How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Rankite is independent; if a vendor ever pays for a featured spot, that listing is clearly labeled Partner.
Key takeaways
- Deel and Remote are the two EOR leaders for hiring employees in countries where you have no entity; both cover 150+ countries with compliant contracts, payroll and benefits.
- Oyster is the most human-feeling EOR of the three, with contractor management from $29/contractor/month and a B-Corp badge, though EOR seats cost $699/employee/month.
- If your team is mostly US-based with a few people abroad, Rippling, Gusto or BambooHR plus a contractor tool is usually cheaper than a full EOR platform.
- HiBob (Bob) is the best HRIS for culture and engagement across time zones, while Papaya Global fits enterprises that need payroll across 180+ countries with full liability coverage.
- Justworks is the pick for small US businesses that want a PEO to handle payroll, benefits and compliance in all 50 states.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Deel | Hiring employees in 150+ countries | See website | No |
 Remote | EOR with owned local infrastructure | See website | No |
 Oyster | Guided global hiring with a human touch | $29/contractor/month | No |
 Rippling | One system for HR, IT and finance | See website | No |
 Gusto | US small-business payroll and HR | See website | Yes (free to set up, pay when you run payroll) |
 BambooHR | Straightforward HRIS for growing teams | See website | No |
 HiBob | Culture and engagement across time zones | See website | No |
 Papaya Global | Enterprise payroll across 180+ countries | See website | No |
 Justworks | US small businesses wanting a PEO | See website | No |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best hr software for managing remote teams
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Gusto says more than 500,000 businesses run on its platform, yet most of those businesses have no employees outside the US. The moment you hire your first person in another country, the playbook changes, and Deel is the company that wrote the new one. Its employer-of-record service lets you hire full-time employees in 150+ countries without setting up a local entity: Deel becomes the legal employer, handles contracts, payroll, taxes and benefits, and you manage the person day to day.
The platform has grown well past EOR. Contractor management, global payroll for your own entities, US PEO and immigration support all live in the same dashboard. That breadth is the pitch and the warning: pricing is quote-based, EOR seats run several hundred dollars per employee per month, and buyers should get the full quote including offboarding fees before comparing.
What we like- Covers EOR, global payroll, contractor management and US PEO in one platform
- 40,000+ customers and $20B+ in processed payroll claimed
- Fast onboarding with localized contracts
Watch out for- Pricing is quote-based and EOR seats are expensive
- Support quality varies by country
- The platform keeps adding products, which complicates the lineup
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Remote is Deel's closest rival and the choice for buyers who care about how the EOR sausage is made. Where many EOR providers rent local partners, Remote owns entities in a large share of its 150+ countries, which means one accountable party for payroll accuracy and compliance rather than a chain of subcontractors. The product covers EOR, global payroll, contractor management, contractor-of-record and a US PEO.
Remote's differentiator in sales conversations is transparency: it publishes flat per-country EOR pricing instead of hiding everything behind a quote wall, and it leans on compliance credentials (SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR). The honest tradeoff is breadth. Deel ships more adjacent products, while Remote stays closer to the hiring-and-paying core. If your priority is a clean compliance story with one accountable party, Remote deserves the head-to-head trial.
What we like- Owns its local entities in many countries instead of relying on partners
- Transparent flat pricing published per country
- Strong compliance posture with SOC 2 and ISO 27001
Watch out for- Pricing is quote-based on the main site
- Fewer add-on products than Deel
- Smaller ecosystem of integrations
Starting price$29/contractor/month
Free planNo
Oyster sells the same EOR outcome as Deel and Remote but with a different personality. The homepage leads with "the most human EOR," and the product backs it up with in-house HR experts who advise on sensitive people situations, not just payroll mechanics. You can hire in 180+ countries, onboard in as little as 48 hours, and manage contractors at $29 per contractor per month, which is competitive for distributed contractor teams.
The pricing is public: $699 per employee per month for EOR, $29 per contractor per month, with no offboarding fees. That EOR number is at the high end of the market, so Oyster makes sense when the hires are few and valuable rather than dozens of junior roles. There is no free plan, so evaluation means a demo and a pilot. For founders who want a partner on the people side, not just a payroll pipe, the premium can be worth it.
What we like- Contractor management from $29/contractor/month
- In-house HR experts positioned as an extension of your team
- The only B-Corp certified EOR
Watch out for- EOR pricing at $699/employee/month is premium
- No free plan or trial
- Smaller country team depth than Deel in some regions
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Rippling answers a different question than the EOR tools: what if HR, IT and finance stopped being three systems? One employee record drives payroll, benefits, device provisioning, app access and corporate cards, so onboarding a remote hire means one workflow instead of five tickets. The automation is the selling point: a new hire in another state gets payroll, a laptop shipment and Slack access from a single trigger.
For remote teams, Rippling now covers global payroll, EOR and contractor payments, positioning it as a Deel alternative with deeper domestic HR. The catch is that its global infrastructure is younger than the EOR specialists', and pricing is modular and quote-based. US-centered teams with international ambitions are the sweet spot.
What we like- Unifies HR, payroll, IT provisioning and finance on one employee record
- Strong automation for onboarding and offboarding
- Highly rated on G2 and Capterra
Watch out for- Quote-based pricing with modular costs that add up
- Global EOR and payroll are newer and thinner than Deel's
- Implementation takes real project management
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes (free to set up, pay when you run payroll)
Gusto is the tool half of American small business already uses, and for a US-based remote team it is still the easiest answer. You create a free account, add your team, and run your first payroll in minutes, with AutoPilot handling recurring runs. Gusto files federal, state and local taxes, supports benefits enrollment, time tracking, hiring and onboarding, and its support team answers by phone, email and chat.
The free-to-start model is genuine: you pay nothing until you run payroll. The limitation is geography. Gusto's sweet spot is US employees across states; international contractors and EOR are not its game. Pricing is not published on the homepage, so get a quote for your headcount. If your remote team is "remote across the US," start here.
What we like- The easiest payroll setup in the category
- Free to create an account and add your team
- Handles taxes, benefits and compliance for all 50 states
Watch out for- International hiring is limited compared to EOR platforms
- Pricing is not published on the homepage
- Advanced HR features lag BambooHR and HiBob
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
BambooHR is the HR system for companies that find Rippling intimidating and spreadsheets insufficient. Employee records, time off, onboarding checklists, performance reviews and reporting live in an interface that hiring managers learn without training. The applicant tracking system is genuinely good for the price tier, and the add-on payroll keeps everything in one place for US teams.
For remote teams, BambooHR's strength is the employee experience layer: onboarding, e-signatures, org charts and engagement tools that make a distributed team feel like one company. The weakness is that it is an HRIS, not a global employment platform. Hiring in new countries means pairing it with an EOR, and payroll outside the add-on's coverage needs another vendor.
What we like- Clean, easy interface that non-HR people actually use
- Solid applicant tracking, onboarding and performance tools
- Serves customers in 150+ countries
Watch out for- Pricing is quote-based
- Payroll is an add-on rather than native
- Global employment features are lighter than EOR-first platforms
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
HiBob, whose product is called Bob, is the HR platform for companies where culture is a strategy. While competitors lead with payroll mechanics, Bob leads with engagement: pulse surveys, performance reviews, onboarding journeys, time-off management and people analytics in an interface that looks like a consumer app. For a remote team spread across time zones, that matters, because culture does not happen in the office anymore.
The platform covers core HR, talent management, compensation planning and workforce planning, with payroll handled through integrations including Papaya Global and others. Pricing is quote-based and aimed at mid-market companies; small startups will find it expensive. There is no free plan. If your remote challenge is keeping people connected, recognized and growing, Bob is the strongest pick here. If your challenge is paying people in twelve countries, pair it with an EOR.
What we like- Best-in-class engagement, surveys and performance tools
- Modern interface employees enjoy
- Strong analytics and workforce planning
- 4.5+ ratings on G2
Watch out for- Quote-based pricing aimed at mid-market
- Payroll is via integrations, not native
- Overkill for teams under 50
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Papaya Global plays at the enterprise end of this list. Its workforce OS orchestrates payroll, EOR and contractor payments across 180+ countries, with AI agents validating every cycle and in-country experts behind them. The headline differentiator is liability: Papaya contractually assumes compliance liability, including misclassification fines it says can exceed $25,000 per incident. For a CFO signing off on global expansion, that risk transfer is the product.
The platform runs on its own licensed financial infrastructure with major banking rails, and it promises same-day payment delivery in most corridors. The tradeoff is accessibility. This is a sales-led enterprise purchase with custom pricing, not a self-serve signup, and a 50-person startup will find it heavy. Companies already at regional scale, or planning to be within a year, are the audience. Smaller teams should start with Deel, Remote or Oyster and graduate here.
What we like- Covers 180+ countries with AI-validated payroll
- Assumes full compliance liability, including misclassification risk
- Licensed financial institution with bank-grade rails
Watch out for- Enterprise-grade in price and sales process
- Overkill for startups
- No free plan or self-serve trial
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Justworks is a professional employer organization, which is a different model from the EOR tools above. As a PEO, Justworks becomes a co-employer of your US team, which lets a 20-person company offer the health insurance, 401(k) and compliance muscle of a large enterprise. Payroll, tax filing across 4,000+ tax localities, benefits administration and HR support run on one platform, and the company processed over $31 billion in payroll in 2025.
For a US remote team, the PEO model solves the multi-state headache: hire in any state and Justworks handles the registrations, taxes and compliance. International hiring exists but is not the core. The co-employment structure gives some founders pause, and pricing requires a quote. If your remote team is American and you want benefits and compliance handled rather than managed, Justworks is the most complete small-business answer.
What we like- PEO model gives small businesses Fortune-500-grade benefits
- Handles payroll, taxes and compliance across 4,000+ tax localities
- 24/7 support from trained experts
Watch out for- US-focused, international hiring is a side feature
- Pricing is not published on the homepage
- PEO means co-employment, which some founders dislike
How we chose
We opened every vendor's homepage to confirm the product is live and copied the final address-bar URL, then read pricing pages, feature lists and documentation for the details that decide fit: EOR country coverage, contractor pricing, payroll models and free tiers. We cross-checked vendor claims against public reviews on G2 and Capterra and against practitioner discussions, favoring tools with transparent pricing and real support for distributed teams. No vendor paid for placement, and we did not claim hands-on testing.
What to look for before you buy
Start with the employment model, because it decides everything else. If you are hiring full-time employees in countries where you have no legal entity, you need an employer of record (Deel, Remote, Oyster). If you are hiring US employees across states, a PEO (Justworks) or payroll-first HR platform (Gusto, Rippling) fits. If everyone is a contractor, you need contractor management and payments, which is cheaper than EOR on every platform that offers both.
Next, price the whole relationship, not the headline seat. EOR quotes often exclude onboarding fees, offboarding fees, benefits administration and currency conversion. Ask for the all-in monthly cost per employee in your specific countries, and get it in writing. Oyster publishes $699/employee/month with no offboarding fees; most competitors make you ask.
Then check the operational details. How fast is onboarding in your target countries: days or weeks? Who provides local HR support, and in what time zone? Can employees see payslips and contracts in their own language? Does the platform handle equity for international employees? Finally, confirm the exit: what happens to employee data and contracts if you switch providers, and what does offboarding cost? The cheapest EOR can become the most expensive one at exit.
An employer of record hires the worker legally in their country and leases them back to you. You direct the work; the EOR handles contracts, payroll, taxes and benefits. It is the right model when you want full-time employees abroad without opening entities. It is also the most expensive, typically several hundred dollars per employee per month on top of salary and local employer costs.
A professional employer organization is the US domestic cousin: co-employment that gives small companies big-company benefits and multi-state compliance. Justworks is the example here. It does not solve international hiring, so global teams need something else alongside it.
Contractor management is the lightest model: compliant contracts, invoicing and payments for freelancers, usually $20 to $50 per contractor per month. Deel, Remote and Oyster all offer it. Misclassification is the risk: if your "contractor" works full-time under your direction, many countries will call them an employee, and the fines are real. When in doubt, EOR is the compliant answer and contractor status is the gamble.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Deel and Remote?
Both are employer-of-record platforms covering 150+ countries, but they differ in infrastructure and sales style. Remote owns its local entities in many countries and publishes flat per-country pricing. Deel offers a broader product suite around the EOR core, including immigration and equipment, but prices by quote. Trial both with your actual target countries before deciding.
How much does it cost to hire an employee in another country?
Through an EOR, expect several hundred dollars per employee per month in platform fees on top of salary, local taxes and benefits. Oyster publishes $699/employee/month. Contractors are far cheaper: $20 to $50 per contractor per month on Deel, Remote or Oyster. Get an all-in quote per country, because statutory costs vary enormously between, say, Germany and the Philippines.
Do I need an EOR or can I just hire contractors?
It depends on how the person actually works. Contractors are fine for genuinely independent, project-based work. If someone works full-time, follows your processes and uses your equipment, most countries classify them as an employee regardless of what the contract says, and misclassification fines can exceed $25,000 per incident. Papaya Global builds its pitch around assuming that liability. When the role looks like employment, use an EOR.
Can Gusto or Rippling handle international employees?
Gusto is US-focused; international hiring is not its strength. Rippling has added global payroll and EOR, making it a plausible single vendor for US-centered teams with international ambitions, but its global infrastructure is newer than the EOR specialists'. Fully distributed teams usually pair a domestic HR platform with Deel, Remote or Oyster for the international headcount.
What should a remote team look for in HR software?
Time-off management that respects local holidays, onboarding that works across time zones, e-signatures for contracts, expense handling in multiple currencies, and clear employee records. For engagement, HiBob and BambooHR lead. For compliance, the EOR platforms lead. Most remote companies end up with two systems: one for people management, one for global employment.
Is it hard to switch EOR providers later?
It takes planning. Contracts must transfer, payroll histories must migrate, and employees need new agreements in each country. Offboarding fees with the old provider and onboarding timelines with the new one both cost money and attention. Ask about exit terms before you sign, and keep copies of every contract and payslip your provider generates.
Sources we checked (9)
- https://www.deel.com
- https://remote.com
- https://oysterhr.com/
- https://www.rippling.com
- https://gusto.com/
- https://www.bamboohr.com
- https://hibob.com/
- https://papayaglobal.com/
- https://www.justworks.com/
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has spent more than a decade helping SaaS and e-commerce brands grow through search. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.