What is Employment Hero?
Ben Thompson and Dave Tong founded Employment Hero in Sydney in 2014 as an HR and payroll platform for SMEs. Its EOR service, HeroForce, now covers Australia and 180+ countries.
HeroForce becomes the legal employer and handles contracts, payroll, tax and compliance while you direct the work. EOR hires sit in the same platform as direct staff, giving one view of the whole team.
Pricing is 5% of payroll processed, with no flat per-employee rate. The page does not say whether that rate applies outside Australia.
Deel lists $599 a month and Multiplier $459 billed annually, so HeroForce is cheaper than both on salaries under about $110,000. It suits SMEs already running HR and payroll on Employment Hero.
Employment Hero: Key Facts
A quick look at Employment Hero’s company background, funding, and operational scale.
Founded
2014
Headquarters
Sydney, Australia
Co-Founders / CEO
Ben Thompson (CEO), Dave Tong
Employees
About 1,800
Total Funding
Not publicly disclosed (latest round A$263M Series F)
Valuation
About A$2B (Series F)
Annual Revenue
Not publicly disclosed
Customers
350,000+ businesses
Core Services
EOR (HeroForce), HR, payroll, recruitment, benefits
Support Types
Hero AI, chat, help centre, phone, employment specialists for HeroForce
Employment Hero Review: Editor’s Verdict
The best buyer here is an existing Employment Hero customer adding a handful of hires abroad or interstate without opening entities. At 5% of payroll, HeroForce undercuts Deel and Multiplier on mid-level salaries, but it costs more than Deel once pay passes about $144,000.
HeroForce is the rare EOR priced as a share of payroll: 5% of a $60,000 salary is $250 a month, well under Deel’s flat $599.
Users rate the wider platform 4.3 from 4,468 public reviews, mostly for ease of use and the mobile app. Our 3.2 is lower because those reviews cover the HR and payroll software, not the EOR, and HeroForce publishes no entity list and no confirmation that 5% applies outside Australia.
Before signing, get in writing which countries run on owned entities, whether the 5% is charged on gross salary or on total employment cost, and what deposit, notice and termination fees apply. Ask how the fee is billed for hires outside Australia.
Editorial Score Breakdown
Employment Hero Pros & Cons 2026
The biggest strength is a published fee that runs well under flat-rate EORs for mid-level salaries. The biggest weakness is how little Employment Hero says about where, and through whom, HeroForce actually employs people.
Strengths
Fee published on the site
The 5% of payroll rate sits on the HeroForce page, so you can model costs before booking a sales call.
Cheap on mid-level salaries
A $60,000 hire costs about $250 a month in fees.
No separate EOR tool
HeroForce hires are onboarded, paid and reviewed in the same account your direct team already uses, with one set of records for leave, documents and payslips.
Mix direct and EOR staff
Employ some people yourself and others through HeroForce, then shift the balance as you grow.
Sourcing from 2 million job seekers
The AI Recruitment Agent screens candidates from Employment Hero’s own talent pool, so hiring and employing sit with one vendor.
App built for field staff
Reviewers keep praising the mobile app. One employer chose Employment Hero because 300 field workers had phones but no laptops.
Areas to Watch
No entity list published
Employment Hero does not say where HeroForce owns entities and where it relies on local partners.
Fee climbs with salary
At $150,000 the fee reaches $625 a month, above Deel’s flat $599. Senior engineering and leadership hires cost more here than with flat-fee providers.
Global terms unclear
The 5% rate appears on the Australian page only.
HR and payroll feel split
Several reviewers describe two sites with two employee profiles, where changes made on the HR side do not always reach payroll.
AI-first support model
Small businesses report that reaching a person by phone is hard when something is urgent.
Employment Hero Top Features
Two things set HeroForce apart: a fee charged as a share of payroll, and EOR hires that sit in the same HR and payroll system as your direct team. The rest is a full SME HR suite, with advisory, wellbeing and learning priced as extras.
Percentage-of-payroll pricing.
DifferentiatorHeroForce charges 5% of payroll processed instead of a flat monthly fee per employee. For a $60,000 hire that is about $250 a month, against $599 at Deel. The maths reverses on senior pay, so run your real salaries through it before comparing quotes.
EOR hires in the core HRIS.
DifferentiatorHeroForce employees are onboarded, paid and managed in the same Employment Hero account as your direct staff. Leave, documents, reviews and payslips run through one record. Standalone EORs usually leave you syncing a second system into your HRIS.
Direct and EOR employment side by side.
DifferentiatorYou can employ some people directly and others through HeroForce, then change the mix without switching vendors. That suits a business testing a market before it sets up an entity. Both models run on the same recruitment, HR and payroll infrastructure.
AI Recruitment Agent.
CoreScreens, scores and video-interviews applicants, drawing on 2 million+ job seekers registered with Employment Hero.
Local contracts and payroll.
CoreAs legal employer, HeroForce issues the contract, runs payroll and files tax and statutory obligations.
Employment specialists on call.
CoreTerminations, workers’ comp questions and performance issues go to a team of employment lawyers and HR specialists. You deal with people, not a bot.
Employee app.
CoreStaff check payslips, request leave and sign documents from their phone.
Hero AI assistant.
CoreAnswers routine employee questions from your own policies and contracts, which cuts the ticket load on a small HR team.
Contractor management.
CoreIndependent contractors get their own onboarding wizard and records next to employees.
HR advisory, EAP and learning.
Add-onWorkplace advice with claims representation, the Employee Assistance Program and course libraries are billed per employee on top of the core plan, each with a monthly minimum.
Is Employment Hero the Right EOR for You?
HeroForce works best as an extension of an Employment Hero account you already run. If you are buying an EOR on its own, or hiring mostly senior roles, a flat-fee specialist will usually be the safer pick.
Best For
- SMEs already paying for Employment Hero HR or payroll
- Australian employers adding interstate or overseas hires without new entities
- Mid-salary roles where 5% of pay beats a flat $599 fee
- Teams that want direct and EOR staff in one dashboard
- Employers sourcing candidates through Employment Hero’s own talent pool
Skip If
- You need to know who the legal entity is in each country: see Remote
- You hire senior roles above about $144,000: Deel charges a flat $599
- You want a fixed annual per-head rate: Multiplier lists $459 billed annually
- Your HR and payroll stack is US-led: consider Rippling
- You need phone-first support from day one
Employment Hero Country Coverage
Hire and pay employees compliantly across 180+ countries. Employment Hero does not publish a country list, so the grid shows only the markets where it runs local operations; confirm your country with HeroForce before you plan a hire.
Employment Hero Pricing 2026
HeroForce is billed as 5% of payroll processed, separate from the per-user HR plans most Employment Hero customers already pay. On the Australian pricing page, HR Essentials starts at $10 and HR Engage at $14 per user a month, each with a 10-user minimum.
Employment Hero Integrations
Accounting is the strongest category: Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage Intacct and Dynamics 365 Business Central all connect natively. We count 19 confirmed native integrations, all platform-wide rather than specific to HeroForce. Slack and the Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 account provisioning only switch on from the HR Elite plan upward.
Accounting & Finance
Xero
QuickBooks
NetSuite
Sage Intacct
Dynamics 365 Business Central
Zoho Books
FreshBooks
Odoo
MYOB AccountRight
Time & Workforce Management
Deputy
Tanda
Square
NoahFace
Projectworks
Productivity & Collaboration
Slack
Google Workspace
Microsoft 365
Outlook
Calendly
How Employment Hero Compares to Alternatives
Buyers usually shortlist Employment Hero against Deel, Rippling, Multiplier, Remote and Oyster HR. Most of them charge a flat fee between $459 and $699 a month, while HeroForce takes 5% of payroll, so the cheaper option depends on the salaries you are hiring at.
Employment Hero vs DeelFlat $599 fee wins once salaries pass about $144,000
Employment Hero vs RipplingDeeper HR, IT and spend suite, but quote-only EOR
Employment Hero vs MultiplierFlat $459 annual rate wins above about $110,000
Employment Hero vs RemoteOwned entities in every EOR country it covers
Employment Hero vs Oyster HROne published flat rate across 180+ countries
Employment Hero User Community Ratings & Reviews
These scores come from reading reviews across G2, Trustpilot and Capterra, which cover the full Employment Hero platform rather than HeroForce alone. Ease of use scores highest, while global coverage scores lowest because almost no reviewers write about hiring outside Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
G2
4.4/5
3,605 reviews
Trustpilot
3.9/5
624 reviews
Capterra
4.4/5
239 reviews
Ratings checked October 2026. G2 holds 81% of the review base. Trustpilot reviews are unprompted, and the company has no recent history of inviting reviews there. Sentiment uses Trustpilot’s published star split plus our reading of G2 and Capterra reviews, weighted by review count.
User Sentiments: Based on 4,468 verified reviews
Ease of Use
The most praised theme on G2 and Trustpilot; reviewers call it intuitive
Features & Functionality
Broad suite praised, though some find the breadth overwhelming
Compliance & Risk Management
Strong on Australian awards and policy tracking; little feedback on EOR abroad
Payroll Accuracy & Timeliness
Reliable pay runs overall, but payroll issues come up in 94 G2 reviews
Customer Support Quality
Named specialists get praise; slow replies and scarce phone help recur
Pricing & Value
Seen as good value for SMEs; add-on minimums hurt very small teams
Onboarding Speed & Experience
Digital onboarding is a favourite; initial HR and payroll setup runs slower
Platform Stability & Integrations
HR and payroll sync gaps appear often; 90 G2 reviews flag integration issues
Benefits Administration Quality
Perks and earned wage access are popular; depth varies by country
Global Coverage & Scalability
Reviews centre on AU, NZ and UK; almost no EOR feedback from elsewhere
Employment Hero EOR: Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the most common questions buyers ask before evaluating Employment Hero as an Employer of Record solution.
How much does Employment Hero’s EOR cost?
HeroForce charges 5% of payroll processed, with no flat per-employee fee. On a $60,000 salary that is about $250 a month, and on $150,000 it is about $625. The former $399 per employee rate has been retired. Ask whether the 5% is calculated on gross salary or on total employment cost.
How many countries does Employment Hero cover for EOR?
HeroForce covers Australia plus 180+ countries. Employment Hero does not publish a country-by-country list.
Does Employment Hero use its own entities or local partners?
Employment Hero does not disclose which countries run through its own entities and which run through local partners. It operates local businesses in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia. Outside those six markets, ask which entity will be the legal employer before you sign.
How fast can I onboard an employee through HeroForce?
Employment Hero does not publish an onboarding timeline for HeroForce hires. New employees sign contracts, review policies and complete onboarding digitally, and many finish it from the employee app on their phone.
Can I hire contractors instead of employees with Employment Hero?
Yes, but it is a separate service. Contractor management, with its own onboarding wizard and records, is included in Employment Hero’s HR plans. HeroForce is the EOR route, where Employment Hero becomes the legal employer of a full-time employee.
What compliance certifications does HeroForce hold?
Employment Hero publishes no certification detail tied specifically to HeroForce. Its compliance strength lies in Australian award interpretation and UK HR, backed by a team of employment lawyers and HR specialists that HeroForce clients can call on.
Is Employment Hero a good EOR for small businesses?
Yes, if you already run HR or payroll on Employment Hero. HR plans start at $10 per user a month with a 10-user minimum on the Australian pricing page, and HeroForce hires sit in the same account. Very small teams pay the floor on add-ons, such as the $280 monthly minimum for HR Advisory.
How does HeroForce handle terminations?
As legal employer, HeroForce manages the employment side of a termination, and you get access to employment specialists for terminations, performance issues and claims. Termination fees are not published.
Is Employment Hero cheaper than Deel for EOR?
It depends on salary. The 5% fee costs less than Deel’s flat $599 a month for salaries below about $144,000, and more above it.
Can I employ some staff directly and others through HeroForce?
Yes. Both models run on the same platform, and you can change the mix as the business grows.
Do I have to recruit through Employment Hero to use HeroForce?
No. You can bring your own candidates or existing employees, or source from Employment Hero’s pool of 2 million+ job seekers.
