Expert
After researching and testing 12 Employer of Record platforms, the single biggest variable was not price or country coverage - it was whether the provider owns its local legal entities or outsources to third-party partners.
After running payroll through 14 different platforms over the past three months, the single most consistent finding was this: the gap between the best and worst onboarding experiences is enormous. Some platforms had me processing a test payroll within 20 minutes. Others required phone calls just to finish account setup.
After spending weeks evaluating compliance platforms, the thing that struck me hardest was how little the term compliance software actually tells you. One product connects to your AWS account and automatically pulls security evidence for a SOC 2 audit. Another gives you unlimited access to employment attorneys who will review your employee handbook over the phone. Both call themselves compliance software. The gap between them is enormous.