What if you could hire top talent from Brazil, pay them in Euros, and stay compliant with local labor laws—without opening a single office abroad?
For small businesses and startups, global hiring often feels out of reach, bogged down by legal red tape, payroll chaos, and regulatory hurdles. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
EOR services enable organizations to hire and pay employees in another country without setting up a local entity. They help small organizations navigate the complexities of global hiring, payroll management, and compliance. These services act as the legal employer of record, sparing startups from establishing legal entities in different countries. By handling crucial tasks like global payroll and benefits management, EOR reduces administrative burdens and risks.
The Geekflare team has tested some of the top EOR providers for small businesses and startups based on affordability, compliance expertise, user-friendly technology, responsive customer support, and flexibility in service offerings.
- 1. Deel – Best All-in-one EOR for Growing Startups
- 2. Velocity Global – Best for Scaling Quickly
- 3. Remote – Offers Localized Benefits
- 4. Multiplier – All-in-one Global Human Platform
- 5. Oyster – Hire in 130+ Countries
- 6. Papaya Global – Best for Established Small Businesses
- 7. Horizons – Cheap EOR Service
- 8. WorkMotion – Best for European Companies
- 9. Atlas – Emerging EOR Service
- 10. Safeguard Global – Leading EOR for Small Businesses
- 11. Plane – Best for Startups
- Show less
Comparison of Top EOR Services for Freelancers & Independent Contractors
Here’s a quick summary comparison of the top EOR services for freelancers and independent contractors.
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EOR, payroll, compliance | Immigration Support, Global Payroll, Compliance | Hiring, onboarding, payroll, time and attendance | Hiring, onboarding, payroll | Onboarding, Time and Expense, Contracts | EOR, global benefits, equity management | Onboarding, global coverage, payments | Hiring, onboarding, time tracking, offboarding | EOR, compliance, onboarding, payroll | EOR, global recruitment, payroll, people analytics | EOR, payroll, health benefits | |
Growing startups | Small Business expanding internationally | Remote-first companies | Quickly expanding businesses | Growing startups | Established Small Businesses | Companies with a limited budget | European companies | Startups and SMEs | Small businesses | Fast-growing companies | |
Live chat and webform | Ticket Submission | Email and live chat | WhatsApp chat | Ticket submission | Ticket Submission | Phone | Phone | Slack, phone, email | |||
150+ Countries | 185+ Countries | 85+ Countries | 150+ Countries | 130+ Countries | 160+ Countries | 180+ Countries | 160+ Countries | 160+ Countries | 170+ Countries | 100+ Countries | |
Monthly fees | Per employee per month | Monthly fees | Per employee per month | Per employee per month | Per employee per month | Per employee per month | Per employee per month + one time onboarding fees | Custom | Custom | Per employee per month | |
Geekflare’s editorial team determines ratings based on factors such as key features, ease of use, pricing, and customer support to help you choose the right business software. | |||||||||||
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I will now discuss the main features, user interface and pros and cons of each of the above EOR platforms.
1. Deel
Best All-in-one EOR for Growing Startups
Deel empowers small businesses by helping them expand globally through hiring and onboarding employees worldwide. It manages payroll, taxes, and compliance to ensure the business complies with local regulations. It automatically collects paperwork and stores it in one place to avoid confusion and delay.
Established in 2014, US-based Deel has over 35,000 clients worldwide. It localizes the entire employee lifecycle with local leave policies, salary benchmarks, and termination practices.
Below is a screenshot of the payments dashboard of Deel, showing pending payroll for international employees. It provides a clear view of invoice details, due dates, and payment.
Deel includes advanced filtering options by entity, contract type, group, KYC, and invoice status. The platform supports multi-invoice selection and batch payments. It also offers a centralized home view with quick access to tasks, immigration workflows, and admin FAQs for smooth global workforce management.
For a deeper dive into its use cases, benefits, and why it stands out, check out our Deel review.
Top Features
- Country-specific documentation for compliant onboarding
- 15+ payment methods to pay the global team
- Monitor and inform of latest changes on wage, pension, and leave regulations
- 200+ local HR and legal experts to ensure compliance
- Integration with 65+ HR and finance applications
- Enables employees to submit time-off requests that the HR team can approve
- Offboarding process Compliant with local labor law
- Global trend analytics on contributions and expenses
Pros
HR workflow automation with third-party integrations
24/7 support and a dedicated CSM manager
Data security with SOC1, SOC2, SOC3, GDPR, and AES-256 encryption
Cons
Background check comes as an add-on
Steep learning curve for new users
2. Velocity Global
Best for Scaling Quickly
Velocity Global is a global EOR platform that helps small businesses expand internationally. It operates in more than 185 countries, helping businesses hire, manage, and pay. It assists businesses with various employment duties such as compliance management, drafting employment contracts, managing benefits packages, and managing payroll.
They have a generous team that guides the businesses through the culture and laws of employment jurisdiction.
In addition, the platform helps with time tracking and payroll management across different regions. Lastly, its third-party integrations with HRIS and payroll systems enable businesses to use their EOR while sticking to their current system.
Below is a screenshot of the employee management dashboard in Velocity Global showing a list of international employees along with their contract details, country, status, and account managers.
Each worker is mapped to a contract ID, country, and account manager, which really helps when managing multiple global hires. On the payroll side, I found it helpful that you can view payment types (like salary, bonus, or allowance), currencies, and approval statuses in one place
This level of visibility is especially useful for small teams handling distributed hiring without a large HR backend.
For a more detailed analysis, please read our Velocity Global Review.
Top Features
- Employee cost calculator for country-specific expenses
- Immigration support for relocating talents
- Access to global benefits package for various countries
- Time tracking for simplified global payroll
- Real-time reporting and analytics for accurate payroll metrics
- Built-in security features such as endpoint protection software, AES-256 encryption
- Transparent global equity programs for compliance
Pros
Integration with ATS, HCM & HRIS platforms
Human customer assistance
Transparent foreign exchange structure
Robust user interface
Cons
Pricing information is not available
May not be the best fit for specific niche-industry regulations
3. Remote
Offers Localized Benefits
Remote provides employer of record services with quick onboarding so the remote teams can become global. Its built-in risk protection allows companies to hire international employees without worrying about compliance with local employment laws and payroll rules.
Based in Portugal, Remote started its journey in 2019. It has more than 1,000 employees and became the fifth billion-dollar company in its country in 2023.
Remote’s contract setup lets you choose between standard hours, lump-sum weekly contracts, or day-based arrangements depending on your needs. I liked that it auto-calculates the USD conversion for salary in real-time, which is super useful when paying salaries across multiple currencies.
There’s also an option to add a signing bonus directly within the flow, without having to dig into a separate form. For small businesses hiring in regulated markets like France, the built-in compliance hints (like RTT details and salary minimums) take a lot of guesswork out of the process.
Top Features
- Embedded country and situation-specific guidance for EOR
- Monitor legal updates in all individual countries and inform the companies
- Integration with tools like Gusto, BambooHR, and Zapier
- Provide packages with competitive and updated benefits
- Personal customer success implementation manager
- Five-step support for each new client
- Transparent and accurate payroll with action and approval reminders
Pros
Zero onboarding or offboarding fees
Compliant equity incentives
Remote IP guard to secure intellectual property
Cons
Limited third-party integration support
EOR services are available in fewer countries compared to most competitors
4. Multiplier
All-in-one Global Human Platform
Multiplier is an Employer of Record (EOR) service provider that allows organizations to hire international workers legally and efficiently. In addition to being the legal employer of international employees, it manages their payroll, taxes, benefits, and expenses, ensuring everyone gets homogenous benefits and insurance.
Multiplier was founded in 2020 and has offices in all major continents, including North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia.
Multiplier EOR Solution is trusted by leading enterprises like PWC and Uber, enabling them to manage cross-border teams effortlessly while adhering to local labor laws.
Multiplier’s dashboard packs a lot of useful tools. Under the “Resources” tab, you can find a salary calculator and offer guides helpful for estimating total compensation across countries without needing external tools. The talent marketplace and partner marketplace tabs make it easy to connect with recruiters without leaving the platform.
Multiplier also offers visa and work permit guidance to insurance and country-specific employment guides. It really simplifies global hiring logistics.
The compensation management section of Multiplier as shown below lets you edit employee pay details. It includes settings for base salary, payment frequency (semi-monthly), additional compensation like bonuses, and options to manage automatic payments and Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs).
For more information, take a look at our review of Multiplier EOR.
Top Features
- Generate and send legally compliant and customized contracts
- Collect onboarding documents according to country-specific regulations
- Offer localized benefit plans for the employees
- Real-time payroll status visibility and generate reports
- Payments with employee payslips and payroll with a single monthly invoice
- Supports 120+ currencies for EOR payroll
- Employee tax management with allowance and social contributions
Pros
Employee time-off and business expense approval from one place
100% GDPR-compliant data hosting on AWS
Self-service onboarding
Cons
Customer support is not available on weekends
Limited integration support
5. Oyster
Hire in 130+ Countries
Oyster EOR is a global solution that creates a strategic partnership with companies with the help of deep employment insights and a team of experts. It also performs employee time-off management, contract change, and offboarding tasks.
US-based company Oyster was established in 2020. It has its team members distributed in 60+ countries.
Oyster’s dashboard has a clean setup checklist and tools like a cost calculator, country guides, and a salary insights tool all in one place. The platform also has a built-in flow for compliance and compensation planning under one section
The Global Salary Converter lets you benchmark equivalent salaries across countries based on cost of living.
Top Features
- Takes only 48 hours to complete onboarding after hiring international talents
- Hire EOR from 130+ countries and contractors from 180+ countries
- Generate 100% compliant agreements reviewed by legal experts
- Integrate with HRIS, ATS, ERP, expense management, and security applications
- Timely payroll with more than 99% accuracy
- Empower the global workforce with competitive salaries, equity, and benefits
Pros
IP assignment agreements for risk mitigation
Employment intelligence and support for compliant hiring
Synchronize data with the current ERP system
Cons
Currency conversion fee when companies pay in non-contract currency
Refundable security deposit for engagement initiation
6. Papaya Global
Best for Established Small Businesses
Papaya Global provides a platform to oversee EOR, payroll, legal, and compliance. It prioritizes 100% local compliance with a dedicated team of experts. It offers complete visibility into the workforce so companies can control their costs and optimize their hiring strategy.
Established in 2016, Papaya Global is one of the Forbes Cloud 100 companies. It has 21 offices worldwide and 2000+ clients.
Papaya Global offers a detailed beneficiary management panel where you can track individuals by status, currency, and country in a single consolidated view. The ability to filter by currency and payment status is helpful when managing cross-border payouts.
The Wallets section acts as a funding hub. It lets you preload money in various currencies and manage bulk payroll disbursements without relying on separate banking tools.
Top Features
- Supports onboarding of up to 1000 employees at a time
- Review hiring contracts and sign them from the same platform
- Automatic generation of country-specific standard contracts
- Robust healthcare insurance in partnership with DavidShield
- API and data connectors to import pre-payroll data
- AI-powered validation engine for salary update analysis and local compliance
- Attract top talents with global equity plans
Pros
Secure employee access with custom roles and permissions
EOR wallets comprising bank-level security
Integration with Payroll and HRIS software
Cons
Customer support limited to WhatsApp
Costly EOR for small businesses
7. Horizons
Cheap EOR Service
With Horizons, businesses can avoid the trouble of establishing a subsidiary for international recruitment. Its global team of in-house recruiters offers a personalized approach so companies can optimize international hiring with a curated list of talents.
Launched in 2018, Horizons has its remote team distributed across 35+ countries.
Top Features
- Generate compliant bilingual labor contracts for employees
- Talent acquisition service to select the best candidates from the pool
- Payroll system includes a detailed employer cost breakdown
- Offer full-service HR for contractor and work visa management
- Single monthly bill for the payroll of all employees
- Absence and leave management of global employees
- Manage EOR payroll with tax withholdings in 100+ currencies
- Intuitive platform to overview global payroll status 24/7
Pros
Complimentary expense reimbursement
Support from on-site legal, payroll, and HR specialists
Manage employment taxes, social security contributions, and other liabilities
Cons
Support is not available on weekends
Health insurance benefits incur additional cost
8. WorkMotion
Best for European Companies
WorkMotion is a global employment and payroll solution. It lets companies hire and manage employees from anywhere globally from a single platform. Companies can easily hire people from different locations using its standard country-specific contract templates.
Berlin-based company WorkMotion started its journey in 2020. It partners with HiBob, Jobgether, Veremark, Launch Global, and Hi People.
WorkMotion gives you a dedicated Contract Changes section where you can manage edits to salary, working hours, promotions, and job descriptions in one place. The interface makes it easy to track request status and payroll cycles without digging into individual profiles.
The left-side menu is well-organized, with quick access to Expenses, Payments, Payroll Status, and Time Off. The Action Items badge is very helpful, as it flags pending approvals so you don’t miss anything critical.
Top Features
- Hire candidates from 160+ countries
- Fats-track onboarding with contract review by legal experts
- Process support and advice from in-house technology
- Automated platform for country-specific lifecycle management
- Global payroll management with base fees, EOR fees, and allowance
- 100% compliant talent expense reporting
- Integrates with BambooHR, WorkDay, SafetyWing, HiBob, etc.
- Comprehensive guides on 100+ countries and dedicated customer success manager
Pros
Manage employee lifecycle, including offboarding
Instant contract creation in a few clicks
In-house team for HR assistance
Cons
No phone or live chat support
Additional onboarding fee
9. Atlas
Emerging EOR Service
Atlas is not just an EOR service provider. It is a centralized HXM technology platform that offers global benefits and payroll administration features. It manages the legal, HR, tax and local compliance responsibilities on behalf of its customers to deliver end-to-end EOR solutions.
Atlas was founded in 2015, introducing the world’s first 100% direct EOR model. It has 500+ global employees.
Top Features
- Comes with a full suite of HCM solutions
- Manage payroll taxes, social contributions, and government fees
- Compliance with mandatory benefits like pensions and health insurance
- Payroll, payslip, and back-office administrative processes
- Scalable solution for quick onboarding compliant with employment regulation
- One-click preview, review, and approval of the entire payroll process
- Expense management by employees with mobile app
- In-platform and latest global HR reference guides
Pros
Multifactor authentication and ISO 27001 certification
Custom contracts that comply with local laws
End-to-end immigration and global visa support
Cons
Does not offer time tracking and attendance features
Email and live chat support are not available
10. Safeguard Global
Leading EOR for Small Businesses
Safeguard Global is a dependable employer of record service provider that supports quick and compliant hiring without any legal entity. With its established entities, Safeguard Global hires employees on behalf of the organizations while managing the HR and legal requirements.
Safeguard Global was launched in 2010. It has over 1,500 clients worldwide and more than 1,800 employees in 35 countries.
Below is a screenshot of Safeguard Global’s Spend Analytics Dashboard showing a clear breakdown of payroll costs, including salaries, social charges, and commissions, across countries and invoices. It has filters for deeper insights and visual graphs to easily compare costs.
Top Features
- Local hiring experts for the US, Canada, APAC, EMEA and LATAM
- Accurate and on-time payroll services with benefits and tax withholdings
- Country-based single invoice with salary, commissions, and fees
- Receipt upload and expense tracking for employees
- Employee time and attendance tracking that automatically connects with payroll
- Workforce insights with data filtering based on country, currency, and contract
- Certified Workday integration for accurate payroll delivery
- Trained and qualified experts on local laws, taxation, and payroll regulations
Pros
Real-time visibility of HR and payroll data for strategic decisions
No-cost background checks
In-country HR teams for support in the local language and time zone
Cons
Transparent pricing is not available
No live chat support
11. Plane
Best for Startups
Plane is an EOR platform that caters to the needs of fast-growing companies. It lets companies hire global employees, integrate local and international payroll, and manage employee benefits from the same platform.
Plane started its journey in 2015 as Pilot. In 2023, it changed its name to Plane and operates as a remote-first company.
Plane’s dashboard is clean and task-oriented, with a clear onboarding checklist and call scheduling option. The left-hand menu offers options like Tasks, Notifications, and Calendar, while Team and Access let you manage user permissions with ease.
Under the Company section, you can configure your workspace, verify details, and add bank accounts for payment setup. It’s well-suited for small businesses that want to get up and running without dealing with a steep learning curve.
Top Features
- Country-specific employment contracts compliant with tax laws
- Expert guidance on worker classification, immigration, and visa
- Single payroll system for serving employees in 240+ countries
- Options to choose between automated or manually approved payments
- Employee self-management of payment details, payment status, and expense report
- Flexible payroll run as per customized pay period
- Local experts for guided onboarding of employees
- Personalized support on Slack channel with assigned onboarding manager
Pros
No minimum charges
Multi-layered security practices
Supports health benefits in 175+ countries
Cons
Does not offer chat support
Support is not available on weekends
What are the Key Benefits of Using EOR Services for Small Businesses?
EORs offer the below 4 benefits.
- They free small businesses from the hassle of establishing a legal entity in a foreign country.
- They ensure compliance with complex labor laws of the different countries, reducing the risk of costly penalties.
- EORs may also manage administrative tasks like payroll processing, employee benefits, time tracking, and onboarding.
- EOR services enable small businesses to scale their workforce while allowing their small team to focus on core operations.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
EOR services are highly beneficial to startups with limited resources. They allow them to hire employees in various locations and eliminate the need for complex HR and payroll processes in each region. EOR providers manage all aspects of recruitment, including payroll, benefits, and compliance, so startups can expand their operations globally.
For any small business, a successful partnership with an EOR depends on the latter’s ability to fulfil the specific needs. Small businesses should consider an EOR provider’s experience in their target markets, their services, pricing models, and customer support. Thus, they can choose a provider that aligns with their business goals and budget.
Yes, Deel and Plane are EOR providers that offer tailored packages to startups. Their flexible pricing helps startups navigate initial growth challenges while ensuring compliance.
A small company usually has a limited number of team members. EOR services streamline their hiring process by handling recruitment and onboarding. They also ensure compliance with complex local labor laws with the help of local law experts, reducing legal risks for small companies.
Conclusion
EOR enables startups and small businesses to leverage globalization by letting them hire from a wider talent pool worldwide. If companies want to partner with a reliable EOR, they must determine their specific needs and budget and select an EOR that aligns with those. Above all, a scalable and compliant EOR is the right option for SMBs and startups to support growth.