For startups making their first hire abroad

Hire your first employee abroad without opening an entity

You found the right person and they live in another country. Columbus becomes their legal employer, runs payroll and benefits, and you pay one flat rate from $179 a month.

Know what it costs before you commit

One flat monthly rate per employee, no setup fee, no contract minimums

A compliant local contract, not a workaround

Your hire gets a real employment contract under local law, with the benefits that law requires

An expert on the call, not a sales script

15 minutes on your country, your role and the right setup for your case

No hidden fees. Ever.
Rated 5.0 on(16 reviews)

Talk to an expert & see your savings

No commitment · No credit card · No sales pitch

Powered by RemoFirst

What an employer of record does for a first hire

An employer of record (EOR) is a company that already has a legal entity in the country where your hire lives. It employs the person on paper, so they get a local contract, local payroll and the benefits local law requires. You direct their work day to day, exactly like any other employee.

For a first hire this matters because the alternative is opening your own entity in that country: registering a company, a bank account, a payroll provider and an accountant, before the person can start. An EOR removes all of that. You sign one agreement, the hire signs a local contract, and payroll runs from the first month.

Columbus charges from $179 per employee per month, with no setup fee, no contract minimums and the option to cancel anytime. The industry average is $599 and up, so a single hire saves you up to 70% for the same payroll, compliance and benefits.

Your journey

From plan to hire in 3 clear steps

Most teams go from first call to a fully compliant hire inside a week.

01Day 1

Discover talent

Bring your own candidates or tap our global pool. No geographical limits, just great people.

  • Bring your own candidates
  • Skills-based matching
02Days 2-3

We navigate compliance

Local contracts, payroll, benefits and labor law. The legal headaches are ours, not yours.

  • Compliant local contract
  • Benefits enrollment
03Day 4+

Your team launches

Hires onboarded and paid in days, not months. You get one flat invoice each month.

  • On payroll from $179/mo
  • One monthly invoice

Pricing comparison

Pay less. Get the same.

We combine RemoFirst's cost-efficient EOR infrastructure with our partner-level pricing, so you get the same service at a lower margin, not a lower standard.

What you get:

We partner directly with established EOR infrastructure instead of building from scratch, cutting out layers of overhead and middlemen. Lower costs for us means lower costs for you.

Automated payroll, compliance, and onboarding reduce operational overhead - savings are passed directly to you.

Transparent, flat monthly pricing with no hidden fees or minimums, while maintaining full compliance coverage in 193 countries.

Columbus
Industry average
Monthly cost per employee
From $179
$499 - $699
Setup fee
$0
$0 - $2,000
Dedicated support
All clients
Enterprise plans only
Countries covered
193
32 - 185
Contract minimum
None
Often annual
Pricing transparency
Flat rate, all-in
FX markups & add-ons vary
5.0
on G2 (16 reviews)

Don't just take our word for it

G2 Verified

Columbus Streamlined Our Global Payroll, Compliance, and Onboarding

What they like best

Columbus has made it much easier for us to manage employees across different countries. The platform keeps payroll, compliance, and onboarding well organized, which cuts down on the manual coordination we used to handle. As a result, our team can stay focused on day-to-day business operations instead of getting pulled into administrative tasks.

How they helped

Expanding into new markets often brings legal and compliance hurdles. Columbus takes away much of that complexity by managing the employment requirements on our behalf. As a result, we’ve been able to hire international talent without having to spend significant time and resources setting up local entities.

Z
Ziad A.
IT Operations Supervisor
G2 Verified

Organized Onboarding, Payroll, and Compliance with Responsive Support

What they like best

What I appreciate most is how organized the whole process feels. From onboarding through payroll and compliance, everything is managed in a way that takes pressure off our internal team. The platform is straightforward to navigate, and support has been responsive whenever we’ve needed help or clarification.

How they helped

Before we started using Columbus, hiring in other countries came with a lot of uncertainty, especially around legal requirements and payroll management. The platform has helped eliminate many of those challenges and has enabled us to hire internationally without having to set up our own entities.

T
Tobio O.
HR Business Partner
G2 Verified

Straightforward Global Payroll and Compliance with Reliable Support

What they like best

The platform has been very straightforward to use, particularly when it comes to managing international employees. Payroll and compliance are handled smoothly, which saves our team a lot of time and cuts down on manual effort. Communication with the support team has also been reliable and helpful whenever we’ve needed assistance.

How they helped

Hiring internationally used to feel complicated because every country comes with its own legal and administrative requirements. Columbus helped simplify that process and let us onboard employees without having to set up local entities ourselves. Overall, it’s made expanding our remote team much easier and more efficient.

C
Charles M.
People Operations Manager
G2 Verified

Fast, Organized Onboarding for International Hiring—No Local Entities Needed

What they like best

The biggest advantage has been how quickly we were able to onboard employees without needing to set up local entities or juggle multiple vendors. The overall process is well structured and easy to follow, even for teams that are new to international hiring. Everything feels organized, and the team makes sure the details are handled correctly right from the start.

How they helped

Entering new markets typically requires significant time, effort, and expense because of entity setup and ongoing compliance requirements. This solution removes many of those barriers by letting us hire directly in new regions without going through the usual setup process. It helped us cut operational overhead and move much faster than we expected.

A
Andrea R.
Talent Acquisition Lead
G2 Verified

Made global hiring feel manageable

What they like best

What really stood out to me was how approachable everything feels, from the platform itself to the people behind it. Even topics like compliance and local regulations—which can get pretty complex—are broken down in a simple, easy-to-understand way. The team is patient and takes the time to make sure I’m clear on everything before we move forward.

How they helped

We were initially hesitant to hire internationally because of compliance risks and the uncertainty around doing it correctly. Columbus helped remove that hesitation by bringing clear structure and steady guidance throughout the entire process. Because of that support, we’ve been able to expand our team into new markets with far more confidence and noticeably less stress.

K
Kevin H.
Director of People Strategy