Pros
- Free HR management software
- Great for businesses with an international workforce
- Long list of third-party integrations
- Transparent pricing
Cons
- Expensive for small businesses
- Limited customer support hours
What is Remote?
Remote is a global HR platform and workforce management tool designed for companies with remote employees or companies with a global workforce. It aims to assist businesses with managing their global employees across multiple countries, and it offers everything from onboarding and offboarding to payroll and human resources management.
Its base product is an Employer of Record service that helps your company hire and manage payroll in 150+ different countries. By using Remote, you can hire from a country without having an entity there. Additionally, if you’re a business that isn’t ready to hire internationally, Remote can also help you effortlessly navigate the complexities of multi-state payroll and tax regulations.
While you can use payroll independent of its other services, the price may not suit all small businesses.
Remote Pricing
Remote is expensive — even its Employer of Record (EOR) services are slightly higher than the average (but only slightly). It’s on par with other EOR options, and for companies that need what Remote provides, it can ultimately save you money in the long run. Navigating payroll, onboarding, offboarding, and employee management with a global team can be overwhelming — Remote eases the burden.
Remote Plans |
Price |
When To Use |
HR Management |
Free |
If you need onboarding, offboarding, expense management, and time and attendance |
Employee Of Record |
$599/mo billed annually |
If you want to hire a team globally |
Payroll |
$29/mo |
If you want to add payroll to your global team |
Contractor Management |
$29/mo |
If you want to manage contractors from all over the world |
Talent Management |
$119/mo |
If you need to hire diverse employees from across the globe. |
Equity |
$999/mo |
If you want to offer equity compensation for your global workforce. |
Remote also has pricing benefits that will help offset the initial costs (no hidden fees, no extra onboarding costs, discounts for annual plans, and discounts for startups).
If you like the product and its features and need assistance setting up various entities across multiple countries, it still might be worth the extra cost. Also, you will benefit from a fully transparent pricing model, so no need to worry about your monthly bill.
There is a contractor-only management service for $29/mo.
Is Remote Easy To Use?

The Remote interface for employers and employees is simple, with a clean UI and intuitive format.
There is a free version for employee management, which can be utilized as a free trial, so you can tool around inside the software to see if it’s a good fit for you before you invest.
Overall, I found the program to be easy to navigate — both for the employee and the employer — and straightforward.
Remote Features
Remote has decent features. You will likely find the features you need to run basic HR and payroll and to manage a global team.
Remote Features |
Availability |
Payroll Tax Support |
|
Auto-Schedule Payroll |
|
Bonus Payroll |
|
Off-Cycle Payroll |
|
Employee Management |
|
Paid Time Off |
|
Time Tracking |
|
HR Support |
|
Onboarding Support |
|
Benefits Administration |
|
Number Of Reports |
4+ |
Number Of Integrations |
100+ |
Number Of Users Supported |
Unlimited |
Niche features are hit or miss, but Remote is adding and expanding its options regularly based on customer feedback.
Check out its current feature offerings:
Payroll Processing

Payroll processing with Remote can either be an add-on to the Employee Of Record services or purchased as a singular software product.
For companies using Remote as an EOR, it makes sense to use the Remote payroll function as it integrates seamlessly with your other HR and employee management software. Remote is proficient with managing employees across various countries, with different payment currencies available.
Remote also integrates with Gusto (one of our favorite payroll providers– and the one we use here at Merchant Maverick) for global payroll, which can be an option if the Remote payroll service isn’t meeting all your needs.
Off-cycle payroll is run for new employees only and can be denied if not deemed necessary. Most payroll runs are completed in 4 days.
Payroll is available in 50 states.
Employee Management & PTO
Basic employee management is available for free on Remote. It’s easy to sign up for a basic employee management account. Onboarding, offboarding, time management, PTO, and expense management are available on the free account. An employee handbook is also available for United States employees and several other countries — with new countries being added all the time.
Reporting
Remote currently offers 4+ reports for payroll services.
HR & Onboarding
Remote’s HR and onboarding management platform is free for its basic features. It offers assistance with onboarding employees or contractors.

If you need any additional onboarding assistance or invoicing assistance to contractors, that is included in the paid plan. You can manage all your HR documents in one place, and Remote can assist with compliance — which is especially useful if you are a remote team with various legal needs across states and countries.
Time and attendance tracking is included in this HR suite, but it does not integrate well with other time-tracking programs. There is the possibility that you might have to enter the information twice if you do not have employees use Remote’s internal time-tracking feature.
Benefits Administration
Remote offers benefits administration. As the Employer Of Record, Remote is beholden to the benefits laws in the countries where it operates to remain compliant. So, it’s important to know the local requirements of benefits for the employees you hire, as there might be requirements you must adhere to.
For non-US countries, Remote offers Allianz health insurance.
For US residents, there are several tiers available, including Preferred Provider Options through Cigna and Guardian, and it is easy to get a benefits quote for your area from a Remote sales representative who can walk you through your options. You can also find more information about benefits on their website.
Remote Integrations
Remote offers 100+ integrations. Plus, with its open API, you can essentially create bespoke integrations. However, some reviews say integrations can be a little clunky. (For example, there are no time-tracking integrations that automatically sync with the Remote software.)
Remote Customer Service
Reviews are mixed for Remote’s customer service. While the company says it offers 24/7 support, that isn’t exactly true. While phone support is present during business hours for payroll, there is email and ticket response after that — and the company says “it tries” to get back to clients within 24-hours. Whether or not it does is up for some debate in the customer reviews.
Here are the customer service options available:
Remote Reviews
Most customers think very highly of Remote and appreciate how much it helps streamline their global workforce.
There are some hiccups here and there — it can be difficult for companies to hand off their company’s management to someone else — and some of the complaints are from a lack of communication around various global requirements. Many of the positive reviews are from employees, too, who are asked to use Remote to onboard/offboard/manage their hours — most find the customer service responsive and helpful.
Companies with niche questions, however, find that the customer service response times are slow.
On Trustpilot and other review sites, Remote is quick to respond to negative experiences and attempts to rectify them.
Negative Remote Reviews
- Slow response times to customer service needs
- Unable to easily accommodate complicated payroll requests
- No longer offers bilingual support for non-US residents (customer service is in English)
- Limited benefits options
Positive Remote Reviews
- Makes managing global teams easy
- Reliable software with little to no downtime
- User-centric and easy to use
- Excellent dedicated account managers
Is Remote Secure?
Here are Remote’s security features:
- Data encryption: Secures data during transmission and while stored, utilizes AES-256 encryption, and annually rotates AWS KMS encryption keys.
- Data backups: Performs hourly system backups, retaining them for 90 days. Backup data is encrypted and stored remotely off-site.
- Compliance: They hold ISO27001 certification and SOC2 Type 2 compliance, meeting GDPR requirements as well.
- Security policies: Follows HR and payroll security policies and procedures that have been externally certified and validated.
- Single sign-on: Provides SAML-based single sign-on (SSO), enabling users to log in with their company credentials.
Final Verdict: Is Remote Worth It?
Remote Review Summary |
Pricing Range |
$0/mo - $599/mo per employee |
Choose If You Need |
- A global workforce; to manage payroll in multiple countries where you aren't currently located
- An Employer-Of-Record system that also has payroll, HR, equity, and employee management tools
- Ensure HR compliance with your global team and onboard all teams quickly
|
If you are looking for an Employer Of Record company (or, in their words, a Global HR platform) to take charge or help you grow your global team, Remote is definitely worth checking out. We appreciate that the pricing model is transparent and clear — all costs should be accounted for before you sign your contract.
If you are just after payroll services and you do not have a remote or global team, there are more cost-effective options available.
Payroll Software Review Methodology
We research, evaluate, and test each payroll software app that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate granular ratings.
Weighted Rating Breakdown
Features 40%
Ease Of Use 20%
Customer Service 20%
Pricing 10%
User Reviews 10%
Our exhaustive, 76-point rubric guides the star rating of each payroll provider we review, examining pricing, ease of use, features, customer service, and user reviews. Each section is weighted differently.
- Pricing (10% of the overall rating)
- Ease of Use (20% of the overall rating)
- Features (40% of the overall rating)
- Customer Service (20% of the overall rating)
- User Reviews (10% of the overall rating)
When rating payroll software, we are looking for very specific qualities. The speed and cost of payroll runs and the availability of tax filing services are given high weight, as are the quality and availability of accounting, time-tracking, HR integrations, and user onboarding services. We also look for the presence of client and employee portals, benefits administration, PTO and time management tools, and many more vital features.
Learn more about how we rate payroll software providers.
To learn more about how we score our reviews, see our