German Sickness Benefit Calculator 2026: Estimate Your Krankengeld

How to use this calculator

This page is for employees in Germany who are insured in the statutory health insurance scheme and want to know what happens to their income if they are ill for longer than the employer pays. Check that your situation fits at the top of the calculator, enter your regular gross and net pay, say whether you are a parent, and press Calculate.

You get the estimated Krankengeld per day and for a 30-day month, each deduction, and the gap compared with your usual net pay. The result is an estimate for a standard case. Your health insurer decides whether you are entitled and how much you receive, using the records your employer reports.

What Krankengeld is, and what it is not

Krankengeld is the sickness benefit paid by statutory health insurers when illness stops you from working for longer than your employer continues your salary. It is an income replacement, not a payment for medical costs.

Krankengeld is not unemployment benefit and not a pension. It is paid for the days you are certified as unable to work, it has a maximum duration, and it replaces only part of your pay. That gap is what the calculator makes visible.

Who can use the estimate

The calculator covers one ordinary employment, statutory health insurance that includes Krankengeld, regular salary or hourly pay, and normal pension, unemployment and care insurance contributions. Voluntarily insured employees are included when their cover includes Krankengeld. Being insured is not enough on its own: your insurer decides entitlement.

Several situations get guidance instead of a number, and a missing number never means a refusal:

• Private health insurance: private daily sickness allowance (Krankentagegeld) depends entirely on your policy.
• Self-employed: cover is optional and based on insured work income, not turnover. With the usual election it starts from week seven, but tariffs differ.
• Unemployment benefit I: Krankengeld is based on the ALG I amount, not your old salary.
• Basic income support (Grundsicherungsgeld, formerly Bürgergeld), family insurance and student insurance do not by themselves give employee Krankengeld. Separate insured employment is assessed on its own.
• A Minijob alone does not create ordinary Krankengeld cover. Salary continuation by the employer is a separate question.
• Midijob, several jobs, short-time work, irregular pay, parental leave, living abroad or an ending job need an individual assessment.
• After a work accident or occupational disease, injury benefit (Verletztengeld) may apply. Caring for a sick child is covered by Kinderkrankengeld.

How the amount is calculated, with the 2026 maximum

The law (section 47 of the Fifth Book of the Social Code, SGB V) sets Krankengeld at 70 percent of your regular gross pay, but not more than 90 percent of your net pay. Both are compared and the lower amount applies. Pay is counted per day: a month of salary is divided by 30.

Pay is capped at the contribution ceiling of the health insurance, which is €5,812.50 a month in 2026, or €193.75 a day. Seventy percent of that gives the highest possible gross Krankengeld of €135.63 a day. That is a gross figure: the take-home amount is lower. The ceiling is also not the same as the income threshold above which employees may leave the statutory scheme.

Bonuses count only in part. Contribution-liable one-off payments of the last twelve calendar months are added at one 360th. A second limit then makes sure Krankengeld never exceeds your regular daily net pay.

Every daily value is rounded to the cent, as the insurers' joint circular prescribes. A full month then counts 30 days, so the monthly figure is 30 times the daily one. For hourly pay the law uses pay divided by paid hours, multiplied by the weekly hours and divided by seven, not a simple monthly average.

Deductions, parent status and children

Krankengeld is not paid out in full. You pay your half of the contributions to pension insurance (9.3 percent), unemployment insurance (1.3 percent) and care insurance (1.8 percent) on the gross benefit. The insurer pays the other half. Nothing is deducted for health insurance, and the additional contribution of your insurer does not apply to Krankengeld.

For the example above, 9.3 percent of €63.00 is €5.86, 1.3 percent is €0.82 and 1.8 percent is €1.13. That leaves €55.19 a day, or €1,655.70 for 30 days, against a usual net pay of €2,100: a gap of €444.30, or about 79 percent of your usual net pay remains.

Care insurance depends on children. From the second to the fifth child under 25 the rate falls by 0.25 points per child, down to 0.8 percent. With two children the care deduction in the example is €0.98, not €1.13. People without children who are 23 or older pay a surcharge of 0.6 percent. It is calculated on 80 percent of the pay behind the benefit, not on the benefit itself, so in the example it is €0.48 a day.

When Krankengeld starts, and how long it lasts

Your employer normally continues your salary for up to six weeks (section 3 of the Continued Remuneration Act). This right arises after four weeks of uninterrupted employment. If you fall ill again with the same illness, a new six-week period needs at least six months without incapacity caused by that illness, or twelve months since the first incapacity began.

Krankengeld is often described as starting in week seven, but that is the common case, not a fixed date. Entitlement can already exist earlier while it is suspended because your employer pays salary. During early employment, after a long gap or in a recurring illness the sequence can differ.

For the same illness you receive Krankengeld for at most 78 weeks within three years, counted from the first day of incapacity. Periods in which it is suspended, including the usual six weeks of salary continuation, count towards the 78 weeks. In a continuous case the insurer therefore pays up to about 72 weeks. A further illness that begins while you are already unfit does not extend the period. A new three-year block does not automatically restore exhausted entitlement: you must have been insured with Krankengeld cover, and for six months not unfit because of that illness while working or available for work.

The timeline in the calculator shows this common sequence and, if you enter a first day of sickness, the dates. It is an illustration only. Earlier absences change the real dates, so it never claims a date on which your entitlement ends.

Certification and payment: what you must do

Krankengeld arises from the day the doctor certifies that you are unfit for work. Each certificate must be followed by the next one no later than the next working day after the certified end. Saturdays do not count as working days for this rule. A gap can stop payment until the next certificate, and in some cases it ends entitlement, so ask your doctor early for a follow-up.

In the usual case the practice sends the electronic certificate (eAU) to your insurer and your employer retrieves it, but you remain responsible for keeping to deadlines and for reporting your incapacity. If the electronic route is not available, a paper certificate must reach the insurer within one week, otherwise payment is suspended until it is reported.

The insurer asks your employer for the earnings it needs and then calculates and pays. Payment does not start by itself on a fixed date, and the first transfer can take time, so keep a small reserve. If you disagree with a decision, you can object in writing within a month.

Tax, top-ups and planning the income gap

Krankengeld is exempt from income tax, but it is subject to the progression proviso (Progressionsvorbehalt). It raises the tax rate on your other taxable income, which can mean an additional payment when you file a return. If benefits subject to the proviso exceed €410 in a year, filing a tax return is generally mandatory. The calculator therefore does not subtract tax, and it does not promise that no return is needed.

Many employment contracts and collective agreements add a top-up (Krankengeldzuschuss). Whether it reduces or suspends Krankengeld depends on how it is structured, so ask your payroll department and your insurer before you add a top-up to the result.

For planning, compare the monthly gap with fixed costs such as rent, loans and insurance. Remember that deductions such as pension insurance still apply, and that private contributions you pay yourself are not covered. When entitlement nears its end, seek advice early about what follows. Unemployment benefit or an incapacity pension are not automatic.