Which country should I choose for my master's degree if I prioritize affordability and technical education, Germany or Australia?

On affordability specifically, Germany has the clearer structural advantage, most public universities charge no general tuition for Master's programs, while Australia's international tuition is a major, unavoidable part of total cost regardless of which university you pick.

The One Place Australia Pulls Ahead

Australia's post-study work rights for eligible Indian master's graduates under the Australia-India arrangement can run to several years, longer than Germany's roughly 18-month job-search window, so if maximising time to build work experience abroad matters more to you than minimising up-front cost, that shifts the calculation back toward Australia.

My Advice

In my experience, if affordability and technical education are genuinely your top two priorities, as stated, Germany is the straightforward recommendation. Only revisit Australia if a longer post-study work window turns out to matter enough to you to outweigh the higher tuition and living costs, since that is the real trade-off between the two, not campus reputation or ranking.

A Middle Path Worth Knowing

If the roughly 18-month cost gap between the two countries feels too large to absorb but you still want some post-study runway, look specifically at Germany's technical universities in states that charge the lower semester fee band, since a handful bring the total cost close enough to Australia's cheaper regional campuses that the choice can come down to your specific city and program rather than the country alone.