Global PEO companies, and what the label really means

Advertised prices, verified

How engaging a global PEO works

1. Confirm which product you are actually buying. Ask whether the vendor will co-employ through an entity you own or employ through an entity it owns. If you have no entity in the country, the answer is employer of record, whatever the sales page calls it, and the contract should say so plainly.
2. The vendor employs your hire through its local entity. The vendor issues an employment contract that satisfies the hire's local labour law, registers the employment with the local authorities, and becomes responsible for payroll filings, statutory benefits and terminations in that country.
3. Payroll runs locally, you receive one invoice. Each cycle the vendor pays the employee in local currency, withholds and remits employer and employee taxes, and bills you the total employment cost plus its fee. The fee is the number to compare across vendors, because the statutory costs are the same whoever employs the person.
4. You direct the work; the vendor carries the employment. Day-to-day management stays with you. Contract changes, leave administration and any dismissal run through the vendor, because it is the entity a labour court or tax authority will hold responsible.

Global PEO, EOR and domestic PEO are three different contracts

A United States PEO operates under a co-employment agreement: you remain an employer of record for many purposes, and the PEO handles payroll, benefits and workers' compensation under its umbrella. That structure requires you to have an employing entity in the first place. An employer of record abroad is the opposite arrangement: the vendor, or a local entity it owns or partners with, is the sole legal employer, and you have no employment relationship with the worker at all, only a services agreement with the vendor.

Vendors adopted global PEO as a search-friendly name while the legal shape underneath is almost always EOR. This matters when you read a contract: co-employment language in a country where you hold no entity is a warning sign, and the vendor should be able to name the exact local entity that will appear on the employment contract, in every country you plan to use.

How to compare the companies on evidence

Compare on four things you can verify. First, published pricing: the vendors in this index that publish a figure advertise per-employee monthly fees, and the table above shows each verified price with a link to the vendor's own page. Second, entity model: owned entities give the vendor direct control of compliance, while partner networks add a layer between you and the legal employer; neither is automatically better, but the vendor should disclose which applies in your target country. Third, country coverage as evidenced on the vendor's own country pages, not as a marketing total. Fourth, what the fee excludes: deposits, onboarding charges, FX margins on payroll funding, and benefits administration are the common extras.

Treat advertised prices as starting tiers. A quote for a specific country and salary is the only number that binds anyone, and a vendor unwilling to itemise statutory employer costs separately from its own fee is making comparison deliberately hard. Nothing on this page is legal or tax advice; the vendor's contract and the local law control what actually happens.

Common questions

Is a global PEO the same as an employer of record?

In practice usually yes. Where you have no entity in the country, the vendor must employ the worker itself, which is the definition of an employer of record. The PEO label survives because buyers search for it; the contract you sign is what determines the model.

What do global PEO companies charge?

Vendors that publish pricing advertise flat monthly fees per employee, with a median of $499 across the 7 vendors in this index. Percentage-of-payroll pricing also exists, mostly on US domestic PEO products rather than international EOR.

Do I need a global PEO if I already have an entity in the country?

Not necessarily. With your own entity you can run payroll directly or use a local payroll provider at a much lower fee. EOR pricing pays for carrying the legal employer role; if you already carry it, you are paying for the wrong product.

Can one vendor cover every country I hire in?

The large vendors claim broad coverage, but the model differs by country: owned entity in some, partner in others, and a few countries restricted or excluded. Check the vendor's own country page for each market you actually plan to use before signing a master agreement.

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