Does "130+ countries" mean an EOR can hire in the country you need?

Summary

Not necessarily. The country counts on EOR pricing pages often include places where the provider only pays contractors, or they count the entities the provider owns, so they rarely match the list of countries where you can employ someone through the EOR. Remote advertises 190+ locations, yet its EOR card says 90+ countries. The answer for a specific hire sits on the provider's page for that country, and even there some countries come with conditions.

Three numbers from one company

Deel's pricing page says its EOR offers "full legal employment in 130+ countries," and a stats block further down the same page says 150+. A Deel blog post last updated September 5, 2025 announced Deel-owned infrastructure and entities in 100+ countries, and the index of Deel's hiring guides now mentions "150+ owned entities" and visa support in 38+ markets.

Each figure counts something different: countries where Deel's EOR can employ people, countries where Deel sells anything at all, and countries where Deel owns the employing entity. The other two providers work the same way. Remote's country explorer lists 190+ locations while its EOR card says 90+, and Oyster says it can hire, pay, and care for people in 180+ countries.

Contractor-only countries sit in the same lists

On Remote's country explorer, Algeria, Kazakhstan, and Qatar show Contractor Management and no Employer of Record. Japan shows EOR and contractor management but not Remote's payroll product. Deel's hiring-guide index offers only a contractor option for Algeria and the Bahamas.

Oyster's availability list marks Afghanistan, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, and Aruba as contractor-only. Albania carries a flag: "EOR in this country might require more time and/or a minimum number of hires."

Speed claims and local rules

Remote's pricing page gives an average onboarding time of 2.3 days and says standard onboarding "may take 30 days." Deel's country pages say a hire can start in as little as 4 days in Germany and 3 days in Brazil. Oyster says 48 hours. These are averages and best cases, not estimates for a candidate whose paperwork is slow.

Local law adds steps no provider controls. Remote's Brazil page notes that employment contracts must be drafted in Portuguese and that employing an expat requires approval from the labor department. Whose entity signs the contract in a covered country is a separate question, covered in SeatBill's piece on owned-entity and partner EORs.

Sources

• https://www.deel.com/pricing/
• https://www.deel.com/blog/deels-owned-infrastructure-and-entities-are-now-available-in-over-100-countries/
• https://www.deel.com/hiring/
• https://www.deel.com/hiring/employees/germany/
• https://www.deel.com/hiring/employees/brazil/
• https://remote.com/pricing
• https://remote.com/country-explorer
• https://remote.com/country-explorer/brazil
• https://www.oysterhr.com/
• https://www.oysterhr.com/country-availability

Related on this site

• What an employer of record charges
• If the big EOR providers charge about the same, what actually separates them?
• Who employs your hire in a country where the EOR has no entity of its own?
• How long before an EOR hire can actually start work?