Papaya Global EOR review 2026

Papaya Global holds five money transfer licenses. Some competitors have none and use partner banks instead.

That matters when you’re moving money across hundreds of countries.

On the other hand, Papaya charges more for EOR services than roughly two-thirds of the providers I’ve reviewed (they don’t publish rates, so I’m speaking from experience).

Here’s the key question: Is the higher cost worth it for your situation?

I’ve tested the platform and compared it to others I’ve used over the years. This review shows you when Papaya justifies the price and when other providers are a better choice.

I’ve tested all aspects of the Papaya Global platform.

The features that stood out to me are the following:

Papaya Global covers more than 160 countries across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.

Coverage by service

Papaya Global’s service and currency coverage at a glance:

• EOR: 160+ countries

• Contractor payments: 160+ countries

• Payroll currencies: 130+ local currencies supported for payouts

• Funding currencies*: 15 currencies (USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, AUD, NZD, SGD, HKD, AED, CHF, SEK, DKK, PLN, CZK, INR)

• Tax automation: Included across all supported countries

Note: Funding currencies are the currencies your company pays in. Payout currencies are what workers receive locally.

Papaya Global rates are available through direct quotes, but based on my experience and third-party sources, their EOR services cost more than approximately two-thirds of the providers I’ve reviewed.

Core service pricing

• EOR: $599 per employee per month

• Contractor Management: $30 per contractor per month

• Agent of Record: $200 per contractor per month

• Payroll Plus: $15-25 per employee per month (lower at higher volumes)

• Workforce OS: $5 per employee per month (base platform)

• Global Workforce Payments: $2.50 per transaction (pay-as-you-go)

Additional costs and discounts

Papaya also charges setup fees by country and year-end fees for payroll tax filings.

For example, a company hiring employees in three countries should expect separate setup costs for each location, rather than a single global onboarding fee.

Contracts are typically signed for two years, but include a 90-day termination clause. That gives both parties some flexibility and cost control if things don’t work out.

Finally, I have seen reports mentioning volume discounts, but I haven’t been able to confirm the actual percentages and thresholds.

I’ll make an educated guess that this is because the discounts vary by region.

The two tables below provide an overview of Papaya Global’s rates.

The first shows the rates for core services, and the second allows you to compare Papaya’s EOR rates to those of other providers (use the slider to change the number of employees).

Papaya Global’s interface looks clean, well-structured, and simple for the features it includes.

Still, when you’ve tested as many platforms as I have, you notice the little things that stand out.

Specifically, payroll approval, funding, and payment status are tightly connected into daily work. They’re more front-and-center than other providers that put greater emphasis on onboarding and employee records.

I’d say the platform is more focused on finance than on HR, but in a way that doesn’t complicate other tasks.

Where the platform works well

Setup is more hands-on than lighter EOR tools because implementation usually includes data migration, configuration, and payroll testing. This also means it might take longer for companies to hire and pay in many markets.

Once the platform is live, these areas stand out:

• Centralized dashboard: Clients manage employees across countries from a single view.

• Payroll automation: Payroll cycles run automatically and reduce the manual work for finance and payroll teams.

• Compliance visibility: Access to local experts and regulatory updates without manual checks.

• Employee self-service: Workers can view payslips, request time off, and track benefits.

• Payment tracking: Finance departments can track payments from approval to delivery.

In my experience, most users report getting comfortable with core features and tasks within a few days to a few weeks.

Limitations to be aware of

Papaya is designed primarily for desktop use, and that shows. Mobile functionality is limited compared to HR-first platforms.

These are the issues I’ve seen reported:

• Invoicing detail: Some finance teams report that invoices don’t include enough detail for easy reconciliation.

• Reporting depth: More advanced HR reporting usually requires exporting data and analyzing it outside the platform.

• Support timing: Response times can slow down during peak payroll periods.

• Mobile functionality: Managers still need a desktop to handle most payroll tasks.

Papaya assigns each client a dedicated Customer Success Manager (CSM) who handles payroll, compliance, and operational questions. This gives companies a single point of contact and avoids delays.

The CSM coordinates with local country experts when you need region-specific answers about tax rules or labor laws.

Employees access support through the Papaya Personal app, which has a built-in contact feature for submitting tickets or browsing FAQs.

Support channels and structure

Papaya provides support through a dedicated platform Help Center, email, and WhatsApp chat.

Phone support is available through regional contacts and account managers, rather than a single global support number.

Support operates 24/7 using a two-tier system:

• Tier 1 handles routine technical issues around the clock.

• Tier 2 are engineers who manage technical escalations and work directly with product teams to investigate and fix issues.

As per their SLA (Service Level Agreement), all questions and issues will be “acknowledged within 4 hours.”

Now, that doesn’t mean the issue will be solved. Acknowledgment can simply mean confirming they received your request. Even so, publicly committing to a timeframe sets Papaya apart from many competitors who avoid specific promises.

Self-service resources

Papaya has three main self-service resources:

• Papaya Academy: Video series of 85+ free lessons across 21 courses on global payroll, compliance, and payments strategy.

• Knowledge base: Searchable articles and technical guides for clients and employees.

• Countrypedia: Country-specific guides covering labor laws, tax rules, and benefits requirements across supported countries.

Common support issues

Some clients report delays during peak payroll periods (end-of-month processing, year-end tax filing) or when issues need coordination with third-party local partners.

That’s fairly common in the industry.

Papaya Global is built to plug into existing HR, finance, and payroll stacks rather than replace them. The platform is best suited for companies that already run a formal HRIS or finance system and want payroll to fit in. That’s one of the main conclusions I reached when writing this Papaya Global review.

Let’s go over the main native integrations and a few that are missing.

HRIS and HCM platforms

Papaya Global integrates with HRIS and HCM* tools that act as the system of record for employee data.

Supported platforms include:

• Workday

• BambooHR

• HiBob

• SAP SuccessFactors

• Namely

These integrations sync core employee details, such as job data, compensation, and time off, into Papaya so payroll reflects the latest HR changes. For example, updating a salary in the HR system shows in the next payroll cycle without manual re-entry.

Note: HRIS stores core employee records like job details and pay. HCM includes those records plus broader people management tools.

Finance and workforce data

Supported integrations in this group include:

• Replicon and Expensify (time and expenses)

• Sage, Trintech, and BlackLine (finance and accounting)

• SAP Fieldglass and Beeline (enterprise and contingent workforce)

Before payroll runs, Papaya can receive inputs such as hours worked, bonuses, and adjustments from time and workforce systems. That means payroll is calculated using the same numbers clients already track in other tools.

After payroll is approved, Papaya sends the final payroll totals to the finance systems as journal entries.

For example, once employees are paid, payroll costs and employer taxes can be posted into accounting automatically, rather than reconciled manually at the end of the month.

API access and automation limits

Papaya Global offers API (Application Programming Interface) access for custom integrations. These are typically set up during implementation and require developer involvement.

For example, a company might use the API to sync data on a new hire from an internal system into Papaya, or to pull payroll totals into a finance tool automatically.

To my knowledge, the platform does not offer self-serve webhooks.

I’ve talked to some technical teams that made webhook-style notifications work through API-based integrations, but Papaya does not publicly document webhook support or show it in the admin UI.

Also, the platform doesn’t natively integrate with Zapier, so no-code automations aren’t available out of the box.

Papaya Global’s mobile app, Papaya Personal, is clearly designed as an employee self-service companion, not a full replacement for the desktop platform.

What the app handles well

For employees, the app does the essentials reliably, including:

• Payslips and payroll statements: Easy access to pay documents, with downloads available.

• Time and attendance: Employees can log hours, clock in and out, and report remote work.

• Personal details: Bank details and personal information can be updated directly, with validation.

• Storage: Contracts, benefits information, and uploaded documents are stored in one place.

• Support access: Employees can reach Papaya support and browse FAQs directly.

Where it’s limited

The limitations of the Papaya Personal app are:

• Payroll runs, approvals, and compliance tasks are still desktop-only.

• Initial account setup must be completed online.

• Contractors and vendors don’t get everything in one place (more on that in the following section).

Other Papaya-related apps

Papaya also offers Banco, a dedicated worker wallet for contractors and vendors. Banco handles invoices and payments that aren’t part of the employee-focused Papaya Personal app.

For companies with many contractors, this split makes sense.

Note: I’ve also found an unrelated app called Papaya: Pay Any Bill, which is not connected to Papaya Global’s HR or payroll platform, so that played no role in my rating of their app.

Employees get access to payslips, documents, and basic self-service through Papaya Personal, while contractors use a separate app for payments. Still, finance departments and managers should expect to do most of their daily work on the web platform.

Papaya Global offers visual dashboards, custom reporting, and predictive analytics. The platform focuses on payroll and workforce costs, with some HR metrics for planning.

Core dashboards and reports

I’d say that three main dashboards do most of the heavy lifting:

• Total Payrolls Costs Dashboard: Gross-to-net waterfall charts, spending comparisons across pay periods, and cost breakdowns by country. If payroll jumps 15% in Germany but is unchanged in France, you’ll see it right away.

• Workforce at a Glance Dashboard: Headcount by country and cost center, plus an events calendar showing who’s joining or leaving next month.

• HR Overview Dashboard: Flags compliance issues like missing work permits or expiring visas before they become expensive problems.

What it means for you as the potential client: The standard reports show what employees earn, what’s deducted, and the final take-home pay, all in one place. You can narrow the view by country or pay period. If you need the data for further analysis, it’s easy to export it to Excel or send it to your accounting system.

Custom reports and analytics

Clients can create their own reports by choosing the data they want to see and filtering it by location or cost center. This makes it easier to spot spending changes when managing global payroll.

The platform also shows unusual cost changes.

For example, if contractor spending in Poland doubles over a few months, the system flags it so clients can look closer and understand what changed.

What’s missing

Payroll and compliance analytics are solid.

Strategic HR metrics like attrition analysis and workforce planning are limited. The reporting suite is built for finance and payroll teams, not HR strategy work. So the reports that apply to global workforce management do exist, but aren’t as diverse as those from some competitors.

That sounds like nitpicking and, in all honesty, when a reporting suite is this strong, one has to be pedantic to review it.

Papaya Global protects payroll and payment data through encryption, restricted access, and continuous monitoring.

I’ve analyzed their security approach, and it comes down to limiting exposure and catching problems early.

That’s a solid foundation; the rest depends on how well it’s executed.

Let us look into that.

Data protection

Papaya Global runs on Amazon Web Services across multiple locations to reduce downtime risk. Data is encrypted when stored and when sent between systems. Backups run every eight hours and are stored separately to support recovery if systems fail.

Access control

Access is managed using role-based permissions. People only see the information required for their role. Multi-factor authentication adds an extra step for logins and sensitive actions, and single sign-on is available for centralized access control.

For example, someone reviewing payroll results can’t see funding or banking details unless access is explicitly granted.

Monitoring, testing, and validation

The platform monitors activity continuously to spot unusual behavior.

Independent security experts run annual penetration tests and quarterly recovery tests to verify that backups work as expected.

Papaya Global also has security-focused audits in place; these review how controls operate over time. The platform’s security certifications include:

• SOC 2 Type II for access controls and monitoring

• ISO 27001, focused on information security management

Papaya Global supports compliance across more than 160 countries through a mix of documented controls, ongoing audits, and local regulatory oversight. The focus is on payroll accuracy, data privacy, and meeting local employment requirements as they change.

Certifications and standards

Papaya Global holds its own SOC and ISO certifications for payroll, security, and data handling. The platform runs on AWS, which provides additional infrastructure-level certifications at the hosting layer.

Key standards include:

• SOC 1 Type II: Reviews controls tied to payroll processing and financial reporting. This is relevant for audits and accounting reviews.

• ISO 27701: Covers how personal data is handled, including employee and contractor information.

• GDPR: Applies to data protection rules for individuals in the European Union.

• CCPA: Covers privacy rights and disclosures for individuals in California.

Ongoing compliance practices

Papaya Global documents how they track changes to labor laws and tax rules through local partners. Payroll data is checked against country requirements before payments run, and actions are logged for audit purposes.

When acting as an Employer of Record, Papaya Global takes on legal responsibility for meeting local employment rules.