If you want to hire someone in a country where you have no legal entity, Deel and Remote are usually the first two names on the list. Both offer an employer of record (EOR) service, where the provider legally employs your new hire on your behalf. Both also offer contractor management, a contractor of record option, global payroll for entities you already own, and a US PEO.
On the surface the two look almost identical. Both even start their EOR pricing at the same number. The differences are in the details: how many countries each covers directly, what each charges for contractors and payroll, how billing and deposits work, and how much else each platform tries to do.
How we wrote this: we describe both vendors from their own public product and pricing pages, checked in November 2026. We have not run hands-on trials, and nothing here is a test result. Prices are "starting at" list prices as published; your quote will depend on country, headcount and contract length. For our full scoring of each platform, see our Deel review and Remote review.
Deel vs Remote at a glance
| Deel | Remote | |
|---|---|---|
| EOR price (from) | $599 per employee per month | $599 per employee per month, for annual contracts |
| EOR countries | 130+ | 90+ |
| Owned entities | "Entities and payroll engine in 130+ countries" | "100+ entities owned and operated by Remote", "no third parties" |
| Contractor management (from) | $49 per contractor per month | $29 per contractor per month; $99 for Contractor Management Plus |
| Contractor of record (from) | $325 per contractor per month | $325 per contractor per month |
| Global payroll for your own entities (from) | No price on pricing page | $19 per employee per month |
| US PEO (from) | $125 per employee per month | $99 per employee per month |
| HR software | Deel HR, from $5 per employee per month (Core) | Remote Platform included with no base fee |
| Stated customer count | 40,000+ | 30,000+ |
| Stated onboarding speed | "As little as one day" | "3 days on average" |
| Billing terms | Month-to-month, no long-term commitment required | EOR price quoted for annual contracts |
Sources: Deel pricing, Deel EOR, Deel HR, Remote pricing, Remote EOR. All figures are the vendors' own claims, checked November 2026.
What an EOR actually does (and why the choice matters)
An employer of record becomes the legal employer of your worker in their country. It issues a locally compliant contract, runs payroll, withholds and pays taxes and social contributions, and provides statutory benefits. You direct the day-to-day work. That's why the provider's local setup matters so much: if payroll is late or a contract misses a local requirement, your employee feels it, and your company's reputation in that market takes the hit.
The alternative many teams start with is to hire people abroad as independent contractors. That's quicker and cheaper, but it carries classification risk. The US Internal Revenue Service, for example, says on its employee or independent contractor page that status depends on behavioral control, financial control and the type of relationship, and that a business which treats an employee as a contractor without a reasonable basis "may be held liable for employment taxes for that worker". In the UK, GOV.UK's employment status guidance notes that a person's status determines their rights and the employer's responsibilities, and that tax status can differ from employment-law status. Other countries apply their own tests.
Demand for this kind of setup isn't going away. Pew Research Center found that 32% of US workers with teleworkable jobs worked from home all the time as of October 2024, and once a role is remote, the best candidate can be anywhere. If you're still deciding between an EOR and a PEO, read our EOR vs PEO comparison first; if you mostly use freelancers, our independent contractor guide covers the basics.
Employer of record: coverage and how each runs it
Country coverage
This is the clearest difference between the two. Deel's pricing page offers EOR in 130+ countries, and its EOR page says it owns "entities and payroll engine in 130+ countries". Deel quotes 150+ countries elsewhere on the same page, which appears to refer to its wider platform (contractors and payroll) rather than EOR employment specifically.
Remote's pricing and EOR pages say it offers EOR in 90+ countries, and that it runs 100+ entities it owns and operates itself. Remote makes a point of this: its EOR page says "100% owned entities, no third parties".
What that means in practice:
- If you hire in many smaller or less common markets, Deel's wider stated EOR coverage gives you more chance of one provider covering everything.
- If your hires are in mainstream markets (the UK, Western Europe, Canada, Australia, India, Latin America's larger economies), both are likely to cover you. Then the question becomes how each provider runs those countries, not whether it can.
Either way, ask for the country list in writing and confirm for each country you need whether the vendor uses its own entity or a partner. Both vendors publish country guides you can check before a sales call.
Speed to onboard
Deel's EOR page says it can onboard a new hire in "as little as one day". Remote's EOR page says onboarding takes "3 days on average". These are different measures (a best case versus an average), so don't read them as a like-for-like comparison. Local rules often dominate here: background checks, notice periods with a previous employer and work permits can all add weeks regardless of provider.
Benefits, IP and compliance
Both vendors say they provide localized benefits. Deel lists healthcare, dental, vision, mental health, fertility and 401(k) among the global and US benefits on its pricing page. Remote describes "competitive, flexible and localized benefits" on its EOR plan.
On intellectual property, Deel's EOR page says its contracts include clauses that pass all IP to the customer. Remote's EOR page doesn't discuss IP; its pricing page mentions "Remote IP Guard" only under its Contractor of Record plan. If IP ownership matters to you (for most software and product teams it does), ask Remote how IP assignment is handled in its EOR employment contracts.
On compliance, Deel says it monitors and flags regulatory changes and has "200+ legal experts". Remote says it relies on in-country HR and payroll experts and lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and GDPR on its EOR page. Deel lists SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 on its global payroll page. These are self-reported claims; ask either vendor for its current audit reports under NDA.
Pricing compared
Both vendors publish starting prices, which is more than many in this market do. Here is what each says, product by product, as of November 2026.
EOR: same headline, different terms
Both start at $599 per employee per month. The difference is in the small print:
- Remote quotes $599 "for annual contracts". Its pricing page doesn't show a separate month-to-month EOR price, so expect a monthly agreement to cost more or to need negotiation.
- Deel says in its pricing FAQ that it offers "flexible month-to-month pricing with no long-term commitments required". Its promotional terms also mention complimentary platform fees on order forms with minimum two-year terms, with repayment at full list price if you end the contract early. Read the order form you're given carefully: a promotion can quietly turn a monthly arrangement into a multi-year one.
Neither starting price is what you'll pay in every country. EOR fees are commonly quoted per country, and the provider's fee sits on top of the employee's salary, employer social contributions and benefits. To estimate the total, use our EOR cost calculator.
Deposits, setup fees and currency
Remote's pricing FAQ says there are no setup or onboarding fees and that it doesn't charge a standard deposit. It adds that it "may require a refundable reserve payment" to cover employment-related obligations, confirmed during onboarding and credited or refunded if unused. Remote also sets one FX rate for each monthly billing cycle, so it absorbs currency movements within that cycle.
Deel's pricing FAQ says all costs, "including local compliance, payroll, and benefits administration, are included in your quoted price", and that there are no surprise fees. Its pricing page doesn't mention deposits, so ask directly. Any upfront deposit or reserve affects cash flow, so get the amount in writing for each hire.
Contractors: Remote is cheaper at list price
For contractor management, the list prices differ:
- Remote Contractor Management: from $29 per contractor per month, billed only for months a contractor is active, with payments in 190+ countries and 1099-NEC generation.
- Remote Contractor Management Plus: from $99 per contractor per month, adding $100,000 of indemnity per contractor (up to $1 million per company) and Remote-drafted localized contracts.
- Deel Contractors: from $49 per contractor per month, with payments in 120+ currencies, automated invoicing, tax form guidance and classification compliance tools.
Both charge from $325 per contractor per month for contractor of record, where the provider contracts with the worker directly and takes on more of the classification liability. Remote says its version has uncapped indemnity.
If you pay 20 contractors, the gap between $29 and $49 is $400 a month, or $4,800 a year, at list price. For a contractor-heavy team, that's worth a negotiation with Deel or a closer look at Remote. Our contractor management software roundup covers other options.
Payroll, PEO and HR software
- Global payroll (your own entities): Remote publishes a starting price of $19 per employee per month, with self-serve or managed options. Deel's global payroll page claims payroll across 150+ countries and a managed option with a dedicated payroll manager, but neither it nor the pricing page shows a price, so you'll need a quote. Remote's global payroll page claims payroll in 100+ countries.
- US PEO: Remote starts at $99 per employee per month, billed in USD with a US bank account required. Deel starts at $125 per employee per month, with co-employment in all 50 states.
- HR software: Deel sells Deel HR in tiers, with Core starting at $5 per employee per month (profiles, org chart, time off, workflows, people analytics). Advanced adds performance, goals, learning and surveys, and Elite adds workforce planning and compensation. Remote's pricing page says the Remote Platform is "included, no base fee" with each product and connects to your existing HRIS, but it doesn't list a standalone HR software tier.
Platform breadth: suite vs specialist
Put together, the pages show two slightly different approaches.
Deel is building a broad global HR suite. Alongside EOR, contractors, payroll and PEO, its pricing page includes products for finding talent (from $14 per worker per month) and tabs for managing, paying and equipping workers. Deel HR adds performance management, learning and workforce planning. If you want one vendor for most of your people operations, Deel is aiming for that.
Remote focuses on employment, payroll and contractors, built in-house. Its global payroll page says the product is "built in-house, not stitched together", and its EOR page stresses owned entities. The trade-off is that you'll probably keep a separate HRIS, performance tool or recruiting system and connect it to Remote.
Neither approach is better in the abstract. A 40-person startup with no HR system may like Deel's breadth. A company that already runs an HRIS it's happy with may prefer Remote's narrower focus and lower contractor and payroll list prices.
One naming note: Remote (remote.com) is a different company from Remote People, the provider formerly called Horizons. We cover that change in Horizons rebrands as Remote People, and review it separately in our Remote People review.
Support and scale
Deel's EOR page claims 24/7 support "across continents in your language and time zone", 40,000+ customers and more than $20 billion of payroll processed. Remote's EOR page claims 30,000+ companies and in-house payroll, benefits, legal and HR support.
Customer counts tell you both are established; they don't tell you how good support will be for your countries. Ask each vendor for a reference customer of similar size hiring in the same markets, and ask who your named contact will be after onboarding.
Which should you choose?
Choose Deel if:
- You need EOR coverage in markets beyond Remote's 90+ countries.
- You want month-to-month EOR terms rather than an annual contract.
- You want HR software, performance and learning tools from the same vendor as your EOR and payroll.
Choose Remote if:
- Your hires are in mainstream markets and you value a provider that says it runs every EOR entity itself.
- You pay a lot of contractors and want the lower list price, or the indemnity in Contractor Management Plus.
- You already own entities in some countries and want published global payroll pricing (from $19 per employee per month), or you want the cheaper US PEO list price.
Consider neither if you need deeper local presence in one specific region, or your quotes come back well above list. Compare the other options in our Deel alternatives and Remote alternatives guides, and see our Papaya Global vs Remote and Multiplier vs Remote comparisons.
Whichever way you lean, get a written quote from both for the same scenario: the same countries, salaries and start dates, and the same contract length. Ask each to break out the provider fee, employer costs, any deposit or reserve, FX handling and termination costs. Laid side by side, those quotes will tell you more than any feature page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Deel or Remote cheaper?
For EOR, both list a starting price of $599 per employee per month, though Remote's is for annual contracts. Remote lists lower starting prices for contractor management ($29 vs $49), US PEO ($99 vs $125) and global payroll ($19, which Deel doesn't publish). Prices checked November 2026.
Which covers more countries, Deel or Remote?
Deel's pages list EOR in 130+ countries and say it owns entities there. Remote lists EOR in 90+ countries using 100+ entities it owns and operates. For contractors, Remote says it can pay in 190+ countries and Deel lists payments in 120+ currencies.
Does Remote own all its entities?
Remote's EOR page says "100% owned entities, no third parties" and "100+ entities owned and operated by Remote". Confirm the setup for each country you need before signing.
Do Deel or Remote charge a deposit?
Remote says it doesn't charge a standard deposit but may require a refundable reserve payment, confirmed during onboarding. Deel's pricing page doesn't mention deposits, so ask during the sales process.
Can I switch from Deel to Remote or the other way round?
Yes, but moving an EOR employee usually means ending one local employment contract and starting another. That can affect notice periods, benefits and accrued leave. Check your contract's termination terms and plan transfers with both providers.