Papaya Global

Papaya Global charges $40/emp/mo (Payroll Plus) per employee for its managed global payroll, with a $0 base fee, so the cost scales directly with headcount. Hiring in a country where you have no legal entity uses its Employer of Record service at $695/emp/mo per employee per month. Contractor management is priced separately per contractor, at the rate shown in the comparison table above. All of Papaya's published figures are "starting from" prices billed in USD, so the Australian dollar amount moves with the exchange rate.

Papaya Global does not publish support for automated Modern Award interpretation, and it makes no published statement about Single Touch Payroll Phase 2 or the Payday Super obligations that apply from 1 July 2026. It does administer Australian payroll obligations including PAYG withholding and the superannuation guarantee. If you employ Australian staff on Modern Awards, treat this as a gap and confirm it directly with Papaya, or choose an Australian-built specialist such as KeyPay or Employment Hero, which automate award interpretation to a depth Papaya does not claim.

All three are global payroll and Employer of Record platforms, and Papaya matches Deel and Remote on the headline per-employee payroll rate. The differences are at the edges. Papaya's Employer of Record rate is lower than Deel's and Remote's, though Payoneer Workforce Management is cheaper still. Papaya's distinguishing feature is that payments are native to the platform, with same-day payments, worker wallets, and built-in fraud and AML screening, rather than payouts being handled as an add-on. Against that, Papaya sells on annual contracts rather than month to month, and it is weaker than Deel on published Australian compliance detail.

No. Papaya Global is built for paying people across borders, and it earns its cost only when you are hiring or paying staff and contractors outside Australia. For a business paying only Australian employees, an Australian payroll specialist will be cheaper and materially stronger on compliance, because Papaya publishes no support for Modern Award interpretation, STP Phase 2, or Payday Super. Papaya is also aimed at mid-market and enterprise buyers and sells on annual contracts, both of which make it a poor fit for a small domestic team.