EOR cost calculator: the real cost of a hire in 184 countries
Salary is only the start. Price statutory contributions, 13th month pay, severance accruals, the provider fee, VAT and the currency spread, line by line, before you speak to a single provider.
Price your hire, line by line
Pick a country and a salary. Every statutory contribution, ceiling and accrual is applied separately, so the total is close to what a provider will actually invoice.
Costs most calculators leave out
Private health cover, equipment stipend, meal or transport allowance.
Typically $0 to $2,000 depending on provider and country.
Refundable, but it ties up cash. Most providers hold one to two months.
Example. Change any field to make it yours.
Total employer cost, per employee per month
Monthly breakdown
Upfront and one-time costs
EOR or your own entity
Statutory rates current as of . Exchange rates indicative as of . Contribution ceilings, regional variation, employee age and collective agreements all shift the real figure. Use this to build a budget, then validate against a written quote.
How much does an employer of record cost?
The short answer first. The provider-by-provider detail follows.
A month per employee is what most buyers actually pay. Published list prices run from $199 to $699.
The market standard. The same price whether the employee earns $40,000 or $200,000.
Statutory employer contributions stack on top of salary and the fee, and vary sharply by country.
Employer of record services list at $199 to $699 per employee per month, with most buyers paying $400 to $700 once country surcharges and add-ons are counted. A minority of providers charge 8% to 16% of gross salary instead. That fee is separate from statutory employer contributions, which add anything from single digits in the US or UAE to more than 60% on top of salary in Brazil.
The service fee is the number providers compete on, and it is rarely the number that decides your budget. Hiring a €5,000 a month engineer in France costs around €2,150 a month in employer charges against a €700 service fee. The fee is where the sales conversation happens. The contributions are where the money goes.
Volume discounts are real and widely available. Most providers move at five to ten employees, and 20% to 40% off list is normal above twenty. If you are paying list price for more than five people, you have not asked. Annual billing usually takes a further 5% to 10% off month-to-month pricing where a provider offers it.
List prices as published by each provider, checked October 2026. Bars use the upper end of any published range. We track changes in our EOR pricing index.
Flat fee or percentage of salary
Flat fee is now the market standard, used by Deel, Remote, Oyster, Multiplier and RemoFirst. You pay the same amount whether the employee earns $40,000 or $200,000. Percentage pricing, usually 8% to 16% of gross, survives with some regional and legacy providers.
The choice matters more than it looks. Percentage pricing ties your management cost to your hiring decisions, which is exactly what you do not want when you are trying to hire senior people.
If your salaries run high, flat fee wins almost every time. If you are hiring junior roles in low-wage markets, percentage can be cheaper.
A flat $599 fee would cost the same for both hires.
What the fee should cover, and what gets billed separately
Get this in writing before you sign. The most common budget surprise is finding that statutory contributions are billed on top of a fee you assumed was all-inclusive.
Two questions for the first call. Ask for a sample invoice showing the mid-market exchange rate alongside the rate they actually charged. And ask whether the quoted fee includes statutory contributions or adds them. Providers who answer both plainly tend to be the cheaper ones once everything is counted.
Contribution ceilings change the answer for senior hires
Most countries cap employer contributions at an income ceiling. Above it, the rate on that component drops to zero, so the real burden falls as salary rises.
Germany caps pension and unemployment at €101,400 a year and health and care at €69,750. The result is a headline rate near 24% that becomes under 15% on a €150,000 salary. The United States caps Social Security at $184,500. Spain caps almost everything at €5,101.20 a month in 2026. Singapore's CPF does not apply to Employment Pass holders at all.
A calculator that applies one flat percentage overstates senior hires and understates the case for making them. Ours applies every ceiling line by line, which is why our figures for high salaries come out lower than the provider-owned tools.
Employer contributions as a share of gross salary. The step down begins where the health and care ceiling bites, and steepens past the pension ceiling.
When your own entity becomes cheaper
Statutory contributions are identical either way. Incorporating does not reduce social security. The only thing an entity removes is the service fee, and it replaces that with fixed overhead.
In Germany, expect around $5,000 to incorporate and $22,000 a year in accounting, filings, registered address and local compliance support. An EOR at $699 a month is about $8,400 per employee per year, or close to $10,000 if German VAT applies to your invoices and you cannot recover it.
Break-even lands at three employees either way, and only if you are confident the entity stays open for three years or more. Below that the EOR is cheaper. Above it the entity is cheaper but slower, at two to six months to incorporate and register for payroll against one to two weeks to onboard through a provider.
Two things move the line. If you might exit the market within eighteen months, the EOR wins at any headcount, because winding up an entity costs money and takes months. And in Brazil, China and Argentina, entity overhead runs well above these figures, which pushes break-even higher.
Employer contribution rates by country
Total employer cost on top of gross salary, before any provider fee: statutory contributions plus required extra pay and accruals. Bonuses marked customary are included because most employers pay them, though the law does not require them. Each figure is calculated at a typical mid-level salary for that market, so contribution ceilings are already applied. Brazil adds about 62% on top of gross salary. 46 countries are modelled line by line. The rest carry an est marker and use a single blended rate worth confirming against a provider quote.
Rates current as of September 2026, reviewed quarterly. Figures exclude the provider's service fee, VAT on that fee, security deposits and currency conversion. Nationality splits show the foreign national rate, which is the common EOR case. In Singapore, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia the rate for citizens and permanent residents is substantially higher, and the calculator lets you switch. Sources are national social security and revenue authorities, cross-checked against OECD Taxing Wages data. Country names in purple link to our full country hiring guide.
EOR cost questions, answered
How much does an employer of record cost per employee?
Published list prices run from $199 to $699 per employee per month, and most buyers pay $400 to $700 once country surcharges and add-ons are counted. RemoFirst lists from $199, Pebl $399, Multiplier $459 to $519 on annual billing, Deel $599, Papaya Global $650, and Remote and Oyster HR $699. A minority price at 8% to 16% of gross salary instead. That fee is separate from statutory employer contributions, which add anything from single digits in the US or UAE to more than 60% on top of salary in Brazil.
What is the total cost of hiring someone through an EOR?
Gross salary, plus statutory employer contributions, plus any legally required 13th or 14th month pay, plus severance and holiday accruals you fund monthly, plus the service fee, plus VAT on that fee where it applies, plus the currency conversion spread. In a light market like the UAE that lands around 1.15 times gross salary once the fee is in. In Brazil it is close to 2 times.
Do EOR fees include employer taxes and social contributions?
Usually not. Most providers bill statutory contributions as a pass-through on top of the service fee, and a minority quote an all-in per-employee rate. This is the single most common source of budget surprise, so get it confirmed in writing before you sign. Ask for a sample invoice rather than a summary.
Is an EOR cheaper than setting up an entity?
Below about three employees in one country, yes. Above that an entity is usually cheaper on a three-year view, provided you are certain you are staying. Statutory contributions are identical either way, so incorporating only saves you the service fee while adding fixed overhead for accounting, filings and compliance: around $22,000 a year in Germany, and more in Brazil, China and Argentina. An entity also takes two to six months to stand up, against one to two weeks to onboard through a provider.
Can I negotiate EOR pricing?
Yes, and most buyers do not. Discounts typically start at five to ten employees, and 20% to 40% off list is normal above twenty. Annual billing usually takes a further 5% to 10% off month-to-month pricing where a provider offers it, and multi-year commitments add a few points on top. If you are paying list price for more than five people, you have not asked. Getting a competing quote is the fastest way to move the number.
Why do EOR fees differ so much between countries?
Fees track the cost of maintaining a compliant local entity, the complexity of local labour law, and how much termination risk the provider absorbs. Countries with strict dismissal protection, mandatory works councils or slow government processes cost more to service. Coverage model matters too: where a provider relies on a local partner rather than its own entity, you are usually paying a partner margin on top.
What is an EOR security deposit and will I get it back?
Most providers hold one to two months of gross salary as a deposit against payroll funding, sometimes topped up as you add headcount. It is refundable when you offboard, less any outstanding liabilities. Treat it as working capital tied up rather than a cost, but do put it in your cash plan. On five hires at $6,000 a month with a two-month deposit, that is $60,000 sitting with your provider.
Do I have to pay 13th month salary through an EOR?
If it is required in that country, yes. It is an obligation of employment, not a provider policy. Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, Indonesia, Argentina, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece all require it, and Portugal, Spain and Greece pay fourteen times a year. Mexico's aguinaldo is a minimum of 15 days' pay rather than a full month. In Belgium it comes through sector collective agreements, which cover almost every employee. In Singapore, Switzerland, China, Hong Kong and South Africa a 13th month is customary rather than mandatory, so it depends on what you offer to stay competitive.
Does the EOR service fee attract VAT?
It depends on where you are billed from. When the EOR invoices a client in its own country, VAT or GST applies to the fee: a €700 fee charged by a German EOR to a German company is €833 with VAT. Invoices to a business in another country are often zero-rated or reverse charged, so a US company hiring in Germany usually pays no German VAT on the fee. Within the EU the reverse charge applies and VAT is normally recoverable. Ask your provider to quote the fee both gross and net.
Which countries are most expensive to hire in through an EOR?
By total employer burden: Brazil, Spain, Colombia, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Italy and Portugal sit at the top, all adding 47% or more on top of gross salary. Most major providers charge the same list fee everywhere, but where they price by country, Switzerland, China, France and Brazil tend to carry surcharges, because entity maintenance and compliance complexity are highest there. Romania, New Zealand, Thailand and the UAE are among the lightest.
How accurate is this calculator?
Contribution rates and ceilings are current as of the review date shown on the tool, and applied line by line rather than as a blended percentage, which is why our figures for senior salaries come out lower than most calculators. Expect a provider quote to differ by a few percent. Regional rates, work accident classifications, collective agreements and employee age all move the number. Use this to set a budget, then validate against a written quote.
Can I use this to price contractors instead of employees?
No. Contractors carry no employer contributions, no statutory severance and no 13th month. If you are comparing the two, be careful: paying a contractor who works like an employee is exactly the misclassification exposure an EOR exists to remove. We cover the risk in our guide to employee misclassification.
What is the difference between an EOR and a PEO?
An EOR becomes the legal employer in a country where you have no entity, so it can hire on your behalf from scratch. A PEO co-employs staff alongside your existing local entity and handles administration, which means you still need that entity. If you have no legal presence in the country, a PEO is not an option. See our full comparison of EOR vs PEO.
How often are these rates updated?
Quarterly, and immediately after a country announces a contribution rate change. Most changes land in January, so the first-quarter refresh is the significant one. The calculator and the 184-country rate table are generated from the same dataset, so they are never out of step with each other.
How we calculate these numbers
Where the rates come from
Employer contribution rates and income ceilings come from national social security and revenue authorities, cross-checked against OECD Taxing Wages data and current provider country guides. 46 countries are modelled line by line, each component with its own rate and ceiling. The remaining 138 use a single blended employer rate and are marked as estimates.
Why ceilings change the answer
Most systems cap employer contributions at an income ceiling, above which the rate on that component drops to zero. We apply each ceiling separately rather than averaging them into one percentage, which is why our figures for senior salaries are closer to what a provider will actually invoice.
Provider fee bands
Service fee ranges come from published provider pricing and quotes collected for our EOR pricing index, refreshed quarterly. They are list prices. Volume discounts of 20% to 40% are common above twenty employees and are not applied by default, so the calculator shows the number before you negotiate.
Currency conversion
Exchange rates are indicative and updated quarterly. They exist only to show a US dollar equivalent alongside the local figure, not to price an FX transaction. The conversion margin is a separate input, because the spread your provider charges has nothing to do with the mid-market rate.
What this model deliberately leaves out
Where a figure is an average rather than a fixed rate, the calculator labels it. Work accident insurance in particular is set by job classification and claims history, so treat it as a placeholder until you have a quote.
You have the number. Now find the provider.
Compare providers on real pricing, entity ownership and onboarding speed, or see what each one charges per employee.