What are the best alternatives to Horizons in 2026?

There's no single best. Teamed leads cost transparency and the path to your own entity with experts on every plan. Remote leads on product polish and owned entities. Oyster leads onboarding, Rippling the unified HR platform, Multiplier a low published base if you check the deposit and FX. Deel has the broadest platform. G-P suits enterprises. Horizons stays the lowest entry at $199.

Why do companies switch from Horizons?

Usually one of three reasons: no published EOR FX policy makes cost forecasting hard; the dedicated account manager is gated behind the annual EOR Plus tier; and the February 2026 rebrand from Horizons to Remote People raises continuity questions for some buyers. One Teamed customer moved from Deel to Horizons and then to Teamed, citing better flexibility and support.

Is Teamed cheaper than Horizons?

Horizons headlines lower at $199 vs Teamed's $599. But Horizons publishes no EOR FX policy, so the cost of cross-currency payroll is not disclosed. Teamed absorbs FX at zero markup and shows the rate against mid-market on every invoice. An undisclosed FX margin in the 1.5 to 3% industry range can add materially to the real bill.

Has Horizons rebranded? Is it now Remote People?

Yes. Horizons officially rebranded as Remote People on 9 February 2026. joinhorizons.com now 301-redirects to remotepeople.com. The product and team are the same; the brand and domain are in transition. G2 reviews are split across multiple legacy slugs. Verify continuity before onboarding.

Which Horizons alternatives own their entities, and which use partners?

All use both. Horizons claims owned entities in 150-plus EOR markets (self-reported). Remote and G-P are the most owned-entity-led in their cores. Teamed owns roughly 90 to 100 markets with partners elsewhere. Rippling, Multiplier and Oyster lean more on partners or don't publish a split. Ask per country.

How current is this comparison, and how was it scored?

Every competitor figure is read from the Teamed competitor fact-cache, verified 17 June 2026 against each provider pricing page and G2. Eight providers scored 1 to 5 on five criteria, no overall winner. Horizons G2 is not cited as a single figure due to the rebrand split. Reviewed quarterly, pricing monthly.

Horizons (Remote People) competitors & alternatives · 2026

The best Horizons alternatives in 2026

Eight Horizons alternatives scored on one published rubric. Teamed leads cost transparency and the path to your own entity, Deel and Remote on platform depth, Oyster on onboarding. Horizons carries a $199 entry price. Pick the column that matters, then read the write-ups.

Talk to an expert

Rated 4.8 on G2 for service

8
Horizons alternatives scored on one rubric: $599
Teamed fee, flat, with FX absorbed at zero markup: Zero
FX markup on the Teamed fee

Disclosure

This guide was produced by Teamed, which is one of the alternatives scored below on the same rubric as the rest. We don't crown an overall winner, we don't claim to be the cheapest, and we say plainly where Horizons or another provider is the better fit.

Last reviewed 18 June 2026By Tom Price-Daniel, Co-founder, Teamed

What are the best Horizons alternatives in 2026?

What is a Horizons alternative?

A Horizons alternative is any Employer of Record (EOR) that can replace or compete with Horizons, the global hiring platform that officially rebranded as Remote People in February 2026. An EOR legally employs your people abroad through local entities, runs payroll, remits employer taxes and statutory contributions, and carries legal employer obligations while you direct day-to-day work. If you are searching under the Horizons name, the product now lives at remotepeople.com.

Companies look past Horizons for a few consistent reasons. The $199 EOR Flex entry price is competitive, but no FX policy is published for cross-currency payroll, so the true conversion cost is hard to forecast. A dedicated account manager is highlighted as an EOR Plus (annual) inclusion, which implies lighter service on the entry tier. The brand transition from joinhorizons.com to remotepeople.com is recent, with G2 reviews split across legacy slugs as the rebrand settles. Every EOR here, Teamed included, delivers through a mix of entities it owns and vetted local partners. What differs is the share, and which of your countries fall on each side.

Methodology

How we scored this comparison

Each alternative is scored 1 to 5 on five criteria, with Horizons (now Remote People) as the named incumbent baseline. There's no weighted total and no overall winner. Different providers lead different columns. Teamed is scored on exactly the same criteria as the rest, and leads on cost transparency and lifecycle to entity.

Compliance & entity depth: Owned entities or local partners, real HR and legal experts with country-specific employment-law depth who handle edge cases directly, and accuracy on contracts, payroll and statutory contributions across the countries you hire in. How fast a real employment-law expert responds at the hard moments, a contested exit, a complex termination, a jurisdiction you have never touched before.
Cost & FX transparency: Whether the headline fee is the real bill. FX margin on salary conversion disclosed and itemised, no undisclosed spread on cross-currency payroll, no surprise setup, deposit or year-end fees.
Platform & self-serve: Dashboard depth, integrations and API surface for teams that want to run hiring themselves.
Onboarding & speed: Speed to first payroll and how well the product keeps up with a fast-growing team adding people quickly.
Lifecycle to entity: Whether the provider moves you from contractor to EOR to your own entity on one system, and flags the crossover.

How we gathered evidence

Every competitor number on this page is read from the Teamed competitor fact-cache, last verified on 17 June 2026 against each provider's own pricing page and G2. Where a provider does not publish pricing (G-P) or only surfaces pricing on a secondary source, we say so. Horizons G2 reviews are split across multiple slugs following the February 2026 rebrand and are not cited as a single star rating. Owned-entity or partner status comes from each provider's own pages, with confidence caveats where self-reported claims have not been independently verified. Teamed's claims come from teamed.global and KERNAL.

Considered & excluded

We scored the alternatives a company leaving or evaluating Horizons would realistically shortlist, from well-known enterprise incumbents to modern, price-competitive entrants.

Papaya Global, Velocity Global (Pebl): Both capable and scored in other Teamed comparison pages; excluded here to keep the set focused and directly relevant to a Horizons comparison.
Skuad, Remofirst, Omnipresent: Thinner public track record or narrow positioning that overlaps with providers already on this list.

How they score, criterion by criterion

There’s no overall winner. Each column is a different priority. Pick the ones that matter to you, then read the write-ups below.

Provider	Compliance & entity depth	Cost & FX transparency	Platform & self-serve	Onboarding & speed	Lifecycle to entity
Teamed(us)	Leads	Leads			Leads
Horizons (now Remote People)
Deel			Leads
Remote
Oyster				Leads
Rippling
Globalization Partners (G-P)
Multiplier

Scored 1–5 on each criterion from the published rubric above. The highlighted cell leads that column. Teamed is scored on exactly the same criteria as every other provider.

Teamed

Us, scored on the same rubric

Best for: fast-growing companies with an international footprint that want the truth about FX, a real person on every plan, an EOR that plugs into their existing stack, and one partner from first contractor through to their own entity.

Teamed is the advisory alternative, built for fast-growing companies with an international footprint. The wedge against Horizons is honesty on cost. Teamed shows the applied FX rate against a mid-market reference on every invoice and absorbs it at zero markup on the fee. Horizons publishes no EOR FX policy, so the true cost of paying staff in local currency is hard to pin down before you sign.

Teamed sits at the top of the compliance column on human advisory, not on entity count alone. Real HR and legal experts with country-specific employment-law depth handle the hard moments directly, a KSchG termination in Germany, a contested exit, an edge-case jurisdiction. Access is included on every plan, with no AI bot wall and no support tier to unlock. Rated 4.8 on G2 for service.

Teamed isn't trying to be your HRIS. It plugs into the major HRIS and payroll platforms you already run and is the partner you choose for your global team. Global Entity and Employment Operations (GEMO) sets up and runs your own entity in 90+ countries on the same system, with no re-onboarding when you graduate from EOR.

Countries: 180+ (owned entities in roughly 90 to 100 markets, plus vetted partners)
Entity model: Owned entities in major markets, vetted partners elsewhere; sets up your own entity via GEMO in 90+
Onboarding: Fast, with real expert support through the transition
Contractors: Yes, with misclassification cover (Guard and Protect)
Pricing: $599 USD / £479 GBP / employee / month, flat, FX absorbed at zero markup · verified 2026-06-17
G2: 4.8/5

Strengths

Tells you the truth about cost. The applied FX rate sits next to the mid-market reference and is absorbed at zero markup on the fee, and Teamed models the month your own entity beats EOR. Horizons publishes no equivalent.
Real HR and legal experts on every plan, with country-specific employment-law depth on edge cases, no AI bot wall and no tier to unlock. Rated 4.8 on G2 for service.
One partner from first contractor through EOR to your own entity, on one system, with no re-onboarding. GEMO sets up and runs your own entity in 90+ countries. Built to plug into your stack, not replace it.
Proactive advisory. Teamed models the point where your own entity makes more sense than EOR, so there is no incentive to keep you on a model that no longer fits.

Watch-outs

Lighter self-serve platform and shallower API than Deel or Rippling. The model is advisory, not dashboard-first.
Smaller brand and review base than Deel or Remote. Less recognition with a procurement team that wants the market leader, and ISO 27001 and SOC 2 are aligned with accreditation in progress, not yet held the way Deel holds them.
The advisory model earns its weight across multiple countries or a growing headcount. One hire in one country with no plans to add more may suit a lighter self-serve platform better.

Source: teamed.global/pricing

Horizons (now Remote People)

Best for: cost-sensitive teams that want a low entry price and a self-reported owned-entity footprint in 150-plus countries, and are comfortable with a self-serve dashboard as the primary delivery model.

Horizons officially rebranded as Remote People in February 2026, with joinhorizons.com now redirecting to remotepeople.com. It markets EOR in 150-plus countries through entities it claims to own in each market, rather than relying on external partner networks. The platform covers payroll, benefits, expense management and real-time reporting through a self-service dashboard, supported by 200+ in-country experts for labour law, terminations and compliance.

The $199 EOR Flex entry price is the lowest on this list and a genuine headline. On the EOR Plus tier ($399 annual, qualifying accounts with 5 or more employees) it bundles a dedicated account manager and advertises zero deposit. No FX policy is published for cross-currency EOR payroll; the "zero wire fees" claim on its pricing page refers to the contractor product only. The security deposit terms for the entry EOR Flex tier are not disclosed on public pages.

The rebrand is recent enough to warrant a few checks. G2 reviews are spread across multiple legacy slugs (new-horizons, horizons-global) and a new Remote People listing, which makes a single reputation signal difficult to read. Certifications (SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR) and the 150-plus owned-entity claim are self-reported on company pages and not independently verified in this research pass. Post-rebrand, the platform has expanded its lifecycle story to include recruitment, US PEO, global mobility and entity incorporation advisory.

Countries: 150-plus for EOR (current site)
Entity model: Claims owned local entities in each of its 150-plus EOR markets; partner mix in long-tail countries not published
Onboarding: Self-serve dashboard, no published setup fees
Contractors: Yes, Contractor Management from $29/mo and Contractor of Record from $199/mo
Pricing: EOR Flex from $199 / employee / month; EOR Plus from $399 / employee / month (annual) · verified 2026-06-17

Strengths

The lowest EOR entry price on this list at $199 per employee per month (EOR Flex, monthly billing, no setup fees), with a strong two-tier contractor offering: Contractor Management from $29/mo and Contractor of Record from $199/mo.
Claims an owned local entity in each of its 150-plus EOR markets, plus full indemnity protection, a strong self-reported compliance posture if independently verified in your specific countries.
Post-rebrand lifecycle story: recruitment, EOR, contractor management, US PEO, global mobility and visas (80+ countries) and entity incorporation advisory, all positioned under one roof.
Self-reported certifications (SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR) and 200+ in-country experts for labour law, terminations and compliance, with contracts and benefits kept current automatically.

Watch-outs

No FX policy published for EOR payroll. "Zero wire fees" applies only to the contractor product; what Horizons does with cross-currency salary conversions is not disclosed, making the true cost of paying staff in local currency opaque.
A dedicated account manager is highlighted as an EOR Plus (annual, 5+ employees) inclusion, implying lighter service on the $199 EOR Flex entry tier. Security deposit terms for entry-tier accounts are not published.
The brand transition from Horizons to Remote People is recent (February 2026). G2 reviews are split across multiple legacy slugs, the pricing history shows a shift from $299 to $199 across the rebrand, and continuity of support and documentation should be confirmed before onboarding.

Source: remotepeople.com/pricing

Deel

Best for: teams that want the broadest all-in-one platform, the deepest native integration catalogue and the strongest brand in the category, and will trade a readable FX line for that breadth.

Deel is the market-leading all-in-one global payroll, EOR and HR platform, with the deepest self-serve product and one of the broadest native integration catalogues in the category. For many buyers it is the default shortlist entry before anyone else is considered. Against Horizons at $199, Deel starts at $599 Standard, but it brings a substantially deeper platform and the longest enterprise track record.

The reasons companies look past it are consistent. Deel does not publish its FX terms, so the salary-conversion cost is built into the rate rather than shown on the invoice. Its dedicated support channel sits on the Enterprise tier from $899, while Standard support runs through a shared queue. Buyers tell us the headline can balloon once FX is added, and reportedly a six-month salary deposit was demanded for a long-notice UK hire, though we frame those as buyer reports rather than published Deel terms.

It holds ISO 27001 and SOC 2 today, which a procurement team will note. Almost every EOR enquiry one of our referral partners handles is from someone leaving Deel, which says more about scale than about a single failing. The case for Deel is platform breadth and brand recognition. The case against it is a readable invoice and base-tier human support.

Countries: 150-plus reach, full legal employment in 110+
Entity model: A mix of owned entities and vetted partners
Onboarding: Fast, deep self-serve
Contractors: Yes, mature contractor and misclassification tooling
Pricing: From $599 Standard, from $899 Enterprise / employee / month · verified 2026-06-17
G2: 4.8/5

Strengths

The deepest all-in-one platform and self-serve depth in the category. The bar the rest are measured against.
One of the broadest native integration catalogues of any provider here, covering most stacks without custom work.
The market-leading brand and a long enterprise track record, so it clears a procurement shortlist on recognition alone.
Holds ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certifications today, plus mature equity, IP and contractor tooling alongside EOR.

Watch-outs

Does not publish its FX terms, so the salary-conversion cost is built into the rate rather than shown on the invoice.
Reserves its dedicated support channel for the Enterprise tier (from $899); Standard support runs through a shared queue.
Buyers report add-on charges and, in one case, a large upfront salary deposit for a long-notice hire, though these are buyer accounts rather than published Deel terms.

Source: deel.com/pricing

Remote

Best for: teams that want a polished self-serve platform, a strong benefits and IP product, and owned entities in the countries where they hire most.

Remote is the strongest product-led alternative in this comparison. It markets a 100%-owned entity network across its 90+ EOR countries and runs a polished self-serve platform with a mature benefits and IP protection product. Local partners and other products extend total reach to 190+ locations, so the owned-entity story applies to its EOR core, not the whole map. Against Horizons, Remote sits at a higher base price but brings a substantially deeper product.

It is more transparent than Horizons on FX, but only after the fact. Remote applies a variable Remote FX rate to cross-currency lines and shows the rate used on the monthly invoice, with no published percentage. The $599 headline needs annual billing, $699 month to month. Buyers also tell us the suite can feel generic and that support can run to a multi-day response, and one regulated buyer chose Remote over Teamed precisely because it owns its entities.

The fit is a team that wants to run global hiring as a product rather than a service. Benefits administration and IP protection are genuinely mature, and the self-serve flows hold up as headcount scales. Model the variable FX rate on your real salary volumes before comparing with flat-fee providers. Against Horizons you trade a lower entry price for owned-entity confidence, published pricing and a polished product experience.

Countries: 190+ locations, 90+ for full owned-entity EOR
Entity model: Owned-entity led in its core EOR countries, partners and other products beyond
Onboarding: Dedicated onboarding specialist plus a named CSM
Contractors: Yes, tiered, with indemnity options
Pricing: $599 / month on annual billing ($699 month to month) · verified 2026-06-17
G2: 4.6/5 (591)

Strengths

A polished, well-designed self-serve platform with strong benefits administration and IP-protection tooling handled in-product.
A 100%-owned entity network across its core 90+ EOR countries, which means fewer partner hand-offs in the markets you are most likely to hire in.
Pricing is published in full, $599 on annual terms against $699 month to month, so you can budget it without a sales call.
A dedicated onboarding specialist and a named CSM on the EOR plan, backed by in-house HR, legal and tax experts.

Watch-outs

The $599 rate needs annual billing. Month to month is $699, so the comparable price depends on the commitment you can make.
The Remote FX rate is a variable blended rate shown after the fact on the invoice, with no published percentage, not a zero-markup or itemised mid-market line.
Owned entities cover the core 90+ EOR markets; beyond them delivery runs through partners and other products, so ask which of your countries are owned.

Source: remote.com/pricing

Oyster

Best for: smaller and fast-scaling teams that want automation, a published flat price, a human support SLA and a B-Corp supplier, with strong contractor tooling alongside.

Oyster is the automation-first alternative and a certified B-Corp. Onboarding is fast and clean, support is human and expert-led with a published SLA (24-hour response, resolution guaranteed under 72 hours), and the EOR price is a flat $699 per employee per month. The product is built so a small team can run it without a payroll specialist in-house. Against Horizons, you pay more per employee but get a published, predictable flat price with a human support SLA.

The watch-outs are in the fine print. Oyster requires a refundable deposit to start an EOR engagement, with no amount published, and charges a currency-conversion fee on any currency mismatch, again with no rate disclosed. White-glove HR advisory is billed separately at $300 an hour rather than included. It is a credible early choice for a fast-growing team, and the human support model gives it a layer the pure self-serve platforms lack.

Pricing is otherwise predictable, which suits a first-time EOR buyer, and the B-Corp certification carries weight with procurement teams that screen on values. The lifecycle path is thinner, though, with no productised route from EOR to your own entity, so it can become something you outgrow. Against Horizons you trade a lower entry price for a published flat rate, a human SLA and strong contractor tooling.

Countries: 180+ all products, 120+ for EOR
Entity model: Hybrid, owns or partners with local entities; no published split
Onboarding: Fast, automated, with a dedicated hiring success manager
Contractors: Yes, $29 / contractor / month, strong tooling
Pricing: $699 / employee / month, flat · verified 2026-06-17
G2: 4.4/5 (1447)

Strengths

Human, expert-led support with a published SLA (24-hour response, resolution guaranteed under 72 hours) and a dedicated hiring success manager. The onboarding column is the one Oyster leads.
A certified B-Corp with a flat published EOR price of $699 and no named setup, onboarding, HR-expert-access or termination charges. Procurement teams that screen on values get an easy yes.
Strong contractor tooling at $29 per contractor per month, with payments in 120+ currencies, a free misclassification test and country-specific IP agreements.
A large, healthy social-proof base on G2, roughly 1,447 reviews, plus SOC 2 Type II certification and a strong GDPR posture.

Watch-outs

Requires a refundable deposit to start an EOR engagement, with no amount published, and charges a currency-conversion fee on any currency mismatch, with no rate disclosed.
White-glove HR advisory is billed separately at $300 an hour rather than included, and there is no productised path from EOR to your own entity.
Most of its EOR map runs through partners, with no owned-versus-partner split published, so ask about the delivery chain in your specific countries.

Source: oysterhr.com/pricing

Rippling

Best for: teams that want HR, IT and payroll on one platform and treat EOR as part of a bigger unified system rather than a standalone hiring tool.

Rippling is the alternative if you want to run HR, IT and payroll on one system. It is HRIS-first, with every customer on a single employee graph, and arguably the most powerful unified platform in this comparison. Rippling publishes 600+ integrations on that graph. EOR was added as a module rather than built as a pure-play, delivered through a hybrid mix of Rippling-owned subsidiaries and partners.

EOR is the newer part of the product, and its country coverage is materially lower than the rest, around 80 countries against roughly 180 for the dedicated EOR providers. Rippling does not publish EOR pricing on its primary pages; a $499 per employee per month figure surfaces in a comparison table on its own blog, with the product page gated behind a demo request. A base HR-platform fee sits on top of the per-employee EOR charge. Buyers also report an undisclosed security deposit.

The consolidation thesis is the point. If you are buying an HRIS, device management and payroll anyway, EOR rides the same employee record, and Rippling does publish a live entity-versus-EOR cost calculator, so the crossover is visible. Get the all-in monthly number in writing, platform base plus EOR fee. Against Horizons you trade a lower entry price for a unified people-and-IT system with a much deeper integration catalogue.

Countries: 80 for EOR (185+ for contractor payments)
Entity model: Hybrid, owned subsidiaries plus partners; split not published
Onboarding: Fast, heavy self-serve; white-glove reserved for enterprise
Contractors: Yes, contractor payments plus Contractor of Record
Pricing: Not published on primary pages; about $499 on its own blog, plus an HR-platform base fee · verified 2026-06-17
G2: 4.8/5

Strengths

The most powerful unified HR, IT and payroll platform in this comparison. Rippling publishes 600+ integrations on one employee graph, and it leads the platform column on this rubric.
Fast, heavily automated self-serve: onboarding in minutes and payday in days if you are standardising your whole people stack on one tool.
Published support transparency with live rolling 90-day metrics, plus human-staffed chat, email and video, and SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type II both held.
Entity-transition tooling: a distinct Global Payroll product plus a live entity-versus-EOR cost calculator on the same platform.

Watch-outs

EOR is less mature than the core Rippling product, and country coverage is materially lower at 80 countries, against roughly 180 for the dedicated EOR providers.
Does not publish EOR pricing on its primary pages; the $499 figure surfaces only on its own blog, and a base HR-platform fee sits on top of the per-employee EOR charge.
Built to replace your HR stack, which is more than a focused global hire needs, and buyers report an undisclosed security deposit plus a coverage gap when an EOR hire hit a statutory cap.

Source: rippling.com

Globalization Partners (G-P)

Best for: large enterprises where reach, a deep certification stack and analyst recognition matter more than published pricing or speed.

G-P is the analyst-decorated enterprise incumbent, marketing 180+ country reach, 100+ legal entities and 200+ global partners, with a long track record and one of the deepest compliance and security certification stacks in the category. It positions EOR as the alternative to running your own entities and has a large in-country legal team. (It markets itself as the number-one EOR by analysts; we report that as its own claim, not ours.)

For a fast-growing company it is usually heavyweight. EOR pricing is quote-only, with no per-employee figure on any of its own pages, only a demo request and a proposal form. Base-tier support leans on the G-P Assist AI assistant, while a dedicated customer success manager, quarterly reviews and direct access to G-P's HR and legal teams are reserved for the higher EOR Prime tier. Buyers report a pre-funding model of roughly one to two months' salary, though G-P does not publish that.

The case for G-P is governance at scale: a deep certification stack, a large in-country legal team and the procurement posture that large organisations require. Procurement, security and legal reviews tend to pass it quickly because it is built to be reviewed. Against Horizons you trade a low entry price for enterprise breadth, analyst recognition and a certification portfolio that covers ISO 27001, 27017, 27018 and 42001, plus SOC 2 Type II.

Countries: 180+ reach, 100+ legal entities plus 200+ partners
Entity model: Owned entities plus an extensive partner network; no clean owned-only split published
Onboarding: Enterprise governance, AI-led base support
Contractors: Yes, self-serve contractor product at $39 / contractor / month
Pricing: Quote-only; no per-employee EOR price published · verified 2026-06-17
G2: 4.4/5 (1028)

Strengths

Genuine enterprise-grade scale and reach: 180+ countries marketed, 100+ legal entities and 200+ global partners over a long track record.
One of the deepest compliance and security certification stacks here, ISO 27001, 27017, 27018 and 42001, plus SOC 2 Type II, on a self-serve trust portal.
A large in-country HR, legal and compliance team and strong analyst recognition, a trust signal for enterprise buyers.
A transparent, genuinely self-serve contractor product at $39 per contractor per month, with Wise-powered payments and AI misclassification checks.

Watch-outs

Publishes no EOR per-employee price on any of its own pages, only a demo request and a proposal form, so a like-for-like comparison requires a sales call.
Base-tier support leans on the G-P Assist AI assistant; a dedicated CSM, quarterly reviews and direct HR and legal access are reserved for the higher EOR Prime tier.
Buyers report a pre-funding model of roughly one to two months salary, though G-P does not disclose deposit or pre-funding terms publicly.

Source: globalization-partners.com

Multiplier

Best for: fast-scaling teams that want a modern, well-reviewed platform and a strong contractor product at a low published base, once the deposit and FX terms are pinned down.

Multiplier is the price-and-product alternative for fast-scaling teams. It markets 150-plus countries through a mix of owned entities and partners, the platform is modern and well-reviewed at 4.7 on G2, support is human and not tier-gated, and the contractor and global-payroll products are strong. The published EOR base starts from $400 per employee per month, one of the lower headlines in this comparison alongside Horizons, but at roughly double the Horizons entry price.

The watch-outs are in the cash flow. Multiplier's own help centre states it requires a refundable deposit equal to the notice-period salary, due before the contract is signed, plus monthly payroll pre-funding, neither of which appears on its marketing pages. It markets zero FX conversion markups but publishes no rate source or methodology, and its own help centre concedes invoice rates differ from the calculator estimate, so treat the zero-markup claim as a marketing position rather than a verified absence.

As a package the value is real: a modern platform, human support including a CSM on every plan, and a low published base with onboarding measured in hours. Pin down the deposit and the FX line in writing on your corridors. Against Horizons you trade a lower entry price for a more mature product ecosystem, a larger G2 review base and more transparent support on the base tier.

Countries: 150-plus via owned entities plus partners
Entity model: Owned-entity positioning plus partners; no owned-versus-partner split published
Onboarding: Fast, hours, with a CSM on every plan
Contractors: Yes, dedicated Contractor of Record product
Pricing: From $400 / employee / month (EOR); deposit and pre-funding apply · verified 2026-06-17
G2: 4.7/5

Strengths

A modern, well-reviewed platform (4.7 on G2) with human support and a dedicated CSM on every plan, not gated behind a premium tier.
A low published EOR base from $400 per employee per month, with no named setup or termination fees on its marketing pages.
A strong contractor and global-payroll product with misclassification indemnification and payments in 120+ currencies, enough to carry a mixed workforce on one platform.
A comprehensive claimed certification set: SOC 1, SOC 2 Type I and II, ISO 27001, 27017 and 27018, PCI-DSS and GDPR, plus 100+ in-house legal and tax experts.

Watch-outs

Its own help centre requires a refundable deposit equal to the notice-period salary, due before signing, plus monthly payroll pre-funding, neither surfaced on its marketing pages.
Markets zero FX conversion markups but publishes no rate source or methodology, and its own help centre concedes invoice rates differ from the calculator, so the low base may not be the real cost.
A higher share of partner-served countries than the owned-entity-led providers, with no split published, and a lighter path to your own entity. Buyers tell us smaller accounts can feel de-prioritised.

Source: usemultiplier.com/pricing

Why the shortlist matters

Behind every line item is a real person, in a real place.

The fee, the FX and the support model are not abstractions. They decide whether the person you hired in Barcelona or Rome is paid right, on time, by someone who knows their employment law. That is what the ranking is really measuring.

What each stakeholder evaluates

Criterion	Legal	Finance	People Ops	Security
FX you can see	Ask for the FX policy in writing before you sign. Confirm whether salary conversion uses mid-market or an undisclosed spread, and whether it applies to the EOR fee, salary or both.	Horizons, Deel, Multiplier and G-P don't publish their EOR FX terms. Teamed shows the applied rate against mid-market and absorbs it at zero markup. Remote shows a variable rate on the invoice after the fact, with no published percentage. An undisclosed spread in the 1.5 to 3% industry range on salary is a material line item at scale.	An itemised invoice avoids per-country reconciliation work and makes cost forecasting possible.	A timestamped rate against a public reference is an auditable record for finance and legal.
Human support vs AI	Ask who handles a contested termination or a complex compliance question, a real expert or an AI assistant and a ticket queue.	Check whether real support is gated behind a higher tier. Horizons gates its dedicated account manager behind the annual EOR Plus tier. G-P gates human relationship management behind EOR Prime. Deel reserves its dedicated channel for the $899 Enterprise tier.	You want a real person when it matters. Teamed is rated 4.8 on G2 for service, with expert access on every plan and no AI bot wall. Oyster publishes a 24-hour response SLA on its standard tier.	A dedicated contact and clear escalation beat a rotating queue for incident handling.
Owned entity or partner	Ask whether the provider hires via an owned entity or a partner in each country you hire in.	Every provider runs a mix. Remote and G-P are the most owned-entity-led in their respective cores. Horizons claims owned entities in 150-plus markets, a strong self-reported position that hasn't been independently verified. Multiplier and Oyster lean more on partners or don't publish a split. Ask per country.	An owned entity means one accountable employer for the contract, payroll and statutory contributions in that country.	Owned entity means one data-processing chain rather than a partner sub-processor in that market.

Decision checklist

Read the small print before you sign. Most EORs require a deposit and many layer on setup, offboarding or termination fees. Teamed takes a one-month refundable deposit, charges no onboarding or offboarding fees, and sets the costs out up front.
Check the FX policy in writing. Horizons, Deel and Multiplier don't publish their EOR FX terms. Teamed shows the rate against mid-market and absorbs it at zero markup. Remote shows a variable rate after the fact on the invoice. An undisclosed spread in the 1.5 to 3% industry range on salary adds up at scale.
Choose on compliance depth if real HR and legal experts per jurisdiction matter more than self-serve platform depth. Teamed sits at the top of this column on human advisory, included on every plan.
Stay with Horizons if its $199 entry price and broad self-reported owned-entity footprint are the draw, and you're comfortable with a self-serve dashboard on the base tier and a platform in mid-rebrand.
Choose Teamed if FX transparency, a real person on every plan and the path to your own entity matter more than a low entry price.
Choose Remote if you want a polished self-serve product, strong benefits and owned entities in your core countries, and annual billing is fine.
Choose Oyster if you want fast automated onboarding, a published flat price and a human support SLA, and you have checked the deposit and currency-conversion fee.
Choose Rippling if you want HR, IT and payroll on one platform and can absorb a base platform fee on top of EOR.
Choose Deel if platform breadth, the deepest integration catalogue and the market-leading brand outweigh a readable invoice.
Choose Multiplier if you want a modern platform and a low published base, and you will pin down the deposit, pre-funding and FX before signing.
Choose G-P only if you are a large enterprise where reach, certifications and analyst recognition matter more than published pricing or speed.
Ask every provider the edge-case questions buyers wish they had asked before signing. Can you reach a real HR or legal expert when you need one? What happens to an employee whose salary is paid across currencies? Who handles a contested termination, and at what tier?

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Honest take

When Horizons, or another provider here, is the better choice.

Stay with Horizons if its $199 entry price, self-reported owned-entity coverage and lifecycle story suit your needs, and you can verify the FX and deposit terms directly.
Choose Remote if a polished product, a mature benefits offering and owned entities across your core EOR countries matter most.
Choose Rippling if you want your whole HR, IT and payroll stack on one platform.
Choose G-P or another enterprise incumbent if you need the deepest certification portfolio and procurement posture above all else.
Choose Oyster if fast automated onboarding and a B-Corp certification matter, and you've confirmed the deposit and currency-conversion fee.

Teamed leads cost transparency and the path to your own entity, and sits at the top of compliance on human advisory, not every column. A buyer with different priorities should pick differently. We'd rather lose the deal than mismatch the engagement.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best alternatives to Horizons in 2026?
There's no single best. It depends on your priority. Teamed leads on cost transparency and the move from EOR to your own entity, with real HR and legal experts on every plan. Remote leads on product polish and owned entities across its core EOR countries. Oyster leads onboarding with a published SLA. Rippling leads on the unified HR and IT platform. Multiplier offers a low published base if you pin down the deposit and FX. Deel brings the broadest platform. G-P suits enterprises where certifications and reach matter most. Horizons stays the lowest entry price at $199. The most useful question for any of them: can you reach a real HR or legal expert when you want, and can you see what the FX line on salary is?
Why do companies switch from Horizons?
Typically for one of three reasons. The FX policy for cross-currency EOR payroll is not published, so the true cost of paying staff in local currency is hard to forecast. The dedicated account manager sits on the annual EOR Plus tier, not the entry $199 EOR Flex tier, so base-tier support can feel lighter than expected. And the brand transition from Horizons to Remote People in February 2026 is recent enough that some buyers want continuity certainty before onboarding. One Teamed customer (a legal-services firm) moved from Deel to Horizons and then to Teamed, citing better flexibility and support, which speaks to Horizons being an intermediate step rather than a long-term fit for some buyers.
Is Teamed cheaper than Horizons?
Horizons publishes a lower headline. EOR Flex starts at $199 per employee per month, against Teamed at $599. The question worth asking is what the real bill looks like once FX is added. Horizons publishes no EOR FX or currency-conversion policy, so the cost of paying staff in local currency is not disclosed. Teamed absorbs FX at zero markup and shows the applied rate against the mid-market reference on every invoice. An undisclosed FX margin in the 1.5 to 3% industry range on a mid-range salary can add several hundred dollars per employee per month. The headline Horizons price is lower; the total bill depends on the FX line.
Has Horizons rebranded? Is it now Remote People?
Yes. Horizons officially rebranded as Remote People on 9 February 2026. joinhorizons.com now 301-redirects to remotepeople.com. The product, pricing and team are the same; the brand, domain and some documentation are in transition. G2 reviews are spread across multiple legacy slugs (new-horizons, horizons-global) and a new Remote People listing, which makes a single reputation score difficult to read. If you are comparing providers and have found Horizons in a search, you are buying Remote People. Verify continuity of support documentation, your contract terms and G2 review context before onboarding.
Which Horizons alternatives own their entities, and which use partners?
All of them use both. Every EOR in this comparison, Teamed included, delivers through a mix of entities it owns and vetted local partners. Horizons claims owned entities in each of its 150-plus EOR markets, a strong self-reported position that hasn't been independently verified. Remote markets a 100%-owned entity network across its core 90+ EOR countries. G-P runs 100+ legal entities plus an extensive partner network. Teamed owns entities in roughly 90 to 100 major markets and uses vetted partners elsewhere. Rippling, Multiplier and Oyster lean more on partners or do not publish a split. What matters is which of your specific countries are owned-entity served. Ask that question per country, not per brand.
How current is this comparison, and how was it scored?
Every competitor figure is read from the Teamed competitor fact-cache, last verified on 17 June 2026 against each provider's own pricing page and G2. Each of the eight providers is scored 1 to 5 on five criteria with no weighted total and no overall winner. Horizons G2 reviews are split across multiple slugs following the rebrand to Remote People and are not cited as a single star rating. Where a provider does not publish pricing (G-P), we say so. We review the page quarterly and re-verify pricing monthly.

Common questions

What is the best alternative to Horizons for a company hiring internationally?
It depends on your priority. Teamed is the advisory alternative: FX shown against mid-market and absorbed at zero markup, real HR and legal experts on every plan, and one system from contractor to EOR to your own entity. Remote is product-led with owned entities in its core EOR countries, Oyster leads onboarding with a published SLA, Rippling unifies HR and IT, Multiplier offers a low base if you check the deposit and FX. Deel has the broadest platform, G-P the deepest enterprise certifications. Horizons stays the lowest entry at $199 but publishes no EOR FX policy.
Horizons vs Teamed vs Remote, which EOR should I choose?
All three hire compliantly worldwide. Horizons entries at $199 per employee per month but publishes no EOR FX policy; its dedicated account manager sits on the annual tier. Remote is polished and owns entities across 90+ EOR countries; its $599 rate needs annual billing and applies a variable FX rate shown after the fact. Teamed matches $599, shows FX against mid-market at zero markup, and gives you a real person on every plan plus a path to your own entity. Choose Horizons for the lowest entry price if you can verify the FX terms; Remote for product quality and owned entities; Teamed for FX transparency and a human advisory relationship.

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Harry, sales specialist, photographed in Barcelona — Harry · Sales

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