EOR fees typically run between €400 and €800 a month per employee (flat fee) or 5 to 15% of gross salary. But the fee itself isn't the number that matters. What you need is the total cost of employment, salary plus statutory contributions plus the EOR fee. That's your real budget figure. 

Most EOR providers make this harder than it needs to be. They hide pricing behind quote request forms, or give you the management fee while leaving the rest, employer taxes, pension contributions, mandatory bonuses, for you to discover later. This guide cuts through that. 

The Two Pricing Models 

Flat monthly fee 

You pay a fixed amount per employee, regardless of their salary. Easier to budget, no surprises when you give someone a raise. Typical range: €400-€800/month, depending on the country and what's included. 

This is the model Swapp Agency uses. You can view country-specific rates on our pricing page and get a full salary breakdown before committing to anything. 

Percentage of gross salary 

Sounds reasonable until you do the math. At 10%, a senior developer on €8,000/month means €800 in EOR fees alone, before a single employer tax has been touched. The percentage model quietly punishes you for hiring well-paid people, and makes forward planning a headache. 

If you're comparing quotes on this model, always clarify: does the percentage apply to gross salary, or to the total cost of employment? Some providers use the latter, which compounds the cost significantly.  

What's In the Fee, and What Isn't 

The management fee covers the EOR's service. The statutory costs are separate, passed through by every provider, not absorbed. A reputable EOR should show you both, upfront. 

What a solid EOR fee should cover 

• Drafting a locally compliant employment contract 
• Running monthly payroll in local currency 
• Filing payroll reports with local tax authorities 
• Calculating and remitting employer social security contributions 
• Statutory leave tracking and accruals 
• HR support for day-to-day employment queries 
• Handling termination in line with local law 

Some providers (Swapp Agency included) also cover onboarding support, employment agreement templates, and direct access to in-country compliance expertise. Worth verifying before you sign. 

What's always extra 

Employer-side payroll taxes, pension contributions, mandatory bonuses, and country-specific levies. These are legal obligations and no EOR absorbs them. In Nordic markets, employer contributions can add 20–30% on top of gross salary. In others, it's considerably less.  

If a provider only gives you the management fee and leaves the rest to you, that's a red flag. 

EOR vs. Setting Up Your Own Entity 

It's a fair question, and the honest answer is that the crossover point comes later than most companies expect. 

Setting up a local entity typically costs €5,000–€15,000 before you've made a single hire, and ongoing compliance costs kick in immediately regardless of headcount. For most companies with fewer than 10–15 employees in a market, EOR comes out ahead, especially if you're still testing whether the market is worth committing to. 

As we explored in our piece on how EOR levels the playing field for startups, it's this flexibility, no lock-in, no fixed infrastructure, that makes the model particularly valuable early on. 

The Costs Most Budgets Miss 

Mandatory bonuses 

These aren't discretionary. Iceland requires a holiday bonus of over 10% of annual salary. Spain mandates two extra monthly payments per year. Portugal has a statutory Christmas bonus. They're easy to forget in early budget planning and meaningful in the final numbers. 

Add-on services 

Company cards, car leasing, private health insurance, office space... EOR providers increasingly offer these as optional extras. Useful if you're competing for senior talent without the infrastructure to source benefits independently. Check out Swapp Agency's add-ons here. 

Mid-contract relocations 

If an employee moves countries partway through their contract, the compliance picture can change substantially. Not all EOR providers handle it smoothly. Worth asking about before you sign, especially with distributed teams. We went into detail on this in our article on what happens when your employee moves countries mid-contract. 

Qustions to Ask Before You Commit 

Any EOR worth considering should be able to answer all of these before you sign anything: 

• Is the management fee flat or percentage-based, and what does it apply to? 
• What statutory employer contributions apply in this specific country? 
• Can I get a full salary breakdown, including all contributions, before I commit? 
• What's included in the fee, and what gets billed separately? 
• Are mandatory bonuses factored into the estimate? 
• What happens to the price if salary changes mid-year? 
• Are there setup or termination fees? 

You're looking for one number: the total monthly cost of employing this person in this country. If a provider won't give you that before you sign, keep looking. 

Final Words 

Done well, international hiring opens up talent pools and markets that would otherwise be out of reach. The EOR model exists to make that accessible without the overhead of building local infrastructure from scratch. The costs are real and worth understanding — but they're also predictable, once you know what to ask for. Go in informed, and there's very little that should catch you off guard. 

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or legal advice. Pricing figures are indicative ranges based on market data as of February 2026.