What are EOR services?

An employer of record (EOR) acts as the legal employer of an international employee who works for another company. EORs assume the legal risk of hiring the employee, and they handle payroll and HR administration in order to ensure compliance.

An EOR is different from a PEO (professional employer organization), which acts as a co-employer and does not assume the legal risk. See our EOR vs. PEO comparison to understand which option is better for your business’s needs.

After a thorough review of the market, we’ve rounded up six of the best EOR services for 2023:

  • Rippling is the best EOR for scalability.
  • OysterHR is the best EOR for contractor management.
  • Remote is the best EOR for flexibility.
  • Papaya Global is the best EOR for transparent pricing.
  • Deel is the best EOR for small companies.
  • Velocity Global is the best for global coverage.
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Feb. 12, 2024: Jessica Dennis updated the pricing for Papaya Global.

Our picks for the best EOR services

Rippling: Best for scalability

Pros

  • Both PEO and EOR service options.
  • Easy to switch from PEO or EOR to running your own HR.
  • HR, finance, and IT software available.
  • Automation cuts down on data entry.

Cons

  • Doesn’t disclose the countries where it’s available.
  • Pricing is not transparent.
  • Steep learning curve due to all the features.
  • Not as cost-effective as some competitors.
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While Rippling is mostly known for its HR software — which is very popular — Rippling also offers both PEO and EOR services for businesses that want to outsource some or all of their HR work. Rippling also offers some IT and finance tools, which make it stand out from most other HR software.

Learn more about Rippling →

Automated employment agreements

Rippling verifies each employee’s work authorization within seconds, then sends the necessary employment documents based on their location. This simplifies new hire paperwork processes and prevents onboarding delays.

Locally compliant contracts

Each country, state, province, county, and city has its own employment laws. Rippling helps you stay on top of them with fully localized employment contracts that increase compliance, allow stronger enforceability with local law, and offer better IP protection for your business.

Geographic holiday & overtime rules

Keeping track of holiday and overtime pay laws can be time-consuming. Rippling automates everything with rules that do all the calculations and scheduling for you to ensure that employees get the pay and time off they are due.

Rippling does not disclose its EOR pricing information publicly. For a pricing estimate, contact Rippling’s sales team.

Rippling’s versatility enables companies to choose the option — PEO, EOR, or self-managed HR — that works best for their immediate needs while continuing to use the Rippling software ecosystem as their business grows. For that reason, we think Rippling is an excellent choice for businesses that are looking for scalability in their EOR.

OysterHR: Best for contractor management

Pros

  • EOR services available in more than 125 countries.
  • Supports payments in more than 120 currencies.
  • Contractor payroll plan available in more than 180 countries.
  • Contractor vs. Full-Time Employee Analyzer tool helps companies decide which to hire.

Cons

  • Doesn’t operate its own entities in all countries.
  • Lacks some HR features like advanced reporting.
  • Could use more advanced automation.
  • No mobile app available.
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Oyster HR is an automated global employment platform that helps businesses hire workers in 180+ countries. Unlike some other platforms like Rippling, Oyster is exclusively focused on international hiring needs. Whether you’re looking to run contractor payroll or hire full-time employees, the number of supported countries and transparent pricing plans make Oyster a flexible international hiring solution for many customers.

Learn more about OysterHR →

Payroll with built-in reimbursements and bonuses

While it’s more well-known for its EOR services, Oyster offers a global payroll platform as well. Not only does it allow you to pay employees in more than 120 currencies, but it also has reimbursement and bonus capabilities built right into the system. Simply pay one lump sum into the payroll system, and Oyster will handle both payroll and payments.

Employment cost calculator

Oyster’s employment cost calculator helps you compare the total cost of hiring a worker in various countries. This tool can help you confirm whether or not you’d actually realize any cost savings by hiring internationally and show you how the costs of different countries stack up against one another.

Contractor to full-time conversion tool

If you ever hire a contractor and then later decide to make them a full-time employee, Oyster has you covered with its contractor to full-time conversion process. Their dedicated team of experts will help you run the numbers to make sure the switch is justified, then help you every step of the way to bring the contractor on full-time.

Oyster offers three pricing plans:

  • Contractor: $29 per contractor, per month.
  • Employee (EOR): $499 per employee, per month billed annually, or $599 per employee, per month billed monthly.
  • Scale: Seat-based annual subscription for more than 5 team members. Contact Oyster’s sales team for a pricing quote.

Oyster supports contractor payments in more than 180 countries and 120 different currencies, and the company’s contractor payment plan is more affordable than some competitors. Furthermore, the platform offers lots of solutions, such as salary insights and equity assessment tools, to help with international hiring concerns.

Remote: Best for flexibility

Pros

  • Available in more than 75 countries.
  • Owns its own global entities.
  • Intuitive UI design that’s easy to navigate.
  • HRIS software is free to use.

Cons

  • Free trial is only available for contractor plan.
  • Email-only customer support.
  • EOR is available in fewer countries than some competitors.
  • HRIS tools could be more robust.
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In addition to offering EOR services, Remote’s payroll and human resource information systems (HRIS) is available around the globe. Earlier this year, Remote launched a partnership/integration with Gusto, so Gusto customers can also access global payroll and EOR services through Remote.

Learn more about Remote →

Offer competitive compensation

Remote has proprietary salary benchmarking data so that you can be sure your company is offering a competitive wage wherever you hire. It also helps you figure out the most cost-effective countries for expansion. Remote’s global benefits solution helps companies offer comprehensive benefits that are tailored to each country you’re hiring in.

Employee self-service

Remote makes it easy for employees to access payslips, view their enrollment data, request time off, and more — both through the web browser and via the mobile app. By allowing employees to self-serve, Remote helps reduce the burden on the HR department.

Time off and expense request management

Remote includes native time and attendance tools to track all kinds of leave, monitor compliance, and view upcoming holidays across multiple countries. It also includes expense management capabilities like receipt capture and approval workflows to make reimbursements simple and easy.

Remote offers three pricing plans for its different services:

  • Contractor Management: $29 per contractor, per month.
  • Global Payroll: $50 per employee, per month.
  • Employer of Record: Starts at $599 per month.

While Remote’s EOR services are available in fewer countries than some competitors, the company owns all of its own entities, which provides a more streamlined EOR experience and reduces compliance risk.

With Remote, companies have the option to hire through an EOR, pay international contractors, and run global payroll all within the same system. Its HRIS tools – including onboarding, time and attendance, and expense management — are also included, making Remote a flexible and versatile choice for many business needs.

Papaya Global: Best for transparent pricing

Pros

  • Global payroll and EOR services available in more than 160 countries.
  • Extremely transparent pricing plans.
  • Excellent data analytics tools.
  • Employee mobile app available.

Cons

  • HR capabilities are a bit limited.
  • Partners with third parties for its EOR services.
  • EOR plan is more expensive than some.
  • Set-up process can take a while.
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Papaya Global is a payroll and hiring solution for businesses looking to expand internationally. While Papaya caters to businesses of all sizes, it offers volume discounts for companies that need to hire and pay a lot of international employees, so be sure to inquire about this if your company is planning a significant international expansion.

Learn more about Papaya Global →

Global workforce wallet payments

Papaya’s global workforce wallet was specifically designed for global direct deposits, and it leverages JP Morgan and Citibank payment rails for secure transactions. This account can be funded in 12 different currencies and used to make payments in more than 160 countries. Papaya takes full liability for the entire process to protect your company and give you peace of mind.

Global health plan

Papaya offers “benefits without borders” for companies looking to provide both mental and physical health coverage for their employees. Papaya allows companies to offer one consistent benefit plan to streamline the process and ensure good coverage for everyone.

Designated Country Experts

In order to help ensure compliance, Papaya leverages Designated Country Experts (DCE) that are hired by local top-tier accounting firms. These experts manage all aspects of the international hiring process, including payroll, financial, legal, and compliance. 

Papaya is extremely transparent about its pricing plans, and offers a variety of options:

  • PayrollPlus
  • Growth Global: Starting from $25 per employee per month (PEPM) for businesses with up to four entities and 101–500 employees.
  • Scale Global: Starting from $20 PEPM for businesses with up to 10 entities and 501–1000 employees.
  • Enterprise Global: Starting from $15 PEPM for businesses with over 10 entities and over 1000 employees.
  • EOR
  • Starting from $650 PEPM.
  • Contractor Payments and Management
  • Starting from $30 PEPM.

While some EOR services don’t disclose their pricing, or hide some of their fees, Papaya Global has a very transparent pricing structure. It even offers a cost calculator on its website to help potential customers figure out exactly how much they would pay.

Papaya offers many different plans and features to suit different needs, meaning companies at various stages of international expansion can use Papaya.

Deel: Best for smaller companies

Pros

  • Free software for companies with under 200 employees.
  • Owns all of its international hiring entities, except for China.
  • Dedicated account reps for enterprise accounts.
  • Onboarding and offboarding tools.

Cons

  • Contractor management plan is more expensive than competitors.
  • Must pay extra for contractor misclassification protection.
  • Does not have applicant tracking capabilities.
  • No mobile app currently available.
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Deel is a single system for global HR, hiring, and payroll that simplifies managing international teams. Deel’s mission is to “eliminate hiring borders,” which is reflected in services like its visa support offering. Deel’s payroll and HR software is available for free to small businesses with fewer than 200 employees.

Learn more about Deel →

Misclassification protection

Misclassifying a contractor can expose your company to legal risk and hefty fines. Deel Shield uses a combination of local experts and classification tools to create an extremely secure level of contractor hiring and fully protect your company from misclassification risks.

Immigration visa support in 30+ countries

Deel offers immigration visa support in 30+ countries, with its in-house team of immigration experts handling visa applications, sponsorship, and compliance. Deel also owns Legalpad, a leading U.S. immigration provider, which helps streamline the process for employees moving to the states.

Global background checks

Deel provides background checks in more than 200 countries, keeping everything within the same platform. Deel promises a quick turnaround time and claims that it can speed up your time-to-hire by around 80%, with screening results delivered in minutes.

Deel offers three pricing plans:

  • Contractor: $49 per contractor, per month.
  • Employer of Record: $599 per employee, per month.
  • Direct Employees: Free for companies with fewer than 200 employees. Companies with more than 200 employees must contact Deel’s sales team for a custom quote.

Deel’s HR and payroll software is free for companies with fewer than 200 employees, making it a great choice for small businesses. The software covers onboarding and offboarding, time and attendance, document management, and more.

Deel’s EOR services are available in more than 100 countries, and Deel owns all of its hiring entities except for China. Deel also offers round-the-clock customer support and claims to have a response time of under five minutes.

Velocity Global: Best for global coverage

Pros

  • EOR services available in more than 185 countries.
  • Contractor conversation feature.
  • Support for international mergers and acquisitions.
  • Integration with Oracle.

Cons

  • Pricing is not transparent.
  • Customer support could be improved.
  • No contractor-only payment option.
  • Third-party entities in some countries.
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Velocity Global helps companies hire, pay, and manage talent all over the world. Velocity is mostly focused on EOR services, but it offers global payroll and contractor management as well. However, it doesn’t offer free HR tools the same way that some competitors do, like Deel and Remote, so you’ll need to look elsewhere for HR software for your enterprise.

Global equity program

Stock options and equity are critical for attracting talent, but each country has its own laws to govern these transactions. Velocity’s Global Equity Program taps leading legal advisory firms to help clients offer compliant, locally tailored equity to employees around the world.

On-demand office space around the world

Velocity partners with more than 700 flexible office space providers to offer access to 10,000 locations in more than 120 countries around the world. Employees get unlimited, on-demand access to premium spaces and amenities at no added cost.

International relocation and visa support

In addition to providing support with the immigration visa and family sponsorship process, Velocity also assists with both short-term and permanent relocation. Whether your employee wants to work in France for a month or permanently relocate to the US, Velocity’s experts work to make it happen.

Velocity Global does not disclose its pricing information publicly. For a pricing estimate, contact Velocity’s sales team.

Velocity offers its services in more than 185 countries, more than any other EOR solution on this list. For perspective, that means there are only ten countries in the world where Velocity isn’t available. Founded in 2014, Velocity’s long-standing presence in the EOR market makes it one of the most seasoned options on this list as well.

Find your new employer of record

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Kara Sherrer
Kara Sherrer is a writer and marketer who has worked with both B2C and B2B clients across many different industries, including technology. She is passionate about helping clients to create and promote informative content according to SEO best practices. Discover more of her work at karasherrer.com.