Employ
RecruitPlane EOR Review
Plane Review Summary
Score 7.5 out of 10
Currency
100+
Monthly fees
$499+ per employee
Payment options
ACH/Wire Transfer
Plane, formerly Pilot Platform, is a US-based HR provider offering payroll, contractor management, and EOR services globally, with transparent pricing.
Plane Company Overview
Plane, formely known as Pilot, is a US-based service provider in the Employer of Record and human resources space. A relative newcomer, Plane provides an extensive range of HR services to its clients, including administration, payroll, contractor management, and comprehensive EOR or Employer of Record service.
In the US, Plane provides PEO or Professional Employment Organization co-employment services. It also supports full-time employee hiring abroad in over 100 countries and contractor hiring in over 180 countries and territories – essentially everywhere in the world. Unlike other providers, Plane provides its basic starting prices online for its different services, making it easier to compare providers. In this article, we’re going to take an in-depth look at Plane to see how it stacks up against the competition.
Plane Key Features
1. Plane EOR
One of the central features of Plane is its EOR or Employer of Record service. With its EOR service, Plane makes it possible for organizations to legally hire full-time employees (FTEs) in countries where they don’t own registered business entities. Plane offers EOR service in over 100 countries, putting it on par with some of the best EOR providers.
- Legal Hiring Across Borders: If your organization wants to hire an employee in another country, Plane acts as the legal employer through its network of entities and partners.
- Compliant Contract Generation: The platform automatically generates contracts that comply with local labor and tax laws.
- Self-Serve Onboarding: Clients can invite new hires to create Plane accounts, sign contracts online, and onboard through a self-serve system, with support from an onboarding manager available 24/5 via a dedicated Slack channel.
- Additional Checks: Onboarding includes right-to-work and international criminal record checks, with a process that takes 1-4 weeks depending on the country.
Once employees are onboarded, Plane manages their HR needs over time including payroll, paid time off (PTO), and benefits administration.
When the employees need to be terminated, Plane handles their offboarding and termination including giving them notice and paying severance as appropriate.
Plane manages all worker benefits for its clients. This can include mandatory and optional benefits like PTO and social security contributions or private medical, vision, dental, life, and disability insurance, pensions, and more.
The platform allows employers to choose the benefits they need or want to offer and Plane’s experts ensure that all benefits packages are kept in strict compliance with local statutes.
Unlike many competitors, Plane posts its EOR service fee publicly. At $499/employee per month, this provider is slightly above the average price in this industry. However, Plane charges a flat fee no matter which country it works in.
Most competitors’ prices vary from country to country and also may not include set-up costs. Plane doesn’t charge set-up fees or assess minimum charges, and it also doesn’t require clients to lock into annual contracts.
2. Plane Contractor Management
Employers in the US can work with Plane to hire contractors and ensure they’re correctly classified as 1099 contract employees. It also provides the same service internationally, letting clients hire contractors in over 240 nation-states and dependencies.
Through its network of partner entities, Plane maintains compliance with local laws in much the same way as it does for FTEs.
It files taxes and reports on behalf of its clients and works to ensure that workers meet the local criteria for legal classification as contractors and freelancers in each country.
Contractors can submit their invoices easily through the Plane platform and receive payments in the currencies of their choice through bank transfers in over 70 currencies.
3. Plane Payroll
Payroll is an essential ingredient of all of Plane’s services. Its platform automatically calculates payroll for contractors, international FTEs, and US FTEs all in the same place. This makes it simple to look through all necessary pay in one convenient location. This is the main function provided in Plane’s $19/ per month plan for managing US employees. This package includes multi-state payroll, state registrations, and expense reimbursement for employees.
Plane runs payroll by collecting time and attendance data and calculating each employee’s gross salary, withholding taxes, and other deductions. Taxes and social security contributions as well as additional benefits are all charged to the client who can deposit money into their account and approve these payments for Plane to process. International employees are always paid in their local currency and can be paid either monthly or bi-monthly.
4. Plane Compliance
Plane, as the legal employer of local staff in the US or globally, assumes responsibility for complying with all applicable labor and tax laws in each jurisdiction where it manages employees.
It ensures that all tax withholdings are correctly calculated and paid, and that employees are not misclassified as contractors.
Planes’ country experts make sure that mandatory benefits are provided in full compliance with the laws of the state or country where employees or contractors live.
5. Plane Recruitment
As with many other HR outsourcing competitors, Plane doesn’t provide direct recruitment services. For that reason, you’ll still need to locate the workers you want to hire as FTEs or contractors. The Plane platform doesn’t include an applicant tracking system (ATS) to facilitate recruiting like many other HR platforms do. However, Plane can help to advise you on compensation and contracts to offer as well as how to write offer letters to entice top talent to work for you.
Plane charges a flat fee of $39/contractor per month and this includes unlimited payment transfers to these workers.
6. Plane HR
In addition to payroll and the other standard services already mentioned for employees and contractors, Plane includes additional HR services that deserve to be mentioned.
Plane’s platform enables simple expense management, letting employees enter their expenses and managers quickly approve their reimbursements.
It helps organizations transfer intellectual property (IP) rights from their international employees to ensure correct ownership and protection of sensitive data.
For employees who are often on the move, Plane also provides immigration assistance, helping both employees and their dependents with visas and work permits as necessary.
7. Plane Platform
Plane, like most EOR providers, bases its services around its online platform, which is a form of human resources management system (HRMS). It may not have all of the functionality of a complete HRIS, but for smaller organizations, it may be enough to run most HR functions in one place. Users rate its setup and usability as excellent, however they point out that Plane doesn’t yet have a mobile app to help access its employee portal conveniently. This platform does, however, offer out-of-the-box integrations with a handful of popular apps, most significantly Quickbooks accounting software.
Plane’s platform complies with SOC2, the EU’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), and the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) to ensure security and privacy for clients’ data.
Plane User Reviews
The average scores (as of the time of writing) were:
- Plane G2 = 4.6/5 (661 reviews)
Plane Pricing
| Plan | Price per employee/contractor per month |
|---|---|
| Plane US Employees | $19 per employee per month |
| Plane International Contractors | $39 per contractor per month |
| Plane International Employees | $499 per employee per month |
Plane Pros and Cons
- Pros
Flat fees posted online
Unlike many competitors, Plane chooses to show its fees online. These are also flat fees for each service it provides so that potential clients can easily calculate costs and compare with other providers.
Extensive reach for contractors
Covering 240+ countries and dependencies, Plane enables contractor hiring in more places than almost any competitor.
User-friendly platform
Users rate Plane as excellent for ease of setup and long-term administration.
- Cons
Slow onboarding
Due to background checks, it can take up to four weeks or even longer to onboard employees and contractors in some countries, which is a lot longer than most competitors.
Limited integrations
Other platforms can integrate with hundreds of software packages to smooth workflow but Plane only integrates with a small number of apps at present.
Plane Unique Selling Point
Plane’s unique selling feature is its single-platform, single-price approach to providing services. It combines contractors and both US and international employees into a single platform for simple management of payroll and their other HR needs. Plane charges flat fees for all of its service packages, making it very easy for potential clients to calculate their hiring costs.
RemotePeople Score for Plane
7.5/10
Our expert score for Plane
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, Plane received the following score:
Employer of Record features
18/25
Payroll features
7/10
HR features
7/10
Compliance features
9/10
Platform features
7/10
Pricing
16/20
User reviews
11/15
Conclusion
Plane’s platform may be limited for larger enterprises but is an effective tool for small and medium-sized organizations. It allows companies with teams of FTEs and contractors distributed across multiple states and countries to manage all of their workers easily and compliantly in one place.
Plane Alternatives
Horizons
Horizons stands out for its extensive country coverage, supporting hiring in over 180 countries, and its in-house recruitment services, making it an excellent choice for businesses looking to scale globally.
Horizons also offers better value than Remote, with pricing starting at $299+ per employee for their premium EOR service, compared to Remote’s $599+.
💡 Read our in-depth review: Horizons Review
Deel
Deel is a robust platform that facilitates international hiring, compliance, payroll, and benefits management. It supports businesses in over 150 countries, making it a versatile choice for global expansion.
Deel’s comprehensive features include automated invoicing, tax compliance, and localized contracts, ensuring that companies can manage their international teams efficiently.
💡 Read our in-depth review: Deel Review
Lano
Lano stands out as a versatile platform for businesses looking to simplify international hiring, payroll, and compliance. With a focus on making cross-border employment accessible, Lano offers features like automated payroll, employee self-service, and centralized HR data management.
The platform’s emphasis on collaboration and ease of use makes it an ideal choice for companies aiming to expand their teams globally without the administrative burden of navigating diverse payroll regulations.
💡 Read our in-depth review: Lano Review
Justworks
Justworks simplifies payroll, benefits, and HR compliance for U.S.-based companies, particularly those in need of an easy-to-use, affordable platform. Known for its all-in-one approach, Justworks combines payroll, benefits, and compliance tools, offering robust support for companies with minimal HR resources. Its user-friendly interface, transparent pricing, and strong customer support make it a preferred choice for small to medium-sized businesses that want to streamline HR functions without sacrificing quality or compliance.
💡 Read our in-depth review: Justworks Review
Papaya Global
Papaya Global is a highly adaptive platform for managing payroll, workforce management, and compliance across over 160 countries. Known for its powerful automation features, the platform provides real-time insights, reporting, and compliance checks, helping companies ensure accuracy in payroll processing and employee onboarding.
Papaya’s commitment to seamless integration with existing HR tech stacks makes it a popular choice for companies with complex global hiring needs, providing end-to-end visibility and control over workforce data.
💡 Read our in-depth review: Papaya Global Review
Hire Anywhere.
We Handle the Rest.
- 150+ countries, fully compliant
- EOR from $199/, no hidden fees
- In-house recruiters included
- Real humans, not chatbots
- Rated 5/5 by 3,000+ companies
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