What Is Papaya Global?

Founded in 2016 by Eynat Guez, Ruben Drong and Ofer Herman, Papaya Global is an HR solutions company providing specialist global payroll services as well as EOR / Global PEO services (assisting companies of all sizes to hire abroad even if they don’t have a legal entity to pay staff in new countries). Though they are much more than just a tech company (more on this later), Papaya Global can best be described as a software, or more accurately, a SaaS provider. The company takes pride in its innovative technology and with its development centres in Tel Aviv, Israel- known as the central hub of the Middle East’s silicon wadi – Papaya Global offers smooth payroll software for both management and employees alike. Its software is also highly integratable with many of the leading names in Saas (SAP, Priority, Microsoft Dynamic, Google SSO Monday, Expensify, BambooHR, Okta, Workday and more).

Since inception, the company has earned multiple high-profile industry awards to attest for its innovation:

• Forbes Cloud 100 (2021)
• Best Innovative or Emerging Tech Solution by HRTech (2022)
• Global Payroll Awards (2017)
• Finalist, Next Great HR Tech, HR Tech Las Vegas (2017)
• Best Technological Innovation, Think Relocate Awards (2019)

The firm continues to grow from strength-to-strength and now employs over 500 staff, primarily in its New York headquarters and tech centre in Tel Aviv. The company has raised more than $440m to date from some of the world’s biggest VCs including Tiger Global Partners and quite astonishingly, Papaya Global has already completed two acquisitions, one of which being the remittances company Azimo in March 2022.

Papaya Global’s customers include some very well known brands like Shopify, Panasonic and Microsoft. As well as Cyberark, one of the most successful cyber startups in the world, and Fiverr, Wix, Payoneer, GitHub and Vimeo – all of which are successful technology companies in their own right.

Papaya Global Competitors

Papaya Global’s prime competitors include Remote.com, Deel, Oyster, Omnipresent, Globalization Partners, Velocity Global. These companies are specifically focused on the provision of a full-suite/EOR service that enables companies to hire abroad without a local entity.

Is Papaya Global Legit?

Papaya Global is a successful startup company that is already proudly used by 700+ companies, with 99% customer retention and $3b payroll under management. The company, which was established in 2016, has raised more than $440m to date from the world’s biggest VCs including Tiger Global Partners and is considered to have a strong balance sheet..

CyberArk, a publicly traded company on NASDAQ, had this to say about their experience: “Working with Papaya on payroll has been like going from the fax machine to email. It’s a quantum leap in technology that is ahead of its time.” Papaya took over CyberArk’s existing hiring processes and unified all of the different formats, reports, and workflows that were coming from a variety of different sources. By consolidating the data in one automated platform that presented all information in one dashboard, CyberArk was able to improve its management of payroll and expenses. Helping to remove manual processing errors and better monitor the entire employee cycle from onboarding to benefits management and payroll payments.

Papaya Global is a highly legit startup company that is already working with big name clients and has show consistently good service to date. You can trust Papaya Global to run your global payroll needs.

Papaya Global: Product Functions

Global Payroll Payments

At the core of Papaya Global’s offering is its global payroll payment functionality. By working with a number of payment partners around the world, and having recently acquired the digital money transfer service Azimo in 2022, Papaya Global can handle payroll payments to over 160 countries in 60 different currencies. No matter where staff are based, Papaya guarantees funds to reach the recipient within 72 hours. The payments are done through a direct deposit locally to your employee’s bank account. Similarly, they can do the same with contractors. Paying local contractors on a per-employee basis through a direct deposit locally.

Once a new member of staff has been added to the platform it’s easy to pay them again with just a few clicks, monitor the progress of each payment and gain insights into all previous payments, including things like a running total on how much has been paid out to each employee. You have the option to either add each employee individually through the online system, or make bulk uploads/updates with an excel upload.

Its payroll solution is also globally compliant, i.e. Papaya Global knows the specific regulatory requirements that are relevant to each country and will inform clients of what’s needed when setting up new payees in new countries and Papaya (plus its payment partners) will conduct the relevant fraud checks to ensure the money is going where it should.

Aside from running payroll, Papaya Global can also process payments to third-party agencies such as the IRS for things like national insurance and pension schemes, etc.

Papaya Global Personal Portal

The easy-to-use employee portal allows staff to book their PTO, view payslips and manage other documentation. Employees can also see any payroll. employment or HR-related tasks that they’ve been set by their manager. The system makes it easy for employees to submit their own bank details and complete any personal information which is required in order to get paid.

The portal can be accessed anytime, anywhere, either as a Web App desktop platform or Android app.

HR Information Systems

Papaya Global has an extensive range of human resource and payroll reporting tools, allowing HR and management to create customised reports, or view Papaya’s core business intelligence reporting, all displayed from an easy-view dashboard. Through its integration functionality, the platform can also consolidate information from other pieces of HR software to easily view data from these systems too.

A full approval chain and user permission functionality allows for separate management per location/employee type.

Global Solutions – Going Beyond the Technology

In addition to Papaya Global’s slick payroll and HR software, the firm brings a number of value-adding HR initiatives that are each supported by a team of experts, on-hand to readily help businesses offer their staff the best packages around the globe. This ‘white glove’ service as Papaya puts it, is exactly what makes them stand out from being more than just a tech company. All businesses are appointed with their own customer success manager who can then, in turn, put you in touch with the relevant experts at Papaya to answer your questions. A number of Papaya Global reviews that have been left by existing businesses using the platform point to streamlined communication channels and an account manager that’s easy to get hold of.

Global Benefits Management

Papaya’s global benefits solution is available to staff in over 160 countries, reducing the reliance on a plethora of in-country benefit management companies.

Their sponsored health plan includes doctor’s visits, medication, consultations with specialists, telemedicine, and more – no matter where staff are located and no matter whether they’re local residents or expats or whether they’re full-time, part-time, contractors or EoR. Clients also have the ability to choose their providers and even equip employees with a prepaid card that allows for real-time processing incase of any urgent requirements.

Businesses have the option to add some nifty perks like meal vouchers and birthday benefits, as well as integral benefits like pensions and maternity leave/paternity leave.

Whether you want to amend an existing program, or expand to new regions where you need inside knowledge, Papaya’s benefits experts on hand to guide you through each step of the process, advising on country-specific requirements around benefits.

Global Equity

Considering that the legal implications of offering equity can differ from country-to-country, Papaya keeps on top of these ever-changing rules to ensure a globally compliant solution that understands local laws. For example, by offering equity, you may unknowingly trigger disclosure and various filing obligations in certain countries. Papaya will provide the industry know-how to avoid any unexpected surprises and ensure there aren’t any situations where you have to break an employee promise. Papaya may even be able to advise on a strategic design of your equity program which reduces tax implications for the individual and the admin burden of the business.

Global Immigration

Papaya’s immigration service keeps up to date with the most recent immigration laws, aiming to cut out the red tape and added complications that can come with work visas. Papaya aims to provide advice at every stage of the immigration lifecycle – from permits to maintaining and renewing immigration status, ensuring your workers are always legally employed.

The Papaya self service portal also provides easy access to immigration records for employees and employers alike.

Papaya Global PEO/EoR

Papaya Global is a highly versatile company that touches multiple aspects of company and employee management. One of these areas is its capacity to work with vetted partners as a Professional Employer Organisation (PEO), allowing businesses to hire international staff, even if they don’t hold a local entity in the countries in which they wish to hire.

There are plenty of reasons you may opt for a PEO instead of looking to hire and pay staff directly. You could be a small business looking to expand internationally, or even a large business that just wants to test a new market before implementing a full-scale launch. Establishing a legal entity in the country you wish to expand will be complex and is likely to come with many obligations. These could include; end of year financial reporting, nominating local directors and taxes to pay. A PEO with the know-how to conduct these things can help to lower the expensive costs that come with establishing a new international entity and reduce the workload burden on your business.

A core differentiator for Papaya is the sheer scale of in-country partners it has built around the world. Businesses can leverage Papaya’s vast network of in-country partners who can act as a local employer of record (EoR) and ensure that the hiring process remains fully compliant with local employment laws. For example, the EoR will be able to file payroll taxes under its own tax identification numbers.

As Eynat Guez, co-founder of Papaya Global explains: “What really separates us is being transparent and cost effective. We offer a platform to manage the employment process in an efficient way, creating clear communications among our clients and their PEOs and other suppliers.”

Remember, you don’t necessarily have to use Papaya’s recommended partners and you may simply choose to use the technology to consolidate all of your existing HR and hiring partners around the globe. Papaya Global’s platform helps to standardise and bring transparency to the network of in-country suppliers, however small or large it may be. Just like direct employees or contractors, all staff hired through an EoR can be managed on the Papaya Global platform.

Papaya Global Pricing

On a basic level, Papaya Global’s pricing is split into four main categories; payroll processing, Employer of Record, contractor management and access to its payroll intelligence data platform. Its pricing is modular and based on scale and intention of use. Speak to a member of the team for volume discounts but its basic fees are as follows:

Payroll Fees

If you opt to make only payroll payments then your costs are $20 per employee per month. That is more than what it would likely cost with a payment specialist like Moneycorp (which does not charge a fixed fee per transfer, only FX spreads) – but Papaya’s capabilities are so much better and its integration to HR and accounting software is a lot smoother.

Contractor Management Fees

If you want to do contractor management and IC compliance you would pay $25 per employee, per month.

EoR Fees

If you want to use the EoR, Employer of Record, then you pay $650 per month per employee. While this is a lot in absolute terms, it is a significantly cheaper solution than to create your own overseas entity, and far less complex.

PayRoll Intelligence Reporting

PaPaya Global’s payroll intelligence suite is priced at $320 per quarter per location ($250 per quarter if you agree to an annual plan). Providing real time insight into your workforce spending, whether you are handling your payroll in-house or using an EoR.

Papaya Global Availability, Service and Global Reach

Papaya Global can be deployed virtually anywhere in the world (available in over 160 countries) and Papaya Global Payroll can be used to pay staff in over 60 different currencies. From an onboarding perspective, that is the widest reach by any company reviewed here, including even semi-competitor Payoneer. On global availability, Papaya Global is second to none.

With 60 currencies on offer, this is a bit less than dedicated currency specialists for business like moneycorp and WorldFirst but it’s still impressive. If, on the rare occasion Papaya doesn’t process the currency you require, you could always run payments through a specialist money transfer firm and then still use Papaya Global for all of the other HR services they offer in the country, i.e. employment benefits and pension advice.