Employ
RecruitTop 8 RemoFirst Alternatives
When you find incredible workers you want to hire, but they live on the other side of the globe, what can you do? In the past, your only choices would be to try and set up an entity in their location or try to entice them to move to yours. However, new technologies are now allowing companies around the world to collaborate with and even hire the top talent they need, no matter where it’s located.
RemoFirst is a service provider that enables organizations to work with talented people everywhere. This EOR or Employer of Record provider can hire employees on your behalf, help you pay independent contractors, and take care of compliance in multiple companies. However, it also has its limitations and that’s why it’s important to look at other options before you choose this provider to partner with.
In this review, we’ll take you through the details of RemoFirst’s services and then present our list of the top 8 RemoFirst alternatives we think could help propel your business toward success.
RemoFirst as an Employer of Record
San Francisco-based RemoFirst is one of the youngest EOR providers around. It was founded in 2021 during the Great Resignation, as many people left their jobs in search of better options with remote and hybrid positions. This service provider helped many employers to seize on this trend and hire remote workers all over the world.
Today, it has expanded its EOR services to over 180 countries and allows employers to also hire contractors in more than 150 countries. As an EOR provider, RemoFirst uses its network of partners and subsidiaries to enter into contracts with its clients’ international employees. This makes it their full legal employer in the country where they live while the client takes on the role of the worksite employer.
RemoFirst takes care of all of the employees’ HR needs, including payroll, benefits administration, taxes, and paid time off (PTO). It’s also responsible for ensuring that their employment always complies with all relevant tax and labor laws in the countries where they live.
RemoFirst has also taken a unique position in the international employment industry by offering more basic services than its competitors at a much lower price. Its contractor management service is a mid-range $25 per person per month, but its EOR service starts at just $199/employee per month. Keep in mind, however, that this is just the starting price for some countries, and others will be more expensive.
This provider manages all the mandatory employee benefits that are required in each country where it works, including things like annual leave, paid holidays, and social security schemes. Through its RemoHealth program, it also offers four optional health benefits plans that employers can provide for their employees in over 180 countries. These include coverage for medical treatment, vision, dental, and wellness, as well as tests and checks.
In addition to international hiring, RemoFirst also provides outsourcing services. Organizations that own entities around the world can take advantage of its global payroll and workforce management services. It also provides visa support and equipment provisioning services to help new hires get started smoothly.
RemoFirst's Main Advantages
To get a good idea of what RemoFirst can offer your organization, you’ll need to look at the pros and cons it can offer you. This provider’s main benefits include:
Pricing
Most competitors’ fees start between $400 and $600, but RemoFirst is far cheaper at just $199 per employee per month. This means you can essentially hire two employees for the price of one EOR management fee with another provider.
Global Coverage
RemoFirst’s EOR services are available in over 180 countries which is nearly as extensive as global coverage gets. It’s slightly more limited for contractor hiring, but 150 countries are still impressive.
Benefits
RemoFirst, like all EORs, has to manage mandatory benefits like PTO and social program contributions. However, this provider will also manage equity and bonuses for employers and administer additional health benefits if they want to offer these to their workers.
User-friendliness
Users rate the RemoFirst platform as very easy to implement and use regularly. It has a simple, user-friendly interface and is uncluttered by numerous tools and functions.
RemoFirst's Main Drawbacks
While its advantages are clear, there are also several disadvantages to working with RemoFirst, including:
Limited Features
While an uncluttered platform is easier to learn and manage, this also means that numerous useful features found on other platforms are not available on RemoFirst. It’s missing time and attendance tracking, performance management, and recruitment tools and can’t take the place of a complete HR information system (HRIS).
No Active Recruitment
Not only is its platform missing tools to help clients recruit on their own, but RemoFirst also doesn’t offer talent-sourcing solutions. This means that clients will need to find all of their own workers or partner with other providers to help them do so.
Few Integrations
Many other platforms can integrate with dozens and even hundreds of apps to help with the smooth flow of data. The RemoFirst platform has an application programming interface (API) that can be used to build custom integrations. However, it only comes with out-of-the-box integrations for a handful of time-tracking and HRIS tools.
Top 8 RemoFirst Alternatives
This provider might be a very good partner for your organization. However, if you’ve looked at its features and services and decided that you may need something different, we’ve got you covered.
| Company | Description |
|---|---|
| Horizons | Offers seamless global hiring and payroll solutions, enabling businesses to expand internationally while ensuring compliance. |
| Remote | Provides a comprehensive EOR platform that simplifies payroll, compliance, and benefits management for distributed teams worldwide. |
| Deel | Empowers businesses to hire and pay global talent effortlessly with automated compliance, payroll, and contractor management. |
| Globalization Partners | Accelerates international expansion by handling global hiring, payroll, and legal compliance with its AI-driven EOR platform. |
| Velocity Global | Delivers flexible workforce solutions, enabling businesses to hire, manage, and pay international employees with ease. |
| Safeguard Global | Helps companies navigate complex global employment with tailored payroll, HR, and compliance solutions. |
| Global Expansion | Provides expert EOR services, allowing businesses to expand internationally while ensuring compliance and cost efficiency. |
| Multiplier | Streamlines international hiring with automated payroll, compliance, and benefits management for global teams. |
Our list of the top 8 RemoFirst alternatives will provide you with a summary of some very different service providers, one of which might be ideal for you.
1
Horizons
Just like RemoFirst, Horizons offers EOR services in over 180 countries. It also provides contractor management services in the same, giving it more global coverage.
Horizons is also slightly more expensive for hiring contractors at $29 per person per month. Its EOR fees start at $299 per employee per month, though, like RemoFirst, this varies by country.
However, the Horizons platform is not only considered more user-friendly, it also includes many more features and can be used as a complete HRIS. This means that users don’t need to subscribe to other software but can manage HR all in one central location. One of the biggest differences between these providers is that Horizons employs recruiters to help clients find the important international talent they require.
Horizons Key Features:
- Horizons helps its clients hire and pay employees and contractors in more than 180 countries.
- It also provides active recruitment services in 180 countries through its in-house team.
- The Horizons platform works as a complete HRIS that includes important performance management, talent management, time-tracking, analytics, and other useful features.
- Horizons administers additional health insurance, equity, and retirement savings benefits packages for its clients.
2
Remote
Remote is another service provider with its headquarters in San Francisco. Remote has a somewhat different take on EOR service provision than RemoFirst and most other competitors, for that matter. Instead of working with third-party partners around the world, Remote only uses entities that it owns outright so that it can strictly control the quality of the services it offers. It, therefore has more limited coverage, offering EOR services in just around 100 countries.
Its services are also significantly more expensive than RemoFirst’s, with prices starting at $599/employee per month. Like Horizons, however, its platform is full of tools and features and can be used as a complete HRIS.
While it doesn’t provide recruitment services, Remote includes some useful tools for recruitment in its platform including access to talent pools and AI-powered candidate matching.
Remote Key Features:
- Remote helps its clients hire employees in 100 countries and contractors management in 188.
- It provides additional benefits administration for health insurance and pensions.
- Remote’s platform is an HRIS with multiple features, including recruitment tools.
REMOTE PEOPLE FURTHER READING
Explore our detailed guide for an in-depth comparison between RemoFirst and Remote, highlighting their features, strengths, and key differences.
3
Deel
Deel shares a lot in common with Remote, another San Francisco-based service provider. Deel charges the same price as Remote, $599 per employee per month, for EOR services. However, its contractor management price is quite a bit higher than both RemoFirst’s and Remote’s at $49 per person per month. Deel also covers fewer countries with EOR services in just over 150.
Deel also features an extensive platform that includes time-tracking, performance management, and many other features. The platform also includes over 100 pre-built integrations to help clients share data with their existing tech stacks and is highly praised for being easy to use.
In addition to EOR, Dell also offers global payroll, HR, and IT outsourcing to help organizations manage their entities around the world. At the same time, Deel doesn’t provide active recruiting services or any tools to help clients recruit on their own.
Deel Key Features:
- Deel provides EOR and contractor management services in more than 150 countries.
- The Deel platform includes many useful features and is essentially a complete HRIS.
- This provider also offers global payroll, HR, and IT services.
REMOTE PEOPLE FURTHER READING
Explore our detailed guide for an in-depth comparison between Deel and RemoFirst, highlighting their features, strengths, and key differences.
4
Globalization Partners
Globalization Partners, or G-P, is a well-established service provider that was founded in 2012. It provides EOR and contractor management services in 180 countries and also helps employers offer optional benefits to their employees, including private pensions and medical insurance if they desire.
Its EOR fees start at a relatively high $699 per employee per month, and its contractor management is also somewhat high at $39 per person per month.
G-P doesn’t actively recruit employees for its clients, but its platform does include recruitment tools that help clients search talent pools and connect with recruiting agencies around the world.
Globalization Partners Key Features:
- Globalization Partners enables employee and contractor hiring in 180 different countries.
- Clients that own multiple entities can make use of its global payroll services.
- G-P offers additional support packages including both AI compliance advice and expert HR support.
5
Velocity Global
On par with RemoFirst, Velocity Global offers both EOR and contractor management services in at least 185 countries around the world, making it another truly global provider.
Its main focus is providing high-quality, attentive service to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have little experience with international hiring. At the same time, the Velocity Global platform is not highly developed and can’t be considered a full HRIS. This provider manages both mandatory and optional employee benefits to help clients offer ideal compensation packages.
While it doesn’t recruit on its own, it does help clients connect to recruitment agencies are the world to find the talent they require. Unfortunately, this provider only gives its prices when clients request quotes, so it can be hard to compare to other competitors.
Velocity Global Key Features:
- With Velocity Global, clients can hire employees and contractors in more than 185 countries.
- It administers additional employee benefits that include health insurance and private pensions.
- Clients who own entities around the world can also use Velocity Global’s payroll services to manage salaries, taxes, and deductions for their global employees.
6
Safeguard Global
Another global provider, Safeguard Global, provides nearly the same coverage as RemoFirst, with employee and contractor hiring in over 170 countries.
Like Velocity Global, however, Safeguard Global doesn’t give its EOR price online, which can make comparisons difficult and suggest a higher-than-average price. Its contractor management price, however, starts at just $5 per person per month, which is as low as it gets.
Unlike RemoFirst, this provider doesn’t help with additional benefits administration. It does, though, offer recruitment services both for permanent positions and temporary staffing.
Safeguard Global Key Features:
- Safeguard Global offers EOR services and contractor management in over 170 countries.
- It actively recruits employees and temporary staff.
- Clients with entities around the world can use Safeguard Global’s payroll HR outsourcing services or take advantage of entity setup services to incorporate in new countries.
7
Global Expansion
Of all the providers on this list of the top 8 RemoFirst alternatives, Global Expansion (GX) has the most extensive coverage, with services in 214 countries and territories worldwide.
At the same time, it’s also the most expensive provider on this list, with EOR services starting at $85o per employee per month. GX is focused on high-quality, white-glove service that includes 24/7 support and consultations with HR, tax, and legal experts when required. It manages additional benefits for its clients, and while it doesn’t do recruitment in-house, it provides recruitment services through a network of international agencies.
Global Expansion Key Features:
- Global Expansion offers EOR and contractor management services in 214 countries and territories.
- It supports recruitment through an international network of agencies.
- GX administers optional employee benefits that include medical coverage and retirement savings plans.
- It also provides outsourced payroll and HR services to organizations that own entities around the world.
8
Multiplier
The final RemoFirst alternative we’d like to suggest is Multiplier, a Singapore-based provider that offers services in over 150 countries. Multiplier’s contractor management price is $40, and its EOR price starts at a relatively affordable $400 per employee per month, though this is still double RemoFirst’s starting price.
The Multiplier platform is slightly more extensive than RemoFirst’s but is still lacking tools for recruitment. It also doesn’t provide active talent-sourcing services. Its additional benefits are more extensive, however, offering medical benefits, retirement savings, and equity packages.
Multiplier Key Features:
- Multiplier helps clients hire employees and contractors in over 150 countries.
- It administers both mandatory and optional employee benefits.
- Multiplier offers global payroll service and HR outsourcing in over 100 countries and immigration support in 140.
REMOTE PEOPLE FURTHER READING
Explore our detailed guide for an in-depth comparison between RemoFirst and Multiplier, highlighting their features, strengths, and key differences.
How to Choose the Best Alternative to RemoFirst
If you’ve looked over RemoFirst’s details and, despite its low fees, you’ve decided that it’s not the right service provider for your needs, you still have lots of options.
Choosing between them, however, can be difficult because of all the different variables involved. To help you make your choice, we suggest you focus on the following criteria to find providers that offer what RemoFirst lacks:
Extensive Platform
While RemoFirst’s platform may be useful for some smaller organizations, larger companies will find it quite limited. To manage their HR functions, they’ll likely have to spend money on a subscription to another HRIS program.
To avoid this complication, look for a platform that’s already a complete HRIS so you can manage everything in one location.
Integration
When you’re managing benefits and running payroll, it really helps to be able to share data between your EOR’s platform and the applications you’re already using to run your business.
Choose a provider with lots of pre-built integrations to the finance, accounting, HR, and communications software you already use in your organization.
Recruitment
If you need help sourcing talent around the world, there are several EOR providers that also offer recruitment services. This is normally more convenient than also engaging recruitment agencies, especially if you’re hiring in multiple countries.
If you’re content to perform your own recruiting function, choose a provider that offers useful tools like an applicant tracking system (ATS) and access to searchable talent pools around the world.
Horizons as Your Employer of Record Gusto Alternative
While RemoFirst has one of the lowest prices in the EOR industry, its platform and range of services can leave a lot to be desired. An excellent alternative is Horizons, which offers a competitive price, an extensive platform, and important international recruitment services.
Horizons or one of the other entries on our list of the top 8 RemoFirst alternatives might be exactly what you need to help you succeed in hiring and managing your international team.
Frequently Asked Questions
At present, RemoFirst isn’t offering any AI-powered tools or services. However, we can expect that to change in the future because many competitors are already leveraging this new technology.
RemoFirst’s platform is light on features, missing things like performance management, analytics, and recruitment tools. As such, it can’t be considered a standalone HRIS.
No, at present, RemoFirst doesn’t provide a mobile app to help employees or admins access its platform from their mobile devices.