Our verdict
Remofirst is a global Employer of Record (EOR) that leads the pack when it comes to pricing. With prices starting at $199 per employee, per month, Remofirst is particularly attractive to startups and small to medium-sized businesses.
Pros
- Hire and pay in 150+ countries
- Most cost-effective EOR on the market
Cons
- Lacks integrations of some other EORs
- Does not provide a full suite of HR solutions
120+
$199+ per employee
ACH and SWIFT/Wire Transfer
Remofirst, a recent entrant to the Employer of Record (EOR) market offers the most competitively-priced plans currently available on the market. Read more to find out how Remofirst can best support your business.
Overview
The explosive growth of remote work and the technologies that enable it have changed the business environment, especially for tech startups hiring teams of highly qualified knowledge workers. It has also fueled the global Employer of Record (EOR) market, enabling simpler services, oriented toward remote work, to gain popularity.
In the past, Global EORs focused mainly on large companies that wished to open offices or manufacturing abroad. By employing an EOR to stand in as the legal employer, globalizing corporations could move into a new market without establishing a local legal entity. This allowed them to expand and test new markets in less time.
With the growing popularity of remote work, however, the clients of Global EORs have changed, and so have their services. Many new Global EOR clients hire internationally to overcome labor shortages at home; many post-covid tech startups are already fully remote, making them more open to competitively-priced, highly qualified knowledge workers based abroad.
Many startups in the market for a Global EOR have simple needs; fully compliant hiring around the world, simplified payroll that does not require an HR specialist, a choice of currencies for settling invoices and automatic currency conversion for international employees, optional global health insurance, and an easy to use platform. Remofirst speaks specifically to this market, and provides all of these features at a highly competitive rate, read on below to find out if this service is the right one for you and your business
Key features
Employer of Record
Remofirst can compliantly hire employees in over 150 countries. It automatically calculates work hours, time off, commissions, bonuses, and holidays for all employees and makes all of this information available on the platform.
Clients seek out and field new candidates independently. Once a potential winning candidate is selected, their details are provided to Remofirst; the platform can then calculate the exact costs of employment, taking into account benefits costs, required paid leave, 13th and 14th-month salaries if applicable, taxes, and other costs necessary to compliantly hire the candidate. Upon final approval of the candidate, the business notifies Remofirst and the Remofirst team handles all onboarding and submission of required paperwork. Onboarding status can be checked through the platform, when the employee is ready to legally work, clients are notified. Remofirst also supports onboarding and payroll processing for international contractors.
Payroll Features
Employee salaries and contractor bills are listed in their national currencies, then invoiced in clients’ currency of choice. All monthly payments are aggregated into a single invoice, which may be billed in US dollars, British Pounds, Euros, Canadian Dollars, or Singapore Dollars. Employees are paid directly in their local currencies.
Employees and contractors can be paid both monthly and semi-monthly, business are billed in the middle of each month to ensure on-time payment for employees.
HR
Every Remofirst client is assigned a dedicated Account Manager, who can help with compliance and workforce-related questions. Customer service support is also available 24/7 via chat through the platform.
Remofirst provides optional global benefits packages for all employees, including health, dental, prescription, and vision coverage. It can also help set up equity and stock options programs for global employees.
Some businesses may wish to provide specific or specialized equipment to their remote employees. During the onboarding process, owners can describe the necessary equipment and Remofirst will handle the requisitioning and delivery logistics.
Compliance
Remofirst ensures that employees are hired and paid compliantly with the local laws in their country of residence. It helps businesses to determine if a team member should be classified as an employee or a contractor according to local regulations, which is vital for businesses wishing to avoid fines and other penalties due to misclassification. The service also includes IP protection, an important feature for startups hiring knowledge workers.
Locally compliant freelancer contracts are available for each country to ensure that contractors are engaged legally as well.
Remofirst employs a team of international legal specialists who stay up-to-date on regulatory changes and regularly update business owners. Updated country guides are also available for owners and managers to study the labor environment before hiring.
Platform
The platform includes a chat feature, allowing business owners to ask compliance, work visa, payroll, onboarding, and other questions 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
The platform dashboard displays all employee information including the onboarding status of new employees, compliance documentation, work hours, invoices for contractors, personal information, and more. Global employees and contractors can also be viewed by country, giving a birds-eye view of the entire distributed workforce.
Pricing
EOR services start at $199 per employee per month. This includes access to all payroll processing, HR assistance, onboarding services, access to benefits, and use of the platform.
Contractor services start at $19 per contractor per month.
Customer reviews
We analyzed customer reviews of Remofirst on reputable sights, with the overall scores being:
- G2 — 4.4 (40 reviews)
- Trustpilot — 4.3 (7 reviews)
Remofirst pros and cons
Pros
Remofirst clients will benefit from:
- Competitive pricing. As of 2024, Remofirst’s base price is the lowest on the market. This will be a clear advantage to businesses more concerned with the bottom line than with added software features and consulting services.
- Choice of currencies for payments. Many Global EORs require payments in US dollars, however, Remofirst is global business friendly with the ability to accept Pounds, Singapore Dollars, Euros, and Canadian dollars.
- Highly rated platform. The service is relatively new and designed for ease of use, this helps make their platform easy to learn and has earned high ratings from existing clients.
How Remofirst customers save money and time
Cons
Alongside the benefits, there are some potential drawbacks of going with Remofirst:
- Currently no integrations with other software. Many businesses rely heavily on accounting, HRIS, and team collaboration software. For this reason, most Global EORs offer a number of software integrations or make their API available for custom integrations. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, Remofirst does not. This may make the service a no-go for some businesses, while others may not mind entering their monthly Remofirst invoice into their accounting system and may not see a great need to have their EOR portal integrated with their collaboration software.
- No add-on services. Some businesses appreciate having a single point of contact for HR consulting, business strategy, employee relocation, and recruitment, which is why these services are commonly offered by other Global EORs as add-ons. Clients with no need of these additional services, however, may see it as a benefit that Remofirst keeps their service simple and prices low by not offering these additional services
Unique Selling Point
Remofirst is a simple, efficient, and cost-competitive Global EOR designed for international remote teams from the ground up. At $199 per employee per month, in 2023, no other EOR is cheaper. It is designed for fully remote working startups, who wish to onboard their new employees quickly and compliantly without additional bells and whistles, for the lowest cost possible.
The benefits of choosing Remofirst for distributed teams mean that it was judged the best EOR for remote companies.
RemotePad Score for Remofirst
4.6/5 Our expert score for Remofirst
Our team came to this score by considering the following components in the following weightings:
| Employer of Record features | 25% |
| Payroll features | 10% |
| HR features | 10% |
| Compliance features | 10% |
| Platform features | 10% |
| Pricing | 20% |
| User reviews | 15% |
For each component, Remofirst received the following score:
| Employer of Record features | 20/25 |
| Payroll features | 9/10 |
| HR features | 10/10 |
| Compliance features | 9/10 |
| Platform features | 10/10 |
| Pricing | 20/20 |
| User reviews | 14/15 |
Top competitors (Remofirst alternatives)
Horizons vs Remofirst
Top provider for:
Global EOR
Monthly fee per employee
From $299
Remote vs Remofirst
Top provider for:
Direct EOR solutions
Monthly fee per employee
From $599
Our verdict
Cost-conscious startup owners will flock to Remofirst for the ability to quickly and economically hire new international employees. The service provides all of the expected Global PEO features (onboarding, local compliance, payments in local currencies, hiring in over 150 countries, and a useful online platform) that make it competitive with many other Global EORs, for a price that will beat most other options.
Businesses looking for extensive consultation services, HR outsourcing, global expansion assistance, or extras like relocation assistance and HRIS software may need to find these features from third parties or another Global EOR with more add-ons.
FAQ
Remofirst is headquartered in San Francisco, USA.
Remofirst was founded in 2020.
Remofirst has received funding of $14.4 million through a seed round and a pre-seed round
As a privately-held company, Remofirst does not release its revenue or profit figures.
