Best international global payroll services: Top 5

Panna Kemenes

23.03.23

11 minute read

Paying employees and contractors across many countries can come with difficulties. As of 2021, 67% of businesses have a formalized payroll strategy, as the amount of international hiring has increased.¹

From changing employment laws to compliance issues, navigating global payroll can be a real challenge. That’s where international payroll providers come in. They simplify global payroll, allowing you to focus on growth.

This article will help compare the top international payroll providers, so you can choose the best one.

Pay employees around the world
with Wise Business

Quick overview

Here’s a quick comparison of our top 5 international global payroll providers.

Service	No. of countries supported	Great for
Deel	90+ for Employer of Record (EoR)/ 150+ for Contractors	Businesses wanting flexibility as to how they fund payroll
Globalization partners	180+	Businesses wanting a strong EoR solution that guarantees compliance
Papaya Global	160+	Businesses wanting a well-rounded international global payroll provider
ADP Global Payroll	140+	Businesses wanting a strong HR solution in addition to payroll processing
Rippling	50+	Businesses wanting speedy payroll processing in addition to 500+ integrations

Deel

Pros	Cons
One-click compliant contract creation Country specific benefit packages available Flexible payroll payment methods In-house team of legal, payroll and tax specialists Deel debit card for contractors Contractor misclassification protection HR and reporting tools for global insights Local Deel entities in 90+ countries	Contractor misclassification protection only available in Deel Premium plan and above Lower amount of supported countries for EoR compared to other providers

Deel is best suited for businesses wanting a variety of payroll funding options, as well as contractor misclassification protection.

Deel unifies contractor management, payroll processing and Employer of Record (EoR) services into one single platform.²

It supports 15,000+ businesses, from Nike and Reebok to Revolut.³

Features

Deel runs payroll processing for 90+ countries.²

It has a local presence with direct entities abroad, providing control over the payroll and Employer of Record (EoR) processes.

It manages country specific benefit packages, deductions, taxes and local compliance issues.³

With Deel, you can create a compliant employee contract within minutes. It supports immigration services and offers an end-to-end solution for worker relocation.⁴

Deel’s reporting tools give you an overview of your global workforce.² These tools enable you to make data-driven decisions. It also has a wide range of HR tools and integrations to simplify workflows.³

Deel protects you against contractor misclassification issues. It does this through Deel Shield.⁵

Contractor misclassification can occur when a contractor is classed as independent yet meets the criteria for full-time status. This is illegal in most countries and can cause your business to be fined. With the Deel Premium plan, you’re covered up to $25,000 USD in legal costs.⁵

Another standout feature of Deel is the variety of payment methods you can use for payroll processing.

Available payment methods are:

Credit card
Debit card
Bank transfer
Direct debit
Wise transfers
Mercury transfers
Brex transfers
Coinbase transfers⁶
ACH⁷

These wide range of payment methods make Deel a flexible payroll processor. It’s one of the few global payroll services to support cryptocurrency transfers.

An additional unique feature of Deel is its contractor card. You can issue your contractors the Deel debit card. With this card, they can make personal purchases and receive payroll in a stable currency, like USD. The Deel debit card costs $5 USD and charges 1.25% on all non-USD transactions.⁹

Deel also partners with Wise.
Wise gives you the mid-market exchange rate when paying international employees and contractors. This translates to no hidden fees, multi-currency support and a fair conversion rate.⁸

Fees

Deel’s global HR solution, Deel HR, is free of charge for companies with up to 200 employees. Through Deel HR, you’ll get access to Deel’s Direct Employee plan.¹⁰

Deel’s Direct Employee plan is also free of charge. This plan helps streamline the payroll and onboarding process for your business, working through Deel’s local entities abroad.

For Deel’s Contractor plan, you’ll pay $49 USD per contractor per month.¹⁰ Through this plan, you can hire and pay contractors in 150+ countries.

The Deel contractor plan also has three sub-categories which give you different degrees of protection against worker misclassification:

Deel Standard - no additional protection
Deel Premium - Deel covers up to $25,000 USD in legal costs
Deel Shield - Deel hires and classifies the contractor on your behalf⁵

Deel doesn’t, however, state the prices for these different types of contractor plans.

For Deel’s EoR Employee plan, you’ll pay $599 per employee per month. This gives you access to Deel’s full EoR functionality, while allowing you to hire and pay employees through Deel owned entities in 90+ countries.¹⁰

Customer support

Deel offers 24/7 customer support.³

They have an online FAQ hub, as well as a support portal within the app.¹¹ On top of this, their average response time for in-app support is 1.25 minutes.³

Globalization Partners

Pros	Cons
Payroll and onboarding services in 180+ countries 400+ global partners Automated payroll processing Strong EoR solution for international onboarding Team of legal and tax experts to create globally compliant contracts in minutes GDPR compliant In-house expertise - Globalization Partners doesn’t rely on third parties Partners with Wise to provide cheap international transfers and currency conversions	G-P Recruit and Employee plans are custom/quote-based prices, so you'll need to get in touch to find out the cost for your business Complete EoR functionality comes at an additional cost

Pros

Cons

Payroll and onboarding services in 180+ countries
400+ global partners
Automated payroll processing
Strong EoR solution for international onboarding
Team of legal and tax experts to create globally compliant contracts in minutes
GDPR compliant
In-house expertise - Globalization Partners doesn’t rely on third parties
Partners with Wise to provide cheap international transfers and currency conversions

G-P Recruit and Employee plans are custom/quote-based prices, so you'll need to get in touch to find out the cost for your business
Complete EoR functionality comes at an additional cost

Globalization Partners (G-P) is great for businesses looking for a strong EoR solution. It has 400+ global partners and boasts a customer satisfaction rating of 94%.⁴⁰ Its SaaS system centralizes data, making for a streamlined, end-to-end global payroll and EoR solution.⁴¹

Key features

Globalization Partners provides automated, error-free payroll payments. It does this across a range of payment methods and in over 150 currencies. In fact, they guarantee 99% payroll accuracy.⁴² ⁴³ ⁴⁴

joined forces with Wise

G-P Contractor will now deliver flexible payment options and a straightforward view into the entire payments process.

mid-market rate

On top of this, their team of local experts can advise you on country specific employee benefits. This enables you to stay compliant with country specific regulations.⁴²

Globalization Partners' standout feature is its global onboarding service. With partners in 180+ countries, Globalization Partners makes global onboarding speedy and simplified. Their team of legal, tax and immigration experts provide an end-to-end onboarding solution. And, as they’re the Employer of Record, they take on the legal risk - not you.⁴⁶

With their EoR and HR tools, you can generate compliant employee contracts in a matter of minutes. This makes global hiring a speedy, headache-free process. Likewise, Globalization Partners provides contract lifecycle management (CLM). This ensures your employee contracts remain compliant.⁴⁷

On top of this, Globalization Partners is GDPR compliant.⁴⁸ This makes it one of the best international payroll services for data protection and privacy. They also don’t rely on third party services. All their experts are in-house, protecting your privacy and reducing complexity.⁴⁹

Fees

Globalization Partners offers you three different subscription plans.

Their G-P Contractor plan gives you the tools for onboarding, managing and paying international contractors. It starts at $49 USD per contractor per month. That said, additional fees may apply.⁴⁰
The G-P Recruit plan gives you access to local recruiting specialists worldwide. This helps you identify and hire global talent. Pricing for this plan is custom.⁴⁰
Lastly, the G-P Employee plan gives you full access to their Global Employment Platform. With this plan, you’ll have access to every HR, payroll and EoR feature Globalization Partners has to offer. Again, pricing for this plan is quote-based.⁴⁰

Customer support

Globalization Partners offers customer support 24/7, 365 days of the year.⁴³

You can contact them through their online support form. Likewise, you can email or call them. They have customer support hubs with local experts across a range of countries.⁴¹

Papaya Global

Pros	Cons
Access to a team of immigration and compliance experts AI-driven SaaS system prevents human error and reduces manual effort End-to-end solution for payroll and EoR services Global onboarding and payroll services covering 160+ countries and 100+ currencies Transparent pricing Papaya Global uses their own regulated payments network which prevents payroll payment leakage and hidden fees Real time analytics and reporting for payroll and HR Integrations streamline workflows and automate payroll, EoR and HR services	No free trial Business analytics and insights come at an additional price EoR plan comes at a high cost - difficult for small businesses and startups to cover Visa and immigration support costs extra

Pros

Cons

Access to a team of immigration and compliance experts
AI-driven SaaS system prevents human error and reduces manual effort
End-to-end solution for payroll and EoR services
Global onboarding and payroll services covering 160+ countries and 100+ currencies
Transparent pricing
Papaya Global uses their own regulated payments network which prevents payroll payment leakage and hidden fees
Real time analytics and reporting for payroll and HR
Integrations streamline workflows and automate payroll, EoR and HR services

No free trial
Business analytics and insights come at an additional price
EoR plan comes at a high cost - difficult for small businesses and startups to cover
Visa and immigration support costs extra

Papaya Global is best for businesses looking for a well-rounded global payroll provider. It’s the choice of companies such as Microsoft, Shopify and Toyota.¹²

Papaya Global’s AI-driven system integrates payroll, EoR and HR services into one platform. This makes for better insights and increased control over your global workforce.

As Papaya Global’s system is a type of Software as a Service (SaaS), you can easily integrate it with your current providers.¹³

Key Features

With Papaya Global, you can pay employees and contractors in over 160 countries and 100+ currencies.¹⁴ ¹⁵

All payroll payments come with a 72-hour guarantee. If a payment takes longer, Papaya Global accepts full liability for the problem.¹⁴

Payroll payments can be automated. All you need to do is set the date, and they handle the rest.¹⁴ A unique feature of Papaya Global is that they’ve built their very own regulated payment network.¹⁴

By using their embedded payment network, you’ll never have to worry about hidden fees again. This means zero payroll payment leakage. Your recipient will receive the exact amount you send them.

Likewise, Papaya Global enables you to simulate payments before making them. This allows you to test for delays, foreign exchange fees and any other unexpected factors. ¹⁴

With its EoR and contractor management functionality, Papaya Global also allows for international onboarding. They offer a full end-to-end onboarding solution, taking the complexity out of hiring global talent.

Their in-built compliance engine delivers standardized data on country specific employment laws. This data then integrates with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, preventing compliance issues.¹⁵

Their contractor management features give you access to a team of immigration experts. They help your business in every stage of the international onboarding process. From visas and work permits, to changing laws, they handle it all.¹⁶

Papaya Global’s HR and reporting tools give you increased control over your global workforce. With live reporting, you can see the cost breakdown of your global workforce at any time. This can be broken down further, allowing you to analyze costs per country, person and over a given time period.¹⁷

Papaya Global offers their own health insurance plan for your global employees. Their team of experts can also advise you on local employee benefit expectations. This allows you to design benefit packages that meet your employee’s country’s standards.¹⁸

Fees

For their full-service Payroll plan, Papaya Global charges $12 USD per month per employee.¹⁹ To access their Employer of Record plan, they charge $750 USD per employee per month.¹⁹
For their Contractor Management plan, you’ll pay $25 USD per employee per month.¹⁹
To create employee benefit packages, you’ll pay $250 USD per month per employee. This is their Global Expertise Services plan.¹⁹
Business insights and analytics comes at an extra cost of $150 USD per month per location.¹⁹

Customer support

Your Papaya Global subscription comes with a dedicated account manager. You also have access to a team of compliance and immigration experts.

In addition to this, they provide an FAQ section, online customer support portal and support via email.²⁰ ²¹ ²²

Read the full Papaya Global review.

ADP Global Payroll

Pros	Cons
Automated payroll processing and HR services in 140+ countries Integrated Human Capital Management (HCM) system taking HR work off your business Specific services suited for every size of business Wide range of integrations through ADP’s marketplace, from POS to productivity and accounting Live 24/7 customer support	Lack of transparent pricing - every plan is quoted based Not an EoR - meaning you share the legal responsibility with ADP for your global employees

ADP Global Payroll is suited to businesses of all sizes looking for a strong global HR solution, as well as payroll processing.

ADP Global Payroll is one of the leading names among international payroll processing solutions. It services over 1 million clients and pays 1 in 6 workers in the US.²³ ²⁴

Key Features

ADP offers different services depending on the size of your business. They define business size on the basis of employee volume:

Small - 1-49 employees
Midsized - 50-999 employees
Large - 1000+ employees²³

For each size of business, ADP offers various payroll and HR packages.²⁵

For midsized to large businesses, ADP offers three different payroll service plans. These are based on employee volume per country:

ADP Global Payroll - for 1,000+ employees
ADP Celergo - for 50-1,000+ employees per country
ADP Globalview Payroll - for 1,000+ employees²⁶

ADP boasts the full range of payroll, PEO and HR services. They provide automated payroll processing for 140+ countries.²⁶ Federal, state and local taxes are calculated and paid on your behalf, while ensuring compliance.²⁷

ADP enables you to outsource all of your HR tasks. Their integrated Human Capital Management (HCM) system allows you to focus on growth while they handle the rest. They take care of everything from benefit administration and workforce management to compliance.²⁸

ADP offers small business specific PEO and HR services with special features. For example, one-click job posting to leading job boards, as well as applicant tracking.²⁹

ADP also offers a wide range of integrations. From accounting, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and productivity apps, to point of sale (POS) and attendance tracking software, ADP has it all.³⁰

A key difference between ADP and other payroll providers is that it’s not an EoR - instead, it’s a PEO. This means that you enter a co-employment agreement with ADP and share the legal responsibilities of hiring international talent. It also means you have to register your business in every country you hire employees from.³¹

Fees

ADP doesn't list any official prices on their website. Instead, all prices are quote-based, depending on your specific business.³²

Customer support

ADP has an online customer support portal.³³ Customer support can also be reached by phone and in-app via live chat, Monday-Friday, 7:30am to 10:00pm ET.³⁴

Live support is also provided by ADP service centers 24/7.³⁴

Rippling

Pros	Cons
Full payroll, EoR, PEO, HR and IT solution Strong HR tools Integrations with 500+ apps Employee app controls and management	Payroll is available for only 50 countries - less than other international payroll providers Lack of pricing transparency IT, benefits administration and HR tools come at an additional cost³⁵

Rippling is best for businesses wanting speedy payroll processing, as well as many integrations.

It is an all-in-one workforce management, payroll, EoR, and IT solution.

Rippling pride themselves on their in-house expertise. They avoid using third-parties in the global payroll process. This makes them a secure international payroll provider.

Key features

Rippling provides automated payroll processing and tax filing in just 90 seconds, for over 50 countries.³⁶ ³⁷ This makes it one of the fastest international payroll solutions.

Rippling offers a strong human resource information system (HRIS). It automatically adjusts onboarding workflows by country, simplifying global administration. Likewise, integrated compliance data prevents you from running into legal issues when hiring and managing global talent.³⁷

Rippling’s integrated time-tracking and benefit administration system also makes for error-free payroll processing and prevents compliance issues.³⁷

As well as its PEO functionality, Rippling offers EoR services.³⁷

A unique feature of Rippling compared to other international payroll providers is its focus on IT services. With Rippling, you can manage, monitor and disable employee apps.

Single sign on (SSO) gives your employees one-click access to all company apps. Rippling also integrates with 500+ partner apps. This is a feature that no other international payroll provider offers.³⁸

Fees

Rippling’s services start at $8 USD per employee per month.³⁵

Rippling allows you to choose exactly what features you want. This means you’ll only pay for the features you actually need.

However, this means that all their prices are quote-based.

Customer support

You can contact customer support through your Rippling account.³⁹

Conclusion: What’s the best international global payroll service?

When looking for an international payroll service, the main thing to consider is the needs of the business.

For example, if global payroll makes up a large part of your payroll needs, then using Deel or Globalization Partners can be a good choice. As they partner with Wise, you’ll be able to get the real mid-market rate when you add Wise as a payment method.

Sources:

All sources checked March 23, 2023.

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