2022 Papaya Global Review: Is It Right for Your Business?
Charlette has over 10 years of experience in accounting and finance and 2 years of partnering with HR leaders on freelance projects. She uses this extensive experience to answer your questions about payroll.
Robie has more than five years of content writing experience and specializes in writing about payroll and human resources software for small businesses.
This article is part of a larger series on Payroll Services.
What We Recommend Papaya Global For
If you have plans to expand your business globally, Papaya Global can help you manage essential workforce management processes. Its employer of record (EoR) services allow you to recruit local employees while keeping you compliant with country employment laws. Compliance support is also provided when making cross-border payments and filing local tax forms. Similar to a professional employer organization (PEO), Papaya Global manages benefits plans and grants you access to Fortune 500-caliber benefits you can provide to employees.
Apart from basic HR and payroll, Papaya Global offers immigration services to assist you in securing work permits for employees on either long- or short-term assignments outside of their home countries. And if you have local and foreign contract workers, its contractor management solution can help you process payments and avoid worker misclassification errors.
In short, Papaya Global is best for:
- Businesses planning to expand into other countries: Papaya Global, which is one of our leading PEO companies, has a network of in-country partners to help you hire, onboard, and pay international staff. And if you’re sending employees to work in your international offices, it can help you get your staff’s required permits (such as work and residence permits).
- Companies needing global payroll tools: Papaya Global tops our list of best international payroll services because it has the online tools you need to handle cross-border payments and multicurrency payouts with ease. It even manages the benefits of local employees in more than 160 countries and provides pay slips in the employees’ local language. It also offers an online employee portal where your staff can complete self-onboarding, view pay stubs, track paid time off (PTO) and attendance, and more.
- Employers requiring assistance managing international contractors: Papaya Global offers an end-to-end solution for managing contractors in 160+ countries. With its network of in-country partners, finding and recruiting international contractors will be less stressful for you. Papaya Global will even assess each contractor’s worker classification to help avoid labor compliance issues. And when paying international contractors, its platform collects and validates all contractor invoices, making it easy for you to provide accurate payments.
When Papaya Global Would Not Be a Good Fit
- Small businesses wanting only payroll tools: Papaya Global’s payroll solution is designed to handle international pay processes and has features that small businesses don’t need (such as cross-border payments). Its services can also get pricey depending on the number of employees you have, so for more affordable options, consider our top-recommended payroll software for small businesses.
- Companies needing robust HR solutions: Papaya Global may have the essential tools you need to manage employee data, attendance, and onboarding, but it lacks advanced HR solutions to help you monitor performance reviews and training programs. If you’re looking for an all-in-one system to manage the entire employee lifecycle, check out our guide on the best HR software.
- Businesses looking for a low-cost solution to paying only international contractors: While Papaya Global offers a contractor management solution that’s reasonably priced ($25 per employee, per pay cycle), other providers offer more budget-friendly options—such as Remote, which has a free contractor payroll tool.
Looking for something different?
Read our guide to the best online payroll services for small businesses to find a service or software that’s right for you.
Papaya Global Overview
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Transparent pricing with reasonably priced global payroll solution | Can get expensive depending on the services you require and number of employees you have |
| Payroll, contractor management, and EoR services cover 160+ countries | Basic HR solution; doesn’t have learning management and performance review tools |
| Compliance support includes worker classification checks for contractors | Lacks 24/7 customer support |
Papaya Global Pricing
Unlike most PEO companies, which require you to call the provider for a quote, Papaya Global’s pricing is fully transparent. It offers three plans: Payroll, Global EOR, and Contractor Management and Independent Contractor (IC) Compliance. You get pay processing, local tax filing assistance, full benefits management and administration, and HR support in all plans. The main difference between these is access to additional services like worker classification checks and third-party payments for national insurance, pension schemes, and the IRS.
Packages | Payroll | Global EOR | Contractor Management and IC Compliance |
|---|---|---|---|
Per-Employee Fees | $20 per month | $650 per month | Starts at $25 per pay cycle |
Cross-border Payments | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Local Tax Filing Assistance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Customized Payroll Ledger | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Third-party Payments (IRS, national insurance, etc.) | ✓ | ✓ | N/A |
Full Benefits Management and Administration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Workers Classification Checks | N/A | ✓ | ✓ |
HR and Customer Support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Papaya Global also offers a Payroll Intelligence Suite to help you get real-time insights into your workforce spending. Priced at $250 per location if billed annually ($320 per location if billed quarterly), this solution provides a clear picture of your employer and employee costs across business locations and time periods. It even integrates with third-party payroll systems, and you can convert its data for uploading to any financial and ERP software.
Papaya Global Features
With Papaya Global, you get a fully automated platform with flexible workflows and robust system security. Apart from helping you save time, its workflow automation streamlines global payroll and workforce management processes. Let’s take a look at some of its essential features.
Global Hiring Capabilities
Hiring international employees can be stressful and confusing. You have to familiarize yourself with local labor laws and set up local entities in countries you plan to expand in. With Papaya Global’s PEO services, you don’t have to worry about all that. Its in-country partners act as an EoR, allowing you to recruit qualified candidates, even if without a local entity, while keeping you compliant with local labor laws in over 160 countries.
What’s also great about its EoR feature is that its in-country partners will assume responsibility for managing your global workforce but you get to direct employees when it comes to their daily tasks. And if you have multicountry business locations, Papaya Global’s cloud-based platform provides you with the tools you need to easily manage all EoR/PEO in-country partners. Its dashboard even shows a list of countries (or “projects”) in which you have employees and/or contractors.
A snapshot of Papaya Global’s “project” dashboard
(Source: Papaya Global)
Global Payroll
Through its network of in-country partners, Papaya Global can process payments for your international employees and contractors accurately and on time. It supports multiple currencies, provides local tax filing assistance, and handles payroll requirements in more than 160 countries.
Processing cross-border payments is easy with its fully automated platform—you can even complete the entire process in just a few clicks. Payments are made in the employees’ local currency and through licensed third-party payment processors.
You can directly input the changes into Papaya Global’s platform if you have salary updates. However, this is only advisable if you have up to 20 employees. If you have a large workforce, Papaya Global has a sample Excel spreadsheet you can download. It contains the required data fields for updating employee salaries, and you only need to input the necessary information (such as new salary and bonus amounts) and upload it into Papaya Global.
Papaya Global also supports bulk salary updates for multiple locations if you have teams working in several countries. It has a sample spreadsheet you can download and use to capture all salary-related changes that need to be uploaded into its system.
Clicking the “Update Completed” button will notify your Papaya Global contact to add the new salary data into the system, locking adjustments for the pay period.
(Source: Papaya Global)
If you submitted salary updates via its platform but need to make additional changes, you have to contact Papaya Global for assistance. Note, however, that these changes may not be included in the pay period for when the updated salaries are scheduled to be processed. You may request an out-of-cycle pay run, but this will cost extra.
With its artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled data validation engine, Papaya Global can run payroll audit checks, especially if there are salary changes. It also keeps track of when employee salaries were updated and who made the changes, providing you with an audit trail and a way to verify whether the necessary checks have been completed.
While its in-country partners will process global salary payments for you, it’s still your responsibility to conduct a payroll audit from time to time. You also have to approve the final payroll report for every pay run.
Papaya Global will automatically push the pay period’s payroll summary into its platform for you to review and approve.
(Source: Papaya Global)
HR Tools
Ensuring that you have a single source of employee data is very important, especially if you have a global workforce. With Papaya Global, you are granted access to a human resource information system (HRIS) that securely stores your employee information. It also has document management capabilities, enabling you to keep all your staff data and electronic forms in one place.
You can also use Papaya Global to collect onboarding documents from your new hires. And if some of the submitted documents require additional attention, it will automatically notify you.
Apart from onboarding and employee data management, Papaya Global has time and PTO tracking capabilities. Employees can monitor work hours and report PTO via the self-service portal. If you’re using a third-party time and attendance system, you can extract the time data and then upload it into Papaya Global for pay processing.
Papaya Global lets you add comments and upload file attachments to PTO requests.
(Source: Papaya Global)
Self-service Employee Portal
With its self-service portal, your employees can view pay stubs (in their local language), request PTO, and track attendance online. If your global workers have questions about their pay slips, they can contact your company’s Papaya Global dedicated customer service manager. Or they can click the “Ask a question” button located in the menu on the right side of the dashboard to open email communications.
A screenshot of Papaya Global’s workers portal
(Source: Papaya Global)
Contractor Management
Papaya Global’s contractor management solution is designed to help you avoid worker misclassification errors. It offers robust IC compliance support, which includes determining the correct worker classification of every contractor. And if you’re wary about signing work contracts with international contractors, Papaya Global will do that for you. It willingly accepts the full legal liability for your contractors, including handling the day-to-day tasks of managing contractors (such as payment processing).
Independent contractors can log in to their self-service portal to prepare and send payment requests. A blank payment request template is available on the online dashboard if they don’t have a form to use. Once they complete and submit the form via its platform, Papaya Global will automatically send the payment requests to the appropriate employee for approval.
With Papaya Global, contractors can upload additional documents (like tax invoices and other files) to support payment requests.
(Source: Papaya Global)
Benefits Management
Offering global benefits to an international workforce can be a nightmare for HR teams as it entails coordination with various providers in different countries. Papaya Global’s full benefits management and administration solution takes the stress out of all that. Its network of in-country partners enables it to offer employee benefits in 140+ countries (aside from the US). It even includes access to Papaya Global’s in-house team of benefits experts who can guide you through the entire process of selecting the best benefits plans for your global business locations. Here are some of its benefits options:
- Medical plan, includes doctor visits and consultations with specialists
- Dental insurance
- Vision plan
- Pension plan
- Disability coverage
HR & Customer Support
Papaya Global assigns a dedicated customer success manager (CSM) to all its clients. The CSM serves as your single point of contact and will oversee the entire payroll, global EoR, and contractor management processes. Aside from in-country partners to help keep you up-to-date with latest labor and tax regulations, Papaya Global has a “Center of Excellence,” which connects you with payroll, compliance, and legal experts who can provide support.
Third-party Software Integrations
Papaya Global doesn’t have a robust network of integration partners, but the software that it connects with are systems most businesses use. These include HRIS, expense management, time and attendance, ERP, and financial software. Here are some of its partner systems.
- SAP Concur
- Workday
- Expensify
- BambooHR
- Namely
- SuccessFactors
- Microsoft Dynamics
Immigration Services
What sets Papaya Global apart from similar PEO and global payroll providers is its support services, which include an immigration solution. It can help obtain work permits for your expatriates and employees on international short-term assignments, including spouse and family permits.
Reporting & Analytics
While you are granted access to customizable reports, you can get advanced business intelligence reports and insights into your workforce spending through its paid Payroll Intelligence Suite. In addition, Papaya Global has more than 50 standard reports, which include payroll summaries, cost simulations, HR workforce data, billing comparisons, annual statutory reports, and an audit trail.
A screenshot of reports you can generate with Papaya Global
(Source: Papaya Global)
Papaya Global Ease of Use
- User-friendly platform
- Phone and email support
- Access to legal and compliance experts
- Dedicated customer success manager
- Dedicated support team
- In-country partners/specialists
- Online FAQs and help articles
- Downloadable form templates
- “CountryPedia” guides with per-country employment details
Papaya Global has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to learn and use. I like that it offers comprehensive EoR and contractor management solutions with solid global payroll tools. These functionalities take the stress away from finding, hiring, paying, and managing international workers yourself.
I also appreciate that it has in-app form templates (such as payment requests and salary update forms) that you can easily download. It even contains the required data fields that the system needs, so you only have to input the necessary information and upload the form into Papaya Global for processing.
If you have questions about its features and services, Papaya Global has an FAQ and how-to articles, but the selection is limited. You may contact its support team via phone and email, your dedicated account manager, and its “Center of Excellence” teams of payroll, compliance, and legal experts. You also don’t have to constantly check the employment and tax rules in countries where your business operates—Papaya Global’s in-country partners are always up-to-date with the latest regulations to ensure that you are compliant at all times.
And if you’re planning to expand business operations in another country but are not familiar with local employment laws, Papaya Global offers an online “CountryPedia” that shows important information about a country’s payroll, tax, and labor regulations. It even displays the country’s mandatory PTO entitlements and minimum wage details, including work visa requirements.
Papaya Global’s “CountryPedia” has over 150 guides.
(Source: Papaya Global)
What Users Think About Papaya Global
Users Like | Users Don’t Like |
|---|---|
Scalable and user-friendly platform | Can get pricey |
Efficient tools that simplify global payroll and HR | Some features are unintuitive and difficult to navigate to |
Good customer support | Business intelligence tools and workflow automation aren’t robust |
There are very few up-to-date Papaya Global reviews on third-party review sites as of this writing. Those who left positive Papaya reviews appreciate its user-friendly interface and how its online tools help simplify month-to-month payroll and HR processes. They also like the quality of support they received, adding that its customer representatives are helpful.
On the other hand, some users said that its platform needs system improvements and additional workflow automation to make it more robust. Other reviewers commented that while Papaya Global has a generally user-friendly platform, some of its features are difficult to find and are not intuitive.
A few users also mentioned that its services can get pricey—sometimes costing more than an employee’s salary. This may be true if you have a large team of international workers and you get its Global EOR solution (monthly fees start at $700 per employee). However, if you only need global payroll tools, Papaya Global offers a reasonably priced payroll plan (monthly fees start at $20 per employee) with robust features. Check out our international payroll services guide to see how Papaya Global compares with similar providers.
At the time of publication, Papaya Global earned the following scores on popular reviews sites:
- Capterra: 4.2 out of 5 based on 10+ reviews
- G2: 4.3 out of 5 based on about 5 reviews
Top Papaya Global Alternatives
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
Best for: Businesses needing a flexible PEO with HR, payroll, and IT tools | Best for: Companies hiring international refugees and contractors | Best for: Large businesses wanting global payroll and HR solutions |
Base monthly fee from: $18 per employee (includes its core platform and payroll) | Base monthly fee from: $349 per employee (free for refugees and for paying only contractors) | Base monthly fee from: Custom-priced |
If you’re still unsure about which payroll solution to get, check out our guide to finding the right payroll software or service for you.
Bottom Line
If you have plans to expand your business in other countries and need to recruit local employees, finding a reliable partner who can handle all of your global hiring and payroll needs is critical. With Papaya Global and its network of in-country partners, you get solid EoR services and strong compliance support to help prevent employment and tax issues.
What’s also great about it is that it has fully transparent pricing—most PEO companies and global payroll providers require you to call and request a quote. Plus, it has efficient online tools that can handle the payroll needs of employees and contractors in more than 160 countries, so sign up for a Papaya Global account today.
