We sit on the buy side of 80+ EOR contracts across our placement clients. This is what we'd tell a friend founding a Series B, not the marketing pages each provider publishes.
The headline comparison
| Provider | Mexico fee/employee/mo | Setup time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deel | $599 | 3 business days | First hire, US founders, fast setup |
| Remote | $599-699* | 5-7 business days | 5-25 employees, cleaner UX |
| Velocity Global (Pebl) | $599-900 | 10-14 business days | Enterprise, complex equity, regulated industries |
| Worky (local MX) | $349-$449 | 7-10 business days | MX-savvy buyers, multi-LATAM expansion |
| Runa (local MX) | $299-$399 | 7-10 business days | Cost-optimized, payroll-only needs |
What the headline price hides
Deel
The "$599/month" is the basic Mexico plan. What it doesn't include: equity grant administration ($200/year extra), local benefits beyond statutory (extra $40-80/employee/mo for private health), and severance escrow (1.5% of annual base parked in case of termination).
Real Mexico cost per senior employee at $75K base: $599 + $50 health + $94 severance reserve = $743/mo. That's $8,916/year on top of salary and statutory.
Remote
$599-699/mo on monthly billing (drops to ~$599/mo with annual prepay), but the platform is meaningfully better than Deel's for Mexican payroll specifically — they handle aguinaldo, vacation premium, and PTU (employee profit-sharing) inside the same flow without manual coordination. Deel requires a finance team check every December.
Catch: Remote's local Mexican entity is younger than Deel's. They've had two payroll-batch delays in the last 18 months that we know of (December 2024 and June 2025). Deel hasn't had one in 3 years.
Velocity Global (now Pebl)
Rebranded to Pebl in 2025. All-in pricing $599-900/mo per employee including amortized setup, slightly higher than Deel/Remote for substantially the same EOR-of-record relationship. What you actually buy: a named account team in your timezone, equity grant infrastructure that integrates with Carta and Pulley, and severance handling for high-comp employees ($200K+ base).
Worth it if: you're hiring above the $150K base band, paying equity, or in a regulated vertical (fintech with US SOC2 audit, biotech with FDA exposure). Not worth it for standard tech hires.
Local Mexican EORs (Worky, Runa, Cobee)
Cost 25-40% less than international providers. Run Mexican payroll natively, which means no translation layer between you and the Mexican tax authority (SAT).
Trade-off: Spanish-first UX and Spanish-first support. If your finance team is US-based and English-only, expect 2-3 hours/month of friction translating CFDIs (Mexican electronic invoices) and SAT notices. Worth it if you have a Spanish-speaking ops person; not worth it if you don't.
The "international EOR vs local EOR" debate is usually settled by who handles your Mexican CFDI compliance. If your finance team can't read a CFDI, pay the international markup. If they can (or you have a Mexican accountant on retainer), Worky and Runa are 30-40% cheaper for equivalent service.
Which one by company stage
Deel — and ignore everyone else's claim to be cheaper
The setup speed (3 days) and the founder-friendly UX outweigh the $100/month premium over Remote. You're hiring one person. You don't have time to debug a younger platform. Deel's customer base is the largest in the segment — issues get triaged fast.
Remote — better unit economics, cleaner monthly close
At this scale, the $100/month savings × 15 employees = $18,000/year that buys real things. And Remote's aguinaldo + PTU handling beats Deel's, which matters when you're closing books quarterly with auditors.
Velocity Global or hybrid (Remote + local)
Above 25 Mexican employees, the math is: subsidiary becomes cheaper at $400-$500K total Mexican payroll. EOR fees scale linearly while subsidiary fixed costs amortize. If you're not ready for subsidiary, Velocity Global gives you the white-glove path. If you're ready, set up MX subsidiary + keep 2-3 contractors on Worky for flex.
The metric nobody publishes: payroll delay incidents
| Provider | Payroll delays in last 24 months | Avg delay length | Notification quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deel | 0 | — | — |
| Remote | 2 (Dec 2024, Jun 2025) | 2-3 business days | Same-day email |
| Velocity Global | 1 (Mar 2025, partial) | 1 business day | Account manager call |
| Worky | 0 known | — | — |
A delayed payroll in Mexico is not a minor incident. Mexican employees plan around the 15th and 30th. A 2-day delay on aguinaldo (Dec 20th) is the type of event that triggers resignations in Q1. Track this when negotiating SLAs.
Every EOR's standard MSA has zero teeth on payroll-delay liability. Negotiate a 1-day-delay = 5% monthly fee credit clause before signing. Half the providers will agree. The ones that won't have history they're hiding.
Key takeaways
- First hire? Deel. Speed beats price when you have one variable to optimize.
- 5-25 employees? Remote. The aguinaldo and PTU automation saves real audit time.
- 25+ employees? Run the subsidiary math. EOR economics break around $400-$500K total payroll.
- Local Mexican EORs (Worky, Runa) cost 30-40% less but require Spanish-speaking ops on your side.
- Negotiate payroll-delay penalty clauses. Standard MSAs are silent and you have leverage at signature.