Just Move to Paris
Paris, France — your playbook for visa, housing, community, and building from here.
Showing tips specific to Paris alongside general European resources.
Every link is here because someone building from Paris would actually use it. Some resources show up on more than one city page because they carry across contexts. Nothing is here just to look complete.
Tags
| (no tag) | Only this city. |
| EU | EU-wide rules, eligibility, or programs. |
| Multi-city | Applies in several cities. |
| All cities | Works everywhere. |
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Fast-growing hub with Station F, deep tech momentum, and government backing.
Cost
€€€
Avg Rent
€900–€1,350/mo
Visa
Medium
Ecosystem
Large (fast-growing)
Prices are approximate and vary by neighborhood and season. Rent assumes a room in a shared flat or coliving and may exclude utilities. Snapshot as of 2 May 2026.
If you do nothing else
Sort your visa
French Tech Visa is founder-friendly; Talent Passport for skilled workers
Find your first home
Budget €900–€1,350/mo for a room or coliving.
Register your address & open a bank account
Required in most EU countries within 2 weeks of arrival.
Plug into the community
Luma, Meetup, or local Slack/Telegram — just show up.
Start building
Ship something in your first week. Momentum attracts the right people.
Your First 30 Days in Paris
Week-by-week playbook with € tips, local registration, and banking.
Read guide →Visa & Immigration
Hit the official overview first, then dig into the common paths below.
Join a company
Work visas and EU Blue Card for employed roles.
Start a company
Visas for founders and self-employed.
Freelance / self-employed
Residence permits for freelancers and self-employed.
Explore & search
Job-seeker permits, graduate routes, Global Talent, and other exploratory visas.
Tax incentives on first move
Country-specific tax programs for people relocating. Check eligibility and current terms before relying on these.
Hire across borders (EOR platforms)
If an employer doesn't have an entity in your country, these platforms can hire you compliantly on their behalf. Useful to suggest to companies as an operational path.
Housing, Coliving & Workspaces
Paris is expensive but well-served by coliving. Station F offers housing for its residents. Budget €900–€1,350/mo for a room; studios and central arrondissements trend higher.
Company Setup & Legal
SAS (société par actions simplifiée) is the standard for startups; flexible, no minimum capital. Register via the guichet unique portal. IR-PME tax relief for angels. EU Inc (proposal, not yet in force) will let you register a single EU-wide entity in 48 hours with no minimum capital. Ledgy for cap table.
Startup Perks
Free credits and discounts from cloud providers, AI platforms, dev tools, and more. Perks apply regardless of where you're based. Start with the directories below.
Communities
Paris's tech scene is centered around Station F, La French Tech, and a growing AI open-source community. Increasingly English-friendly.
Events & Meetups
Regular meetups, AI events, and local tech gatherings.
Hackathons
Paris hosts major hackathons anchored by Station F and top engineering schools. AI and deep tech themes dominate.
Conferences
Europe's flagship tech conferences: great for fundraising, recruiting, and visibility. Most are worth traveling to from any city — so we list them Europe-wide.
Vibe Coding
GuideStart with Vibe Coding
AI tools to go from idea to product in hours. No engineering team required.
Read guide →Accelerators & Programs
Paris is home to Station F, the world's largest startup campus. Many accelerators are co-located there, plus standalone deep tech and health tech programs.
- Plug and Play – Corporate innovation & startup programs (varies by location)Mix of accelerators, corporate innovation, and partnerships; not every city runs a cohort-style program — check the local page.Multi-city
- STATION F Founders Program
- Genopole – France's biotech biocluster with Shaker, ATIGE & Gene.iO programs
Jobs & Talent
Paris's startup job market is booming, especially in AI, deep tech, health tech, and climate. French language helps but many startups operate in English.
- Early Builders Job Board – Generalist roles in early-stage startupsMulti-city
- Decidere – Compare personal income tax & take-home across European citiesTax-advisor-level accuracy. Expat regimes (e.g. NL 30% ruling), canton-level rates. Free & open source.All cities
- Wellfound (AngelList) – European Startup JobsAll cities
Fundraising & First Checks
Paris's VC scene has exploded. Bpifrance (government bank) co-invests in many rounds, extending runway. I-Lab and I-Nov competitions add non-dilutive capital.
Find investors & market data
Databases and directories to discover angels and VCs, plus funding data and ecosystem reports.
Pitch resources & guides
Templates, playbooks, and real pitch deck examples.
Tax incentives for investors
Programs that make angel investing more attractive to backers.
Grants & Non-Dilutive Funding
Government grants, EU programs, and non-dilutive funding sources across Europe.
EU grants apply to EU cities. London and Zurich have separate national programs.
Transit & Travel
The Métro is fast, cheap, and goes everywhere. Paris also has excellent bike infrastructure with Vélib' and dedicated lanes.
Food & Delivery
Paris is a food capital. From boulangeries and bistros to world-class fine dining, eating well is a way of life here.
Cafes & Coworking
Parisian cafe culture is iconic. While traditional cafes are more for espresso and people-watching, a growing number of specialty spots welcome laptop workers.
Culture & Lifestyle
Museums, theaters, cinema, fashion — Paris is one of the world's great cultural cities. First Sundays of the month, many museums are free.
News & Reports
Stay current on European tech, funding rounds, ecosystem shifts, and annual reports.
Podcasts & Video
Founder interviews, VC insights, and European tech stories in audio and video.
People to Follow
Founders, VCs, and ecosystem builders shaping European tech.
Go deeper
In-depth guides for Paris and Europe-wide topics.
For Paris
Housing, fundraising, cofounders — local playbooks for your city.
Your First 30 Days in Paris
Week-by-week playbook: housing, registration, banking, and networking.
Housing in Paris
Coliving, flat shares, budgets, and the move-in playbook.
Raising Your First Check in Paris
How European VCs work, local norms, and where to start.
Finding a Cofounder in Paris
Where ambitious people meet, hackathons, and the local cofounder scene.
Europe-wide
Same content in any city — no local setup required.