An employer of record lets you hire in India without an Indian company. It becomes the legal employer, runs rupee payroll, enrols staff for PF and ESI, deducts TDS and handles gratuity, leave and exits under the new Labour Codes.
What separates providers here is who actually employs your staff, an owned Indian entity or a partner, and how current their Labour Code payroll is. We checked every price on vendor sites in October 2026 and scored all ten on the same eight parameters.
Price against score
Eight of the ten publish a rate, so here is what each one charges against how it scored.
- Ring shows the India entity model
- Owned entity, stated by vendor
- Mixed or not stated for India
- Local partner
Published starting fee per employee per month
Score axis starts at 3.6. Prices are each vendor’s published starting fee in US dollars, checked on 22 October 2026. Multiplier is plotted at its monthly-billing rate of $499 ($459 when billed annually). Rippling and Globalization Partners publish no EOR rate and are not plotted.
What the chart shows
Best EOR Services in India 2026: Quick Summary
All ten ranked providers on one list, with the four facts buyers compare first. Sort by price or by score to change the order.
- From
- $499/mo
- India entity
- Owned
- Onboarding
- 4.2/5
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: Payroll and benefits scores 3.6, so confirm how PF and gratuity corrections are processed.
- From
- $399/mo
- India entity
- Not stated
- Onboarding
- 4.2/5
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: Its India page doesn’t name the Indian employing entity, so ask who signs the contract.
- From
- $199/mo
- India entity
- Partner
- Onboarding
- 4.2/5
- Free trial
- Free contractor tier
Watch for: India runs through a local partner, so ask who it is and how disputes escalate.
- From
- $599/mo
- India entity
- Owned
- Onboarding
- 4.3/5
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: The deposit isn’t published, so get the amount in writing before the contract goes out.
- From
- $699/mo
- India entity
- Not stated
- Onboarding
- 4.4/5
- Free trial
- Contractors, 30 days
Watch for: $699 is the highest published rate here, $100 above Deel and Remote.com.
- From
- $349/mo
- India entity
- Owned
- Onboarding
- 4.5/5
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: Public review history is thin, with 12 reviews from July 2026, so ask for client references.
- From
- $599/mo
- India entity
- Owned
- Onboarding
- 4.1/5
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: Remote may ask for a reserve payment case by case, so confirm before signing.
- From
- Quote only
- India entity
- Owned
- Onboarding
- 4.2/5
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: There’s no published EOR rate, and setup can cost 5 to 15% of the contract value.
- From
- $499/mo
- India entity
- Partner
- Onboarding
- 3.8/5
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: India runs through a local partner, so service quality depends on that firm.
- From
- Quote only
- India entity
- Not stated
- Onboarding
- 4.3/5
- Free trial
- No
Watch for: There’s no published rate, so you can’t benchmark it without a sales call.
Ranked on India fit: entity evidence in India, published price and support in Indian hours, with scores shown separately. Choose “Highest score” to rank by score alone. Prices are each provider’s starting EOR fee per employee per month in US dollars, as published on its own site in October 2026. “Lowest price” sorts on that fee. “Lowest price” uses Multiplier’s monthly-billing rate ($459 billed annually) and SynkPay’s flat $349, which applies at any salary level. Rippling and Globalization Partners publish no rate and sort last. Providers that publish no rate sort last. Deposits and fees outside the headline price are in each full review. Sorting changes the order only. 5 more providers follow the detailed reviews.
The 10 EOR providers for India in detail
Each review starts with why the provider made the list for Indian hiring, then the entity model, fees and contract terms. Short on time? Read the “What to watch” column first. We rechecked every rate on the vendor’s own site in October 2026.
Multiplier
Why we picked Multiplier
Multiplier lists Multiplier Technologies India Private Limited, registered in Bangalore, in the legal entity network on its own About page. For an Indian hire that means the company on the payslip is part of the same group that sells you the service.
The rate is $499 a month billed monthly, or $459 on an annual plan, which is $100 below Deel and Remote.com. Payroll and benefits scores 3.6 in our review, so ask how PF and gratuity corrections are handled when a mid-month salary change lands late.
India EOR details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Pebl
Why we picked Pebl
Pebl scores 4.7 for compliance strength, the highest on this page, and lists $399 a month on its own pricing page. That is $200 less than Deel for the same 4.2 overall score.
Its India page says Pebl acts as the legal employer but doesn’t say whether that is an owned Indian company or a partner. Pebl reports 66 owned entities worldwide with over 90% of workers on them, so India may well be one, but get the name in writing.
Payroll has to be funded before each worker is onboarded, which suits finance teams that already prefund payroll.
India EOR details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Remofirst
Why we picked Remofirst
Remofirst charges $199 a month per employee, the lowest published rate on this page, with no setup, onboarding or termination fees and no minimum term. Two Indian hires cost $398 a month in platform fees, less than one Oyster HR seat.
Remofirst says on its own India guide that it doesn’t run its own legal entities and works with local providers instead. That is common in India and fine for routine roles. Ask for the partner’s name, and how a gratuity or notice-pay dispute would be escalated.
India EOR details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Deel
Why we picked Deel
Deel’s India EOR guide, updated in June 2026, says it employs workers through its own Indian entity registered in Bengaluru. When a gratuity claim or a PF query needs an answer, the company that holds the contract is Deel itself.
The fee starts at $599 a month, billed month to month. Compliance strength and platform both score 4.6, the strongest pairing on this page for a company that will hire in India and three or four other countries.
India EOR details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Oyster HR
Why we picked Oyster HR
Oyster includes terminations in its $699 monthly fee and charges no setup or onboarding fee. In India, where an exit can involve notice pay, gratuity and a full and final settlement within two working days, a fixed exit cost has real value.
Its June 2026 India guide says Oyster is registered in Karnataka and that staff sit on Oyster’s India payroll, but it stops short of saying the entity is owned. Ask which company signs the contract. At $699 it is also the highest published rate on this page.
India EOR details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
SynkPay
Why we picked SynkPay
SynkPay does one country. It says on its own site that it has run its own Indian entity since 2016 and becomes the legal employer of your hire, at a flat $349 a month at any salary level.
No salary deposit, no setup fee and no lock-in are all stated on the pricing page. That makes it $250 a month cheaper than Deel with an owned entity on both sides.
The trade-offs are scale and proof. We found 12 public reviews, all posted in a short window in July 2026, and no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification on its site.
India EOR details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Remote.com
Why we picked Remote.com
Remote’s India country explorer says plainly that it owns its own legal entity in India. Its contracts assign intellectual property to you, which matters for the engineering roles that make up most foreign hiring in Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad.
The EOR fee starts at $599 a month. Remote may ask for a reserve payment case by case, and startups get 15% off. Support scores 3.5, the weakest part of the review.
India EOR details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Rippling
Why we picked Rippling
Rippling’s own India EOR guide says it owns its entities in India and runs payroll on its own software. If HR, payroll and IT already sit in Rippling, an Indian hire goes through the same record, with laptop and app access triggered on day one.
As a standalone EOR it is the weakest buy here. There is no published rate, setup can cost 5 to 15% of contract value and support scores 3.2. Payroll and benefits is scored independently at 3.8 for this page.
India EOR details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Papaya Global
Why we picked Papaya Global
Papaya scores 4.6 for payroll and benefits, the best on this page, and lists EOR from $499 a month. It owns Azimo, a regulated payments business, which suits finance teams that want payroll funding and FX under one roof.
Its India Countrypedia page says the EOR works with a local in-country partner. Papaya’s compliance team answers your questions, but the Indian contract sits with that partner, so ask for its name.
India EOR details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
Globalization Partners
Why we picked Globalization Partners
G-P claims more than 100 wholly owned entities worldwide and scores 4.5 for compliance strength. It runs an India development centre, and its September 2026 India hiring guide is one of the more current vendor guides we read.
Neither that guide nor its Globalpedia India page says the Indian employing entity is G-P’s own, and there is no published rate. Expect a sales process before you see a number.
India EOR details
Editor scores: 8 parameters
Strengths and limitations
Support channels
More EOR providers in India (11 to 15)
These five also hire in India and each has a clear strength, from Native Teams’ $99 entry rate to Atlas HXM’s visa sponsorship. They sit outside the main ranking but are worth a call if one of their strengths matches your hire.
India EOR at a Glance
The figures that shape an Indian hire, checked against official and adviser sources in October 2026.
India Basics
Full Cost of Employment
Worked example: ₹100,000 a month gross, basic at ₹50,000 under the 50% wage rule, PF on the statutory ceiling, above the ESI limit.
ESI does not apply above ₹21,000 gross. Contributing PF on the full ₹50,000 basic would raise the employer share to ₹6,000. State labour welfare fund amounts are small and vary by state. The EOR fee is not included.
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
Every provider above was scored on the same eight parameters, set out in the methodology at the end of this page. The ranking and the scores are kept separate, so you can re-sort the Quick Summary by score at any time.
The guide below covers the decisions around the list: who actually employs your Indian staff, what a hire costs in rupees under the Labour Codes, the rules that change your choice and what to ask before you sign.
How to choose an EOR in India
Five things separate the providers on this page more than their marketing does.
Who employs your staff
Five providers say on their own sites that an Indian company they own will employ your hire. Two use partners and three don’t say, which matters most when a gratuity or termination dispute reaches a labour authority.
Best equipped: Deel, SynkPay, Remote.com, Multiplier
Weigh the first factor most if your roles are senior or long-term, because gratuity and notice obligations grow with every year of service.
Owned entity or local partner
The company on your hire’s appointment letter is the one that answers to the EPFO, ESIC and the labour department. Here is what each provider says about India on its own site.
Half the list states an owned entity in India, a higher share than in most countries we cover. That shifts the real question to price and support for many buyers.
When to set up your own company: On running costs alone, an Indian private limited company starts to match EOR fees at about 6 to 8 employees. Deel’s own India comparison puts an entity at about ₹32.5 lakh to set up and ₹35 lakh a year to run. See the India at a glance panel for the full calculation.
From accepted offer to first payslip
An EOR removes company incorporation, which is the slow part. What remains runs on Indian statutory deadlines.
Offer and appointment letter
The EOR issues an Indian contract and an appointment letter, which the Labour Codes make mandatory. Check that the salary split keeps basic and allowances within the 50% wage rule.
Owner: You and the EOR
PF and ESI enrolment
The EOR enrols the hire with EPFO, now mandatory for PF wages up to ₹25,000, and with ESIC where gross pay is ₹21,000 or less.
Owner: EOR
Employment visa, foreign hires only
The visa needs a salary of at least USD 25,000 a year. FRRO registration follows within 14 days of arrival.
Owner: EOR and employee
First payroll and deposits
TDS is deposited by the 7th of the next month. PF and ESI contributions are due by the 15th.
Owner: EOR
For an Indian national, step 3 drops out and most providers can start someone within two weeks of a signed offer.
What an Indian hire really costs
Employer costs on top of salary are modest in India because PF is capped. The worked example in the at-a-glance panel lands at 5.7% above gross for a ₹100,000 monthly salary.
Because PF stops at the ₹25,000 ceiling, its share of gross falls as pay rises. Below is the employer PF and EPS contribution with basic set at half of gross.
Two items sit outside these bars. ESI adds 3.25% for staff earning ₹21,000 gross or less, and a proposal to raise that limit to ₹30,000 was discussed on 4 August 2026 but has not been notified.
The Labour Codes and what they changed
India replaced 29 labour laws with four Codes on 21 November 2025, and the Central Rules followed on 8 May 2026. These are the changes that move EOR costs.
Three rules matter most for a foreign employer paying through an EOR.
The 50% wage rule
If allowances and other excluded items exceed half of total pay, the excess is added back to wages. PF, gratuity and leave encashment are then calculated on the higher figure.
Many older Indian salary structures set basic at 30 to 40% of pay. Ask your provider whether your offer letter has been restructured, because that changes what you budget.
The second change hits anyone hiring on fixed-term contracts.
Gratuity after one year for fixed-term staff
Fixed-term employees now earn gratuity after one year of service, pro rata. Permanent staff still qualify after five years, at 15 days’ wages per completed year.
The third affects every exit, voluntary or not.
Faster exits, and a reskilling payment
Wages due on exit must be paid within two working days. A retrenched worker also gets 15 days’ last drawn wages into a reskilling fund, on top of retrenchment compensation. Prior government approval for retrenchment now applies only at 300 or more workers, up from 100.
State rules are still catching up. Several states had not notified all four Codes by mid-2026, so ask how your provider handles the state where your hire lives.
Indian rules that change your EOR choice
These are the rules a provider has to get right in your contract and payroll. Each tile ends with the question to ask.
Two of these changed in the last 13 months and are where we see the most stale provider guides.
PF moved to a ₹25,000 ceiling
Notification S.O. 5109(E) raised the EPF wage ceiling from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 from 17 September 2026, the first change since 2014. The employer maximum rose from ₹1,800 to ₹3,000 a month, and staff with PF wages up to ₹25,000 must now be enrolled.
Several provider India pages we read in October 2026 still quote ₹15,000. Ask when payroll switched.
Pay floors are the other moving part.
Minimum wage is set by state
The Code on Wages allows a national floor wage, but as of October 2026 the Centre had not notified one, and an advisory board to set it was only announced in July. Until then each state’s rate applies. Delhi’s unskilled rate is ₹18,456 a month.
Tax and contract terms complete the picture.
Income tax runs on a new Act
The Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the 1961 Act from 1 April 2026. Under the default new regime, income up to ₹4 lakh is taxed at nil and the top 30% rate starts above ₹24 lakh. A rebate makes income up to ₹12 lakh tax-free, or ₹12.75 lakh for salaried staff with the ₹75,000 standard deduction. The EOR deducts TDS monthly and deposits it by the 7th.
Probation and notice are set mostly by contract.
Probation, notice and late deposits
No statute fixes probation length, and 2 to 6 months is common practice. Notice is set by the contract and state shops rules, typically 30 to 90 days after probation. Late ESI deposits carry simple interest of 12% a year, so ask who pays if a deposit slips.
Permanent establishment risk
An EOR makes the provider your hire’s legal employer. It doesn’t stop the Indian tax authorities from deciding that your company has a taxable presence through that hire.
A few habits keep the risk low for most remote teams.
Hiring foreign nationals in India
An EOR can sponsor an employment visa as the Indian employer, but the visa rules still shape who you can hire.
None of the ten ranked providers publishes Indian visa fees or timelines.
Who sponsors: Atlas HXM, in our secondary tier, states that it offers visa sponsorship at a per-visa charge on top of its fee. For everyone else, ask for the sponsorship fee and timeline in writing before you make an offer.
The salary floor has a short list of exceptions, such as ethnic cooks and language teachers other than English.
No shortcuts: A business or e-visa doesn’t allow paid employment in India. Neither does keeping a foreign national on a home-country payroll while they work from India long term.
What the headline fee leaves out
The monthly rate is only part of the bill. This is what each provider publishes about the rest, as checked on its own site in October 2026.
| Provider | Monthly fee | Deposit | Setup and exit fees | Contract term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multiplier | $499 ($459 annual) | Refundable, amount set by Multiplier | Implementation fee as applicable | Cancel anytime |
| Pebl | $399 | Payroll funded before each hire | Not published | Not published |
| Remofirst | $199 | Not required | None | No minimum |
| Deel | $599 | Not published | None listed | Month to month |
| Oyster HR | $699 | Refundable, amount not published | None, terminations included | Not published |
| SynkPay | $349 | None | None stated | No lock-in |
| Remote.com | $599 | Reserve case by case | Not listed | Not published |
| Rippling | Quote only | None confirmed | Setup 5 to 15% of contract | Not published |
| Papaya Global | $499 | Not published | No setup fee on core plans | Not published |
| Globalization Partners | Quote only | Not published | Not published | No minimum |
Statutory costs come on top of every fee. See what an Indian hire really costs for the worked example.
Five questions to ask every provider
Send these before the contract, and compare the written answers side by side.
“Which legal entity will employ my staff in India, and do you own it?”
“Do you calculate PF on the ₹25,000 ceiling or on actual basic pay?”
“Does your Indian salary template meet the Labour Code 50% wage rule?”
“What will an exit cost, including notice pay, gratuity and any offboarding fee?”
“What exchange rate and margin do you apply when billing rupee payroll in dollars?”
A provider that answers all five in writing within a week is usually a safe sign of how support will run after you sign.
Narrow it down
Start from the one thing that matters most to your Indian hire. Each row points to the provider that fits it best on this page.
Pick your priority, then check the top pick’s card.
An India-only specialist with its own entity
Owned Indian entity since 2016, $349 flat, no salary deposit.
An owned Indian entity on one global platform
States an owned Indian entity and bills month to month at $599.
Asia-based vendor with a Bengaluru entity
Lists its own Indian company and charges $499, or $459 billed annually.
Already running Rippling
Owned Indian entities inside the HR and IT system you already use, priced by quote.
Source: HRStacks editorial scores and vendor pricing
India EOR FAQs
Short answers to the questions buyers ask most, with figures checked in October 2026.
How we scored India EOR providers
Every provider gets the same eight-part score, from the same evidence, on a 1 to 5 scale, so you can check any number against its card.
Eight parameters, weighted for India
Weights add up to 100%
Pricing & Value
Published starting fee against what it includes, plus deposits, setup and exit fees.
Compliance Strength
How well contracts and payroll track the Labour Codes, the ₹25,000 PF ceiling and state rules.
Payroll & Benefits
Payroll accuracy, on-time PF, ESI and TDS deposits, and gratuity and benefits handling.
Global Coverage
Countries covered beyond India, for teams hiring across Asia and further afield.
Onboarding Speed
Time from signed offer to a compliant start, including PF and ESI enrolment.
Platform & Integrations
Native connections to HRIS, accounting and identity tools, and API access.
Customer Support
Channels, hours that overlap Indian working time, and how fast real problems get solved, judged from public reviews.
Ease of Use
How quickly an admin can run hires, salary changes and exits without help.
What the score colours mean
Applies to every parameter bar on the cards
Weak spot
Below 3.5
Workable
3.5 to 3.9
Strong
4.0 and up
What counts
Vendor pricing and India pages, our full provider reviews, public review data and Indian government and adviser sources. Prices were checked on 22 October 2026.
What never counts
Vendor testimonials, prices found only on third-party sites, and claims we could not verify. Unpublished rates stay marked “Quote only”.
How the ranking works
The order reflects India fit: entity evidence in India, published price and support in Indian hours. Scores are shown separately and the Quick Summary can be sorted by score. Providers 11 to 15 form a secondary tier, listed in the page’s existing order and not scored on the eight parameters.
Some links are affiliate links. A commission never changes a score or a ranking, and no vendor can pay to move up. Prices and key facts are rechecked when vendors change them, and the date at the top shows the last update.
Conclusion
The decision that matters most in India is who employs your staff and whether their payroll has caught up with the Labour Codes. Five providers state an owned Indian entity, so for the other five, get the name of the Indian employer in writing.
The common pricing mistake is treating the fee as the whole cost. SynkPay at $349 and Deel at $599 both state owned Indian entities, yet the gap between them is smaller than the difference a stale PF ceiling or an unadjusted salary split can make to your budget.
Shortlist two or three providers from the decision guide, send them the five questions, and ask each for a sample salary split for your actual offer before you sign.
