Website Subsidy in Luxembourg: The SME Packages – Digital Guide

Most SME owners learn about it by chance, in passing conversation: a website subsidy exists in Luxembourg. It’s called SME Packages – Digital, it’s run by the Ministry of the Economy, and it reimburses 70% of the eligible costs of your digital project — up to EUR 17,500.

It’s not a competition, and it’s not reserved for startups. It’s state aid designed for SMEs established in Luxembourg: retail, crafts, services.

This guide explains what the programme funds, who can benefit, how much you actually get back, and how the application works. No administrative jargon, and no promise nobody can keep: the decision to grant the aid rests with the ministry, not with providers.

What the SME Packages – Digital programme funds

The SME Packages – Digital programme is run by the Ministry of the Economy, in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce — through its House of Entrepreneurship — and the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts. Its principle fits in one sentence: the state reimburses the company 70% of the eligible costs of a digitalisation project.

The Digital component covers in particular:

• creating or redesigning a website;
• online sales (e-commerce);
• digital marketing — which can include Google visibility, the subject of our guide on local SEO in Luxembourg.

Two limits frame the scheme: the project must fall between EUR 3,000 and 25,000 excluding VAT, and the aid is capped at around EUR 17,500 per project. The exact scope of what qualifies is defined with the adviser when the dossier is prepared.

The official description of the programme is available on guichet.public.lu — the reference to check before starting anything.

Who is eligible

The programme targets SMEs established in Luxembourg holding a business permit, according to the criteria set by the Ministry of the Economy. The bakery, the garage, the service firm, the craft business: this is exactly the type of company the scheme was designed for.

One thing to understand from the start: nobody can guarantee you’ll get the aid. Not a provider, not an adviser. Your company’s eligibility is confirmed during the free pre-analysis at the House of Entrepreneurship — or at the Chamber of Skilled Trades for craft businesses — and the final decision rests with the ministry. If someone promises otherwise, treat it as a warning sign, not a selling point.

The good news: that pre-analysis is free and comes with no commitment. You’ll know quickly whether the route is worth pursuing.

How much you actually get back

Let’s take a worked example. It’s an illustration of the mechanism, not a price offer: every project has its own scope and its own quote.

Your company commissions a web project of EUR 10,000 excluding VAT, made up entirely of eligible costs:

• project cost: EUR 10,000 excl. VAT;
• state reimbursement (70%): EUR 7,000;
• net cost for your company: EUR 3,000.

Three details change how you should read that calculation.

The aid is paid to your company, not to the provider. It’s not a commercial discount or a negotiated rebate. You pay the project at the quoted price, then the state reimburses 70% of eligible costs to your company, against settled invoices.

Reimbursement happens after delivery. The project is delivered, a final evaluation meeting takes place, then the reimbursement is paid out. Your cash flow therefore needs to cover the full amount in the meantime.

Only eligible costs count. If part of the project falls outside the scope defined in the dossier, that part remains entirely at your expense. Hence the importance of framing the dossier properly from the start, with the adviser.

The procedure, step by step

The path is simpler than it looks, as long as you respect the order of the steps.

1. The free pre-analysis. You book an appointment with the Chamber of Commerce’s House of Entrepreneurship — or the Chamber of Skilled Trades if you run a craft business. The adviser assesses your digital situation and checks your company’s eligibility.
2. Choosing the package and the provider. You define the project and choose who delivers it. The provider produces a quote and a project description in the programme’s format.
3. The aid application. The dossier is completed with the adviser’s support, then submitted to the Ministry of the Economy.
4. Approval. The ministry reviews the application and grants — or doesn’t grant — the aid. The project only starts after this decision.
5. Delivery. The provider delivers the project defined in the dossier.
6. The final evaluation. An evaluation meeting closes the project.
7. Reimbursement. Your company receives 70% of eligible costs.

Factor the dossier preparation into your planning: between the pre-analysis and the approval, your project stands still. That’s normal, and it’s by design.

The pitfalls to avoid

Three mistakes come up regularly. Knowing them in advance saves you from losing the aid — or your time.

Starting the project before approval. This is the most expensive trap. Signing a purchase order or starting the work before the ministry’s decision can compromise the aid. The programme’s order is strict: approval first, project second. A provider who pushes you to “get started in the meantime” is doing you a disservice.

Building a dossier around a non-eligible scope. Not everything digital automatically fits into the packages. The scope is defined with the adviser, not on your own in front of a quote. A poorly framed dossier means a refusal or a reduced aid.

Choosing a provider who doesn’t know the programme. Part of the dossier rests on documents supplied by the provider: a compliant quote, a detailed project description, a timeline. A quote in the wrong format or an incomplete description means back-and-forth with the administration and a dossier that drags on.

The provider’s role

One rule of the programme deserves to be stated plainly: the aid application is carried by your company, supported by the House of Entrepreneurship adviser. The provider does not file the dossier for you. What the provider does prepare is everything that depends on them: the compliant quote, the detailed project description, the timeline and the technical elements requested.

There is no such thing as an “official provider” who could guarantee the aid. The programme does, however, include a procedure for providers, and Slash.lu completed it in July 2026 — checklist and portfolio reviewed within SME Packages dossiers. We therefore act as a provider within the programme, with documents in the format the administration expects. The details are on our SME Packages – Digital page.

Where to start

Three actions, in this order.

Clarify your project. A showcase site, a redesign, online sales: the sharper your brief, the more useful the pre-analysis. To understand what makes a professional website good, our guide on the real cost of a website in Luxembourg is a solid starting point, as is our our web design service page.

Book the free pre-analysis. It’s the step that triggers everything, it costs nothing and commits you to nothing. You come out knowing whether your company is eligible.

Compare providers on substance, not on the subsidy. The aid applies whichever provider you choose within the programme. The real selection criteria remain the same as ever: the quality of the work, the clarity of the quote, and what the project will bring your business.

The subsidy doesn’t make a bad project good. It makes a good project considerably more accessible — provided you follow the procedure and frame the dossier correctly from the start.

We can talk it through for 30 minutes. Book a slot. Whether you work with us afterwards or not.