What an Employer of Record actually costs
Vendors quote a tidy "$599/employee/month", then the invoice arrives at 4× that. Here's every line that goes into the real number, with worked examples by country.
Worked examples
Modelled monthly cost (platform fee + gross salary + statutory employer cost), excluding provider-specific currency-conversion cost, which is stated per provider rather than estimated here. Rounded for clarity.
Get a better estimate for your hire
The numbers above are typical ranges. For your specific country, salary, and HQ currency, the EOR cost calculator shows estimated pricing across 10 platforms (RemoFirst, Multiplier, Rippling EOR, Oyster, Deel, Remote, Pebl, Papaya Global, Shor, Playroll) with statutory contributions included and currency-conversion cost excluded rather than estimated.
Hiring 15+ in one country? Check the EOR vs Entity break-even calculator; fixed entity costs usually beat per-employee EOR fees above that threshold.
Budgeting the whole lifecycle? See which providers ask for a deposit upfront and notice periods and severance by country, plus what benefits and health cover add on top. Hiring in the United States? Costs vary by state, so see the state-by-state breakdown.
Comparing providers? See the best EOR providers of 2026 ranked by real cost, Deel vs Rippling, Deel vs Remote, or the best Deel alternatives. Not sure an EOR is the right model? Read EOR vs contractor and contractor management cost.
EOR cost by country
Modelled monthly cost (salary + statutory employer cost + platform fee) broken down for each of the 39 markets we cover, ranked across 10 platforms. Provider-specific currency-conversion cost is excluded; see below.
- EOR cost Argentina
- EOR cost Australia
- EOR cost Belgium
- EOR cost Brazil
- EOR cost Canada
- EOR cost Chile
- EOR cost Colombia
- EOR cost Czech Republic
- EOR cost Denmark
- EOR cost Egypt
- EOR cost France
- EOR cost Germany
- EOR cost Hungary
- EOR cost India
- EOR cost Indonesia
- EOR cost Ireland
- EOR cost Italy
- EOR cost Japan
- EOR cost Malaysia
- EOR cost Mexico
- EOR cost Netherlands
- EOR cost Nigeria
- EOR cost Pakistan
- EOR cost Philippines
- EOR cost Poland
- EOR cost Portugal
- EOR cost Romania
- EOR cost Singapore
- EOR cost South Africa
- EOR cost Spain
- EOR cost Sweden
- EOR cost Switzerland
- EOR cost Thailand
- EOR cost Turkey
- EOR cost Ukraine
- EOR cost United Arab Emirates
- EOR cost United Kingdom
- EOR cost United States
- EOR cost Vietnam
FAQ
Platform fees across the providers we compare range from about $199/employee/month (RemoFirst) to $699/employee/month (Oyster). On top of that, you pay the employee's gross salary plus statutory employer contributions (social security, healthcare, pension), which add roughly 15–35% depending on country. A €60k hire in Germany works out to a modelled ~€6,300/month (salary + statutory employer cost + platform fee, before any provider-specific currency-conversion cost); the same gross in India is closer to $5,800/month on the same basis.
The monthly fee covers legal employment in-country, payroll processing, statutory tax filing, benefits administration, employment contracts, and compliance updates. It does NOT include the employee's salary, statutory employer contributions, optional benefits (private health, equity), workers' compensation in some countries, or currency-conversion cost. No EOR provider publishes a numeric FX markup, so we exclude it rather than estimate it; your invoice may vary where conversion is required.
Yes, three worth checking. (1) Currency conversion: most platforms quote in USD but pay in local currency, and most providers publish no numeric exchange-rate markup, so ask for it in writing before you sign. (2) Deposits: 1–2 months of salary held as security. (3) Offboarding fees: some vendors charge $500–$2,000 to terminate. Always ask for the total monthly cost in your billing currency, including how currency conversion is priced.
As a planning heuristic, EOR usually has the lowest verified cost for 1–10 hires per country; above roughly 15–20 employees in one country, opening your own entity can become cheaper, depending on local setup cost and ongoing compliance overhead, which vary widely by jurisdiction. Treat any specific headcount threshold as a starting point to model, not a rule. For pure cost arbitrage, contractors show a lower invoiced cost than EOR but carry misclassification risk that can substantially outweigh the saving in many countries.
It's not the EOR fee, which is roughly flat globally. The difference is statutory employer contributions. France adds ~45% on top of gross salary; the US adds ~10%; Singapore adds ~17%. The platform fee is the smallest line item; the country's tax regime drives the total.