Velocity Global Alternatives

Staying ahead of the curve is essential in the dynamic world of business and global workforce management. Velocity Global has been a prominent player in providing global expansion solutions. 

Their Global Work Platform allows multinational companies to engage talent, streamline onboarding, pay their employees and ensure compliance. They also enable employers to onboard new and diverse voices to create dynamic teams. 

However, the tool has certain drawbacks. 

So, if you’re unhappy with the Velocity Global experience, this article delves into five exciting alternatives of Velocity Global that are making waves in 2023: 

• Rapid
• Lano
• Ontop
• Atlas and 
• Remofirst. 

These alternatives offer innovative approaches to global expansion, workforce management, and international business operations.

1. Rapid

A reputed employer of record (EOR) platform, Rapid enables companies worldwide to set up an Indian tech team quickly without establishing a legal presence. This Velocity Global alternative takes care of every crucial aspect, including HR, payroll, local benefits, compliance, employee liabilities and allows hiring companies to concentrate on their core business.

As a reliable Velocity Global competitor, Rapid ensures companies do not have to restrict hiring to remote employees and helps hire contractors. Rapid can also arrange rented office spaces and IT equipment logistics for client companies to provide a complete in-office employee experience.

Key Features

• Digital Onboarding: Rapid offers a user-friendly interface that facilitates the efficient collection and processing of documents through online channels. This results in the generation of legally compliant contracts tailored to the requirements of India.

• Tailored Benefits Management: Rapid offers benefits packages that are uniquely created offer a variety of possibilities, including three tiers of health insurance coverage. This customisation enables businesses to tailor benefits to their requirements, ensuring employees receive excellent coverage.

• Flexible Background Verification: The platform offers a tiered approach to background verification, viz. Pro, Power and Premium. Pro has basic checks and Premium has advanced checks like credit and drug tests. This adaptable approach ensures the right level of checks for every situation.

• Responsive Customer Support: The platform boasts round-the-clock email support, a reliable resource for resolving queries and addressing complex challenges. Furthermore, a dedicated team guides employees through onboarding, ensuring a smooth experience.

• Savings Through Passthrough Taxation: By passing on the full benefits of GST to businesses, it ensures 18% savings on all non-salary costs, such as office leasing and IT equipment.

• Comprehensive Service Marketplace: The platform extends its reach by connecting companies with various partners, including recruiters, visa processing experts, personal tax filers, immigration specialists and employee benefits providers. This holistic approach ensures an end-to-end experience for businesses.

• HR all-in-one solution: Rapid also provides post-onboarding employee lifecycle assistance by offering a framework for creating a business calendar, leave management, a reward system, expense tracking, timesheet tracking, stock option management and so forth. It enables companies to implement their own company culture - leave policy, salary structure etc.

Limitation

•  Currently offers support for India only

Pricing (as of August 2023)

Employee: $299 per month per employee 

Contractor: $49 per month per employee 

Startup Pricing

Employee:$199 per employee per month

Contractor: $39 per employee per month

2. Lano

Another competitor of Velocity Global is Lano. It offers a platform that empowers companies to employ talent worldwide, streamline payments and manage payroll operations seamlessly. 

Lano's unified and automated portal helps to onboard and manage the global workforce of hiring companies. It helps to overcome the challenges of employing remote talent and navigating international payroll complexities. 

Lano also offers fast onboarding—onboard new employees in less than one week. 

Key Features

• Payroll Consolidation: Lano controls and automates global payroll operations from a single, intuitive dashboard. It offers standardised processes, integrates HRIS and finance tools, automates payroll tasks and streamlines operations.

• Integrated Payments: Companies can use Lano's embedded payments solution to pay employees and contractors worldwide. They can benefit from lower exchange rates, fast cross-border payments and support for over 170 countries and 50+ currencies.

• Multi-Entity Management: Lano lets hiring companies run payroll for multiple entities on a single screen. It automates salary changes, integrates with local payroll providers and access multi-entity reporting and analytics.

• Automating Global Payments: Lano's embedded payments solution is a standout feature that simplifies the process of compensating employees and contractors across the globe.

Limitations

• Does not offer API integrations
• EOR services are costly

Pricing (as of August 2023)

Employee: Starting at $600 per employee per month

Contractor: Starting at $22 per employee per month

3. Ontop

Founded in 2020, Ontop is a comparatively new player in this field. This Velocity Global alternative specialises in simplifying the complexities of international payroll, ensuring timely and accurate compensation for employees across different countries. 

Ontop's platform automates payroll calculations, tax deductions and compliance requirements, reducing administrative burdens and minimising the risk of errors. 

This competitor of Velocity Global keeps its platform up-to-date with the evolving tax regulations, labour laws and reporting requirements of various jurisdictions. 

Key Features

• Onboard and Pay International Employees: Ontop enables hiring companies to onboard new talent without having local legal entities. It offers payroll management for employees and contractors in over 15+ countries.

• Employee Management: It offers payroll, tax obligations and human resources management services. It assigns experts who handle the entire hiring process for hiring companies, saving them time and money.

• Direct Payments: Employees and contractors are paid directly to their Ontop Wallet in dollars without any hidden fees.

Limitations

•  Does not offer API integrations
•  Does not provide 24/7 live support

Pricing (as of August 2023)

Employee: Starting at $299 per employee per month

Contractor: Starting at $29 per employee per month

4. Atlas

Atlas is a Velocity Global competitor that provides organisations with information and skills to overcome legal obstacles efficiently, from company formation to contract management. 

As a competitor of Velocity Global, Atlas's unique selling point is its network of legal professionals from diverse jurisdictions. These professionals provide insight into local rules and regulations, assisting businesses in structuring their foreign operations to be compliant.

Key Features

• Global Reach: Atlas empowers businesses to access talent across more than 160 countries, enabling rapid and efficient expansion into new markets.

• Direct EOR Service: Atlas cuts out intermediary parties, resulting in smoother and more cost-effective hiring processes.

• Rapid Onboarding: With a team of local experts well-versed in regional employment regulations, Atlas facilitates quick and compliant onboarding of employees in various countries.

• HR Expertise: Atlas provides comprehensive HR support, ensuring companies comply with local labour laws, regulations and cultural norms.

• Cloud-Based Payroll Processing: It is a cloud-based platform for seamless and secure payroll processing. It enables timely and accurate payment to employees across different geographies.

Limitations

•  Has a one-size-fits-all approach that may require additional customisation or integration efforts

• Provides online support services only during business hours

Pricing (As of August 2023)

Employee: Starting at $450 per employee per month

5. Remofirst

Remofirst optimises remote work experiences by offering tools for virtual collaboration, performance tracking and employee well-being. This Velocity Global alternative allows you to access global talent from 160+ countries. 

Their global payroll platform offers a streamlined solution for handling the complexities of international payroll. This competitor of Velocity Global ensures that your distributed employees are paid in their respective local currencies, facilitating a smoother financial experience for them. 

Additionally, the platform provides the convenience of summarising and consolidating your invoices into a single payment, eliminating the need for multiple individual transactions.

Key Features

• Full-Time Employee Hiring: It helps to hire full-time employees in over 160 countries on your behalf.

• International Contractor Management: The platform allows users to efficiently pay, manage and onboard international contractors using locally compliant contracts.

• Automated Payroll Calculation: It automatically calculates various components like hours worked, time off, holidays, bonuses and commissions, integrating them into payroll calculations.

• Multi-Currency Invoicing: The platform provides the convenience of multi-currency invoicing, allowing businesses to be billed in their preferred currency. This ensures on-time payments to employees in their local currencies.

• Global Team Management: It offers a single dashboard for managing the entire global team, including contractors, full-time remote employees or a combination of both.

• 24/7 Customer Support: The platform offers round-the-clock customer support for hiring managers and global employees.

Limitations

• Provides only English language support
•  No free trial facility is available

Pricing (As of August 2023)

Employee: Starting at $199 per employee per month

Contractor: Starting at $19 per employee per month

Which Alternative of Velocity Global Can Support your Business Best?

While each of the alternatives to Velocity Global offers innovative solutions and unique features, some common threads of issues might be present in the global expansion and workforce management industry. 

Operating across international borders involves navigating complex legal and regulatory frameworks as well. 

When you're primarily interested in expanding your tech operations in India, Rapid is a strong Velocity Global alternative due to its tailored solutions. They are entirely transparent with the pricing and provide a discounted package for startups and scaleups.

They also offer further cost savings for you through GST passthrough benefits. This alternative of Velocity Global also allows companies to lease physical space, so they don't need to restrict themselves to remote employees and facilitate the purchase of IT equipment. 

And most importantly, their deep expertise in India helps you get the initial setup done faster and in a more compliant manner.

Book a demo to learn more.

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