TL;DR
For your first ~1–30 India hires, EOR beats spinning up a Pvt Ltd while candidates are on the clock. Varimo fee is $95/employee/month published; salary and statutory pass-through are separate lines. Graduate to your own entity when revenue and headcount say so.
Why EOR fits your first India hires
Three ways to pay someone in India. For early teams, EOR removes entity setup, payroll ops, and misclassification risk so you stay focused on hiring - not learning PF rules at midnight.
| Contractors / invoices | Varimo EOR | Own entity (Pvt Ltd) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 1–2 weeks | 2–3 weeks typical | 3–6 months |
| Setup cost | $0 | No separate EOR setup fee on standard plans (see /pricing) | $5–15K+ legal and ops - typical ranges, not a quote |
| Per-person cost | Invoice rate | Salary + $95/mo fee (published) | Salary + ~20% employer load |
| Compliance | Mostly yours | Varimo files PF, TDS, PT, ESI | Yours (or managed ops) |
| Benefits & ESOP | Awkward / risky | Employment - ESOP-eligible with counsel | Full control |
| IP & diligence | Weakest chain | Employment agreements + counsel | Strongest in-group |
| Best for | Real projects, short scope | 1–30 hires, fast compliant start | 25+ headcount, India as line of business |
| Wind-down | Low | Migration or novation - weeks | High - months of entity work |
Contractors vs Varimo EOR vs own India entity
Why this comes up
- Entity delay. Private limited setup and bank readiness often take months - while candidates accept other offers.
- Compliance unknowns. PF, ESI, TDS, and state rules are not a side project for a five-person US startup.
- Finance clarity. USD HQ teams need one invoice that separates fee from INR salary pass-through.
Founder-friendly operating model
- Employ in weeks with Varimo as legal employer - see employer cost calculator before you sign offers.
- Structure CTC and take-home with our calculators; avoid surprise employer load.
- Add hires 5, 10, or 30 on the same published fee until entity math wins.
- Convert misclassified contractors on the same EOR when diligence or ESOP forces the issue.
You run the team. We run India payroll and compliance.
Founders keep hiring decisions, day-to-day management, and equity policy. Varimo runs what must be local and statutory.
Employment contracts
India employment agreements on Varimo EOR - not contractor grey areas for full-time roles.
Operator support
Bengaluru team for onboarding, payroll questions, and filings - not a generic global ticket queue.
Payroll, tax, and filings
PF, ESI where applicable, professional tax, TDS, Form 24Q - agentic payrun checks before money moves.
Leave and policies
Statutory leave and handbook basics aligned to work state; expand with your counsel as you scale.
Insurance and benefits
Group medical and supplemental benefits coordinated with your budget - statutory first, then flex.
Offboarding
Notice, F&F, gratuity eligibility, and experience letters handled with documented timelines.
Equipment
Local laptop and monitor procurement where you want Varimo to coordinate delivery.
Entity transition
When Pvt Ltd makes sense, migrate employees and payroll history without treating it as a re-hire.
Where India's best talent lives
Each hub has different depth, cost, and role fit. Most founders mix one engineering hub plus remote - or NCR for GTM.
Bengaluru
Deepest product engineering bench; highest competition for senior hires.
- Engineering
- Product
- AI / platform
Hyderabad
Enterprise and GCC-scale engineering; strong platform and data hiring.
- Enterprise software
- Data
- Infrastructure
Pune
Solid engineering culture; often softer CTC pressure than top-tier metros.
- Backend
- DevOps
- Enterprise IT
Delhi NCR
Engineering exists, but GTM depth wins - sales, marketing, finance ops.
- GTM
- Sales
- Marketing
- Finance
Chennai
Automotive, industrial software, and deep tech with moderate cost.
- Deep tech
- Automotive
- Enterprise IT
Remote (India)
Works when you declare work state, overlap hours, and equipment policy up front.
- Distributed teams
- Senior ICs
Zero to one with India EOR
Scope → employ → pay → scale
- 1
1 - Scope the role
- A working session on city, level, CTC band, and start date. You leave with numbers you can put in an offer or recruiter brief.
- 2
2 - Varimo employs
- After you select the candidate, Varimo issues the India employment contract and statutory registrations.
- 3
3 - Onboard and pay
- Bank setup, enrolments, insurance where planned, and first compliant payrun - equipment coordinated if you want it.
- 4
4 - Scale or incorporate
- Keep hiring on EOR at published pricing, or plan entity formation and migrate payroll when the business justifies it.
How we operate (not marketing fluff)
$95
Published EOR fee per employee / month
Agentic
Payrun pre-checks before salaries release
1 invoice
USD billing with INR pass-through lines
Bengaluru
Operator-run statutory payroll, not a checkbox country
Related resources
Frequently asked questions
- Contractors or employees first?
- If work is full-time and ongoing, employment reduces risk. Genuine project contractors can stay contractors with proper scope - see our contractor-to-employee guide if patterns look like employment.
- How is this different from Deel or Remote?
- Global platforms optimize for many countries. Varimo is India-only - published pricing, Bengaluru operators, and depth on PF, PT, and TDS. Compare pages explain tradeoffs honestly.
- Which city should we hire in?
- Use the India city hiring guide and employer cost calculator with the same role level in different hubs before you lock CTC.
- When do we need our own entity?
- Signals include GST in your name, local customer contracts, IP inside your group, investor requirement, or sustained 25+ headcount. Run the EOR vs entity calculator with your finance lead.
Think it through with an operator
30 minutes on city, CTC, contractors vs EOR, and timeline - no deck required.
Talk to Varimo