Best Employer of Record (EOR) Services
Explore the top Employer of Record services 2024 has to offer.
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Fact Checked
Are you looking at rapid deployment and international expansion? Do you want to scale globally and position your company as a global player in your industry? An Employer of Record (EOR) service can help you do that. Our guide highlights the top eight EOR solutions, breaking down the pros and cons, pricing, and features of each so you can pick the service that meets your needs best.
Our Top Picks
Employer of Record (EOR) Services Reviews
To help you choose the best EOR service for your business, we started with a list of 45 EOR vendors. After a deep dive into features, pricing, customer support, and brand reputation, we narrowed our list to the best eight. Our editorial team has your small business’s interest in mind when evaluating our top picks. You can be assured that these companies are legit, thoroughly vetted, and have the approval of our editorial and expert team. Check out our methodology section for the full scoop on how we made these picks.
Deel
Best for Immigration Services
Using Deel as an EOR company has many advantages. The service covers an array of features at one fixed monthly rate wrapped up in a user-friendly platform. Deel’s global employer of record service allows you to confidently hire, pay, and offer benefits and immigration services to your employees worldwide while still affording you time to focus on the bigger picture of growing your business.
Oyster
Best for Global Payroll
As an EOR, Oyster allows small businesses to hire global contractors and full-time employees quickly and efficiently. As it provides key features, compliance, and automated software, you can employ it without risk and focus on more significant business tasks.
Papaya Global
Best for Bulk Hiring
Offering a suite of EOR services through its partners in other countries and streamlining the services through one comprehensive platform, Papaya Global provides a complete compliant package that allows you to comfortably hire in over 160 countries without setting up an entity.
Multiplier
Best for Quick Global Employment
Multiplier allows your business to effortlessly cross borders and hire in other countries quickly. Accessible from one easy-to-use platform, it provides everything you need to thrive in global markets, from international payroll to local compliance. With its reliable and secure platform, you can get started on your global expansion today.
Remote
Best for Remote Employees
Remote provides such a streamlined EOR experience that feels like a local service. Remote allows you to recruit top talent, onboard, offer benefits, manage time, and provide HR to employees worldwide while saving time, money, and resources.
Rippling
Best for Automation
Rippling automates many processes fast, like onboarding and payroll, through numerous automation options. This and other features are backed by a world-class HR program, making it an ideal EOR if you’re looking to scale your global team.
Transformify
Best for Workforce Management
Transformify is, first and foremost, a workforce management platform. Combine that with the company’s EOR offering, and you will find a streamlined approach to global workforce employee management. Transformify enables you to hire, pay, and manage your workforce across continents in a simplified way, all from one platform.
RemoFirst
Best for Tight Budgets
As a newer company, RemoFirst is quickly emerging as a top player in EOR services. With affordable and transparent pricing, highly attentive customer service, and many features that make hiring and employing contractors and full-time remote employees in over 160 countries possible, RemoFirst makes hiring your remote work teams easy and efficient.
Compare the best EOR services side-by-side
| Brand | Best for | Starting Price | Free Option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deel | Immigration Services | $599 / month / employee | Deel HR |
| Oyster | Global Payroll | $499 / month / employee | None |
| Papaya Global | Bulk Hiring | $599 / month / employee | None |
| Multiplier | Quick Global Employment | $400 / month / employee | None |
| Remote | Remote Employees | $599 / month / employee | HRIS |
| Rippling | Automation | $8 / month / employee | None |
| Transformify | Workforce Management | Request a Quote | None |
| RemoFirst | Tight Budgets | $199 / month / person | None |
What is an Employer of Record?
An employer of record is a service that legally acts as the employer for your hires in a different country. Meaning, on paper, it’s the legal employer to your employees in countries where you don’t have an entity. This includes features like providing payroll, compliance, taxes, and benefits services. Your small business will find using an EOR beneficial when hiring employees in another country because it eliminates the need for you to set up an entity to hire in another country. Instead, the best employer of record service hires and takes on the employment liability for you.
What do EOR services cover?
EOR services cover a variety of services to make it easier for you to hire and employ workers in other states, regions, and countries. These services include:
- Global hiring and onboarding
- International payroll management
- Local tax compliance
- Localized labor regulations and compliance
- Competitive localized benefits administration
- Global HR platform support
How much is the EOR service fee?
Employer of record services typically cost between $400 and $600 per month per employee, with a few exceptions. RemoFirst is the most affordable on our list, with a monthly price of $199 per employee. Rippling costs $8 monthly per employee, but that is just a base fee, and their actual EOR plan costs much more. You will need to request a quote to know the exact price tag.
Generally, free trials are non-existent in the category, as are free plans, although some, like Deel and Remote, offer a free basic HR plan that you can use with the EOR plan. Finally, some companies like Oyster offer a discount if you pay annually instead of month-to-month.
The following table will help you better understand EOR pricing among our highlighted vendors.
| EOR Software | Monthly Price | Per Employee |
| Deel | $599 | Yes |
| Oyster | $499 | Yes |
| Papaya Global | $599 | Yes |
| Multiplier | $400 | Yes |
| RemoFirst | $199 | Yes |
How to know if you should use an employer of record
Knowing whether or not to use an employer of record is an individual decision based on your budget and your company’s needs. That said, there are a few instances where using an EOR makes sense and can save you money. These situations include:
- Scaling on a global level.
- The need for a legal entity to hire in a new country.
- Tax and legal compliance when hiring new employees.
- Support for your HR department.
How to choose an EOR service
As with choosing any service or software, choosing an EOR service requires research—much of which we’ve done here for you.
“Choosing the best EOR service for our business involved thorough research and evaluation. We started by identifying our specific needs and priorities,” says Samantha Odo, Real Estate Sales Representative and Montreal Division Manager, Precondo.
What matters when selecting the best EOR service provider for your business is that you identify your company’s needs and find EOR services that align with those needs. Do a thorough vetting of your top choices, including a deep dive into features and customer service.
James Wilkinson, CEO of Balance One Supplements, shared his process. “We did a thorough screening of multiple EOR service providers to shortlist the best one for our business. The key characteristics we were looking for in any EOR were the extent of their support in global payroll, benefits administration, tax compliance, and HR management. We also required this provider to have a reputation for robust systems and healthy compliance, as well as superior customer service,” says Wilkinson. “We believe our choice of EOR service provider ticks all our boxes. It’s a top player in the EOR space that’s supported several companies to add countries for expansion.”
Also, look at reputation among customers—many services have online reviews on various websites. You should take any free demos offered. “We looked for EOR providers with a strong track record, robust technology platforms, and a global network of experts. Plus, we sought out references and conducted interviews to gauge each provider’s level of responsiveness, expertise, and overall fit with our company culture,” Odo says.
EOR Services Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Should I use an employer of record?
While deciding whether to use an EOR is unique to your company and your needs, several users we spoke to report that when you know it’s time, it’s time to take the leap. “The moment we realized we needed an EOR service was when we began expanding our operations across different states and countries,” says Odo. “The complexities of managing payroll, benefits, and compliance in various jurisdictions became a significant challenge. We found ourselves spending more time on administrative tasks and less on our core business functions. That’s when we realized we needed an EOR service.”
If you’re in this situation or planning to scale globally, need tax and compliance management support, or don’t want to hire an expansive HR department but need more HR Support, then using a global EOR should be a consideration.
What is the difference between EOR vs PEO?
The most significant difference between an EOR and a PEO (professional employer organization) is that a PEO replaces your HR department, but an EOR is listed as the employer of record for your employees. With a PEO, you are still responsible and liable for your employees, while an EOR takes on that responsibility for you—for a price.
As the provider is the employer of record for your employees, you will pay them significantly more than PEO providers; however, if you’re hiring internationally as a PEO, you will need to set up a local entity in the location you’re hiring, which can also be costly.
Can an employer of record help with international expansion?
The short answer is yes. That is one of the main reasons for working with an EOR. Instead of setting up an entity in the location you’re hiring—which can be very costly—an EOR handles it for you in a more cost-effective way and takes on the responsibility and liability of your employees.
What are the benefits of using an employer of record?
Using an EOR service offers many benefits to your company as you face global growth and increased compliance and HR demands. Let’s take a look:
- Market entry: EOR services allow you to quickly break into new markets without setting up an entity, saving you time and resources.
- Compliance and risk management: Instead of juggling compliance risks, employment laws, tax regulations, and other liabilities in multiple jurisdictions, an EOR handles it all for you.
- Global payroll: Juggling a payroll system, tax deductions, withholdings, and currencies in other countries can be time-consuming. An EOR will handle that for you.
- Benefits administration: EORs have extensive networks and can negotiate better rates and more competitive packages than you can on your own. Let them handle this so you can offer your employees the best-localized benefits packages.
- Save money: Setting up an entity in each global location you want to hire is very time-consuming and costly, plus you put yourself out there for considerable liability and risk. Instead, with the reach of an EOR, they hire for you and take on the liability while minimizing the cost.
Of course, there are other benefits, too. “The reduction of administrative burdens has been one of the most significant advantages of working with an EOR service. Handling payroll, benefits administration, tax filings, and compliance issues in multiple jurisdictions can be extremely time-consuming and complex. By outsourcing these tasks to an EOR service, we’ve freed up valuable internal time and resources, allowing our HR team to focus on strategic initiatives and employee development rather than administrative tasks,” says Odo.
“An additional key benefit of using an EOR service is that, almost instantly, we were able to scale up and onboard employees into new markets without having to go through the process of establishing a legal entity and getting licenses to operate. This has enabled us to rapidly scale our workforce internationally with minimal administrative overhead and risk,” Wilkinson says. “Partnering with an EOR service has helped us quickly and efficiently expand into new markets and deploy our workforce in these markets without having to worry about implementing and being compliant with local labor laws, thereby greatly aiding our global expansion goals.”
Methodology: How we chose the best employer of record (EOR) services
Kicking off our search for the best EOR services for small businesses, we started with a list of 45 prominent EOR services and handpicked the best eight. In our research, we studied features including countries covered, compliance, data protection, and employee benefits.
We also considered reputation among customers and experts, pricing transparency, and customer support. Using our proprietary ranking system, these top four areas were given a score between 1 and 5 (poor to excellent), worth 25% of their total score. The result is a highly informative guide that provides business owners like you with the most informed list of EOR services to best meet your needs.
About the Authors
Raechel Conover
Senior Writer, NAWBO Expert Reviews
Raechel covers HR, finance, technology, and small business software for the NAWBO Expert Reviews Team. As an experienced journalist and small business owner, she is passionate about helping entrepreneurs make informed purchasing decisions.
Gabrielle Carpenter
Writer & Editor, NAWBO Expert Reviews
Gabrielle focuses on market research and industry trends for the NAWBO Expert Reviews Team. Through her work, she empowers small business owners with the information they need to make smart purchasing decisions.