An employer of record (EOR) offers a wide suite of services and solutions for managing global employment and payroll. Here are our picks for the best EOR services.
6 Best Employer of Record Services for 2024
This article is part of a larger series on Payroll Services.
An employer of record (EOR) offers a wide suite of services and solutions for managing global employment and payroll. Here are our picks for the best EOR services.
Usually used for companies with international payroll, an effective EOR service can take a lot of stress and busywork off your plate so you can concentrate on expanding your business. The best employer of record services can handle global payroll and hiring and has the expertise needed to manage complicated labor, payroll, and tax regulations in multiple countries.
In this guide, we evaluated over 20 EOR providers and narrowed our list to the six best ones.
- Remote: Best overall employer of record
- Deel: Best for flexible payments and immigration services
- Rippling: Best for automated global compliance
- Papaya Global: Best for bulk employee onboarding
- Multiplier: Best low-cost EOR service
- OysterHR: Best for businesses that hire often
Consolidate your multi-country payroll process and ensure your entire team is paid quickly, accurately, and compliantly with the support of Remote's local payroll experts |
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Best Employer of Record Services Compared
Our Score (out of 5) | Starter Monthly Pricing ($/Employee) | Plan for Paying Contractors ($/Month) | Country Coverage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4.38 | $29 per worker | 180+ | |
 | 4.34 | $599 | Starts at $49 per worker | 150+ |
 | 4.32 | 140+ | ||
 | 4.31 | $599 | Starts at $30 per worker | 160+ |
 | 4.28 | $400 | Starts at $40 per worker | 150+ |
 | 4.18 | $29 per worker | 130+ | |
Note that all of the EOR providers we reviewed offer global hiring and payroll tools, international tax support, online onboarding, local benefits plans, time off tracking, and locally-compliant employment contracts. They also help you pay global contractors and provide access to in-country experts who can guide you through the complexities of managing local laws and regulations.
Looking for something else? If you need expert assistance in handling core HR processes for your US workforce, consider Justworks. Its affordable professional employer organization (PEO) service (monthly fees start at $59 per employee) enables it to manage payroll, tax reporting, compliance, and benefits for you. Justworks even offers an EOR package, but didn’t make our list because it has a limited number of local entities, offering most of its hiring and payroll services through its network of in-country partners.
Why You Can Trust Us
I have over 5 years of experience evaluating payroll and HR software for Fit Small Business and 10 years of experience in human resources and handling HR systems. As a result, I am deeply familiar with the needs of business owners and the HR solutions available on the market.
See our full methodology below.
Payroll & HR Software Expert at Fit Small Business
Remote: Best Overall EOR
Overall Score:
4.38 / 5
Pros
- Strong intellectual property (IP) protection
- Offers a 90-day money-back guarantee to new customers
- Discounts for nonprofits and free refugee hiring services
- Free HR information system (HRIS) for managing workers, onboarding new hires, and tracking employee hours
Cons
- Payroll and onboarding cutoff deadline of the 11th of each month (except for Bulgaria, Germany, and countries that have semi-monthly payroll)
- Remote may collect a refundable deposit (equivalent to one month of the total employment cost), depending on its risk assessment
- Email and live chat support only
Overview
Who should use it:
Remote is ideal for businesses that plan to expand to or already have distributed teams in multiple countries. With EOR services available in over 180 nations—the largest coverage among our list of best EOR companies—it likely offers global hiring and payroll services in countries you plan to expand to.
Why we like it:
Remote is one of the top employers of record companies because of its excellent toolset, and its emphasis on protecting intellectual property and educating clients on the challenges of managing employees internationally. It supports over 100 currencies and does not charge interchange fees, unlike the others on our list, which can save you money. Remote also has a full spread of enterprise-level health benefits, country-specific employment contracts, and a free HRIS platform for managing staff data, attendance, expense claims, and onboarding/offboarding.
- HR Management: Free tools for managing employee information, documents, time off, staff attendance, onboarding and offboarding, and expense claims
- Employer of Record: Starts at $699 per employee monthly ($599 per employee monthly if billed annually)
- Remote Payroll: $29 per employee monthly
- Contractor Management: $29 per contractor monthly
- Includes payroll and contractor invoices
- Contractor Management Plus: $99 per contractor monthly
- Contractor Management plus indemnity coverage
- Remote Talent: Starts at $119 monthly
- Includes tools for posting jobs to attract qualified candidates
Discounts
- Free EOR for hiring up to 10 refugee talents
- Qualified startups, preseed, seed, and Series A businesses get 15% off its EOR service on all full-time hires The EOR discount is available for annual plans only. and contractor management services for the first 12 months
- Qualified nonprofits, charities, trusts, social enterprises, and benefits corporations get 15% off their EOR service on all full-time hires The EOR discount is available for annual plans only. and contractor management services for the first 12 months plus co-marketing opportunities This feature allows you to share your organization's story on Remote's website and get increased exposure for your cause.
Remote offers a dashboard for people managers to view documents, approve requests, access forms, and more.
(Source: Remote)
- Free HRIS platform doesn’t have employee limits.
- Remote can handle bonus and incentive payments for international staff and even supports the Dutch 30% ruling With this ruling, qualified highly skilled migrants who moved to the Netherlands for specific jobs get tax-free allowances equal to a maximum of 30% of their gross salary. .
- Pays your employees in local currency and even crypto (something only Papaya, Rippling, Deel, and Multiplier do).
- Offers a three-stage approach to IP protection and employs experienced counsel in top-tier law firms to ensure your rights are protected each step of the way.
- Free access to Remote’s Workplace Report, which includes survey data from over 1,000 global employers to provide insights into the latest employment trends and how companies are handling remote work.
Deel: Best for Flexible Payments and Immigration Services
Overall Score:
4.34 / 5
Pros
- Multiple payment options (bank transfer, crypto, bitcoin, digital payment processors, and Deel contractor card)
- Global background checks built into Deel’s onboarding tool
- Built-in expense and time-off management tools with immigration services for more than 30 countries
- Free HRIS plan (called Deel HR)
- Offers international and US payroll tools, including a PEO service for US companies
Cons
- Dedicated customer success manager (CSM) is not provided to small businesses (only available to enterprises)
- Doesn’t offer a special plan or discount for hiring refugees
- Collects a refundable deposit for each employee hired
Overview
Who should use it:
Global businesses can rely on Deel to handle the complexities of paying workers, from payroll tax administration and keeping track of minimum wages and other pay-related laws. It helps you hire workers in over 100 countries and provides access to benefits plans tailored to each country. Plus, with its free-to-use Deel HR product, budget-constrained companies can also use Deel to manage basic HR tasks, such as onboarding and staff information.
Why we like it:
In our list of top employer of record companies, Deel stands out with its multiple payment options that even include crypto payouts and a Deel card for contractors. This provides you with the flexibility to choose how to pay international employees. And, while the other EOR providers we reviewed also offer immigration services, Deel takes it one step further by sponsoring the visas that your workers need, providing one-on-one assistance, and offering an online tool to track visa applications.
- Deel HR: Free
- Includes tools for managing staff information, documents, onboarding, time-off, and expense claims
- EOR: Starts at $599 per employee monthly
- Contractor Management: Starts at $49 per worker monthly
- Includes flexible payment options, locally compliant contracts, time-off tracking, invoicing and expense management, and access to HR support
- Global payroll: Starts at $29 per employee monthly
- Immigration: Call for quote
- Immigration and visa assistance in 25 countries plus support from local immigration experts
Discounts
- For large businesses (call for a quote)
Deel’s website comes with country guides and other hiring tools that you can use for free. (Source: Deel)
- Deel contractor card allows contract workers to receive payments and pay for personal purchases.
- Early access to earned wages for employees—a feature that none of the EOR providers on our list offer Deel charges $29 per employee for this feature and, as of this writing, is only available for workers located in Brazil, Canada, India, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the US. .
- Deel plugins for Slack to simplify onboarding, employee referrals, surveys, and team communications.
- Expert guidance from Deel’s team of over 200 local HR and legal professionals specialized in employment regulations, local statutory benefits, and tax laws.
- Deel Compliance Hub includes access to monthly workforce insights, the latest regulatory updates, worker classification tools, and compliance risk warnings.
- Deel’s partnership with Hofy allows it to provide your global distributed teams with the equipment, such as laptops, monitors, and headphones, they need to set up their home workspace (this is similar to Multiplier and Rippling’s IT tools).
Rippling: Best for Automated Global Compliance
Overall Score:
4.32 / 5
Pros
- Offers tools for onboarding software and hardware
- Integration capabilities with over 500 options
- Can use for international and domestic payroll and HR
- Workflow automation simplifies HR and payroll processes, including global compliance
Cons
- Pricing isn't all transparent
- Some features may cost extra (like IT tools to manage business apps)
- No dedicated support representative
Overview
Who should use it:
Companies with a globally distributed workforce will appreciate Rippling’s all-in-one HR, payroll, and IT platform. In addition to its EOR services, its feature-rich software can help you manage the entire employee lifecycle, including company devices and business software access. Rippling, which is one of our top-recommended HR payroll software for small businesses, also makes managing global compliances easy with its automation tools. It can help enforce country-specific minimum wages, apply overtime rules, and even enroll workers in required compliance training programs.
Why we like it:
Rippling has an intuitive interface with HR, IT, and finance modules you can mix and match. This allows you to create an HR platform with the features you need. Like all EORs on our list, Rippling pays in local currency, handles local taxes wherever your employee lives and works, and bills you when the work is done. Just like with its regular US payroll services, it takes only 90 seconds to pay your international employees.
However, its EOR service only covers more than 140 countries. For wider coverage, consider Remote, which offers EOR services in over 180 nations.
Rippling does not list its pricing online, so you need to call a sales representative. We were given a quote for the following services:
- EOR services: $599 per employee monthly
- Global payroll: $20 per employee monthly
- Global contractor payroll: $20 per worker monthly
Note that new users who sign up for a Rippling plan get the first month free This can end at any time. Visit the provider's website to view the latest promotions. .
Rippling’s modular HR, IT, and finance platform makes it one of the easiest to work with for administrators and employees. (Source: Rippling)
- Rippling can assign computers and software licenses to employees and helps with the return of hardware at termination (Multiplier has a similar service, as well as Deel but via its partner, Hofy).
- It can connect with over 500 apps, such as accounting, expense management, HR, sales, communication, and productivity tools (most on our list integrate with finance and HRIS software).
- Job costing tool lets you apply employee time to a client, task, and job location for billing or analysis.
- User permissions, policy management, and customizable workflows help streamline HR processes, saving you time in managing day-to-day HR tasks (such as tracking PTO accruals and approving time off and expense claim requests).
- Access to local experts with over 10 years of HR experience who can help you understand in-country labor and employment regulations.
Papaya Global: Best EOR for Bulk Employee Onboarding
Overall Score:
4.31 / 5
Pros
- Transparent pricing
- Global payroll payments in as fast as 72 hours and supports cryptocurrency payouts
- Responsive local support with 24/7 chat assistance
- Robust workforce analytics and payroll audit tools
Cons
- Uses a partner network instead of its own local entities
- Charges a setup fee and requires a refundable deposit
- No discounts for startups and refugee hiring
Overview
Who should use it:
Papaya Global’s EOR services cover more than 160 countries and come with hiring, onboarding, multi-currency payments, and benefits management tools. It’s the only provider on our list of best EOR companies that can onboard up to 1,000 employees at a time, making it an ideal option for global businesses with rapid workforce expansion plans.
Why we like it:
Like all on our list, Papaya Global provides global recruiting and payroll services through its network of local partners. Its system is also equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) tools to ensure payroll data accuracy—although the provider also conducts payroll audits. And, with its acquisition of Azimo, a digital money transfer service, it can pay in hours instead of days.
In addition, it offers an Agent of Record (AOR) service that handles contractor payments, worker management, and classification for you. The other EORs we reviewed only offer online resources to help you classify workers and avoid penalties for misclassification errors. However, if you only need contractor payments, we recommend Rippling as its global contractor plan only costs $20 per worker monthly (Papaya Global’s contractor package starts at $30 per worker monthly).
- EOR: Starts at $599 per employee monthly
- PayrollPlus
- Grow Global: Starts at $12 per employee monthly for businesses with up to four entities and 101-500 employees
- Scale Global: Starts at $20 per employee monthly for businesses with up to 10 entities and 501-1,000 employees
- Enterprise Global: Starts at $15 per employee monthly for businesses with over 10 entities and more than 1,000 employees
- Contractor Payments & Management: Starts at $30 per worker monthly
- Payroll, compliance, and contractor management
- Agent of Record: Starts at $200 per worker monthly
- Contractor management, payroll, compliance, and worker classification
- Payments: Starts at $2.5 per transaction
- Facilitate ad hoc workforce payments (e.g., split payroll payments and statutory payouts to local authorities)
Discounts
- Available for large companies with volume payroll requirements (call for a quote)
Papaya offers country-specific information to complement its payroll and HR tools. (Source: Papaya Global)
- 60-day money-back guarantee for new clients (although, this is shorter than Remote’s 90-day guarantee).
- Access to in-house global payroll professionals and Papaya’s team of designated country experts, which consists of 40 different top-tier certified public accountant (CPA) firms across the globe.
- Visa and work permit assistance for your expatriates and employees on international short-term assignments, as well as visa support for their spouses and family.
- Unlimited workforce wallets to securely pay workers via direct deposits and remit payments to local authorities.
- Funds in dedicated workforce wallets sit safely in segregated Client Money Accounts with global banking institution, J.P. Morgan.
- AI tool identifies, extracts, and validates information from your uploaded documents, which helps you save time when translating languages into standardized data.
Multiplier: Best Low-cost EOR Service
Overall Score:
4.28 / 5
Pros
- Hires in 150+ countries, pays in 120 currencies
- Can handle assignment of laptops and software
- Pays in cryptocurrency if desired
- Affordable EOR package
Cons
- Only monitors leave accruals (no time tracking features)
- Has a fixed payroll cut-off date (every 10th of the month)
- Limited integration options
- Pricing isn’t all transparent
Overview
Who should use it:
Multiplier’s EOR service is optimal for businesses looking for an affordable package to hire and pay global workers. Its EOR plan is the least expensive on our list, with monthly fees that start at $400 per employee (the other providers we reviewed charge $599 and more).
Why we like it:
Multiplier can recruit global employees in over 150 countries and pay workers in 120 currencies (including cryptocurrency). Unlike some of the providers on our list, it doesn’t charge a refundable deposit and setup fees. Multiplier can also help manage immigration and visa processing, but it doesn’t sponsor worker visas like Deel can. And, while its platform can onboard employees in just a few clicks, it can’t onboard 1,000 workers at a time as Papaya Global does.
- Employer of Record: Starts at $400 per employee monthly
- Global Payroll: Call for a quote
- Independent Contractors: Starts at $40 per worker monthly
- Instant contracts with multi-currency and crypto payments
Onboarding takes minutes or less with Multiplier and you can choose to onboard one or several workers at a time.
(Source: Multiplier)
- Multiplier touts that it can generate locally-compliant and multilingual contracts in under five minutes.
- Like Rippling and Deel, it can handle IT onboarding by providing your international employees with a company laptop loaded with the software they need.
- Multiplier claims it can onboard new hires in less than one week.
OysterHR: Best EOR for Businesses That Hire Often
Overall Score:
4.18 / 5
Pros
- Discounts for nonprofits and refugee hiring
- Dedicated support for account and system setup
- Scale plan lets you prepurchase employee seats at reduced rates; you can reuse empty seats to fill vacant and new roles
Cons
- Requires a refundable deposit
- Limited reporting options
- Scale plan requires upfront payment of all annual fees and is reserved for companies with more than five employees
Overview
Who should use it:
If you’re constantly hiring to fill vacant positions or plan to grow your international workforce, OysterHR’s Scale plan is the perfect option for you. It allows you to pre-purchase reusable employee seats for one year at negotiated and reduced rates. None of the providers on our list offer a similar package.
Why we like it:
OysterHR is a global payroll and EOR that works in over 130 countries (more than 180 countries for contractor payments). Similar to Remote, it offers special plans for eligible non-profits and companies hiring refugees. It also has free online tools to help you calculate employment costs, check best-in-class benefits in top hiring locations, and assess the potential risks in converting a contractor into an employee.
However, OysterHR’s reporting options are limited—it only offers four reports: payroll, team member, invoice, and expense. For comprehensive workforce and payroll analytics, consider Papaya Global as its customizable reports provide insights into several topics, from employee costs to staff turnover and payment funds.
- Employer of Record: Starts at $699 per employee monthly ($599 per employee monthly if billed annually); pricing also varies, depending on country
- Global Payroll: $50 per employee monthly
- Contractor: Starts at $29 per contractor monthly
New clients who sign up for the contractor plan get the first 30 days free. Note that this may change at any time. Visit Oyster's website to see the latest promotions on offer.
- Includes hiring, payroll, onboarding, invoicing, and expense management tools
- Scale: Call for quote
- This plan lets you pre-purchase and reuse annual seats for hiring five or more employees
- Includes custom global compliance assistance and access to a dedicated hiring success team
Discounts
- Free refugee hiring (up to 10 workers) in countries where OysterHR has local entities
- Eligible certified nonprofits or B-Corporations get discounted rates, free enrollment in Oyster Academy, free tickets to OysterHR’s annual conference, and meetups with other OysterHR users and experts
OysterHR offers many resources to help you navigate international employment, like its hiring tool that checks for compliance. (Source: OysterHR)
- Free downloadable interview templates, checklists, and recruiting emails created and reviewed by OysterHR’s HR and legal experts (the other EORs on our list don’t provide these expert-vetted templates for free).
- Access to a dedicated hiring success manager who can help find qualified candidates for your volume hiring requirements.
- Virtual hiring assistant guides you through local compliances when you hire a new employee via OysterHR.
Looking for something else? If you only need to pay your global workforce, check out our list of top international payroll services to find suitable options. If you’re unsure which provider to select, read our guide to finding the right payroll solution for your business.
How to Choose the Best EOR
In selecting the best employer of record for your company, we recommend looking at the provider’s track record in handling global HR payroll processes. Next, look at the legal and compliance support offered, and if the provider has the expertise needed to handle complicated labor, payroll, and tax regulations in the countries you plan to expand to.
You should also consider the following factors:
- Software pricing and your budget: Finding a solution that meets your budget is important, but you should also check if the provider’s EOR package comes with annual payment-only requirements or user count limits.
- Ease of use: The EOR solution and its features should be simple to use. Having access to an online platform that can securely store employee information, track payments, and manage basic HR processes (such as time and PTO tracking) is also critical. If you use accounting solutions or have a separate HR system for your local employees, look for integration options with these business software.
- Payment options: In addition to secure payments, you should look at the payment timelines and options. Most providers remit payments to workers in three to five working days via international bank transfers. Some offer a longer processing time or have limited payment options (e.g., no cryptocurrency payouts).
- Reporting and analytics: Reports are important as these allow you to see headcount costs across countries. While you should look for the availability of basic reports (like payroll registers and employee lists), don’t forget to check for customization solutions for creating ad hoc reports.
- Customer support: Contacting the provider’s support team via phone is ideal, but if this isn’t available, check for live chat support. You may also want to consider looking at online user reviews to help you gauge whether or not its support team is responsive.
Methodology: How We Evaluated the Top Employer of Record Companies
In our evaluation of the best employer of record services, we looked at more than 20 EOR providers, narrowing them down to those that served small and midsize businesses and were priced reasonably (where we could get quotes). Then we dove deep to evaluate them for features and ease of use. Finally, we added feedback from real-world users to come up with the top six.
Click through the tabs below for our full evaluation criteria:
20%
Pricing
20%
HR features
10%
Reporting
20%
Payroll Features
15%
Expert Score
15%
Ease of Use
20% of Overall Score
We looked for transparency—can you find the pricing on a website or with a phone call, or do you need an in-depth assessment of your business? We also considered setup fees, separate (cheaper) plans for your contractors, and whether they have add-ons for additional tools.
20% of Overall Score
Your EOR should handle your employees from hiring to termination, including paperwork, benefits, and compliances. We also looked for any indication that they protect your intellectual property, like patents created by your employees.
10% of Overall Score
We not only considered what reports are available but also how customizable they are, and if they can be separated by country.
20% of Overall Score
In addition to the basics, like time tracking tools, we concentrated on global features like paying in local currency and having local entities as opposed to third-party partners.
15% of Overall Score
Here, we considered appropriateness for small and midsize businesses (SMBs), how good the software was, and what real-world users thought of the service.
15% of Overall Score
For this criterion, we looked at setup assistance, customer support, access to how-to guides, integration options, and whether the provider offers an intuitive user platform.
*Percentages of overall score
Best Employer of Record Companies Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Employers of record (EORs) take on administrative responsibility and liability for your employees. They are listed as your worker’s legal employer; however, you have complete control over tasking, training, and other non-administrative or payroll functions.
EORs handle a variety of tasks, including:
- Hiring and terminating employees
- Onboarding
- Paying your international employees
- Complying with country-specific employment and payroll regulations
- Providing enterprise-level benefits
- Employee expense reimbursement
- Intellectual property (IP) protection
This, of course, is an individual choice. An EOR can get pricey, but also takes a lot of work off your company’s hands. Rather than hiring staff to handle HR and payroll and track legal and tax compliances across all the countries you have employees in—not to mention establishing a local entity in the country—you can have an EOR handle that for you. Since EORs have employees from many companies, they can qualify for less expensive, higher-end benefits packages that bigger companies can offer.
In return, however, you are giving up a level of control. Since they generally hire and onboard, you may see a shift in company culture. Also, if you have an existing HR department, you’ll need to make sure they adapt to the changes in responsibilities.
An EOR is most effective when:
- You are moving to a global workforce
- You are hiring in a new country and don’t have a local legal entity there
- Your HR department is small, or you don’t want to invest in a large HR department
- You prefer to let someone else handle the legal and tax issues involved in hiring employees
An EOR shows up as your employee’s official employer. A PEO simply replaces your HR department—responsibilities and liabilities are still on you. When dealing with global employment, if you want to use a PEO, you need to have a local entity in the country or region where you are hiring; you don’t need this with an EOR. PEOs, however, are generally more affordable than EORs while doing much the same work.
Bottom Line
An employer of record can take a lot of stress off a business, especially when hiring international employees. It takes the liability and administrative responsibility for hiring, paying, and terminating your employees so you can concentrate on training and tasking. As the official on-paper employer, it assumes liabilities for tax and workplace compliances.
Overall, Remote took the clear lead as the best EOR service. It works in over 180 countries for payroll and HR services; has a separate, cheaper plan for international contractors; and provides solid IP and invention rights protections. Check out Remote and get started on broadening your international reach.