Global EOR companies: how to compare them on evidence

Advertised prices, verified

How to shortlist a global EOR

1. List your countries and expected headcount first. EOR choice is country-led. A vendor that is excellent in Western Europe may serve Southeast Asia through partners with different service quality, so write down the countries and rough headcount before reading any vendor page.
2. Check how each country is actually served. Ask whether the vendor employs through its own local entity or a third-party partner in each of your countries, and what changes for you when it is a partner: contract terms, data handling, response times and price all can.
3. Verify pricing against the vendor's own page. Published EOR fees are starting tiers. Confirm the current figure on the vendor's pricing page, then ask what sits outside it: deposits, currency conversion margins, benefits administration and offboarding costs are the usual additions.
4. Read the exit and the IP clauses before signing. Confirm notice periods, what termination costs pass through in each country, and how intellectual property assignment flows from the local employment contract back to you. The offboarding terms are where EOR relationships get expensive.

Owned entities vs partner networks

An EOR serves a country either through a subsidiary it owns there or through a local partner it contracts with. Owned entities generally mean tighter control over contracts, payroll operations and data, and no second company in the chain. Partner networks extend coverage to more countries faster, and a well-managed partner can serve you perfectly well, but the accountability chain is longer and pricing sometimes carries the partner's margin. Neither model is disqualifying; undisclosed models are. A vendor should answer per country, in writing, and the answer belongs in your comparison sheet next to the price.

Coverage claims deserve the same discipline. A country listed on a marketing page is not the same as a country where the vendor can produce a compliant contract this month. This index records coverage from evidence, and treats an unverifiable claim as absent rather than assumed.

What published prices do and do not tell you

Most global EOR vendors publish a starting price per employee per month, and the spread across the market is wide enough to matter at any headcount. The published figure typically covers the core service: employment, payroll, statutory filings. It typically excludes deposits or advance payment requirements, statutory employer costs, which pass through at each country's real rates, benefits beyond the statutory floor, and currency conversion margins on payroll funding.

That makes the published fee a floor, not a forecast. The comparable number across vendors is fee plus the itemised pass-throughs for one specific country and salary, quoted on identical assumptions. Where this index lists a price, it links the vendor page it was verified against, and prices are rechecked rather than assumed to persist. Contracts control; nothing here is legal advice.

Common questions

What does a global EOR typically charge?

Published starting prices run from low hundreds of dollars per employee per month upward, with the market median shown in the table above. Statutory employer costs pass through on top at each country's real rates.

Is an owned-entity EOR always better than a partner network?

No. Owned entities shorten the accountability chain; partner networks reach more countries. What matters is that the vendor discloses the model per country and stands behind service terms either way.

Can one EOR cover every country we hire in?

Rarely well. Most teams end up with one primary vendor and exceptions where coverage or price is poor. Comparing per country, rather than picking one logo for everything, is usually cheaper and safer.

How current are the prices in this index?

Each figure is verified against the vendor's own published page and linked to it, so you can check the source directly. Where a vendor does not publish pricing, the index says so instead of estimating.

Coverage by country

• Employer of record vendors covering Singapore
• Employer of record vendors covering Mexico
• Employer of record vendors covering Spain
• Employer of record vendors covering Colombia
• Employer of record vendors covering United Kingdom
• Employer of record vendors covering France
• Employer of record vendors covering Hungary
• Employer of record vendors covering New Zealand