What exactly is Remote?
When executing the strategies outlined in our Pre-Boarding Playbook, the physical location of the new hire changes everything. If your company is based in the US, but you find a perfect candidate in Spain, you cannot easily place them on your Gusto payroll. You face massive legal hurdles regarding local labor laws, taxation, and intellectual property.
Remote solves this by operating as a global Employer of Record (EOR). They own legal entities across the globe. When you decide to hire that candidate in Spain, Remote legally employs them on your behalf, navigating the Spanish tax codes and labor laws, while the employee works day-to-day entirely for your organization.
The "Owned Entity" Guarantee
Many older global payroll providers use "partner networks", meaning they outsource your employment to a random third-party agency in the target country. Remote prides itself on a fully-owned infrastructure, meaning no middlemen, transparent pricing, and tighter security.
Interactive: The Remote "Shield"
Hiring an international contractor exposes your company to massive IP leakage and compliance fines. Click the toggle below to see how upgrading an international worker to Remote's EOR platform activates critical protections.
Standard Contractor vs. Remote EOR
Activate the Remote Shield to secure your international hires.
The Standout Global Features
While Deel is often praised for its rapid contractor onboarding, Remote positions itself as the premium choice for companies building serious, long-term global teams.
1. Remote IP Shield
For tech companies and creative agencies, intellectual property is everything. If a developer in Germany writes code for you as a standard contractor, local German laws might still grant them partial ownership of that code. Remote's legal infrastructure ensures maximum, legally binding transfer of IP rights to your company, securing your company's valuation during audits or acquisitions.
2. Premium Localized Benefits
Retention is a global challenge. Remote doesn't just offer the legal bare-minimum health insurance required by a foreign government. They negotiate premium health, dental, and pension packages tailored to local market expectations. This ensures your international hires feel just as valued as your domestic headquarters team.
3. Global Equity and Stock Options
Offering equity (RSUs or Stock Options) to international employees is notoriously complex due to overlapping tax jurisdictions. Remote has a dedicated compliance engine that helps you navigate these grants safely, ensuring you can incentivize your global workforce without triggering massive tax penalties for the employee.
The Objective Pros & Cons
Remote provides immense peace of mind, but that premium infrastructure comes at a cost.
The Pros
- Best-in-class Intellectual Property (IP) protection for international hires.
- Provides high-quality, localized premium benefits rather than bare-minimum compliance.
- Transparent flat-rate pricing with fully owned legal entities (no hidden third-party fees).
- Robust compliance engine for distributing fair global equity.
The Cons
- EOR pricing is inherently expensive for large, scaling full-time global teams.
- Contractor onboarding can feel slightly heavier and more rigid than lightweight alternatives.
- Lacks the native IT hardware provisioning (laptop shipping) found in specialized IT platforms.
Pricing & Top Alternatives
The Pricing Model: Remote champions "Fair Price Guarantee," meaning they charge a transparent flat rate with no hidden percentages. Paying international contractors is highly affordable (often around $29/month per contractor). However, the Employer of Record (EOR) service for full-time hires typically starts around $599/month per employee. As your global team scales, this software and legal overhead becomes a significant line item.
The Direct Competitor: Deel is Remote's biggest rival. Deel is generally considered slightly faster for rapid contractor onboarding and offers unique payout methods (like crypto), whereas Remote wins on deep IP security and premium benefits.
The Unified IT Alternative: If you need to manage global payroll, core HR, and physical IT hardware (like shipping MacBooks internationally with Jamf integration), Rippling offers a unified infrastructure that bridges the gap between HR compliance and IT execution. Compare all options in our Master Comparison Guide.
