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Best Employer of Record for startups
Dataset as of August 2026 · Independent procurement analysis
For a startup hiring internationally, the constraints that matter are owned-entity employment, a seat that does not move when salary moves, and a contractor who can become an employee without a second vendor. I would pick Multiplier. It lists that at $459. Deel and Remote list $599.
Seat, deposit, and who employs the person
| Vendor | EOR from | Contractor | Deposit | Owned entities | Delivery | FX markup | Equity, equipment, visas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $459 | $40 | 1 month | 100 | Owned | 0.5% ~ 1.5% | In product | |
| $599 | $29 | 0 months | 80 | Owned | 0.5% ~ 1.5% | In product | |
| $599 | $49 | 1 to 1.5 months | 100 | Owned | 0.0% ~ 1.0% | In product | |
| from $499 | $35 | 1 to 2 months | 40 | Hybrid | ~ 1% | In product | |
| $199 | $25 | 1 month | 0 | Partner | 1% ~ 2% | Add-on |
Deposit, FX markup, and statutory employer costs sit outside the seat. FX markup is customer-reported, not a rate card. A supported country is not automatically an owned entity. Rippling is hybrid, and also lists an $8 platform fee. Equity, equipment, and visas in the product are not free of pass-through.
What you get
Cost. Owned-entity employment at $459, $140 a month below Deel and Remote, $1680 a year per employee. A local raise does not lift the seat. A startup does not need 300+ HRIS integrations to justify the higher seat.
Delivery. Multiplier employs the person through its own entity when that country is one of the 100 it lists. Contractors are $40. Conversion stays on the same platform and on owned-entity delivery. The employee seat is $459 from that point. Headquarters is Singapore. Deel and Remote cover Asia-Pacific. Multiplier's root is in Asia. That is a plus when the hire is in the region, not a published list of owned entities.
In the product. Equity, equipment, and visas are in the $459 seat, not a separate contract. They are not free of pass-through. A startup without an HR team does not have to buy those as extra products.
What you give up
- About one month of deposit. Remote lists 0 months. If that lockup is the only constraint, pick Remote. On a typical startup hire, the $140 monthly seat gap is the number that repeats.
- No published IP indemnification amount. Deel lists $1,000,000. Remote lists $250,000. If the hire creates proprietary work, write the assignment and a cap into the contract.
- Customers report FX markup 0.5% ~ 1.5%. That is not a published rate card, and it is not a zero-markup commitment. Confirm the corridors you will fund.
- HRIS integrations are listed at 10+, not Deel's 300+. A first international hire does not need that stack.
- Statutory employer costs, benefits, unused leave, and severance sit outside the seat. They are not in the $459.
- No onboarding timeline is published. Confirm contract generation, KYC, and the payroll cutoff for the hire country.
- Visa support is in the product, not a country list. China is not published. Confirm the hire country before you treat a visa as available.
If the constraint is different
If keeping the deposit at zero is the only constraint, then Remote. It lists $599 and 0 months of deposit, with 80 owned entities. See Zero-deposit Employer of Record.
If the published seat is the constraint, and a partner can employ the person, then RemoFirst. It lists $199 per employee and $25 per contractor, and 0 owned entities. About one month of deposit is listed. See Budget Employer of Record.
If the hire has to live in the same system as domestic HR, devices, and identity, then Rippling. It lists EOR from $499 to $599, plus an $8 platform fee, and 1 to 2 months of deposit. Delivery is hybrid. The quote has to name the employing company. That is usually later than the first international hire. See Employer of Record in the same system as domestic HR and IT.
If the hire creates proprietary work and you need a published indemnification amount, or you need 300+ HRIS integrations, then Deel. It lists $599 and 1 to 1.5 months of deposit. A first international hire does not need that.
What the quote should name
- The legal name of the employing company in the hire country.
- Whether the deposit month is salary only or total employment cost, and whether a raise increases it.
- The FX markup on the corridors you will fund.
- The IP assignment and a cap, if the hire creates proprietary work. No amount is published. Deel lists $1,000,000. Remote lists $250,000.
- Contract generation, KYC, and the payroll cutoff for the hire country. No onboarding timeline is published.
- Statutory employer costs for that country, and whether visa, equity, and equipment lines are pass-through.
- Notice, unused leave, and statutory severance on termination, and whether those amounts come out of the deposit or arrive as a later invoice.
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Frequently asked questions
Is the published seat the number on the invoice?
No. The $459 is the platform fee. Salary, statutory employer costs, benefits, and the deposit sit on the invoice. A local raise does not lift the $459. Model the all-in cost of the hire, not the seat, before you compare vendors.
If we terminate in the first quarter, what is invoiced and when does the deposit come back?
That calendar is not published. Confirm notice, unused leave, and statutory severance, whether those amounts are deducted from the deposit or invoiced on top, and how many days after the last payroll the remainder is returned. Ask whether a one-seat contract has a minimum term.
The employment contract is not with us. What does an investor or acquirer receive on the code?
The contract is with Multiplier. No indemnification amount is published. Write the assignment from the worker through Multiplier to your company, and a cap, into the contract before the first commit. Deel lists $1,000,000. Remote lists $250,000. Owned-entity employment is not that cap.
We will start this person as a contractor. When does that have to become employment, and what changes on the invoice?
The contractor fee is $40. Conversion stays on the same platform, and the employee seat is $459 from that point. Confirm the employing company before you convert. If the person already has fixed hours, exclusive work, and a manager, the classification risk is already yours. Do not wait for a funding round to fix it.
How long does the first hire take to start?
No onboarding timeline is published. Confirm contract generation, KYC, and the payroll cutoff for the hire country before you promise a start date. A missed cutoff moves the first payroll, not the seat.
Is China listed, and can a visa be sponsored in the hire country?
China is not published. Visa support is in the product, not a country list, and not free of pass-through. Confirm the hire country, and whether that visa is available through the employing company, before you treat it as included.
Is there a setup fee, an annual platform fee, or a minimum seat count on a one-person contract?
None of those is published as a startup exception. Ask for setup, implementation, offboarding, and any minimum commitment on a single seat, and confirm the $459 is the only platform line. Get that on the quote before you sign.