Cheapest EOR for a 2-5 Person Team: Pricing Ranked (2026)
Multiplier is the cheapest verified Employer of Record platform for a small team at $400/employee/month, followed by Deel, then Remote.com and Oyster tied at the top. Full ranked pricing with a worked example for teams of 2-5.
Updated July 3, 2026 • Verified current for 2026
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For a 2-5 person team, Multiplier is the cheapest verified Employer of Record option at $400 per employee per month. Deel is next at $599/mo billed monthly ($499/mo billed annually), and Remote.com and Oyster HR are tied at $699/mo, with Remote offering a $599/mo rate if you commit to annual billing — a discount Oyster’s pricing page doesn’t publish. All four figures come from each platform’s public pricing page, cross-checked against CostBench’s verified pricing dossier.
Ranked by Price: EOR for a Small Team
| Rank | Platform | Monthly billing | Annual billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (cheapest) | Multiplier | $400/mo | (not published) |
| 2 | Deel | $599/mo | $499/mo |
| 3 (tied) | Remote.com | $699/mo | $599/mo |
| 3 (tied) | Oyster HR | $699/mo | (not published) |
Multiplier holds the cheapest position at either billing structure — even Deel’s discounted $499/mo annual rate is $99/mo more expensive per employee than Multiplier’s single published rate.
What a Year Actually Costs: 3-Person and 5-Person Teams
Billed monthly, one year, 3-person team:
- Multiplier: 3 × $400 × 12 = $14,400
- Deel: 3 × $599 × 12 = $21,564
- Remote.com: 3 × $699 × 12 = $25,164
- Oyster HR: 3 × $699 × 12 = $25,164
Same team, Deel and Remote billed annually instead:
- Deel: 3 × $499 × 12 = $17,964
- Remote.com: 3 × $599 × 12 = $21,564
Multiplier’s $14,400 stays the cheapest option even against those discounted annual rates.
Scaling to a 5-person team, monthly billing:
- Multiplier: 5 × $400 × 12 = $24,000
- Deel: 5 × $599 × 12 = $35,940
- Remote.com / Oyster HR: 5 × $699 × 12 = $41,940
At 5 employees, the gap between the cheapest and most expensive verified platform is $17,940 per year — real money for a team this size.
Quote-Only Vendors: Don’t Assume They’re Cheaper
Several EOR-adjacent platforms don’t have a public price confident enough to cite directly here. Rippling’s EOR-related plans are listed as custom/quote on its own pricing page — no published starting figure. Papaya Global and Velocity Global publish pricing that CostBench’s verification pipeline scored below the confidence threshold used in this guide, meaning the listed figures weren’t recent or specific enough to stand behind as a citable number. Treat all three as quote-only: contact them directly and get a written quote before assuming they beat the four platforms ranked above.
Should a Small Team Even Use Full EOR?
If the hire is genuinely project-based or independent — not full-time, exclusive, company-directed work — a contractor management plan is far cheaper than any EOR plan on this page: as low as $29/mo (Remote, Oyster) or $40/mo (Multiplier) per contractor, versus $400-699/mo for full EOR. EOR earns its higher price when the role functions like a real employee relationship and the cost of getting the classification wrong — back taxes, penalties, worker claims — outweighs the monthly fee difference. A 2-5 person team should size this decision role by role, not default to one structure for the whole team.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the cheapest Employer of Record platform for a small team in 2026?
Among verified providers, Multiplier is the cheapest at $400 per employee per month per Multiplier's public pricing page (verified June 13, 2026). Deel is next at $599/mo billed monthly ($499/mo billed annually). Remote.com and Oyster HR are tied at the top of the verified range at $699/mo per employee, with Remote offering a $599/mo annual-billing discount that Oyster's pricing page doesn't publish.
For a 3-person team, how much does a year of EOR actually cost across providers?
Billed monthly for one year: Multiplier costs $14,400 (3 × $400 × 12), Deel costs $21,564 (3 × $599 × 12), and Remote and Oyster each cost $25,164 (3 × $699 × 12). Billing Deel and Remote annually instead brings those down to $17,964 and $21,564 respectively — Multiplier remains the cheapest even against those discounted annual rates.
Should a small team just pick the cheapest EOR platform?
Price alone doesn't capture country coverage, benefits quality, or how fast a platform can actually onboard your specific hire in your specific country — a 2-5 person team is likely hiring in one or two countries, not fifty, so verify the platform actually operates cleanly (owned entity, not a subcontracted local partner) in the country you need before defaulting to the lowest sticker price.
Are there cheaper EOR options than the verified providers in this guide?
Some platforms — Papaya Global, Velocity Global, and Rippling among them — either don't publish EOR pricing at a high enough confidence level to cite here or require a custom quote outright. Rippling's EOR-adjacent plans are listed as custom/quote-only on its own pricing page. Treat any of these as quote-only: contact them directly rather than assuming a lower price than the four platforms verified in this guide.
Does a small team need the full EOR product, or would a lighter contractor plan work?
If the person is doing project-based or genuinely independent work, a contractor management plan (as low as $29-40/mo per contractor across the platforms in this guide) is far cheaper than any EOR plan. EOR only makes sense once the role looks like a real employee relationship — set hours, ongoing exclusive work, company-provided equipment — where misclassification risk outweighs the cost difference.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the cheapest Employer of Record platform for a small team in 2026?
Among verified providers, Multiplier is the cheapest at $400 per employee per month per Multiplier's public pricing page (verified June 13, 2026). Deel is next at $599/mo billed monthly ($499/mo billed annually). Remote.com and Oyster HR are tied at the top of the verified range at $699/mo per employee, with Remote offering a $599/mo annual-billing discount that Oyster's pricing page doesn't publish.
For a 3-person team, how much does a year of EOR actually cost across providers?
Billed monthly for one year: Multiplier costs $14,400 (3 × $400 × 12), Deel costs $21,564 (3 × $599 × 12), and Remote and Oyster each cost $25,164 (3 × $699 × 12). Billing Deel and Remote annually instead brings those down to $17,964 and $21,564 respectively — Multiplier remains the cheapest even against those discounted annual rates.
Should a small team just pick the cheapest EOR platform?
Price alone doesn't capture country coverage, benefits quality, or how fast a platform can actually onboard your specific hire in your specific country — a 2-5 person team is likely hiring in one or two countries, not fifty, so verify the platform actually operates cleanly (owned entity, not a subcontracted local partner) in the country you need before defaulting to the lowest sticker price.
Are there cheaper EOR options than the verified providers in this guide?
Some platforms — Papaya Global, Velocity Global, and Rippling among them — either don't publish EOR pricing at a high enough confidence level to cite here or require a custom quote outright. Rippling's EOR-adjacent plans are listed as custom/quote-only on its own pricing page. Treat any of these as quote-only: contact them directly rather than assuming a lower price than the four platforms verified in this guide.
Does a small team need the full EOR product, or would a lighter contractor plan work?
If the person is doing project-based or genuinely independent work, a contractor management plan (as low as $29-40/mo per contractor across the platforms in this guide) is far cheaper than any EOR plan. EOR only makes sense once the role looks like a real employee relationship — set hours, ongoing exclusive work, company-provided equipment — where misclassification risk outweighs the cost difference.
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