There are two ways to pay an international contractor: a contractor payment platform, which handles the contract, the tax form and the payout together, or a payment app, which only moves the money. This guide compares both. We make one of the platforms, Omnivoo Contract Management, so read it as a vendor’s comparison. Every price is taken from the vendor’s own page on October 14, 2026 and linked inline. Where a vendor publishes no number, we say so.
The short answer
Our pick: Omnivoo Contract Management. Contracts and payments from $19 per contractor per month billed annually ($29 monthly, $25 on a 6-month plan), W-8BEN and W-9 collection, nine country-aware contract templates, no fee for contractors, and payouts by bank, ACH, SWIFT, proxy, card, wallet, mobile money or crypto in 220+ countries and territories.
By situation:
- You also hire employees in many countries: Deel ($49) or Remote ($29), both with global EOR.
- You want the 1099-NEC filed for your US contractors: Plane ($39), which serves US-based companies only.
- You already handle contracts and W-8BEN forms yourself: a payment app. Wise Business is the cheapest published option for most corridors.
- You pay hundreds of contractors or creators at volume: Trolley or Tipalti, which add tax-form handling to mass payouts.
- You run payroll on Gusto: Gusto’s international contractor payments, priced per payment.
Platform or payment app?
| Contractor payment platform | Payment app | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Omnivoo, Deel, Remote, Plane, Oyster | Wise Business, Payoneer, PayPal, Airwallex |
| Contractor agreement | Yes | No |
| W-8BEN collection | Yes | Rarely (Payoneer Mass Payouts, Trolley, Tipalti, Airwallex add it) |
| Pricing | Per contractor per month | Per transfer |
| Payout methods | Usually several, chosen by the contractor | Usually bank, sometimes wallet |
| Best when | You pay a few to a few hundred contractors and want the paperwork done | You already have contracts and forms, and want the cheapest transfer |
The cost of skipping the paperwork is real. If a foreign payee does not give you a valid Form W-8BEN when asked, the IRS instructions can require you to withhold at 30%. For the full sequence, see how to pay international contractors from the US.
How we compared
For each tool we read the pricing page, help center and terms on October 14, 2026 and recorded the subscription price, the funding fees you pay to put money in, the payout methods, what the contractor pays to receive money, and the tax-form features. We did not rank exchange rates: most contractor platforms, Omnivoo included, do not publish an FX percentage, and every platform shows the rate before the money moves. Payment apps that do publish one are quoted with their own wording.
Why Omnivoo is first
We built it. It is first because on published prices it is the lowest-cost way to get a contract, a W-8BEN and a payout in one place ($19 a month billed annually, tied with Payoneer Workforce Management and Toku’s list price), and because it charges contractors nothing to receive their money. It is not the right pick if you need global EOR (ours is India only) or a Contractor of Record to carry classification risk.
Contractor payment platforms
For each platform’s full profile, including misclassification cover, see the best contractor management platforms.
| Platform | Price per contractor per month | Funding fees (you pay) | Contractor fee to receive | Payout methods | Coverage (stated) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omnivoo | $29, or $19 billed annually ($5 per contract, contracts only) | ACH direct debit or wire from a US bank, SWIFT from elsewhere; bank charges at cost | None | Bank, ACH, SWIFT, proxy, card, wallet, mobile money, crypto | 220+ countries and territories |
| Deel | $49 | Card 2.9% + $0.30 (US/EU), ACH or wire $5 | $0 local bank, 2.5% PayPal, 1% Payoneer | Bank, Wise, Revolut, PayPal, Payoneer, Coinbase, card | 150+ |
| Remote | $29 | Card 3.5%, bank $5, direct debit free | $0 same-currency local, else provider cost | Bank, Stripe, USDC for USD-billed companies | 190+ |
| Plane | $39 | Debited from your bank, no fee published | None | SWIFT, local bank, Payoneer, Wise, GCash, Revolut | 240+, US companies only |
| Oyster | $29 after 30 days free | Direct debit or wire; FX fee if you pay in another currency | $0 without FX | Bank only | 180-plus countries |
| RemoFirst | Free, $25 in paid months | Not published | 2% may apply, SWIFT $20 | Bank | 150+ |
| Multiplier | $49, $40 annual | Not published | Not published | Multi-currency and crypto | 160+ |
| Gusto | No seat; per payment | $5 to a US bank, wire $15 minimum or 1% to 1.5% | Not stated | Local bank, US bank, USDC wallet, Wise | 120+ |
| Payoneer WFM (Skuad) | $19 | Not published | Not published | 70+ currencies | 160+ |
| Toku | $19 list | Not published | Not published | Local currency, USDC, USDT | 100+ |
Omnivoo Contract Management
Fund your Omnivoo balance by ACH direct debit or wire from a US account, or SWIFT from anywhere else, approve an invoice, and the payout goes out in the contractor’s currency. The contractor chooses how it lands: bank, ACH, SWIFT, proxy rails like UPI and Pix, card, wallet, mobile money or crypto. There is no fee for contractors, and bank charges pass through at cost. Contracts come from nine templates with country-aware clauses, and the W-8BEN or W-9 is collected during onboarding. See how it works or plans.
Deel
The broadest payout menu of the platforms here, at the highest published seat price. Funding by card costs 2.9% plus $0.30 on US and EU cards and 3.9% plus $0.30 on others; ACH, SEPA, BACS and wires cost $5 (Deel help). Contractors withdraw free to a local bank, Wise, Revolut or the Deel Card, and pay 2.5% to PayPal, 1% to Payoneer (minimum $12) and $5 to $10 for SWIFT (Deel withdrawal fees). Deel says it uses a “Forward Rate provided by its banking partners” for currency conversion.
Remote
$29 per contractor per month, charged only for contractors you work with that month. Direct debit is the one free way to fund; cards cost 3.5% and bank transfers $5 (Remote help). A contractor paid locally in the same currency pays nothing; otherwise Remote passes on its provider’s cost, and SWIFT correspondent banks can take $20 to $50. When the contractor invoices in their own currency, Remote locks the rate for up to 90 days.
Plane
$39 per contractor per month in months you pay them, with W-8 and W-9 collection and the 1099-NEC filed for you. Plane says it “never charges contractors to receive their payments” (Plane help). It serves US-based companies only and does not support crypto.
Oyster, RemoFirst and Multiplier
Oyster is $29 after a free month, pays to bank accounts only, collects W-8BEN forms but does not file 1099-NECs. RemoFirst manages contractors free and charges $25 in months it processes a payment, with a 2% payment-provider fee that “may apply”. Multiplier is $49 monthly or $40 on an annual plan and does not publish payout fees.
Gusto
No seat fee for international contractors. You pay per payment: $5 to a US bank account, and for an international wire a $15 minimum below $1,000, then 1% to 1.5%. Gusto covers intermediary bank fees so the contractor receives what you send, and its own help page says its exchange rates include “fees (some shown, some hidden), and any markups”. It keeps the W-8BEN on file but creates no tax forms or contracts for international contractors.
Payment apps
| App | Subscription | Per-payment cost (published) | Tax forms | Contracts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wise Business | Free, or $31 one-time setup for Advanced | ”From 0.23%” per transfer, varies by currency | No | No |
| Payoneer | $29.95 a year if under $6,000 received | Recipient: $1.50 to a local bank, else 1.2% to 4% | Mass Payouts captures W-8/W-9 | Only via Payoneer WFM |
| PayPal Payouts | None | 2%, capped at $20 internationally | No | No |
| Airwallex | $0 Explore, $12 per user Grow | Local transfers free, SWIFT $15 to $25 | W-8BEN and 1099-NEC (via its docs) | No |
| Trolley | Pay module $2,399 a year | ACH $1, international $4, wire with FX $10 | W-8BEN, 1099-NEC, 1042-S | No |
| Tipalti | Mass Payments from $249 a month | By quote | W-9 and W-8 | No |
| BILL | $49 to $89 per user a month | USD international wire $19.99 | W-9 and 1099 only | No |
| Remitly Business | None | Shown per transfer, not published | No | No |
Wise Business is the cheapest published way to move money for most corridors. It sends in 40+ currencies, takes batches of up to 1,000 payments, and says it uses the mid-market rate. It does not collect tax forms.
Payoneer suits contractors who already hold a Payoneer account. Its Mass Payouts product captures W-8 and W-9 data and generates 1099 and 1042 forms, with fees shown before you confirm.
PayPal Payouts is simple but expensive across currencies: PayPal’s fee page lists a 4.00% spread when the recipient receives a different currency. Hyperwallet, its payout API, lists 2% for major currencies and 4% elsewhere.
Trolley and Tipalti are built for paying hundreds or thousands of payees, with tax forms included. Their subscriptions ($2,399 a year and $249 a month) only make sense at that scale.
For a deeper look at the payment-only options, see Wise vs Payoneer and global contractor payment methods compared.
The tax forms when you pay someone abroad
- Collect a W-8BEN before the first payment from a foreign individual, a W-8BEN-E from a foreign company. It goes to you, not the IRS (IRS). Our W-8BEN checklist walks through it.
- No 1099-NEC for a nonresident alien. The IRS 1099-NEC instructions point to Form 1042-S instead, and only for US-source income.
- Work done abroad is usually not reported at all. Services are sourced where they are performed, and the IRS says foreign-source income paid to a nonresident alien is normally not reported on an information return (IRS).
- US contractors get a 1099-NEC above $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025 (IRS).
Not sure which form applies? The contractor tax form picker answers it in a few questions.
Three common setups, priced
Seat fees only, at each vendor’s published list price.
One contractor on a 3-month project. Omnivoo: $87 at $29 a month. Remote: $87. Oyster: $58, with its first month free. Deel: $147. Gusto: no seat, just the payment fees.
Five contractors, working 5 months each in a year. Omnivoo: $725 monthly, or $1,140 on the annual plan if all five stay all year. Remote: $725. Plane: $975. Deel: $1,225.
Twenty contractors on monthly retainers all year. Omnivoo: $4,560 on the annual plan. Payoneer WFM and Toku list: $4,560. Remote: $6,960. Plane: $9,360. Deel: $11,760.
For the cheapest options laid out at 1, 5, 20 and 50 contractors, see the cheapest contractor payment platforms. To trace one payment end to end, see the real cost of paying a contractor.
When another option is the better fit
- Global EOR. Omnivoo’s EOR is India only. Deel, Remote, Multiplier and Oyster offer EOR in many countries.
- Contractor of Record. If you want the provider to carry classification risk, Deel and Remote sell it at $325 a month.
- You only need to send money. With contracts and forms already handled, Wise Business costs less per transfer than any seat.
- Thousands of payees. Trolley and Tipalti are built for that volume.
For everyone else paying contractors abroad, Omnivoo Contract Management puts the contract, the W-8BEN and the payout in one flow from $19 a month. Compare plans.
Related: best contractor management platforms, contractor payment platform fees compared, Deel vs Remote vs Omnivoo, and the FX margin guide.