EOR cost for a QA engineer
What an employer of record adds to the cost of a QA engineer, which lines it passes through, and how the total compares with the employee model in the dataset.
Figures from dataset v1.0, computed . Updated .
The cost of a QA engineer through an EOR (employer of record, a company that employs the person on your behalf) is the full employee cost plus the EOR's monthly fee. Salary, employer contributions and mandatory benefits are passed through at cost; equipment, recruiting and ramp are costed as for a direct employee. The EOR fee is the line that differs from the employee model.
How the EOR total is built
The published formula treats an EOR as an employee with an extra fee:
- base salary, as for an employee in that country;
- employer contributions, at statutory rates, passed through by the EOR;
- mandatory benefits, passed through;
- the EOR monthly fee, times 12;
- equipment and tooling, as for an employee;
- recruiting and onboarding ramp, as for an employee, each spread over 2.5 years.
The EOR fee comes from published fee schedules, aggregated under the same two-source rule as every other figure. Fee sources are listed on each breakdown page; no provider is recommended.
Worked example
Worked example: a mid-level manual QA engineer in the United States. Through an EOR the median total is USD 115,044 a year, against USD 107,256 as an employee. The EOR total adds the EOR fee, USD 7,788 a year; every other line is the same in both.
| Model | Annual | Not included |
|---|---|---|
| Employee | USD 107,256 | voluntary benefits (not estimated); office space; management time; and bonuses and equity |
| Employer of record | USD 115,044 | voluntary benefits; office space; management time; and bonuses and equity |
| Contractor | not published | Not published: no contractor hourly rate for this role in the North America region meets the two-source rule. What is not published. |
| Outsourced | USD 153,600 | recruiting, onboarding ramp, equipment and your own management time |
Confidence grade (A, B or C, from the number and agreement of the sources): mid-level manual QA engineer in the United StatesConfidence B.
Sources: in the source list on this page, and next to each figure on the linked breakdown page.
The employer of record total and the employee total share base salary, employer contributions, mandatory benefits, equipment, recruiting and ramp. The EOR total adds the fee and does not include voluntary benefits, so the difference between the two rows is the fee less any voluntary benefits in the employee total.
EOR compared with a local entity, as cost items
An employer without a legal entity in a country has two routes to employ someone there: an EOR, or a local entity of its own. The dataset costs only the EOR route. A local entity carries cost items that the dataset does not estimate:
- company registration and any minimum share capital;
- a registered address and, in some countries, a local director;
- payroll processing and statutory reporting;
- accounting and annual filings;
- local employment contracts and policy documents;
- closing the entity if the team is wound down.
Those items are mostly fixed per entity, not per employee. The EOR fee is per employee per month. Which route costs less in total depends on headcount, time horizon and the country, and the dataset does not compute that comparison. The list above names items to price; it is not legal or tax guidance on how to set up an entity.
What the EOR fee does not cover
The EOR fee is a service charge. It does not replace salary, contributions or mandatory benefits, which the employer funds in full. A fee schedule may list separate charges for items such as benefits administration, equipment or termination. The dataset uses the base monthly fee only; separate charges are not estimated.
When the EOR row reads "not published"
The EOR row is published only when fee sources meet the threshold for that country. When they do not, the row reads "not published" and the reason is on the not-published page.
Related pages
Sources
Sources of the figures in the examples and tables above, with the dates they were accessed and verified. Each linked breakdown page also footnotes them next to each figure.
- Built In. 2026 QA Engineer Salary in US | Built In
- Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries. United States - Corporate - Other taxes
- Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 759, Form 940, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return
- U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. UI Data Summary, 2nd Quarter 2026 Summary Tables
- Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. Oregon Workers' Compensation Premium Rate Ranking (rates in effect January 1, 2024)
- U.S. Department of Labor. Vacation Leave
- Apple. Buy MacBook Air
- Apple. Buy MacBook Pro
- Testing tool list price (vendor not named)
- Testing tool list price (vendor not named)
- Linear. Linear pricing
- Manatal. Recruitment fees (agency fee guide)
- Apollo Technical. What is a placement fee for engineering hiring
- HeroHunt.ai. True Cost to Hire an AI Engineer in 2026
- Deel. Deel pricing
- Remote. Remote pricing
- Oyster HR. Oyster pricing
- Multiplier. Multiplier pricing
- QA vendor rate page (vendor not named)
- QA vendor rate page (vendor not named)
- QA vendor rate page (vendor not named)