Tech Sign-On Bonuses 2026: Typical Amounts by Company

When a recruiter tells you “base is at the top of the band and the equity grant is standardized,” most candidates give up. The candidates who don’t ask one more question: “Is there flexibility on the sign-on?”

There usually is. The sign-on bonus is the most underused lever in tech offer negotiation because it is the one component that sits outside the compensation band for your level. It is one-time cash, it sets no precedent, and at most companies it clears approval faster than any base or equity change.

Here is what sign-ons look like across big tech, and exactly how to ask for one.

Sign-on bonuses by company

Company	Typical sign-on	What it’s for	Negotiability
Google	$30K to $80K, $100K+ senior	Bridging unvested RSUs you forfeit	High: separate budget from base/equity
Meta	$50K to $200K at senior levels	Closing competing offers, fast	High: Meta uses sign-ons aggressively
Amazon	$80K to $150K+ split over Y1 and Y2	Masking the 5/15/40/40 back-loaded vest	Highest: where 80% of Amazon negotiations move
Apple	Smaller than Amazon’s	Closing a Year-1 gap without touching equity	Moderate
Netflix	None	All comp is in base salary	n/a: negotiate base instead
Microsoft	Moderate; Year-2 sign-ons happen	Fixing the Year 2 to 4 refresher dip	Moderate
Nvidia	Case by case	Bridging Year 1 once the RSU grant is maxed	Good: sits outside the base band
Uber	Case by case	Year-1 cash or unvested equity bridge	Good: cleanest post-band lever
Stripe	Case by case	Cash certainty against illiquid equity	Good: the most movable component
OpenAI	Case by case	Closing against big-tech cash	Varies: equity dominates the offer

Ranges reflect what we have seen across 1,200+ negotiations and shift with level and market. Verify current data on Levels.fyi before you anchor.

Why sign-ons move when nothing else does

Compensation bands are rigid on purpose. If a recruiter raises one engineer’s base above the L5 band, every future L5 negotiation gets harder, so the system pushes back hard on base increases. Equity grants face similar band pressure plus committee review.

A sign-on bonus dodges all of that:

1. It’s one-time. It does not compound into raises, refreshers, or bonus targets, so it costs the company far less than the same amount in base.
2. It’s outside the band. Approving it does not distort the level’s comp data.
3. It solves a story the recruiter can sell. “Candidate is walking away from $60K of unvested RSUs” is a one-line justification a comp team approves quickly.

That third point is the key to asking well. Vague asks (“can you add a sign-on?”) get vague answers. Specific, evidence-backed asks get approved.

The three justifications that work

1. Unvested equity you’re leaving behind. The strongest and most common. Count the RSUs that would have vested at your current company over the next 12 to 18 months and ask for a bridge: “I’m forfeiting $[X] in unvested equity by leaving. Could a sign-on bridge part of that?”

2. A vesting-schedule gap at the new company. If the offer’s equity barely vests in Year 1 (Amazon’s 5/15/40/40 is the extreme case; see our RSU vesting schedule comparison), frame Year-1 total comp against your competing offer or current pay and ask for the sign-on to close the difference.

3. A competing offer’s Year-1 cash. Sign-ons are how companies win head-to-head recruiting battles without moving bands. If another offer pays more in Year 1, say so with the number.

The word-for-word ask

“Thanks again for walking me through the package. Base and equity both make sense to me at this level. The one gap is Year 1: I’m walking away from $[X] in unvested RSUs at [current company], and as structured I’d take a meaningful step back in the first year. Would a sign-on of $[Y] be possible to bridge that? If we can get there, I’m ready to sign by [date].”

This works because it accepts the band constraints (so the recruiter doesn’t have to defend them), names a specific number with a specific reason, and attaches a close. For the full email version, use our salary negotiation email templates; template 4 covers the sign-on ask directly.

Read the clawback terms before you celebrate

Most sign-ons come with repayment terms: leave within 12 months and you owe some or all of it back. Amazon structures its sign-ons as monthly payments through Years 1 and 2 instead, which prorates automatically but also means the “bonus” disappears from your comp after Year 2 (plan for that cliff when you evaluate the offer). Check the exact terms in the written offer, not the recruiter’s summary.

Where the sign-on fits in the full negotiation

The sign-on is usually your second or third move, not your first. Size your overall counter first (our guide on how much to counter a software engineer offer covers the math), push the lever that compounds (equity or level) while you have maximum leverage, and then use the sign-on to close whatever Year-1 gap remains.

The back-and-forth that follows the ask (the “that’s not something we normally do,” the partial counter, the silence) is where most of the money is won or lost. That is what SalaryScript covers: a counter-move for every recruiter tactic, calibrated by company. Get the Bundle · $129 → (instant download, 14-day results-based guarantee) or compare all plans from $39.

Related reading: Big Tech RSU Vesting Schedules Compared, How to Negotiate Salary After a Job Offer, and The Complete FAANG Salary Negotiation Guide.