Remote

An EOR is a service that legally employs workers on your behalf in a country where you do not have a registered entity. The worker is technically employed by the EOR (which handles local taxes, benefits, labor-law compliance, and payroll), but reports to your team and works on your products day-to-day. EOR is the standard mechanism for hiring full employees internationally without setting up local subsidiaries. Remote operates as an EOR in 80+ countries through owned local entities.

Contractor management covers genuinely independent contractors — short-term project work, freelance arrangements, or workers who pass the local independent-contractor test. Remote handles compliant invoicing and multi-currency payment but does not employ them. EOR is for full employees who would be misclassified as contractors under local law — Remote employs them on your behalf, with full benefits, taxes, and labor-law protection. Use contractor mode for true freelance work; use EOR for anyone working full-time on your team or who would fail the independent-contractor test in their country.

For contractor onboarding, typically same-day or next-day once the contractor signs the agreement and provides payment details. For EOR employees, typical timeline is 1-3 weeks from offer to first day of work, depending on country-specific background checks, document requirements, and benefits enrollment. Some countries (notably Germany and Brazil) have additional compliance steps that extend the timeline to 3-4 weeks.

Remote supports contractor management in 180+ countries and EOR in 80+ countries. The exact list changes as Remote adds local entities. Major markets are all covered: USA, Canada, UK, EU member states, Australia, New Zealand, India, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Singapore, and most of LATAM, APAC, and EMEA. For specific country coverage, the Remote website maintains a real-time country list. If a country is contractor-only on Remote, you can still hire — but as a contractor, not a full employee.

Remote and Deel are the two clear leaders in the EOR category with similar feature depth. Both offer contractor management and EOR in most major countries with transparent pricing. Differences come down to: country availability (each operates owned entities in slightly different country sets), pricing at scale (similar but worth comparing exact quotes), and adjacent features (Deel has broader product breadth around banking and cards; Remote tends to focus more on core EOR depth). The practical answer: short-list both, get a quote for your specific role and country, and choose based on availability + responsiveness.

This is one of the strongest reasons to use a real EOR like Remote rather than hiring as a contractor. Remote's employment contracts are drafted by in-country legal experts to include proper IP assignment, invention-assignment, and confidentiality clauses that hold up in local courts. Hiring as a 1099/contractor in countries where the worker would legally be considered an employee creates risk that IP assignments are unenforceable, because contractor-style IP assignment language is sometimes voided when the working relationship is reclassified. EOR removes this risk entirely.