Every provider on this page can legally employ someone in India. What separates them is who holds the employment contract, what sits on top of the headline rate, and how they calculate wage-based contributions under the new Labour Codes. Four of the ten ranked providers run India hires through an owned entity, and published fees run from $199 to $699 before any India surcharge, deposit or FX markup is counted.
Those details decide the real cost. Deel’s $599 rate carries a country-specific liability cost that our review puts at $50 to $150 for India, and since the EPF ceiling rose to ₹25,000 on 17 September 2026, quoting EPF on actual basic salary rather than the ceiling still adds ₹3,000 a month in employer cost on a ₹100,000 hire.
Price Against Score: Where Each India EOR Sits
Each ranked provider is placed by its published starting fee and its HRStacks score. Hover or tap a provider for the figures.
- Ring shows the India entity model
- Owned India entity
- Owned + partners
- Partner or aggregator
Published starting fee per employee per month
Score axis starts at 3.9, not zero, so small differences stay readable. Providers are plotted at the starting rate shown in the Quick Summary, as published on each provider’s own site in September 2026. Multiplier is plotted at its annual Core plan rate. Rippling is plotted at a third-party estimate of $499, since it publishes no EOR rate. Deel is plotted at its $599 base, before its country-specific liability cost. SynkPay’s score is an HRStacks editorial assessment, as it has no third-party review history yet. Globalization Partners is not plotted because it publishes no rate and no estimate exists to plot.
What the chart shows
A 4.2 score costs $349 or $599. SynkPay and Remote.com both score 4.2 and both own their India entity, yet Remote.com costs $250 more per employee each month.
The priciest option does not lead. Oyster HR at $699 scores 4.1, the same as Remofirst at $199 and 0.2 below Deel at $599.
The top score sits in the premium half. Deel’s 4.3 is the highest plotted score, but its real India cost runs $649 to $749 once its India liability cost is added.
Best EOR Services in India 2026: Quick Summary
All ten ranked providers at a glance: score, starting price, India entity model and onboarding time, plus the one thing to check before you sign. Sort by price or score, or jump to any full review. Five more providers are listed after the detailed reviews.
-
- From
- $459/mo
- India entity
- Owned
- Onboarding
- 24 hours
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: FX markup is quoted around 2% but reported as high as 8% in some corridors, so get the USD to INR rate in writing.
-
- From
- $399/mo
- India entity
- Hybrid model
- Onboarding
- 48 hours
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: India entity ownership isn’t disclosed, and only 65 of Pebl’s 185 markets run through owned entities.
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- From
- $199/mo
- India entity
- Partner network
- Onboarding
- 5 to 7 days
- Free trial
- Free contractor tier
Watch for: India runs through a local partner, and payroll reliability is documented to slip once teams pass 30 employees across several countries.
-
- From
- $599/mo
- India entity
- Owned
- Onboarding
- 2 to 5 days
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: A country liability cost, $50 to $150 for India in our review, and a deposit of 1 to 1.5 times monthly cost sit outside the $599 headline.
-
- From
- $699/mo
- India entity
- Via partner
- Onboarding
- Not published for India
- Free trial
- Contractors, 30 days
Watch for: India sits outside Oyster’s Direct+ scope, so a local partner holds the contract at the highest rate on this list.
-
- From
- $349/mo
- India entity
- Owned
- Onboarding
- 1 business day
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: India only, so a second vendor is needed the moment you hire in another country.
-
- From
- $599/mo
- India entity
- Owned
- Onboarding
- Not published for India
- Free trial
- Free HRIS tier
Watch for: No named CSM at standard tier, and ticket responses of 24 to 48 hours are the most cited complaint.
-
- From
- ~$499/moEst.
- India entity
- Partner (EOR)
- Onboarding
- Not confirmed
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: No published India rate, plus a mandatory $8 per user platform fee and implementation at 5 to 15% of annual contract.
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- From
- $599/mo
- India entity
- Aggregator
- Onboarding
- Not published for India
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: At $599 it is hard to justify below five India hires, and local execution runs through an aggregator partner.
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- From
- Custom
- India entity
- Not published
- Onboarding
- 5 to 10 days
- Free trial
- Yes
Watch for: No published price, India entity or India onboarding detail, so every figure needs a sales call first.
Providers are ranked on India-specific fit, weighing entity ownership, onboarding speed and real India cost alongside the overall score, so the order does not follow the scores alone. Sort by Highest score to see them in score order. Prices are starting rates per employee per month as published on each provider’s own site in September 2026. Multiplier is shown at its annual Core plan rate. Rippling publishes no EOR rate, so it is shown at a third-party estimate. Deel’s rate is shown before its country-specific liability cost. Globalization Partners quotes on request and sorts last by price. Deposits, surcharges and setup fees are listed in each full review, and sorting changes the order only.
In-Depth EOR Reviews for Hiring in India
Each review below covers the same ground: who owns the India employment relationship, what PF/ESI/TDS compliance actually looks like in practice, how fast a new hire goes live, and what the all-in monthly cost is once any India-specific surcharge is factored in.
Pricing reflects each provider’s published global rate unless an India-specific figure is confirmed.
Multiplier
Why we picked Multiplier
Multiplier is headquartered in Singapore with an owned India entity and a large in-country team, so an India hire is employed directly rather than through a partner firm. Contracts generate in minutes and most employees in owned-entity markets go live within 24 hours, which puts it level with SynkPay as the fastest option on this page.
The price moved in August 2026. Multiplier now publishes tiered plans, with Core at $459 per employee per month on an annual contract and $499 month to month, replacing the $400 flat rate most comparisons still quote. Integrations stop at BambooHR, Greenhouse and Workday, so finance teams on QuickBooks, Xero or NetSuite reconcile India payroll by hand.
EOR-specific details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Pebl
Why we picked Pebl
Pebl, formerly Velocity Global, has run global employment since 2014 and ranks first for compliance on G2, backed by SOC 2 and ISO 27001. For procurement teams that need an audit trail older than the current EOR boom, that history clears vendor review faster than a newer platform will.
Its immigration team works with Vialto Partners, formerly PwC’s global mobility practice, so work permits and employment contracts move through one workflow. That matters when an India hire is one part of a multi-country visa program or an acquisition, and Pebl lists 160+ cross-border deals on record.
Pebl publishes $399 per employee per month, with terms attached and a custom quote for final country pricing. Visa work is billed separately, reported at around $3,000 per employee.
EOR-specific details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Remofirst
Why we picked Remofirst
Remofirst publishes a starting rate of $199 per employee per month, with no setup, onboarding or termination fee and no annual contract, and says the rate may vary with local country requirements. Every client gets a named account manager regardless of headcount, and NelsonHall named it a Leader in its 2025 EOR evaluation, the only sub-$200 provider in that quadrant.
EOR-specific details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Deel
Why we picked Deel
Deel is one of four providers here with an owned India entity, part of a network of 250+ entities, and it connects India payroll costs natively to QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite across 130+ integrations. Onboarding runs 2 to 5 business days.
The $599 published rate is where the invoice starts, not where it ends. Deel adds a country-specific employer liability cost, which our review puts at $50 to $150 per employee for India, and holds a refundable deposit of 1 to 1.5 times monthly cost that its pricing page does not show.
EOR-specific details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Oyster HR
Why we picked Oyster HR
Oyster is the only B Corp-certified EOR on this page, audited by B Lab, and gives every account a named Customer Success Manager from day one.
India is where the model thins out. Oyster’s Direct+ infrastructure covers 120+ countries with full direct-scope accountability, but India runs through a local partner, and the $699 on its own pricing page is the highest published rate among the ten ranked here.
What still earns it a place is Oyster Shell, which backs contractor misclassification exposure up to $500,000. For teams converting long-running India contractors into employees, that guarantee is worth pricing in.
EOR-specific details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
SynkPay
Why we picked SynkPay
SynkPay is the only India specialist in the ranked ten, running payroll through a directly owned entity since 2016. It charges a flat $349 per employee per month with no setup fee, no salary tiers and no deposit, invoicing at the start of the month and paying the employee at the end, so client cash is never held.
Standard onboarding takes one business day, and every contract carries IP assignment, confidentiality and non-solicitation clauses drafted under Indian law. Recruitment is available at 12% of annual salary on placement. The score is an HRStacks editorial assessment, since SynkPay has no G2 or Capterra review history yet.
EOR-specific details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Remote.com
Why we picked Remote.com
Remote.com owns its entity in every country it covers, India included, so no partner firm sits in the compliance chain, and Remote IP Guard is written into every employment contract. Pricing is $599 per employee per month on an annual plan or $699 month to month, and unlike Deel at the same headline rate, Remote asks for no deposit.
EOR-specific details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Rippling
Why we picked Rippling
Rippling runs native payroll in India, the US, UK, Canada and Australia, but owns entities only in the last four. A company with its own India entity can run payroll on Rippling without an EOR fee, while EOR hires in India go through a partner.
Its clearest advantage is IT. Rippling ships configured, MDM-enrolled laptops to 30+ countries on day one and wipes them remotely at offboarding, and 650+ integrations tie payroll, app access and devices to one employee record.
Rippling publishes no EOR rate. Third-party estimates put it at $499 to $599 per employee per month plus an $8 per user platform fee, and some analyses report $800 to $1,200 in complex markets including India.
EOR-specific details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Papaya Global
Why we picked Papaya Global
Papaya Global is built for finance teams running payroll across ten or more countries, with real-time cost dashboards, AI variance detection and same-day payments through Azimo, its payments arm licensed in five Tier-1 jurisdictions. India runs through an aggregator partner, and the EOR starting rate is listed at $599 per employee per month, with a premium tier above it.
EOR-specific details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Globalization Partners
Why we picked Globalization Partners
Globalization Partners, now G-P, has run EOR since 2012, the longest record among the ranked ten, and third-party analyses describe it as owning its employing entity in every one of its 180+ countries. It publishes SOC 2 plus ISO 27001, 27017, 27018 and 42001 certifications.
G-P publishes no rate, no India entity confirmation and no India onboarding figure, so every number needs a sales call. Independent assessments put standard onboarding at 5 to 10 business days, slower than most providers here, and G2 reviewers rate it 4.4 across 936 reviews.
EOR-specific details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Additional EOR Providers in India Worth Exploring
Beyond the ten in-depth reviews above, five more providers bring real strengths to an India hire, from the tightest starting price on this page to a fully direct entity model with zero partner layers. Each fits a specific hiring situation well. The fields below use the same comparison points as the main ten: entity model, coverage, and pricing where published.
India EOR Market at a Glance
Fifteen providers, three structurally different approaches to the same problem: get someone hired and paid compliantly in India. We scored the main ten against entity ownership, PF/ESI/TDS depth, onboarding speed, and what the real monthly cost looks like once deposits and surcharges are counted, not just the headline rate on a pricing page.
Before the buyer’s guide, here’s what those numbers add up to on the ground: the actual statutory cost of an India hire, what the law guarantees an employee, and where this specific roster of providers lands on price, entity structure, and onboarding speed.
India Basics
Full Cost of Employment
Worked example: ₹100,000 a month gross, basic salary at 50% under the Code on Wages definition of wages, EPF contributed on actual basic
Employer ESI at 3.25% does not apply here, since this salary is above the ₹21,000 monthly ESI ceiling. Professional tax is deducted from the employee, varies by state and is not shown.
What the Employee Is Owed by Law
This Page’s India EOR Market, at a Glance
Entity vs. EOR
Where Foreign Employers Get Caught Out
How to choose an EOR in India
Five things separate the providers on this page, in the order we weighed them. Price is only one of them.
Who actually employs your hire
With an owned entity, the provider you pay is the employer on EPFO and ESIC records and answers directly for a disputed exit or a late filing. With a partner model, a third Indian company holds the contract, and every fix runs through it.
Owned India entityMultiplier, Deel, Remote.com and SynkPay.
The real monthly cost, not the headline fee
Fees on this page run from $199 to $699, but two things move the invoice more than the fee. First, whether EPF is quoted on actual basic salary or the ₹25,000 ceiling. Second, country costs such as Deel’s India liability charge, which our review puts at $50 to $150.
Simplest pricingSynkPay at $349 flat with no surcharges, and Remofirst from $199 with no setup or exit fee.
Cash tied up before the first payroll
Deposits on this page range from nothing to 10 to 30% of annual salary, reported at Pebl. Deel holds 1 to 1.5 times monthly cost, and Multiplier and Oyster HR about a month. For a startup hiring three engineers, that can be more than the first quarter of fees.
No deposit confirmedSynkPay, invoiced monthly, and Remote.com.
Time to a compliant start date
Once a candidate accepts, published timelines run from one business day at SynkPay to 5 to 10 business days at Globalization Partners. With 30 to 90 day notice periods common in India, a slow EOR can push a start date back by weeks.
Fastest publishedSynkPay in 1 business day and Multiplier in 24 hours in most cases.
Readiness for the Labour Codes
Under the Code on Wages, allowances above half of total pay are counted back into wages, which raises the base for EPF and gratuity. Contracts also need to cite the four Codes in force since 21 November 2025, not the repealed Acts. Ask for a sample contract and salary structure before signing.
Strongest compliance recordPebl, ranked first for compliance on G2, and Deel, which updates statutory handling as rules change.
Owned entity or partner: who actually employs your hire
In routine months the difference is invisible. It shows up the day a termination is disputed or payroll needs a same-day fix.
Crossover point: past 15 to 20 India employees, your own entity usually costs less than EOR fees, and a Private Limited company takes 2 to 4 weeks to incorporate. From there you run payroll yourself, so compare the best payroll software in India and the best HR software in India.
Three types of India EOR, and who each suits
Match the structure to your hiring plan first, then compare providers within it.
From accepted offer to first payslip: an India EOR hire step by step
Six steps, plus a seventh for foreign nationals. The day ranges come from providers’ published timelines. None of the ten publishes an India-only figure, so hold your provider to its quote in writing.
Salary structure and contract
The provider drafts the contract under the Labour Codes and sets basic pay at 50% or more of total remuneration, which fixes the EPF and gratuity base. An appointment letter is mandatory for every employee.
Owner: You and the provider
Confirm the employer and the quote
Get the employing entity’s name, the deposit amount and whether EPF is calculated on actual basic or the ₹25,000 ceiling, all in writing, before the offer goes out.
Owner: You
Employee documents
PAN, Aadhaar, bank account details, education and experience proofs, and any existing UAN from a previous employer so the Provident Fund account carries over.
Owner: Employee and provider
Statutory enrolment
EPF membership through the employee’s UAN, ESI registration within 10 days for anyone earning up to ₹21,000 a month, and professional tax registration in the employee’s state.
Owner: Provider
First payroll
Salary paid with income tax withheld under the new regime by default, EPF and any ESI deducted, and a payslip issued.
Owner: Provider
Statutory deposits
EPF and ESI contributions are due by the 15th of the following month. Late EPF runs 12% annual interest from the 16th, plus damages of 5% to 25% a year, charged to the legal employer.
Owner: Provider
Employment Visa and FRRO registration
The visa must be issued before travel, sponsored by a registered Indian company, with FRRO registration within 14 days of arrival. See the full process in hiring a foreign national below.
Owner: Provider as sponsor, and the employee
How an India salary is structured, and what it really costs
Indian pay is quoted as CTC (cost to company) and split into components. The split decides your statutory costs, so it’s worth understanding before you approve an offer. Here’s a typical ₹100,000 monthly salary:
Why the split matters less for tax than it used to: the new tax regime is the default and allows no HRA exemption, so the old habit of loading HRA to cut tax rarely helps. What still matters is the 50% rule, because basic sets both EPF and gratuity.
Statutory costs fall as a share of pay once a hire earns above the ₹21,000 ESI ceiling, then stay close to 9% at every level above it:
Check the date on any quote: the EPF ceiling rose from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 on 17 September 2026, so a quote prepared before then may understate the statutory cost for hires earning up to ₹50,000.
What Indian employment rules mean for your EOR choice
Your EOR carries these obligations as the legal employer. The green strip on each tile is the question to ask before you sign.
Why the legal employer matters: late EPF deposits carry 12% annual interest plus damages of 5% to 25% a year, and both land on whichever company holds the employment contract.
The Labour Codes changed what counts as wages
Under the Code on Wages, allowances above half of total pay are added back into wages. That raises the base for EPF and gratuity on any package where basic was kept low. The four Codes took effect on 21 November 2025, and central rules followed on 8 May 2026.
Most states are still finalising their own rules, so old state rules and the new Codes run side by side for now. Ask each provider which set it applies in your employee’s state, and ask for a sample contract that cites the Codes rather than the repealed Acts.
Fixed-term hires now earn gratuity after one year
The Code on Social Security gives fixed-term employees gratuity after one year of service, not five. Many EOR hires start on fixed-term contracts, so a provider that bills gratuity only at exit can hand you an unbudgeted lump sum at the first renewal. Ask whether gratuity is accrued monthly and shown on the invoice.
Hiring across states multiplies registrations
Professional tax, Shops and Establishments registration and parts of leave policy are set by each state. A team split between Bengaluru and Pune needs two sets of registrations and two filing calendars. Confirm your provider registers in each state itself rather than applying one state’s rules everywhere.
| Hub | State | Professional tax on a salaried hire |
|---|---|---|
| Bengaluru | Karnataka | ₹200 a month from ₹25,000 gross |
| Mumbai, Pune | Maharashtra | ₹2,500 a year above ₹10,000 gross. Women exempt up to ₹25,000 |
| Hyderabad | Telangana | ₹150 to ₹200 a month above ₹15,000 gross |
| Chennai | Tamil Nadu | Collected half-yearly, up to ₹2,500 a year |
| Kolkata | West Bengal | Up to ₹200 a month, top slab above ₹40,000 |
| Delhi NCR (Delhi, Gurugram, Noida) | Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh | None |
| Jaipur | Rajasthan | None |
Permanent establishment risk: what an EOR does and doesn’t cover
An EOR makes the worker its own employee, which removes most employment-based exposure for your company. Whether you have a taxable presence in India turns on what that person does, not on whose payroll they sit.
Five safeguards keep an India EOR team on the right side of these tests:
The exposure is yours, not the EOR’s: if a PE is found, India taxes the business profit attributable to it in your company’s hands, under the tax treaty with your home country. This section is general guidance, not tax advice.
Contractor or employee: where the line sits in India
Many first India hires start as contractors. The label on the invoice doesn’t decide the classification. Indian authorities look at how the work actually runs.
Converting without a new vendor: Remofirst runs a free contractor tier that converts to full EOR employment on the same platform. Oyster HR covers misclassification risk up to $500,000 through Oyster Shell while you make the switch.
Hiring a foreign national to work in India
Everything above assumes an Indian national already living in India. Relocating a foreign hire adds a visa step, and only a registered Indian company can sponsor it, which an EOR’s own India entity is.
Providers on this page that sponsor: Multiplier and Deel confirm Employment Visa sponsorship, Pebl files through Vialto Partners, and Atlas HXM includes sponsorship in its service. With a partner-model provider, the partner is the sponsor, so confirm it will act before you make the offer.
Two shortcuts that aren’t: a Business Visa does not allow paid work, even while an Employment Visa is pending. The real exception is an OCI cardholder, who can work in India without an Employment Visa.
Five questions to put to every India EOR before you sign
Each question can be answered with a name, a number or a document. A provider that can’t answer in that form is telling you something.
“Which legal entity signs the employment contract, and do you own it?”
“Send an all-in monthly invoice for this exact salary, with EPF on actual basic.”
“What do you hold at signing, and what does it cost to leave?”
“Share a sample contract and salary structure for this role.”
“Who handles a disputed exit or a late filing, and who pays any penalty?”
Conclusion
The decision that matters most in India is not price. It’s whether the company you pay is the company that employs your hire, because that entity holds the EPFO and ESIC registrations and answers for every late filing. Four of the ten ranked providers own their India entity.
The most common pricing mistake is comparing headline fees. Deel and Remote.com both list $599, but Deel adds a country liability cost and holds a deposit of 1 to 1.5 times monthly cost, while Remote.com asks for no deposit. Whichever provider you pick, EPF on actual basic adds ₹3,000 a month to a ₹100,000 hire compared with a quote built on the ₹25,000 ceiling.
Before any sales call, take two or three names from the decision grid above and send each the same request in writing: an all-in monthly invoice for your exact salary, the name of the employing entity and the deposit figure. The replies will narrow your list faster than any demo.
India EOR: Frequently Asked Questions
What buyers ask before choosing an Employer of Record for India hiring
Our Evaluation Methodology
Whether the published or effective monthly cost, once India-specific surcharges and deposits are counted, reflects genuine value for an India hire rather than a headline rate that looks cheap until the invoice arrives.
Depth of India-specific compliance handling: PF, ESI, and TDS accuracy, alignment with the Labour Codes effective November 2025, and correct administration of gratuity and statutory leave.
Reach beyond India, since most buyers on this page are deciding whether they’ll need multi-country coverage within 12 to 18 months. Not scored for India-only specialists, that’s a genuine unscored state, not a penalty.
How fast a compliant India hire actually goes live, from signed contract to first payroll run, not just how fast a contract can be generated.
Accuracy and reliability of monthly India payroll runs and statutory benefits administration, PF, ESI, and gratuity, month over month, not just at setup.
Native connections to the finance and HR stack an India-hiring company is actually likely to run, QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, BambooHR, not integration count for its own sake.
Responsiveness specifically on India-hours issues, a payroll question or compliance escalation raised during Indian business hours, not global average response time.
How much ongoing day-to-day admin an India hire actually requires from your own team once the person is live.
