Five things separate EOR providers once you look past the marketing: whether they cover your specific countries, whether they own the entities there or subcontract, how fast they can onboard, what the technology actually does, and who answers when something goes wrong. Country counts on a homepage tell you almost nothing on their own.
Here is what to ask, and what good answers look like. Last updated September 2026.
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Which of my countries do you cover? | A long list means nothing if your five markets are not on it |
| Owned entity or local partner, per country? | Determines accountability and speed when something breaks |
| How fast can someone start? | Days versus weeks decides whether you lose the candidate |
| What does the platform actually do? | Payroll, benefits, contracts, time off, or just a dashboard |
| Who do I call at 2am? | Payroll problems are urgent by definition |
1. Do they cover the countries you need?
Not how many countries. Which ones.
A provider covering 150 countries is no use if your expansion is into the three they do not. Start with your actual list, then ask about those specifically.
Our coverage is 214 countries and territories, which is the broadest available. That matters for organisations whose footprint includes markets most providers decline, and it is why Amentum was able to hire 100 employees in under seven weeks to maintain uninterrupted service for Intel, which secured them the contract.
If your markets are five mainstream European countries, plenty of providers will serve you well. Ask about the hard one on your list, not the easy four.
2. Do they own the entity, or subcontract?
The question most buyers do not think to ask, and the one that determines what happens when something goes wrong.
Providers either own a legal entity in a country and employ your staff directly, or partner with a local firm that employs them instead. Direct means one accountable party. Indirect means another link in the chain, and questions that travel further.
Neither is universally better, but you should know which you are buying, country by country. Ask in writing. We go into the trade-offs in EOR operating models.
3. How quickly can someone actually start?
Compare against the alternative. Setting up your own entity takes months, and over two years in some countries. A good EOR should have people working in days.
Victoria's Secret came to us with onboarding delays measured in months. We reduced those to weeks, completed employee transfers across three countries, and built benefits packages matched to each region.
Ask for a realistic timeline for your specific countries rather than a headline figure. Right-to-work checks and local registration vary, and a provider who quotes the same number everywhere has not thought about it.
4. What does the technology do?
Platforms range from a genuine system of record to a dashboard over a manual process. The difference shows up in month three.
Worth establishing what is actually included:
- Payroll across all your countries in one place, not one export per market
- Contract management through to renewal
- Benefits administration per country
- Time off and expenses, so employees are not emailing spreadsheets
- Integration with the HR and finance systems you already run
GX One covers all of these, with onboarding possible within 24 hours and in-app support. Mott MacDonald used it to consolidate onboarding and immigration compliance into a single source of information across global projects.
5. What is support actually like?
Payroll problems are urgent by nature. A missed payment cannot wait until the provider's office opens.
Ask whether you get a named contact or a ticket queue, what the response time commitment is, and what happens outside your business hours.
When VMware separated from Dell, they needed to retain key people worldwide through the transition. We completed the global transfers ahead of schedule with individual support for each employee, and full visibility through GX One throughout.
What else is worth checking
Independent reviews rather than logos. We hold 35 G2 awards and rank in the top five EOR providers for ease of use, with 9.7 for ease of use, 9.7 for meets requirements and 9.2 for ease of administration.
Client retention. Ours is 97%. It is a better indicator than new logo counts, because it reflects what happens after the sale.
Payroll accuracy. Ask for the number. Ours is 99%.
Track record. We have been doing this for over 20 years, as part of the Equus Software group, which has been building global workforce technology since 1999.
How does an EOR compare with setting up your own entity?
An EOR is faster and cheaper below a certain headcount, and reversible if the market does not work. Your own entity becomes cheaper at scale and is necessary if you need to trade locally rather than just employ people.
The full comparison, with costs, is in EOR vs owned entity.
Talk to us
Tell us which countries are on your list and we will tell you how we operate in each one, what the timeline looks like, and whether an EOR is even the right answer for what you are doing.
Country-level employment requirements are in CountryPedia, and you can see more client outcomes in our case studies.
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for in an EOR provider?
Coverage in your specific countries, whether they own entities or subcontract in each one, realistic onboarding timelines, what the platform genuinely handles, and the support model. Country counts and award badges are the least useful signals.
How many countries do EOR providers cover?
It varies enormously, and the headline figure usually combines owned entities with partner arrangements. What matters is coverage in your markets and how they operate there, not the total.
How long does EOR onboarding take?
Typically days to a few weeks depending on the country and how quickly right-to-work checks clear. Compare that with months for incorporation. A provider quoting the same timeline for every country has not accounted for local requirements.
Is an EOR cheaper than setting up an entity?
Below roughly 15 employees in one country, usually yes, because there is no setup cost or fixed overhead. Above that the entity often becomes cheaper, though it depends on the market and salary levels.
Can an EOR help us move to our own entity later?
Yes, and it is worth asking how before you sign. Many companies use an EOR to enter and prove a market, then incorporate and transfer the team once the commitment is justified.
What happens if the EOR gets something wrong?
Establish this in the contract rather than during an incident. Ask who carries liability for compliance failures, what the remediation process is, and whether the answer changes in countries where they work through a local partner.
