What an employer of record really costs in 2026: public list prices from 8 providers, fee models, extras that sit on top, and a 12-month cost example.
Public list prices (checked 2026-10-05)
| Provider |
EOR per employee per month |
Contractor per month |
Notes |
| RemoFirst |
from $199 |
Free tier; Premium $25 |
"No hidden fees, setup fees, or minimum contract terms"; country-specific rates not shown |
| Playroll |
from $399 |
$35 (third-party) |
Says no onboarding or offboarding fees |
| Multiplier |
from $459 annual, $499 monthly (third-party) |
Not confirmed |
Vendor page not retrievable; verify with provider |
| Deel |
$599 |
$49; CoR $325 |
Says no long-term commitments |
| G-P |
from $599 |
from $39 |
Volume discounts; no minimum contract length |
| Atlas HXM |
from $599 |
Not found |
From the vendor's llms.txt |
| Remote |
$699 |
$29 basic, $99 Plus; CoR from $325 |
Global payroll $29 for companies with existing entities |
| Oyster |
$699 |
Free 30 days, then $29 |
Refundable deposit; annual discounts |
Sources: Deel, Remote, Oyster, RemoFirst, G-P, Playroll, Atlas HXM. Multiplier's prices are from a third-party summary; verify with provider. Pebl (formerly Velocity Global) and Omnipresent prices ($399 and from GBP 499, about $669) are third-party reports only.
What sits on top of the fee
Everything below is something a vendor page or a cited source mentions. None of it applies to every provider.
| Extra |
Who mentions it |
What to ask |
| Refundable deposit |
Oyster |
Amount, refund timing |
| Benefits |
RemoFirst lists RemoHealth from $55 per person per month |
Is it mandatory in the country? |
| Visa / work permit, equipment |
RemoFirst: priced on request |
Fixed quote in writing |
| Payroll implementation and delivery fees |
Remote (payroll products) |
Total first-year cost |
| Currency conversion |
Oyster: conversion fee if paying in a different currency than the contract currency; Omnipresent: FX spread of about 1% to 1.5% (third-party) |
Mid-market rate or markup? |
| Promotional periods |
Deel: three months of complimentary platform fees on new PEO orders with minimum two-year terms through 2026-12-31 |
Applies to EOR? In our data it applies to PEO only |
| AI compliance add-on |
G-P Gia from $500 per seat per month |
Optional; confirm it is not bundled |
Several third-party sources claim "18-24% hidden costs" on top of headline fees. We could not trace that figure to a method, so treat it as unverified. If you applied it to Deel's $7,188 annual fee, you would get $7,188 x 1.18 = $8,482 to $7,188 x 1.24 = $8,913 a year. Use the checklist above and a written quote instead of a percentage.
FX math you can actually run
If a provider takes an FX spread, apply it to salary, not to the fee. At a 1% spread on a $60,000 annual salary: $60,000 x 0.01 = $600. At 1.5%: $60,000 x 0.015 = $900. On a $7,188 fee that is 8% to 13% extra. Over three hires, $1,800-$2,700. Ask if salary is converted at a markup, and whether you can fund in the payout currency to avoid it. Oyster lets you pay in USD, EUR, GBP or CAD; a conversion fee applies if you pay in a currency other than the contract currency (Oyster).
A 12-month cost example
Assume three hires in different countries at a hypothetical $60,000 base each. We use the midpoint of the employer cost ranges in our country files, and Deel's published $599 fee.
| Country |
Employer cost range |
Midpoint |
Employer cost on $60,000 |
| Poland |
19.5-22.1% |
20.8% |
$12,480 |
| Mexico |
27-36% |
31.5% |
$18,900 |
| Philippines |
14-22% |
18% |
$10,800 |
Arithmetic: Poland $60,000 x 0.208 = $12,480. Mexico $60,000 x 0.315 = $18,900. Philippines $60,000 x 0.18 = $10,800. Total employer cost = $12,480 + $18,900 + $10,800 = $42,180. Salaries = $180,000. EOR fees at Deel: 3 x $7,188 = $21,564. Total year one = $180,000 + $42,180 + $21,564 = $243,744. The EOR fee is 8.8% of the total ($21,564 / $243,744).
Swapping the vendor changes only the fee line:
| Provider |
Fee x 12 x 3 |
Year-one total |
Difference vs Deel |
| RemoFirst ($199) |
$7,164 |
$229,344 |
-$14,400 |
| Playroll ($399) |
$14,364 |
$236,544 |
-$7,200 |
| Deel ($599) |
$21,564 |
$243,744 |
0 |
| Remote ($699) |
$25,164 |
$247,344 |
+$3,600 |
The gap between the cheapest and the dearest is $18,000 on a $244,000 bill, about 7%. That is real, but small next to the choice of country: Poland's midpoint cost on-top is $12,480 versus Mexico's $18,900, a $6,420 gap per head. Choose the country on talent and risk first, then shop the fee. RemoFirst's "starting at" price may not apply to every country, so the cheapest row is a floor, not a quote.
How to compare quotes
- Same scope: get all quotes for the same country, headcount, benefits and term.
- Written totals: ask for a year-one total including deposit, benefits, FX and exit fees.
- Entity model: Deel is a hybrid of owned entities and in-country partners; Atlas claims owned entities (vendor claim, unverified); Pebl is reported at 65 owned entities against 185+ countries (third-party). Ask who the legal employer is in your country.
- Exit terms: Playroll says no offboarding fees. Ask everyone. See EOR termination and offboarding.
- Stability: list prices change. All figures here were checked 2026-10-05.
When fees stop being the main question
At one or two hires, the fee is small compared with salary. As headcount in one country rises, fee x headcount starts to rival an entity's running costs; the break-even method is in EOR vs PEO vs own entity. For payroll when you already have entities, Remote lists Global Payroll at $29 per employee per month (implementation and delivery fees may apply), and Playroll reportedly lists $2.07 (third-party, unconfirmed). See global payroll vs EOR.
Bottom line
Budget the year-one total, not the monthly fee: salary, plus the country's employer percentage, plus 12 times the fee, plus deposit, FX, benefits and any visa or equipment costs. In our three-hire example fees ranged from $7,164 to $25,164, a spread of $18,000, while country choice moved costs by thousands per head. Get a written, country-specific quote from at least two providers and confirm anything marked third-party with the vendor. Prices change and vary by country; verify with provider. This is general information, not legal or tax advice, so check employer contributions and benefits requirements with a qualified local adviser.