Remote

What it is

Remote handles the legal and financial machinery of employing people in countries where you have no company. Its employer of record service makes Remote the legal employer in more than 90 countries while the person works for you, with local payroll, compliance protections and localized benefits. Alongside that sit global payroll for companies that do have entities, contractor management, contractor of record, a US PEO, and equity administration.

The contractor products are where the risk framing is explicit: the Plus tier carries up to $100,000 of indemnity coverage, and contractor of record includes uncapped indemnity and AI-assisted misclassification tooling.

Who it's for (and who it isn't)

It fits companies hiring internationally without local entities, and companies with international contractors who want the classification risk handled by someone with a legal position rather than by a template contract.

It is a weaker fit for hiring several people in one country. At $699 per employee per month for employer of record, five hires in the same place is over $40,000 a year in service fees, which is usually more than incorporating there. It is also unnecessary for a company employing everyone in its own country, where local payroll software costs a fraction of this.

Pricing

Remote is paid, priced per person per product, with no free tier. Employer of Record is $699 per employee per month. Global Payroll is $29 per employee per month. Contractor Management is $29 per contractor per month, or $99 per contractor per month on the Plus tier with up to $100,000 indemnity coverage. Contractor of Record starts at $325 per contractor per month. The US PEO starts at $99 per employee per month, and Equity from $39 per month. Startups and social purpose organizations get 15% off core services.

Compare the EOR line against entity setup in the specific country before committing, because the crossover arrives sooner than most companies expect, and compare contractor management against Deel at $49 per contractor per month.

Set it up

Official guide: How to add a contractor

1. Create a Remote account. There is no free tier, so you pay for each person you add: Contractor Management costs $29 per contractor/mo. A contractor is a self-employed person who invoices you; an employee is a different Remote product, described at the end. Your account is now ready for your first contractor.
2. Go to the "Team" tab and select "Team overview". Click "Add new", choose "Add new hire", then select "Contractor". Fill in the contractor's employment details in the form that opens. The form now holds your contractor's details.
3. Choose the pricing plan for this contractor. $29 per contractor/mo is the base price from step 1, and the Plus tier at $99 per contractor/mo adds indemnity cover, explained at the end. The contractor now has a plan.
4. Pick a contract option: Remote's localized template (a contract written for the contractor's country), your own template, or a one-time custom contract. Complete the Statement of Work details, which describe the work you are hiring them for. The contract now describes the work you agreed.
5. Sign the contract. If you are the designated signatory (the person allowed to sign for your company), click "Sign" and complete the electronic signature. If not, click "Assign a signatory" and pick a colleague who can sign. Then click "Sign and send". The contract is now signed, or waiting for the signatory you picked.
6. Click "Invite now". This emails the contractor straight away, so click it only when the details are right. Not ready yet? Save the details as a draft instead. Later, go to "Team", then "Onboarding", open "Contractors" and click "Finish & invite". Your contractor now has an invitation to sign the contract and set up their Remote account.
7. Go to "Team", then "Onboarding", to follow the invitation and resend it if needed. Inviting your first contractor also starts Know Your Business (KYB), a check where Remote verifies your company. You can keep adding contractors meanwhile, but you cannot approve or pay invoices until it is approved. You now see your contractor in the list.

When this works, your first contractor has an email invitation to sign the contract and set up their Remote account, and your company is in Remote's verification so that their invoices can be approved and paid.

On the Plus tier ($99 per contractor/mo): up to $100,000 indemnity coverage (protection against losses, up to that amount). On Employer of Record ($699 per employee/mo across 90+ countries): you hire an employee instead of a contractor, and Remote is the legal employer in their country.

Strengths and limitations

The strength is risk transfer. Employer of record and contractor of record put a company with local legal standing between you and employment law in a country you do not know, and the indemnity coverage on the contractor products is a concrete rather than rhetorical protection.

The limitations are price and dependency. Per-person monthly fees at this level make it a service rather than infrastructure, and your employment relationship runs through a third party, which matters for key hires. Misclassification also remains a question about how you actually work with someone, so tooling reduces the risk rather than removing it.