Employ
RecruitTop 8 Skuad Alternatives
In the past, if you wanted to hire programmers in Prague and marketing masters in Milan, you’d have to have entities set up in both the Czech Republic and Italy. These days, however, it’s getting easier to bring people from all over the world onto your payroll. You can share files with them in real time, have video conferences anytime, and even monitor their working hours remotely. There are also service providers available that can help you hire employees and contractors essentially anywhere in the world.
Skuad is a global hiring provider that focuses on Employer of Record (EOR) services. It can help businesses hire globally, run payroll, and manage their workers around the world. While it offers multiple services with lots of options, Skuad may not be the best fit for every business out there.
In this article, we’ll examine the top eight Skuad alternatives available to help you make an informed decision about which service provider your organization should partner with.
Skauad as an Employer of Record
Skuad is a Singapore-based company founded in 2019, just in time for the Great Resignation. Now owned by global payment services giant Payoneer, Skuad has a truly global reach.
As an EOR, this provider can help clients hire employees in over 160 countries and maintain legal compliance in all of them. It does this by using its network of subsidiaries and third-party partners to enter into contracts with employees directly, hiring them on behalf of its clients. For example, if you wanted those Prague programmers to work for you, Skuad would use its entity in Italy to hire them. It would also take on the responsibility of being their full legal employer in the country.
In addition, Skuad would also take care of all of their HR needs, including paying their salaries, withholding their income taxes, deducting social security contributions, and managing their paid time off (PTO).
Like most EORs, Skuad employs legal, tax, and HR experts around the world to help it generate contracts for its clients and ensure that it follows all necessary tax and labor laws where employees work.
This provider has recently added recruitment to its range of services, which means that it can help clients source talent all over the world using both in-house recruiters and a network of agencies. It can onboard these workers quickly and efficiently, adding them to its platform and the client’s payroll in a matter of days.
The Skuad platform includes several useful features, especially for financial management and international payments. However, it’s not comprehensive enough to be used as a standalone HRIS (human resources information system). Finally, if you own your own entities in some countries, you can also outsource your HR and payroll functions to Skuad to help you manage your employees effectively worldwide.
Skuad's Main Advantages
Skuad, like all service providers in the global employment industry, offers a unique set of services and features to its clients. This provides them with the following advantages:
Pricing
Skuad’s starting prices are some of the lowest in the global hiring industry. EOR prices start at just $199 per employee/month when you sign up for an annual plan. Equally affordable, contractor management services start at just $19 per person/month.
This makes Skuad an affordable option for smaller businesses on restricted budgets.
Recruitment Services
In the past, Skuad left recruitment entirely up to its clients. However, in late 2024, it began offering active recruitment services.
Skuad employs in-house recruiters but also works with 20 agencies to help its clients find the talent they need around the world.
Time and Attendance Tool
Unlike several competitors, Skuad’s platform includes built-in time and attendance tools to help employers manage time-tracking easily. Using these tools, they can submit timesheets directly within the platform, where they are immediately shared with payroll for instant calculations.
Benefits
As part of its EOR services, Skuad takes care of mandatory benefits like PTO and social security contributions in all the countries where it works. If clients want to offer their workers more, Skuad can also administer additional benefits packages that include health and dental insurance as well as pensions.
Skuad's Main Drawbacks
Just as every provider has its strengths, it will also have a specific set of weaknesses to deal with. The downsides of using Skuad include the following:
Limited platform features
Many of Skuad’s competitors provide platforms that are comprehensive and can be used as standalone HRISs. Skuad’s platform is lacking features like an applicant tracking system (ATS), employee engagement tools, and performance management features. Many businesses will need to use a separate HRIS to help manage their full complement of HR functions.
Integration
Skuad’s platform can integrate natively with around a dozen HR and accounting apps like Quickbooks, Workaday, and BambooHR. This is a lot less than the dozens or hundreds of integrations that other competitors offer and means that sharing data between this platform and your other tools may not be smooth and easy.
No mobile app
While many competing platforms have introduced mobile apps to help employees conveniently access their pay and benefits information, Skuad has not. Having a mobile app can make this provider more attractive as it would allow employees to manage many HR concerns on their own.
Top 8 Skuad Alternatives
Skuad is certainly an affordable EOR provider that offers additional services to make international hiring efficient. At the same time, it lacks several features that might be needed by many organizations.
If you feel like Skuad might not be the best partner for your global hiring needs, there are many other options available.
| Company | Description |
|---|---|
| Horizons | Offers tailored EOR and PEO solutions that simplify global hiring, ensuring compliance and seamless workforce expansion without the need for a local entity. |
| Deel | Provides a fast, all-in-one platform for global payroll, contracts, and compliance, making it easy for businesses to hire and pay teams in over 150 countries. |
| Remote | Specializes in global employment solutions, handling payroll, benefits, and compliance to help companies build and manage distributed teams effortlessly. |
| Rippling | Integrates HR, payroll, and IT into a unified system, enabling businesses to onboard and manage employees globally with automation and compliance support. |
| Global Expansion | Provides strategic global hiring solutions, offering EOR and payroll services to help businesses expand internationally while mitigating compliance risks. |
| Safeguard Global | Delivers workforce management solutions that support international hiring, payroll processing, and compliance, allowing businesses to scale with confidence. |
| Multiplier | Empowers companies to hire globally with its EOR and HR platform, ensuring compliance, managing payroll, and providing employee benefits across multiple countries. |
| Remofirst | Offers affordable EOR services designed for startups and SMEs, simplifying global hiring, payroll, and compliance to help businesses expand internationally. |
We’d like to suggest the following service providers, which we think are the top 8 Skuad alternatives:
1
Horizons
Horizons is a well-known, professional provider that’s also considered highly affordable. While Skuad is cheaper, Horizons’ prices are still very low compared to the industry average. Its prices start at $299/employee per month for EOR services and $29/person per month for contractor management.
Horizons also works in over 180 countries to help clients hire employees and contractors, offering more coverage than Skuad. It provides mandatory benefits administration and ensures compliance in all the countries where it hires by working with a team of HR and legal experts. It also administers additional benefits like equity, pension, and insurance packages on behalf of its clients.
Horizons also offers global recruiting services, but unlike Skuad, it keeps all of its recruiting in-house for smoother communication and needs assessments. Finally, the Horizons platform is a full-featured, comprehensive HRIS and includes over 75 out-of-the-box integrations.
Horizons Key Features:
- Horizons provides employee and contractor hiring services in over 180
- It administers additional employee benefits, including health insurance and pensions.
- Horizons provides in-house active recruitment services worldwide.
- The Horizons platform can be used as a standalone HRIS and includes more than 75 pre-built integrations with other useful apps.
Deel
As another well-known global hiring service provider, Deel is also a highly recommended alternative to Skuad. Deel helps clients hire employees and contractors in over 150 countries. It also works as a PEO or Professional Employment Organization in all US states and provides IT, HR, and payroll outsourcing services to companies that own entities worldwide. In some, but not all countries, Deel offers additional health and retirement savings benefits to its clients.
However, it doesn’t provide any recruitment services or tools. Deel’s platform is highly rated for being easy and user-friendly, and it offers pre-built integrations with over 100 software applications. Deel does, however, charge a much higher price than Skuad, with its EOR services starting at $599/employee per month and a high contractor price of $49/person per month.
Deel Key Features:
- Deel helps clients hire employees and contractors in over 150 countries.
- It also provides global payroll, HR, and IT outsourcing services.
- The Deel platform offers over 100 integrations and is considered very easy to implement and administer.
- Deel AI is now offered as a free tool, providing insights and compliance advice to clients.
3
Remote
Remote is a service provider that offers EOR at $599/employee per month. However, it’s a lot cheaper for contractor management with a price of $29/person per month. Remote help with contractor hiring in over 180 countries.
However, it only provides EOR services in 100 because it only uses its own subsidiaries and no third-party partners. This helps it maintain a high quality of service for all of its clients, no matter where they are. In contrast with Skuad, Remote’s platform is a full-featured HRIS, though it is rated as less user-friendly. It includes recruitment tools, but the provider doesn’t have active recruitment tools on offer. Remote also manages supplementary employee benefits for its clients, which include pension and health insurance packages.
Remote Key Features:
- Remote hires employees only in the 100 countries where it owns subsidiaries.
- Its extensive platform works as an HRIS and includes a handy mobile app for both employers and admins.
- Remote provides clients access to its global talent pools and an AI-powered candidate matching tool to help them source their own talent.
4
Rippling
Rippling is another service provider that matches Remote’s and Deel’s EOR price of $599/employee per month. This American provider was initially built as an HRIS and, therefore, unsurprisingly includes the biggest range of tools and features of any company on our list of top 8 Skuad alternatives. This includes recruitment tools like an ATS, though Rippling doesn’t offer any active recruitment services.
It also provides an impressive list of over 600 out-of-the-box integrations with other software packages to make data transfer easy. These features can make its platform challenging to implement and learn, however. While Rippling has contractor management services available in 188 countries, it only offers EOR services in 29.
Rippling Key Features:
- Rippling offers mandatory and supplementary benefits administration.
- The Rippling platform is a comprehensive, standalone HRIS with countless features and hundreds of integrations.
- Rippling also offers global payroll services around the world.
5
Global Expansion
Global Expansion (GX) is another popular alternative to Skuad, albeit a much more costly one. While GX charges $39/per person per month for contractors, its EOR price is well above the industry average at $850/per employee per month. The main reason for this high price is GX’s focus on a very high quality of service.
It provides 24/7 support for both clients and their employees and provides advice on HR, taxes, and legal compliance from its team of experts. GX provides administration for the supplementary benefits that employees may want to give their employees like health care and pensions. It also provides active recruiting services worldwide.
Global Expansion Key Features:
- Global Expansion helps clients hire in 214 countries and territories around the world.
- It also provides global payroll and HR outsourcing for clients who have their own entities.
- GX provides global talent-sourcing services through a network of recruitment agencies.
- The GX platform includes time-tracking, contract lifestyle management, analytics, and other useful tools.
6
Safeguard Global
Safeguard works in fewer places than GX but more than Skuad at over 170 countries. Its contractor price is one of the lowest in the industry at $5-$10/person per month. However, its other prices, including its EOR fees, are available by tailored quote only.
Safeguard Global offers recruitment services to help source talent globally as well as temporary staffing. It also lets clients outsource their HR and payroll functions if they own entities internationally. All of these services are supported by HR and legal experts who help advise clients and ensure compliance with local laws.
Safeguard Global Key Features:
- Safeguard Global provides contractor and employee hiring in over 170 countries.
- It provides payroll and HR outsourcing services.
- This provider helps clients source talent through its active recruiting and temporary staffing solutions.
- Safeguard Global enables global expansion by providing entity setup services globally.
7
Remofirst
Challenging Skuad for affordability, Remofirst is another provider that offers a starting price of just $199/employee per month for its EOR services. Its contractor price is slightly more at $25/person per month, though this is still below the industry average.
Remofirst provides clients with a simple and easy-to-use platform, though it’s low on features and can’t replace an HRIS for most organizations’ needs. It doesn’t include performance management or recruitment tools, nor does Remofirst offer active recruitment services. It does, however, administer additional health benefits through its RemoHealth program.
Remofirst Key Features:
- Remofirst helps clients hire employees in over 180 countries and contractors in over 150.
- It offers an easy and user-friendly platform.
- The provider includes a benefits division called RemoHealth, which provides medical, vision, dental, and wellness packages for employees.
8
Multiplier
One final addition to our top 8 Skuad alternatives list is Multiplier, a competing Singapore-based global hiring company. Multiplier provides slightly less global coverage, with hiring in over 150 countries. Its fees are also higher at $400/employee per month and $40/contractor per month, though this is still a relatively affordable option.
Multiplier provides global payroll services as well as additional employee benefits that include equity, health insurance, and retirement savings packages. Multiplier is known for quick onboarding and an easy-to-use platform.
Multiplier Key Features:
- Multiplier provides EOR and contractor management services in over 150 countries.
- Employees moving to 140 countries can make use of visa and immigration support services.
- This provider manages both mandatory and supplemental employee benefits.
How to Choose the Best Alternative to Skuad
We know that selecting a global hiring partner isn’t an easy task. There are dozens or possibly hundreds of service providers in the market, and telling them apart can be challenging.
If you’re looking for an alternative to Skuad, however, the best strategy is to look for a provider that has what Skuad lacks. We recommend evaluating potential providers based on the following criteria:
Global Coverage
Skuad has decent international coverage with hiring in over 160 countries. However, if you’re planning to hire in many locations, especially in emerging economies, you may need greater coverage. Look for a competitor that hires in over 180 countries or more.
Integrations
Skuad’s platform integrates with only a handful of other applications. If you want to share data quickly and seamlessly between your EOR provider’s platform and the software you’re already using in other aspects of your business, look for a provider with hundreds of ready-made integrations.
Platform features
While Skuad’s platform is adequate for some users, others will find that it lacks a lot of the important features needed to manage all of their HR needs in one place. Look for a platform that acts as a standalone HRIS so it can meet all of your needs.
Price
Price is always an important consideration, and if Skuad’s service isn’t ideal for you, look for a provider that is similarly affordable. Make sure, however, that you ask for a detailed quote before signing a service agreement to avoid any hidden fees later.
Horizons as Your Employer of Record Skuad Alternative
Skuad is an affordable global hiring provider with a good range of services and features. However, it may not be the ideal partner for many organizations. If you’re looking for a professional and reliable provider that offers an affordable alternative with a comprehensive platform, Horizons might be the best choice to partner with.
Frequently Asked Questions
A human resources information system is a complete solution for managing all aspects of HR in one central piece of software. While Skuad’s global employment platform has a lot of features, it’s missing some critical elements like an applicant tracking system and employee engagement tools that could make it a standalone HRIS.
Skuad has recently begun offering recruiting services through its in-house recruiters and a network of 20 agencies worldwide. However, its platform doesn’t offer tools like an ATS that would help clients source talent on their own.
No, Skuad has not yet rolled out any AI tools or features. We can expect these to appear soon, however, as this provider works to keep up with its competitors.
Hire Globally. Stay Compliant.
- Hire in 150+ countries
- EOR from $199/mo
- In-house recruiters
- Humans, not chatbots
Switching from another EOR? We handle the migration for free.