- Published list prices run $599 to $699 per employee per month.
- That fee is roughly a tenth of what the hire actually costs you. The salary and the employer's own payroll taxes are the rest, and only one of those three numbers appears in a provider's headline.
- In the US an employer owes 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare on top of salary, which is $4,590 on a $60,000 hire.
- The same salary carries a different bill in every country. The UK charges employers 15% National Insurance on pay above the threshold for 2026 to 2027.
- Compare all-in monthly cost per country, never fee against fee. A provider who will not put that number in writing is quoting a headline.
What does an employer of record cost in 2026?
Employer of record cost runs $599 to $699 per employee per month in fees. Add salary and employer payroll taxes and a $60,000 US hire is about $71,778 in year one. The fee is only the first of three numbers. We read every price and rate below off the source's own page on 26 September 2026.
The gap between the cheapest and dearest provider is $1,200 a year, on a hire costing over $70,000.
| Provider | Fee per month | Fee per year | Year one on a $60,000 US hire |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deel | $599 | $7,188 | $71,778 |
| Remote | $699 | $8,388 | $72,978 |
| Oyster | $699 | $8,388 | $72,978 |
Fees quoted from each provider's own page, read 26 September 2026: Deel "$599 per EOR employee per month", Remote "$699 per employee/month", Oyster "USD 699 per employee/month". None of the three showed a "from" or "starting at" beside the figure on the day we read it. Year one adds the $60,000 salary and $4,590 of employer payroll taxes at the IRS rates; those totals are our arithmetic.
Worth saying plainly, because most comparison articles stop here: the gap between the cheapest and the dearest of those three is $100 a month. On a year that is $1,200, against a hire costing north of $70,000. It is not where your decision should be made.
What does the monthly fee actually buy?
The legal employment itself, and the liability that comes with it. The provider already has a company registered where your person lives. That lets it issue a lawful contract, run payroll there, withhold the right taxes and carry an employer's obligations under that country's law.
And if you already have a company in that country, you may be pricing the wrong product. A PEO shares the employing instead of replacing it, and we set the two side by side in employer of record vs PEO. What it does not buy is any reduction in the salary or the taxes. Those are passed through to you in full. A provider that appears to absorb them is charging you for them somewhere else, and it is worth finding out where before you sign.
Still working out whether you need this at all? Start with what an employer of record is. It covers what one does, and the three situations where you don't need one.
What do employer contributions add?
In the United States, 7.65% of salary before anything else. That is the employer's half of two federal taxes, and it is published by the IRS rather than estimated by anybody.
The IRS puts the rates plainly. "The current tax rate for Social Security is 6.2% for the employer and 6.2% for the employee, or 12.4% total." For the second: "The current rate for Medicare is 1.45% for the employer and 1.45% for the employee, or 2.9% total." Add the employer's two halves and you get 7.65%.
Move the person to another country and the number changes completely. The UK charges employers 15% National Insurance on pay above the threshold for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, per GOV.UK. That is 15% where a US employer pays 7.65%, so on a comparable salary the employer's tax bill is close to twice as big.
How does the employer of record cost compare to a contractor?
On fee alone, twelve to twenty-four times smaller: Deel charges "$49 per contractor per month" against $599 to employ, and Remote charges "$29 per contractor/month" against $699. On the whole number it is far closer. Pay the same person $60,000 as a contractor and you are out about $60,588 for the year, against $71,778 employed. That is about 18% more to employ, not twenty-four times.
Nothing else about the two arrangements is comparable. With a contractor there is no employer, so there are no employer contributions, no statutory benefits and no severance. That is the saving. It is also the risk, because whether someone is genuinely a contractor is decided by the tax authority from how the work actually happens.
Weigh the two properly rather than on fee alone, and read the classification test before you choose. We covered both in what an employer of record is, and the wider question of how to structure a remote hire in hiring remote employees.
What else shows up on the invoice?
Four things that are rarely in the headline and are worth asking about by name before you sign anything.
- 01A deposit. Some providers hold one, often quoted as a month or two of salary, and none of the three pricing pages above mentions it. Ask for the figure in writing. It is refundable, and it is still cash out of your account on day one.
- 02Currency conversion. You pay in dollars, the person is paid locally, and the spread on that conversion is a cost whether or not it is itemised.
- 03Statutory benefits and mandatory insurances, which differ by country and are passed through.
- 04Severance and notice, which in many countries are legally set rather than negotiated, and are paid whatever the reason for ending the job.
For how this compares with handing the whole search to somebody else, see employer of record versus a staffing agency. None of these are hidden exactly. They are simply not in the number on the pricing page. That is why two quotes at the same headline fee can land very differently once the first invoice arrives.
Want the hire without the paperwork question?
We recruit, vet and place remote staff, and we will tell you plainly when a role needs employing properly rather than contracting.
Working the whole number, for one hire
Here is the full arithmetic on a $60,000 salary in the United States, at Deel's published fee. Every input is a published price or a published government rate. The totals are ours.
| Line | Amount | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Salary | $60,000 | Your offer |
| Employer Social Security, 6.2% | $3,720 | IRS Topic 751 |
| Employer Medicare, 1.45% | $870 | IRS Topic 751 |
| Employer of record fee, 12 months | $7,188 | Deel, $599 a month |
| Year one total | $71,778 | Our arithmetic |
Rates from IRS Topic 751 and the fee from Deel, both read 26 September 2026. State taxes, unemployment insurance and any benefits you choose to offer are on top.
The fee is 10% of that total. The salary is 84%. Three things sit outside it: federal and state unemployment insurance, any state payroll taxes, and any benefits you choose to offer. Add your own figures for those. Even so, the shape holds. If you want to change what a hire costs, the lever is the salary and the country, not the provider.
Where the employer of record cost is worth paying
When the alternative is either not hiring the person, or hiring them in a way that a tax authority would take apart. Those are the two situations where the fee is cheap.
Set $7,188 a year against what your own company in that country would cost. Filing fees, an accountant, a local director where one is required, and the months before any of it can pay anybody. For one or two people, the fee usually wins. For a team of ten in one country, it usually does not.
That crossover is the calculation worth doing, and it is specific to the country. Ask a provider what it would cost to move your people onto your own entity later, and whether they charge to do it. The answer tells you how they expect the relationship to end.
What to ask before you sign a quote
Five questions. Ask them in writing, and compare the answers rather than the headline fees.
- 01What is the all-in monthly cost for this exact country and salary, with your fee and the statutory contributions both in it?
- 02Is there a deposit, how much, and when do we get it back?
- 03What is your currency conversion rate, and is it itemised on the invoice?
- 04What is the statutory severance and notice here, and who funds it?
- 05What does it cost to move this person onto our own entity in twelve months?
Would you rather hand the whole question over? That is close to what we do. We recruit and place staff, and we'll tell you when a role genuinely needs employing rather than contracting. How our placements work covers the rest.
