- A staffing agency finds the person. An employer of record doesn't — you bring your own.
- Both become the legal employer, but only one of them is building you a permanent team member. A staffing agency's worker stays theirs, on their books, on an assignment that ends.
- Employer of record fees are published and flat: $599 to $699 per person per month at Deel, Remote and Oyster. Staffing rates are quoted per role, as an hourly bill rate, and you won't find them on a pricing page.
- A staffing agency can only employ where it has an entity. If your person lives somewhere you have no company and the agency doesn't either, an employer of record is the route that exists for that.
- Ask one question first: do I need someone found, or do I need someone employed? The answer picks the service.
What is the difference between an employer of record and a staffing agency?
The difference between an employer of record and a staffing agency is who finds the person. A staffing agency finds somebody and employs them on assignment to you. An employer of record employs a person you found yourself, in a country where your company does not exist.
A staffing agency sells you a search. If you've already found the person, you're paying for something you don't need.
| What you're comparing | Employer of record | Staffing agency |
|---|---|---|
| Who finds the person | You do | They do |
| Who is the legal employer | The provider, in that country | The agency |
| Is the person yours? | Yes, in everything but the paperwork | No. They're on assignment to you |
| Works across borders | Yes. That's the point | Rarely, and usually only where it has an office |
| What you're buying | Employment and its liability | A search, plus employment |
Our reading of how the two are sold. Providers use these words loosely, so confirm which one a quote is actually for.
That last row is the one that decides most cases. If you've already got a person in mind, half of what a staffing agency sells is something you no longer need.
Who actually employs the person?
In both arrangements, not you. That's the shared idea, and it's where the similarity ends.
With an employer of record, the provider employs your person so that you can direct their work day to day. They're a member of your team who happens to be on somebody else's payroll. We set out what that involves in what an employer of record is.
With a staffing agency, the worker is the agency's employee and stays that way. They're assigned to you, often alongside assignments elsewhere, and when the assignment ends they go back to the agency's bench rather than to you.
Who finds the candidate?
The agency, in one case. You, in the other. It sounds like an administrative detail and it's the biggest cost difference between them.
A staffing agency keeps a bench of people looking for work, which is the asset you're renting. The American Staffing Association surveys those workers. "Six in 10 staffing employees (64%) work in the industry to fill in the gap between jobs or to help them land a job." The same survey has 73% of them working full time, so this is not casual labor. It is a pool of people in transition, which is right for covering a gap and a mismatch for a seat you want held for years.
An employer of record has no bench and isn't pretending to. It's a legal and payroll service, and finding the person is your job or your recruiter's.
What does each one cost?
One of them publishes a price and the other doesn't, which tells you something about both.
Employer of record fees sit on the pricing pages. Deel lists "$599 per EOR employee per month", Remote "$699 per employee/month" and Oyster "USD 699 per employee/month", all read on 26 September 2026. Flat per person, whatever the role. We work a full hire through in what an employer of record costs.
Staffing agencies quote a bill rate instead: one hourly number covering the worker's pay, the agency's costs and its margin. The split inside that number is not something you'll find on a pricing page, and it moves with the role, the region and how hard the search is.
When is a staffing agency the right answer?
When you need somebody found, soon, for work with an end date, in a country where the agency operates. That's what the model is built for and it does it well.
- 01Cover for parental leave, illness or a resignation you didn't see coming.
- 02A seasonal peak where you need six people for eleven weeks.
- 03A specialist skill for one project, where a permanent hire makes no sense.
- 04A role you want to try before you commit, with the option to take the person on later.
That last one is common enough that the agencies price for it, usually as a conversion fee if you hire the person permanently. Ask what it is before the assignment starts, not after you've decided you want to keep them.
Not sure which one your role needs?
We place vetted remote staff and will tell you plainly when a role needs employing rather than contracting, even where that costs us the work.
When an employer of record is the right answer
When you already know who you want, the role is permanent, and the person lives somewhere your company doesn't legally exist.
This is the case a staffing agency isn't shaped for. The model depends on an entity and a bench where the work is. For one developer in Lisbon or one assistant in Manila, a local agency has neither. The largest global firms do sell cross-border employment, so ask whether a quote is for a search or for employment.
It's also the honest answer when the alternative is calling a full-time employee a contractor. That question isn't yours to settle. The tax authority decides it from how the work actually happens, and the IRS is blunt about the test. "There is no 'magic' or set number of factors that 'makes' the worker an employee or an independent contractor."
What a staffing agency will not do
Three things worth knowing before you ask one to solve a problem it isn't shaped for.
- 01Employ somebody in a country where it has no entity. Ask early; a no saves weeks.
- 02Hand you the person permanently without a fee, because the search is what you paid for.
- 03Hand over every HR decision. You direct the work day to day; pay, discipline and benefits stay with the agency, because that is where the employment sits.
None of that is a criticism. It's a different product, sold honestly, and it's the right one often. It just isn't the one to reach for when the person is already chosen and the role is meant to last.
How to decide, in four questions
Answer these in order and the choice usually makes itself.
- 01Do I already know who I want? If yes, you are not buying a search.
- 02Is the role permanent, or does it end?
- 03Does the person live somewhere my company legally exists, and if not, would any agency I'd call have an entity there?
- 04If this goes well, do I want them to become ours?
Known person, permanent role, another country: an employer of record. If nobody is in mind yet and the work has a fixed end date in your own country, call a staffing agency. Anything in between is worth a conversation rather than a form.
That conversation is close to what we do. We recruit and place remote staff, and we'll tell you when a role needs employing properly rather than contracting. How our placements work covers the rest, and hiring remote employees covers the part that comes before any of this.
