TL;DR. How much does global payroll cost? It depends which of three models you use. Running payroll in-house on entities you already own has no per-employee platform fee, but the entity itself is a real ongoing cost — one published breakdown puts that at roughly $56,000–$65,000 a year (checked July 2026). Outsourcing payroll to a provider on entities you keep is usually a custom, quoted fee — most providers don't publish a standalone payroll-only price. An employer of record (EOR) bundles legal employment with payroll for a published, per-employee fee: market rates run $199–$699, and Remote& is a flat $400 (checked July 2026). Remote& also sells an HRIS system of record starting at $2 per employee per month for teams that already run payroll elsewhere.
Three different setups all get called "global payroll," and each one prices in a different way. This page breaks down what you actually pay under each one, the fees that don't show up on the homepage, and exactly where our own pricing sits.
Last updated July 31, 2026. Jump to: Three ways to run global payroll · What each model actually costs · Hidden fees to ask about · Our pricing, stated plainly · Which model fits you · FAQ
Three ways to run global payroll
Say "global payroll" to three different people and you'll get three different setups. Sorting them out first is what makes the cost comparison make sense.
- In-house on your own entities. You already hold a legal entity in the country. Your own team runs the pay cycle — gross-to-net calculation, tax withholding, statutory filings, payment. There is no per-employee platform fee, but the entity itself carries real, ongoing cost.
- Outsourced global payroll. You still own the entity, but you hand the pay run to a payroll provider instead of running it yourself. The provider charges a fee for the service, and most price this on a custom, quoted basis rather than a public rate card.
- Employer of record (EOR). You have no entity. The EOR becomes the legal employer, runs payroll under its own registration, and charges a published, recurring per-employee fee that bundles legal employment together with the payroll work.
These three solve different problems, not just different price points — an EOR exists because you have no entity, not because it's a cheaper way to run payroll on one you already have. For the full decision tree, including when opening an entity makes sense, see global payroll vs EOR vs entity. This page sticks to one question: what does each option actually cost.
What each model actually costs
The table lines up all three models on what drives their cost and what pricing, if any, is public.
| Model | What drives the cost | Published pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-house on own entities | Entity setup plus ongoing operating overhead — no per-employee fee | No public rate card. One published estimate puts entity operating cost at roughly $56,000–$65,000/year (checked July 2026) | Countries where you already run a large, permanent team |
| Outsourced global payroll | A provider fee for running payroll on entities you already own | Mostly custom and quoted — providers rarely publish a standalone payroll-only price | Consolidating payroll across several countries you already operate in |
| Employer of record (EOR) | A recurring per-employee fee that bundles legal employment with payroll | Published rates run $199–$699/employee/month; Remote& is a flat $400 (checked July 2026) | Hiring where you have no entity, at any headcount |
Read the pattern top to bottom. In-house costs the most to set up, but its cost per additional employee flattens out once the entity exists. Outsourcing keeps the entity but hands the work to someone else, usually for a fee you have to ask for. An EOR skips the entity question completely, and prices itself openly, per employee, every month.
In-house on your own entities
This is the model with no monthly platform fee, because there is no platform — your own team, or a payroll hire, runs the pay cycle directly. The cost instead sits in the entity: incorporation, a registered address, local banking, tax registrations, and the ongoing staff or accounting time to keep every filing on schedule. Source: Deel, checked July 2026. One competitor's own published breakdown puts that ongoing cost at roughly $56,000–$65,000 a year, once incorporation and local compliance staffing are counted.
That fixed cost is easiest to justify with headcount. Spread across a large, permanent team in one country, it can undercut a per-employee provider fee. Spread across two or three people, it rarely does.
Outsourcing global payroll to a provider
Here you keep the entity, but a provider runs the pay cycle for you. This is the model with the least public pricing of the three. Most providers publish an EOR fee — for when you have no entity — but rarely a separate, standalone rate for running payroll on entities you already own. Our best global payroll providers comparison lays out what each provider does publish; the pattern holds across nearly all of them: EOR pricing is on the table, plain payroll pricing is a sales conversation.
That's not necessarily a red flag — a payroll-only quote genuinely depends on your country mix, headcount, and pay frequency in a way a single number can't capture. It does mean you should ask for a written quote before you compare providers on price at all.
Employer of record (EOR)
An EOR bundles two things into one fee: it becomes the legal employer where you have no entity, and it runs the payroll that comes with that. That bundling is why EOR pricing is the most publicly available of the three models — providers compete openly on the number. Published EOR rates run $199 to $699 or more per employee per month, and Remote& publishes a flat $400 (checked July 2026). See our employer of record cost guide for the full, dated provider-by-provider breakdown, including what the fee does and doesn't include.
Hidden fees to ask about before you sign
Whichever model you pick, the headline monthly fee is rarely the whole bill. Ask about these before you sign a payroll or EOR contract:
- FX margins. Paying someone in local currency can carry a spread over the mid-market exchange rate. Ask for the markup in real terms, not a vague "we handle FX for you."
- Onboarding fees. A one-time charge to set up a new employee's payroll record — sometimes bundled into the base fee, sometimes billed separately per hire.
- Off-cycle runs. An extra pay run outside the normal schedule — a correction, a bonus, a late start — often carries its own charge on top of the monthly fee.
- Per-payslip fees. Some providers bill per payslip issued, on top of the base fee per employee. That adds up fast once a team grows past a handful of people.
- Filing and compliance fees. Country-specific statutory filings that aren't always folded into the headline price you saw on the pricing page.
None of this means a provider is being dishonest. It means the number on the pricing page is a starting point for a conversation, not a final invoice. Ask for all five, in writing, before you compare two quotes as if they were the same thing.
Remote&'s pricing, stated plainly
Remote& charges $400 per employee per month for EOR — flat, no percentage of the person's salary, and no separate fee schedule you have to decode. That covers legal employment and payroll where you have no entity. Statutory employer costs still apply on top and vary by country; see employer of record cost for the full by-country breakdown.
If you already run your own entities and just need a system of record — not a payroll engine — Remote&'s HRIS starts at $2 per employee per month. It's a separate product from EOR, built for teams that already handle payroll themselves or through a provider, and just want one place to track people, policies, and documents.
Set that against the market range of $199–$699/employee/month for EOR (checked July 2026), and the in-house and outsourced options above, where a public price is often nowhere to be found at all. We'd rather post a number and be judged against the market than send you to a sales call to find one.
Which model fits you
Match your situation to the list below. Companies commonly run more than one of these at once, across different countries — that's normal, not a sign you haven't decided.
- Run in-house on your own entities when you already hold a legal entity and the team there is large and permanent enough to justify a payroll headcount.
- Choose outsourced global payroll when you already have entities in several countries and want one provider and one login instead of coordinating each market by hand.
- Use an EOR when you have no entity, and no near-term plan to build one — Remote& is a flat $400, or the market runs $199–$699 elsewhere (checked July 2026).
For the full decision — a cost, time, and control table plus a worked example — see global payroll vs EOR vs entity. Or book a demo and we'll price your actual headcount and countries against all three, instead of guessing from a table. Global workforce management shows how Remote& runs contractors, EOR, and HRIS together on one platform.
Frequently asked questions
How much does global payroll actually cost?
It depends which of three models you use. In-house payroll on entities you already own has no per-employee platform fee, but the entity itself costs real money to run — one published estimate puts that at roughly $56,000–$65,000 a year (checked July 2026). Outsourcing payroll to a provider on entities you keep is usually a custom, quoted fee. An employer of record bundles legal employment with payroll for a published, per-employee fee — the market runs $199–$699, with Remote& a flat $400 (checked July 2026).
Is in-house payroll cheaper than outsourcing it?
It depends on headcount, not on which model is inherently cheaper. In-house carries a mostly fixed entity cost that flattens out per additional employee, so it favors a large, permanent team. Outsourcing or using an EOR charges per employee, so cost rises with every hire but there is no fixed entity cost to carry first. At a small headcount, outsourcing or an EOR is usually cheaper overall; at a large single-country headcount, in-house usually wins on marginal cost.
How much does it cost to outsource global payroll to a provider?
Most providers don't publish a standalone price for running payroll on entities you already own — that quote is typically custom, based on your country mix, headcount, and pay frequency. What providers do publish widely is EOR pricing, for when you have no entity at all, which runs $199–$699 per employee per month across the market (checked July 2026). Ask any payroll provider for a written, itemized quote before comparing it to a published EOR rate — they are not the same service.
What's the difference between global payroll pricing and EOR pricing?
Global payroll pricing (in-house or outsourced) assumes you already hold a legal entity in the country and covers only the payroll run itself. EOR pricing bundles that payroll work together with legal employment, because the EOR becomes the employer where you have none. That bundling is why EOR rates are published openly across the market — $199 to $699 or more per employee per month, checked July 2026 — while standalone payroll-only pricing is rarely public.
What hidden fees should I watch for in a global payroll contract?
Five categories most often surprise buyers after signing: FX margins on cross-border payments, one-time onboarding fees per new hire, charges for off-cycle pay runs outside the normal schedule, per-payslip fees billed on top of the base monthly fee, and country-specific filing or compliance fees. None of these make a provider dishonest — they just belong in your total-cost comparison, not only the headline number.
How much does an HRIS cost?
Remote&'s HRIS starts at $2 per employee per month (checked July 2026). It's a separate product from payroll or EOR — a system of record for people, policies, and documents, built for teams that already run payroll themselves or through another provider and just want one clean place to track their team.
Does Remote& charge a percentage of payroll for its EOR?
No. Remote& charges a flat $400 per employee per month for EOR, regardless of the person's salary. Some providers in the market instead charge a percentage of gross payroll, commonly 5%–15%, which scales up for higher-paid roles. A flat fee is more predictable, but the flat number stays the same whether the hire is junior or senior — our employer of record cost guide covers how flat and percentage pricing compare.
Is an EOR cheaper than opening a legal entity and running payroll myself?
For a small number of hires in a new country, usually yes, at least in year one. One published breakdown puts ongoing entity operating cost at roughly $56,000–$65,000 a year, against about $7,188 a year for an equivalent EOR employee at a $599/month rate (checked July 2026). That math can flip at a large, single-country headcount, where an entity eventually undercuts per-employee EOR fees — our global payroll vs EOR vs entity comparison covers the full crossover.
Get a real number, not a range
Every figure on this page is a published market range or our own flat rate. For what your actual headcount and countries would cost — EOR, HRIS, or both — book a demo and we'll price it together. Or explore global workforce management to see how contractors, EOR, and HRIS run on one platform.