Published employer of record (EOR) list prices start at $599 per employee per month at both Deel and Remote, with Remote's rate tied to an annual contract, and Global Expansion starts at $575. The larger variable is statutory employer cost: about 12% of salary in Australia, 16% in the UK, 21% in Germany and 32% in Spain.
Updated 10 November 2026. Provider fees are taken from each provider's own pricing page, and every country rate and ceiling is checked against the relevant government, legislation or social security source listed at the end.
An EOR charges a service fee for acting as the legal employer and passes through the full statutory cost of employing the person, so a quote is really two separate numbers that should never be blended. Finance teams that compare providers on the headline fee alone routinely mis-budget, because the pass-through element is several times larger and is set by local law rather than by the provider.
| Layer | What it covers | Who sets it | Negotiable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service fee | Acting as legal employer: compliant contract, payroll, tax and social security filings, statutory benefits administration, local HR support, termination process | The provider | Yes: volume, term and country mix all move it |
| Statutory employment cost | Gross salary, employer social security, mandatory pension, accident insurance, statutory bonuses such as a 13th salary | Local law | No, although contract design (salary split, payment schedule) affects it |
| Benefits and extras | Private health cover, allowances, equipment, immigration, relocation, equity administration | You decide; the provider prices them | Yes, and this is where margins hide |
The governance point follows directly: approval papers should show the statutory cost as a separate line with its source and effective date, so that a later rate change is visible as a policy change rather than appearing as an unexplained overspend against the provider.
Deel and Remote both publish EOR pricing from $599 per employee per month, and Global Expansion starts at $575 with no setup fee and no offboarding fee. The figures below are the published "starting at" rates on each provider's pricing page as at November 2026; actual quotes vary by country and volume.
| Service | Deel (published) | Remote (published) | Global Expansion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer of record | From $599 per employee per month; Deel states its pricing is month to month with no long-term commitment | From $599 per employee per month, for annual contracts; no month-to-month EOR rate is published | From $575 per employee per month; no setup or offboarding fee |
| Contractor management | From $49 per contractor per month | From $29 per contractor per month | Quoted on request |
| Contractor of record | From $325 per contractor per month | From $325 per contractor per month | Quoted on request |
| Global payroll (your own entity) | Not published on the pricing page | From $19 per employee per month | Quoted on request |
| US PEO | From $125 per employee per month | From $99 per employee per month | Not offered |
Two points matter more than the headline. First, Remote's $599 assumes an annual commitment, so a short market test should be priced on whatever month-to-month rate the provider actually quotes, not the list price. Second, "starting at" is a floor: higher-cost or partner-delivered countries are priced above it, and the quote for the country you need is the only number that belongs in a business case. Our guide to comparing employer of record providers sets out the evaluation criteria beyond price.
Flat fee or percentage of salary? Some providers, particularly in specific regions, charge a percentage of gross salary rather than a flat fee. The effect scales with seniority. As an illustration, at a 15% rate a €90,000 salary attracts €13,500 a year in fees, more than twice a $575 flat fee converted at an illustrative $1.15 to the euro (about €6,000). For senior hires, insist on a flat fee or a capped percentage.
Statutory employer cost ranges from about 12% of salary in Australia to more than 30% in Spain and Brazil, and in several countries the effective rate falls for high earners because contributions stop at a ceiling. The table sets out the 2026 position for seven common EOR markets, with the drivers a CFO should model.
| Country | Employer cost on top of gross (2026) | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | About 16% at £60,000 | Employer National Insurance at 15% on earnings above £5,000 a year (no upper limit for the employer), plus a minimum 3% pension contribution on qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 |
| Germany | About 21% up to the ceilings | Employer halves of pension (9.3%), unemployment (1.3%), health (7.3% plus half the insurer's add-on, which averages 2.9% in 2026) and long-term care (1.8%), plus the 0.15% insolvency levy, accident insurance and sick-pay levies. Pension and unemployment stop at €8,450 a month; health and care at €5,812.50 |
| Australia | 12% up to the contributions base | Superannuation Guarantee at 12%, with no obligation on earnings above the A$270,830 maximum contributions base for 2026–27; state payroll tax on wages above the state threshold (5.45% above A$1.2 million in New South Wales) |
| Spain | About 32% up to the monthly cap | Common contingencies 23.6%, unemployment 5.5% (open-ended contract), wage guarantee fund 0.2%, training 0.6%, the intergenerational equity levy (MEI) 0.75% and an occupational accident premium of 1.5% for office work, on monthly earnings up to €5,101.20; a solidarity contribution applies above that cap |
| Portugal | 23.75%, plus two statutory subsidies | Employer social security at 23.75% of remuneration, plus occupational accident insurance, and a Christmas subsidy of one month's pay and a holiday subsidy, which together add roughly two months' pay a year |
| Brazil | At least 28%, before activity-based levies | Employer social security (INSS) at 20% and the FGTS severance fund deposit at 8%, plus accident and third-party levies that vary by activity, and a 13th salary of one-twelfth of pay per month of service |
| Mexico | Variable; model by state and profit | IMSS social security (with an occupational risk premium that varies by activity), the 5% Infonavit housing contribution, state payroll tax (4% in Mexico City) and profit sharing (PTU) at 10% of taxable income, capped per worker at three months' salary or the three-year average if higher |
The table excludes salary-linked items such as paid leave, which are a cost of employment everywhere, and it excludes voluntary benefits. Our employment cost calculator produces a line-by-line figure for a given salary, and the CountryPedia guides cover each market in more depth. For Germany and the UK specifically, see our employer of record Germany and employer of record UK guides.
For an illustrative software developer in Madrid on €60,000 gross, the all-in cost through an EOR at $575 a month is about €85,300 a year before optional benefits. The calculation below uses 2026 Spanish rates and an illustrative exchange rate; it is a worked example, not a quote.
The sensitivity is the useful part. A provider $100 a month cheaper saves $1,200, or a little over €1,000, a year. An assumption about Spanish contributions that is two percentage points out misstates the cost by €1,200. Salary inflation of 3% adds €1,800 of pay and a further €579 of contributions. In other words, the decision variables that move the number are country, salary and contract design; the fee is a secondary negotiation.
Payment schedules also affect comparisons. Spain, Portugal and much of Latin America commonly pay salary in 14 instalments, so an offer quoted as a monthly figure is not comparable with a 12-payment market until it is annualised. Our guide to 13th-month pay by country lists where this applies.
An illustrative four-person team in London, Berlin, Madrid and Sydney costs about $366,000 a year in salary and statutory employer charges, and about $394,000 including a $575 monthly EOR fee per person. The fee therefore accounts for about 7% of the total.
| Hire (illustrative) | Gross salary | Salary plus statutory employer cost | Calculation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product manager, London | £60,000 | About £69,571 | National Insurance 15% × (£60,000 − £5,000) = £8,250; minimum pension 3% × (£50,270 − £6,240) = £1,321 |
| Engineer, Berlin | €70,000 | About €84,779 | Pension and unemployment 10.6% × €70,000 = €7,420; health (average add-on) and care 10.55% × €69,750 ceiling = €7,359; excludes the insolvency levy and accident insurance |
| Developer, Madrid | €60,000 | About €79,290 | 32.15% × €60,000 = €19,290 |
| Sales lead, Sydney | A$120,000 | A$134,400 | Superannuation 12% × A$120,000 = A$14,400; state payroll tax depends on the employing entity's total wages |
Converted at illustrative rates of $1.30 to the pound, $1.15 to the euro and $0.65 to the Australian dollar, the four lines total about $366,500. The EOR fees total $27,600 a year. Treasury should note that a ten-cent move in the euro rate shifts the two eurozone lines by roughly $16,400, more than half the annual fee bill, which is why invoicing currency and the exchange-rate basis belong in the contract.
Two features of this team change the picture over time. A fifth and sixth hire in the same country start to justify costing an entity. And the Sydney line carries a question the provider must answer: an EOR's own payroll in New South Wales will typically exceed the A$1.2 million threshold, so ask whether payroll tax at 5.45% is passed through, and if so, include it.
Because the statutory layer is reset by governments on their own calendar, and several of the 2027 changes are already known. A budget approved on 2026 rates will understate the cost of senior hires in Germany in particular.
The practical response is to budget statutory cost on announced rates for the next year, not the current one, and to ask the provider to confirm in writing how quickly it applies changes and whether any change in its fee is linked to them.
For a small headcount in a new market, usually yes, because an entity carries fixed incorporation, capital, accounting, audit, payroll and closure costs that an EOR spreads across many clients. The statutory employment cost is broadly the same under either model, so the comparison is between EOR fees and the fixed cost of the entity over the planning horizon.
Cost is not the only variable. An entity gives control over employment terms, equity and IP assignment, and it is a prerequisite for local revenue, licences and some immigration routes. An EOR gives speed and a clean exit, and keeps the liability for local employment compliance with the provider, though not the commercial risk of the hire itself. Our analysis of EOR versus an owned entity works through the break-even in more detail, and our note on permanent establishment risk covers the tax exposure that a sales-facing hire can create under either model.
The three are priced differently because they carry different liability. Only an EOR becomes the legal employer in a country where you have no entity; a payroll provider runs payroll for your own entity, and a PEO shares employer duties with you, mainly in the US.
On published prices, Remote's global payroll starts at $19 per employee per month against $599 for its EOR, and US PEO plans start at $99 (Remote) and $125 (Deel). The gap is the price of the employer liability and the entity you do not have to own. Payroll is therefore far cheaper per head, but only once the entity, its directors, its local HR capability and its compliance overhead are in place. Our comparison of an employer of record versus a payroll provider sets out where the responsibilities sit.
A contractor costs less each month because the contractor bears their own social charges, but the saving is a contingent liability if the relationship looks like employment. Where authorities reclassify a contractor, the employer is usually liable for back-dated contributions, and in some systems the look-back is long.
Germany is the clearest example for a board paper. Contribution claims become time-barred four years after the end of the calendar year in which they fell due, extended to thirty years where contributions were deliberately withheld. And because a missed employee deduction can normally be recovered only from the next three pay runs, the employer typically ends up funding both the employer and the employee share for the earlier period. Our guides to contractor misclassification and converting contractors abroad to employees cover the tests and the conversion process.
Quotes that look alike diverge on the terms around the fee, so the request for proposal should require a written answer on each of the following, and the answers should be scored, not just collected.
Our view is that the EOR fee is the least important number in the decision, and the one most negotiations focus on. For a first hire or a small team in a new market, an EOR is usually the cheaper and faster route, and the right comparison is the fee against the fixed cost and exit cost of an entity, not one provider's fee against another's. Once a country is expected to hold around ten or more people for several years, or the business needs local contracting, licences or equity structures that require a local employer, an entity deserves a properly costed business case and an EOR becomes a bridge rather than the destination. We cover 222 countries and territories, employing through our own entity or a vetted in-country partner depending on the country, and we will say so when an entity is the better answer.
Budget salary, plus the country's statutory employer cost (about 12% in Australia, 16% in the UK at £60,000, 21% in Germany and 32% in Spain), plus a service fee from $575 to $599 a month at published list prices, plus benefits. Then add a contingency for next year's announced rate changes.
The EOR is the legal employer and files contributions in its own name, so the authorities pursue it first. The contract decides who ultimately pays, so check the indemnity, its cap, and whether it differs between countries served by the provider's own entity and by partners.
Some do, typically to cover payroll exposure if the client fails to pay. Treat it as working capital tied up for the life of the engagement, and require written terms on calculation, holding and return. Global Expansion charges no setup fee and no offboarding fee.
Exit speed is set by two things: the provider's minimum term and notice period, and local employment law on termination or transfer to your own entity. The second usually takes longer, so agree the transfer process before signing, not when you leave.
Service fees for business purposes are generally deductible in the client's home jurisdiction, but treatment depends on your group structure, transfer-pricing position and any permanent establishment analysis. Confirm with your tax adviser before the first invoice.
Gross salary plus about 21% in employer contributions up to the ceilings of €8,450 a month for pension and unemployment and €5,812.50 for health and care, plus the 0.15% insolvency levy, accident insurance and the EOR fee. The planned 2027 ceilings are higher, so senior hires will cost more next year.
Gross salary plus employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year and at least 3% pension on qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270, plus the EOR fee. On £60,000 that is about £69,571 a year before the fee.
Need a costed number for a specific hire? Send us the country and salary and we will return a total yearly cost, line by line, with the statutory rates and their sources. Request a cost breakdown.