1. Executive summary
Choosing an Employer of Record is a finance decision as much as an HR workflow: total cost, cash locked in deposit, and who actually employs the person. Remote fits when the hire should sit on owned-entity delivery and the finance goal is to keep cash free. It is less ideal when the goal is the lowest seat, or when the integration stack and a higher published IP amount are the brief.
Published pricing is $599 per employee per month and $29 per contractor per month, with no deposit. Customers report an FX markup of 0.5% ~ 1.5% when the invoice is funded in a different currency than the salary. The $599 seat matches Deel. It is not priced to compete on fee. It is priced for owned-entity delivery without a listed deposit. Multiplier lists $459 and about one month of deposit. Remote claims 80 owned entities and 120 supported countries. The reason to choose Remote is the listed deposit, not the entity count. Deel and Multiplier each list 100. A supported country is not automatically one of Remote’s 80. The difference versus Deel is cash, not a deeper stack.
Before signing
- Who legally employs the person in each hire country — Remote’s own entity, or not.
- That the published zero deposit applies to this company and these countries. Whether any country still requires a local float or statutory pre-funding. Whether a raise, or any later change in pay, can create a deposit — only if this contract indexes cash to pay or total costs.
- A sample FX markup quote on the currency pairs you will fund, whether funding in the salary currency changes it, and a cap in the contract if that cost is material.
- Which integrations, API access, and SSO are in the contract, not only on the product list. Whether the $599 sticker moves at this volume.
- If the hire creates proprietary work: owned-entity employment is the chain of custody. The published limit on Remote’s liability is $250,000. Confirm that cap and any carve-outs in this contract.
- Offboarding and any implementation charge. The amendment fee is published as none. Confirm that still holds for this contract.
2. Total cost of ownership
The platform fee is a flat amount per person, so a local salary increase does not raise it. The cash difference versus Deel is the deposit, not the seat. Contractor fees and benefits passed through are separate.
| Financial metric | Remote structure | What it means for finance |
|---|---|---|
| Base EOR cost | $599 per employee / month (fixed flat rate) | A local raise does not lift this fee. Salary, benefits, and statutory costs still sit on top. |
| Contractor cost | $29 per contractor / month | $29 sits below Deel’s $49. That line is competitive if some of the roster stays contractors. It is less ideal only when the EOR seat itself is the constraint and a partner-network seat at $199 is acceptable. |
| FX markup | 0.5% ~ 1.5% | What customers report, not a published rate card. On $100,000 of converted payroll, 1.5% is $1,500. Ask whether funding in the salary currency changes it, for a quote on the actual pair, and for a cap if the spread matters. |
| Deposit terms | 0 months | None listed. That is the reason to keep Remote on a cash-sensitive shortlist. Confirm the published zero applies to this company and these countries, and whether any country still requires a local float or statutory pre-funding. A raise changes a cash requirement only if this contract indexes the deposit to pay or total costs — confirm whether Remote does that. If the alternative holds one month of a $100,000 salary, that is about $8,300 per person that these listed terms do not lock up. That illustration is salary only. Deel’s published deposit is total costs, and the amount is at the vendor’s discretion. |
3. Treasury and FX
- Ask for a sample funding quote on the corridors you will fund, whether the markup is a spread or a fee, and for a contractual cap if that spread is material.
- Deel lists about one month of deposit at the same $599 seat. Multiplier lists about one month at $459. Use Remote when that lockup is the constraint. Do not treat the published zero as guaranteed until it is in this contract.
- Amendment fee is published as none. Benefits pass-through and country payroll still need a line in the cost model.
4. Compliance and delivery
- Remote employs people through its own legal entities, not a partner network. Confirm the employing entity for each hire country before signing. A supported country is not automatically an owned entity.
- Local contract templates and KYC checks are included. Owned-entity employment is the chain of custody. The published indemnification amount is $250,000 — the limit on Remote’s financial liability if that custody fails. Deel publishes $1,000,000. If the hire creates proprietary work, confirm that cap and any carve-outs are in this contract.
- Equity grants, equipment shipping, and visa support are included, not add-ons. SSO is listed. Connectors include BambooHR, Greenhouse, HiBob, and Zapier — core HR tools, not a broad ERP catalog. Confirm which of those, and the API, are in this contract, and whether the finance system you use is among them.
- A dedicated account manager is listed for enterprise only. Confirm whether this contract includes one. The amendment fee is published as none, and add-ons are described as minimal and flat. Confirm offboarding and any implementation charge are not extra.
- IP indemnification is listed.
5. Remote versus the alternatives
- Choose Remote if owned-entity employment is required and treasury would rather not fund a deposit. Confirm the published zero applies to this company and these countries. A custom enterprise tier is listed — ask whether the $599 sticker moves at this volume.
- Choose Deel if the integration stack or a higher published IP amount matters more than keeping the deposit at zero. Deel lists the same $599 seat, about one month of deposit, and $1,000,000 IP cover.
- Choose Multiplier if employees and contractors should sit on owned-entity delivery at a lower seat, and about one month of deposit is acceptable. Multiplier lists $459.
- Choose Rippling if the hire has to live in the same system as domestic HR, IT, and identity, and a smaller entity footprint is acceptable.
Strategic recommendation
Use Remote when owned-entity employment is required and treasury would rather not fund a deposit. The $599 seat matches Deel. The cash difference is the listed deposit, not a lower fee, and that zero is not guaranteed until it is written into this contract. It is less ideal when the goal is the lowest seat, or when the integration stack and a higher published IP amount are the brief. Do not sign until the employing entity, the deposit terms for this engagement, and the FX markup on your corridors are written down.