the rate. At Momento it runs for three months. If the candidate leaves, the search restarts at no further fee.

When and how the fees are settled

The amount is only part of the question. When payment falls due, how it is accounted for, and what the engagement letter actually covers weigh just as heavily on the decision.

When the invoice falls due

In contingency recruitment the invoice is issued when the employment contract is signed, not when candidates are presented nor at the end of the probation period. Payment terms are your usual ones, generally thirty days. Momento asks for no deposit to start a contingency search.

In RPO the fee is monthly and is settled as the assignment runs, like any other service contract.

VAT and accounting treatment

Recruitment agency fees are a service subject to French VAT at the standard rate of 20 %, recoverable if your business is VAT registered. In the accounts they are normally booked as an expense of the period, under account 6226 “Honoraires” in the French chart of accounts, rather than capitalised: a hire is not a depreciable asset. Your accountant will decide according to your own chart of accounts, but this is the common practice.

One point that comes up often. These fees are not payroll costs. They do not enter the wage bill and therefore do not weigh on the ratios that depend on it.

What the engagement letter must contain

Four points must be set down in writing before anything starts. The rate and exactly what it is calculated on, in other words what “gross annual salary” covers: base only, or base plus target bonus. The length and the terms of the replacement guarantee. Whether the assignment is exclusive, which drives the rate. And what triggers invoicing, on signature of the contract and not before.

An agency that will not commit these four points to writing before starting is telling you something about what follows.

Agency or in-house: the real calculation

Comparing an agency fee with the “zero” of hiring in-house is misleading. Doing it yourself has a real cost: time spent screening applications, paid job ads, sourcing tools, interviews that lead nowhere, and above all the cost of a role sitting empty. An agency should be judged on its ability to shorten that delay and avoid a bad hire, which often costs more than a year's salary.

Set side by side for a role at €45,000 gross, the three routes compare as follows.

Route	What you pay	When	What stays on your plate
Agency, contingency	€6,750 to €11,250	On hire only	The final interviews and the decision
RPO	Fixed monthly fee	Throughout the assignment	Steering it, though the capacity is dedicated
In-house, with no recruiter	No fee	Not applicable	Sourcing, screening, paid ads, tools, and a founder's time
An employed recruiter	Around €50,000 a year, fully loaded	Every month, hire or no hire	Their sourcing tools, and hard to justify below 50 employees

The column no table captures is the empty seat. A salesperson missing for four months is four months of revenue not made, and that regularly exceeds the fee.