Industry Insights and Trends
9 mins read
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Published on:
Apr 30, 2025
Updated on:
Apr 22, 2026
Our Employer of Record (EOR) solution makes it easy to hire, pay, and manage global employees.
Book a demoGlobalization Partners (G-P) is considered a leading global employment platform. They achieved this status by establishing a wide network of partners worldwide, offering innovative solutions for international hiring. However, in 2026, international workforce management is changing rapidly.
More companies have international employees, global payroll processing is more complex, and benefits administration is a competitive advantage for attracting global talent. The result? Globalization Partners is being reconsidered as a top choice for EOR services.
In the last year, several EOR platforms have made strategic changes that are putting them ahead in the EOR industry. We examine four platforms, Rivermate, RemoFirst, Deel and Oyster, for reasons why they could be a better long-term fit for your business.
Why change to Rivermate? Rivermate’s appeal as an alternative lies in their deepening experience across Europe, the Americas and Asia. Their platform is intuitive, easy to use, and it helps you manage every aspect of global hiring (including contractor management).
They have local experts (not bots) available 24/7 via WhatsApp, Email, or Slack to address questions about local employment laws. They are also true partners in global expansion, not just a platform. If you have no HR team (and few legal experts on hand), then Rivermate fills that gap.
Pros
If the ‘cookie-cutter’ approach to some EOR services has been bothering you, and you’re looking for a partner who understands that your business is unique, then Rivermate is the right choice for you. They don’t apply a one-size-fits-all logic and will customize benefits or employment packages to secure the top talent you’re looking for.
This highly flexible approach gives Rivermate the edge in complex hiring environments. They have to constantly think outside the box to help clients set up distributed teams, which has given them wide exposure as an EOR provider.
Rivermate has its own legal entities in countries worldwide. This gives them the ability to sponsor employment in some countries. This is important because many European and Middle Eastern countries do not allow foreign workers to enter without sponsorship.
When HighTekers, a leading tech consulting company in Europe, needed to hire employees in multiple countries, they turned to Rivermate. The end result was seamless expansion across 5+ countries. More about this customer success story, or find out why Rivermate scores 4.9/5 on G2 reviews.
If you’re looking for a global partner to be part of your global expansion success story, speak to a Rivermate global HR expert now.
Cons
Rivermate can provide EOR services (payroll, taxes, compliance, benefits management) and act as a contractor of record for international employment, with a primary focus on global hiring and compliance rather than full HRIS functionality.
Why change to RemoFirst? The biggest reason to move from G-P to RemoFirst would be cost. RemoFirst is considered one of the cheapest EOR providers on the market. They do this by partnering with third-party providers worldwide. This enables companies to secure these expert services for hiring international teams at a lower cost.
Pros
RemoFirst’s partner-heavy business model gives companies access to local legal entities in 185+ countries. They also outsource their payroll processing to vetted experts. This creates a wide network of services for companies that don’t have to carry the financial burden of this expertise.
RemoFirst partners are not random vendors. They are seasoned experts in payroll management and compliance management. They have mastered challenges in both complex labor environments and niche markets. This experience is passed on to their clients.
There are no long-term contracts or employee minimums required when signing up for RemoFirst’s EOR services. This gives companies the flexibility to test the services and exit quickly if they do not meet global hiring objectives.
Find out what users think about RemoFirst.
Cons
There are two risks associated with low-cost EOR platforms. Firstly, the partner-heavy model holds some risk for companies in that compliance is spread over multiple partners. When these partnerships fail to deliver the promised services, it directly impacts the customers. Secondly, models that rely on large volumes of clients can sometimes struggle to maintain high customer support levels. In a payroll, tax, and compliance environment, this is high risk.
Discover more RemoFirst alternatives.
Why change to Deel? Deel is considered one of Globalization Partners' competitors because they offer the same level of services. Both offer an enterprise-grade global workforce management platform and access to customized benefits in every country. However, Deel positions itself as a complete HRIS. It’s a one-stop shop for hiring, performance management, tracking PTO, and even IT shipping and setup.
Pros
Deel replaces up to 10+ providers while reducing risk and administration. When scaling internationally, companies need a team of HR and legal experts (including employee relocation services). This maze of service providers can be expensive and complicate global expansion. However, Deel combines local expertise and automation to provide a single platform that streamlines international employment.
Deel started as a contractor management platform, which has given them an advantage in offering contractor-specific benefits. This includes initiatives such as the Deel card and the ability for contractors to get paid in crypto or to digital wallets.
Deel API allows you to integrate Deel with the systems you already use. The platform has integrations across HR, finance, and ERP tools. They also have a sandbox for testing that ensures seamless workflows before affecting real-time data.
Find out what users think about Deel.
Cons
Deel is a sophisticated enterprise-grade system with impressive automation features. However, platforms like this can sometimes feel mechanical - lacking the human touch that traditional HR teams provide. Consider that there will be less and less interaction with real people as the platform evolves - this might not be what you (or your employees) need.
Need more human support to manage your international workforce?. Discover what this looks like with Rivermate.
Why change to Oyster? Like G-P and Deel, Oyster is built for companies hiring across multiple countries. Oyster stands out for its remote-first approach, broad international coverage, and compliant hiring model that helps businesses scale globally without opening local entities.
Pros
Oyster’s focus is on combining hiring, payroll, compliance, and local employment support in one platform. This allows companies to hire, pay, and manage team members across 180+ countries while reducing the operational burden on internal HR teams.
Oyster is a strong provider of global employment support, offering localized onboarding, payroll, and compliance guidance across a wide international footprint. It is especially appealing for distributed teams that want a people-first platform and transparent global hiring support.
Oyster promotes transparent pricing for global hiring, which can make planning easier for companies that want more predictability than custom-quote models.
Find out what users think about Oyster.
Cons
Oyster can be a strong fit for distributed teams, but some businesses with highly complex enterprise requirements may need deeper customization or heavier operational infrastructure than a remote-first platform is designed to offer.
Discover more Oyster HR alternatives
Globalization Partners has four excellent alternatives in 2026. The main reasons companies make a change from Globalization Partners to one of these options are as follows:
Many decision-makers fear the disruption that changing HR and finance platforms will cause. These concerns need clarity and explanations from experts in the EOR space. Speak to a Rivermate expert now about your needs.
In 2026, top Globalization Partners alternatives are Rivermate, Deel, RemoFirst, and Oyster.
Rivermate provides a unified platform for managing global employees and contractors, along with 24/7 human-first expertise worldwide. Deel goes beyond EOR, offering a full HRIS platform for enterprise global workforce management. RemoFirst provides the most cost-effective alternative via global partnerships for global payroll and benefits. Oyster offers broad international coverage, compliant hiring support, and a remote-first platform for managing distributed teams.
Currently, Deel is the fastest-growing and most popular Employer of Record (EOR) platform in the US. However, the best EOR platform depends on your individual needs.
Businesses with specific objectives will find a number of platforms to meet their needs. For example, if the objective is to partner with an EOR company for global hiring, offer employee benefits, and pay employees in multiple countries, while retaining in-country HR expertise, then Rivermate is the best EOR platform for this. If the objective is cost-efficiency alone, then RemoFirst and Skuad are the cheapest options. If a fully-fledged HRIS (including EOR) is required, then Deel is the best option.
Whether you choose an EOR with regional or global specialization depends on your long-term hiring goals.
If you will hire remote workers only in the US, Europe or Asia, then a regional specialist is preferable. However, if you’ll hire employees in multiple jurisdictions, then a global EOR specialist is required. Some EOR platforms have global in-country HR experts who handle employment contracts and benefits (like Rivermate), while others combine platform workflows with broad global hiring support and remote-first operations (like Globalization Partners or Oyster).
Founder, Head of Growth
Lucas Botzen is the Founder of Rivermate, a global employment platform that helps companies hire, employ, and manage talent internationally. Since founding Rivermate in December 2020, he has focused on building practical solutions that simplify international payroll, benefits, taxes, contracts, and employment compliance for remote teams. Before Rivermate, Lucas co-founded and co-directed Boloo, an e-learning and software company that helped entrepreneurs start and grow e-commerce businesses. He scaled Boloo to more than €2 million in annual revenue before successfully exiting the business. Lucas holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Innovation from Avans University of Applied Sciences. His background in entrepreneurship, technology, automation, and remote work continues to shape his approach to making global employment simpler and more human.
Our Employer of Record (EOR) solution makes it easy to hire, pay, and manage global employees.
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