EOR pricing pages are elaborate bait-and-switch operations
Starting from $199*
Every EOR provider puts “starting from $199” on their pricing page. None of them actually charge $199 for anything you’d want to use.
I’ve looked at maybe 50 pricing pages building comparison platforms over the years. The pattern is always the same. Big number up top, asterisk, fine print about select countries only.
The Philippines costs $199. Germany costs $800. Guess which one they advertise.
Look, I get why they do this. Put $800 on your homepage and people bounce before you can explain why German payroll compliance costs more than a Netflix subscription. Put $199 and you get them on a sales call where you can walk through the actual complexity.
But it’s still annoying as hell when you’re trying to help companies budget for global hiring. Every conversation starts with sticker shock because someone saw that starting price and assumed it applied to their expensive European markets.
P.S. I recorded a quick video on the costs of EOR services if you might be interested:
The sales teams always have the same script too. “Well, Germany has more complex labor laws, so there’s additional compliance work, plus statutory benefits are higher, and the payroll processing requires specialized knowledge.” All true. Also completely predictable if you’ve done this before.
What kills me is that the actual pricing isn’t even that shocking once you understand what you’re buying. $800 a month to handle German employment law, payroll, benefits, and compliance isn’t insane. It’s just not $199.
I spent years thinking there had to be cheaper options because the advertised prices looked so reasonable.
Some providers have started being more upfront about regional pricing. Not many, but a few. It’s refreshing when you see actual numbers instead of marketing theater.
The funny thing is that the bait-and-switch probably works. People book calls, sales teams explain the value, deals get closed. But it makes the whole industry feel less trustworthy than it needs to be.
Most companies shopping for EOR services aren’t idiots. They know hiring someone in Germany costs more than hiring someone in the Philippines. They just want to know what it actually costs without playing twenty questions with a sales rep.
The pricing opacity made sense when EOR was a niche service and every deal was custom. Now that it’s becoming commoditized, the “call for pricing” approach feels outdated.
I keep waiting for someone to just publish real pricing for major markets upfront. Would probably convert better than the current approach, but what do I know. I’m just the guy comparing all these providers while everyone else is optimizing their lead gen funnels.