Award methodology
How we evaluate providers and select winners for the Global Hiring Awards.
Robbin Schuchmann
Co-founder, Employ Borderless
How the awards work
Every quarter, we re-evaluate the EOR and global payroll providers in our coverage set and select winners across sixteen categories. Our rankings are editorial, not algorithmic. They are shaped by three sources of evidence working together.
The awards are editorial, and they are not pay-to-play: no provider can purchase a ranking, a badge, or a competitor's exclusion. Placement is our judgment of the evidence and each provider's fit for the category. Some winners are commercial partners of ours and some are not — how we make money, and how it is kept separate from scoring, is set out in full on our disclosure page.
What we base decisions on
Rankings combine three independent streams of evidence, drawn from the same five-step research process behind every provider review (see our full methodology). No single source can carry a provider to the top of a category on its own.
External review platforms
We aggregate public ratings from G2, Trustpilot, Capterra, and Glassdoor into a weighted average based on review count, so platforms with more reviews carry more influence. We also monitor Reddit, LinkedIn groups, and industry forums for unfiltered feedback about billing, support, and contract flexibility.
Our own EB rating system
Every provider we track is scored on the Borderless Standard, our 10-pillar framework rated 0–10 per pillar from hands-on testing and direct platform evaluation, not surveys. The pillars and how we research them are set out in full on our methodology page.
Conversations with real clients
We speak regularly with companies actively using these providers. Their feedback on onboarding, payroll accuracy, compliance issues, and account management shapes how we rank providers in practice — especially the difference between how a provider markets itself and how it actually performs.
Category-specific fit
A provider that is excellent overall may not win every category. Best for Europe favors providers with owned entities across EU markets. Startup leader favors providers with low minimums and fast onboarding. Best customer support favors providers where client conversations consistently praise responsiveness and account management.
Category fit is why the #1 in "Top EOR providers" is not always the #1 in every other category — and why a smaller provider can win a specialized category despite lower total review volume.
Badge tiers
Providers are ranked 1 through 10 in each category. Their badge tier is determined by their rank:
Quarterly cadence
Awards are published four times per year:
- -Q1 (Winter): January through March, announced in April
- -Q2 (Spring): April through June, announced in July
- -Q3 (Summer): July through September, announced in October
- -Q4 (Fall): October through December, announced in January
Rankings can change between quarters. A provider ranked #3 in Q1 might move to #1 in Q2 based on product improvements, new country launches, or shifts in client feedback.
Affiliate disclosure
Some links on our award pages are affiliate links, marked withrel="sponsored nofollow". If you sign up with a provider through one of these links, Employ Borderless may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
No provider can pay for a ranking, a tier, or a badge, and no commission rate changes where a provider places. Award placement is editorial — it reflects our read of each provider's evidence and fit for the category. For the full account of how we are compensated (affiliate, referral, and revenue-share) and how it is decoupled from our scoring, see our disclosure page.