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Payroll Outsourcing Cost in Vietnam 2026: Price per Employee

By Nguyễn Quốc Trung — Deputy General Director · Updated 2026-09-25

Payroll outsourcing in Vietnam costs from about USD 10 to USD 80 per employee per month on the prices providers publish, as of September 2026. Global payroll platforms list USD 20–29: Multiplier from USD 20, RemotePeople from USD 25, and Remote and Papaya Global from USD 29, before setup and delivery fees. Local boutique firms charge USD 15–40 and regional specialists USD 40–80 in Bestar Asia's range, while Big-4 firms set monthly minimums above USD 2,000. Deel, ADP and G-P quote only on request. Nhan Kiet lists VND 250,000–900,000 (about USD 10–35) with no setup fee.

This guide compares the payroll prices that providers publish for Vietnam, from local firms to global payroll platforms, and sets out the pricing models, the fees that are easy to miss, how VAT applies, and when outsourcing costs less than an in-house payroll accountant.

Quick summary (September 2026):

• Typical model: a fee per employee on each month's payroll, sometimes with a base fee, a monthly minimum or annual billing.
• Global platforms: Multiplier from USD 20, RemotePeople from USD 25, Remote and Papaya Global from USD 29 per employee per month; Deel, ADP, G-P and others quote on request.
• Local market: USD 15–40 (boutique) and USD 40–80 (regional) in Bestar Asia's range; Nhan Kiet VND 250,000–900,000 (about USD 10–35).
• Fees to check: setup or implementation, payroll delivery fees, expatriate surcharges, per-person tax finalisation, off-cycle runs and currency costs.
• VAT: 8% on the service fee only for payroll, against the whole invoice for EOR.

How much does payroll outsourcing cost in Vietnam in 2026?

Payroll outsourcing in Vietnam costs about USD 10–80 per employee per month on published prices, before VAT and setup fees; Big-4 firms charge a monthly minimum instead. Where a company lands in that range depends on five things:

• Type of provider: local firms and global platforms sit at the lower end, regional specialists higher, and Big-4 advisers charge minimums that suit only large payrolls.
• Headcount: per-employee prices fall as headcount rises; RemotePeople, for example, offers volume discounts from 50 employees.
• Complexity of pay rules: shift work, piece rates, attendance bonuses and several pay dates take more work each cycle.
• Foreign employees: tax residency, exempt allowances and annual finalisation are often charged extra.
• Currency and billing terms: global platforms price in US dollars and some bill annually; Vietnamese providers invoice in dong.

The sections below give each provider's published price, the fees that come on top, and what 50 employees would cost with each type of provider.

What do global payroll platforms like Deel, Remote, Papaya and Multiplier charge for Vietnam?

Five global platforms publish a payroll price that applies to Vietnam, all in US dollars and all as a starting price. Global payroll here means the platform runs payroll for your own Vietnamese entity; it is not Employer of Record. Each price was read on the provider's own pricing page on 25 September 2026:

Deel, ADP, G-P, Safeguard Global, CloudPay, Skuad and Pebl (formerly Velocity Global) list Vietnam among their countries but publish no payroll price; each quotes after a demo. Playroll publishes from USD 10 per employee with minimums, but Vietnam is not on its list of payroll countries. The same platforms charge far more for Employer of Record, USD 459–699 per employee a month on Multiplier's, Papaya Global's and Remote's pricing pages, because the provider then becomes the legal employer.

What do local firms, regional specialists and Big-4 advisers charge?

Local and regional providers in Vietnam rarely publish a rate card, so the market range comes from a handful of sources. Bestar Asia, a regional provider, publishes these bands for Vietnam:

Vina TPT, an accounting firm serving small FDI companies, lists packages of VND 4–15 million a month. The 2026 roundup of ten Vietnamese payroll providers by terra, which includes Acclime, ADP, PwC, InCorp, Manpower, Talentnet and BDO, gives no prices at all and advises readers to request a quote. Nhan Kiet publishes VND 250,000–900,000 (about USD 10–35) per employee per month, with its full rate card in the payroll service pricing guide.

Which pricing models do providers use: PEPM, base fee, retainer or minimum?

Four pricing models cover almost every payroll quote in Vietnam:

• Per employee per month (PEPM): one rate multiplied by the headcount on each month's payroll. Cost rises and falls with headcount. Most global platforms and many local firms use this model.
• Base fee plus PEPM: a fixed monthly platform or account fee on top of the per-employee rate, which weighs heavily on small teams.
• Flat retainer: a fixed monthly amount for very small teams, common with accounting firms that bundle payroll with bookkeeping and tax filing.
• Monthly minimum: large advisory firms set a floor, so a 20-person payroll can cost as much as a 100-person one.

Global platforms add two variations: annual billing (Multiplier's USD 20 rate is billed annually) and a recurring delivery fee on top of the per-employee rate (Remote). Nhan Kiet uses a pure per-employee model with no base fee and no setup fee, invoiced in Vietnamese dong.

Which hidden costs push the real price up?

The costs most often left out of a headline payroll price in Vietnam are setup, expatriate surcharges and tax finalisation. Ask every provider for these in writing:

• Setup or implementation: Bestar Asia puts this at about one month's fees.
• Expatriate surcharge: an extra USD 20–50 per foreign employee per month in Bestar Asia's range, because tax residency and tax-exempt allowances need extra tracking.
• Annual tax finalisation: about USD 50–100 per foreign employee in the same range.
• Off-cycle runs: a separate charge each time an extra payroll run is needed.
• Monthly minimums and base fees: they change the real per-employee price for small teams.
• Platform fees on global payroll: Remote adds an implementation fee and a recurring payroll delivery fee to its USD 29 rate; Multiplier adds setup, implementation, payment and statutory fees "as applicable"; Playroll applies minimums.
• Currency and cross-border costs: global platforms price in US dollars, so exchange-rate movements and international transfer fees add to the bill, and payments to an overseas provider may be subject to foreign contractor tax withheld by your company.
• Other add-ons: HR1 Vietnam lists data processing, compliance update, system integration and after-hours support fees as common extras.

What would 50 employees cost across provider types?

At 50 employees, the monthly service fee runs from about USD 500 to USD 4,000 or more depending on the type of provider, before VAT and one-off setup fees. Each line multiplies the published per-employee price by 50:

Published starting prices are a floor, not a quote: volume discounts, expatriate surcharges and setup fees move every figure. Nhan Kiet's own monthly invoice at 20, 50, 100 and 200 employees is set out in its payroll service pricing guide.

Which questions reveal the true scope of a quote?

Two quotes at the same headline price can cover very different work. Ten questions put every offer on the same footing:

• Is the rate charged on the actual headcount each month, or on a contracted minimum?
• Is there a setup, implementation or onboarding fee, and how much?
• Does the fee include social, health and unemployment insurance reporting, or only the salary calculation?
• Does it include personal income tax filing and annual finalisation for every employee?
• Are foreign employees charged at a higher rate?
• Who processes raw time-clock data and matches shifts, including night shifts past midnight?
• Are off-cycle runs, final pay for leavers and bonus runs included?
• Is the invoice in Vietnamese dong or in a foreign currency, and who bears the exchange cost?
• Is VAT charged on the service fee only?
• What reconciliation does the provider hand over each cycle, and who approves payroll before it is paid?

Nhan Kiet answers each of these questions in writing in its quote; its own answers are set out in the payroll service pricing guide.

Why is VAT on payroll lower than on EOR?

VAT on payroll outsourcing in Vietnam applies to the service fee only, at 8% until 31 December 2026 under Resolution 204/2025/QH15. Salaries, insurance contributions and personal income tax stay outside the provider's invoice, because under a payroll service your company remains the employer and pays those amounts itself from the files the provider prepares.

Under an Employer of Record, the provider is the legal employer, so VAT applies to the whole invoice: gross salary, employer contributions, trade union fee and service fee together. This is the main reason payroll outsourcing and EOR prices cannot be compared line by line.

When is an in-house payroll accountant cheaper?

An in-house payroll accountant becomes cheaper than outsourcing only above a certain headcount, and even then companies often outsource for accuracy and continuity rather than price. A bilingual payroll accountant in Vietnam earns about VND 15–25 million a month, according to Vina TPT. Adding the 23.5% employer contributions (21.5% social, health and unemployment insurance plus the 2% trade union fee) brings the employer cost to about VND 18.5–30.9 million a month, before software and cover for leave.

At an outsourced rate of VND 250,000 per employee, that budget covers payroll for about 74–124 employees. Below that range, outsourcing is usually cheaper. Above it, companies outsource for three reasons: rules applied correctly, zero-variance reconciliation, and no dependence on one person. A fuller comparison is in our guide to in-house or outsourced payroll.

Payroll outsourcing, labour compliance or EOR: which cost model fits?

Payroll outsourcing applies when your company already has a Vietnamese legal entity and employs its staff directly; an Employer of Record applies when it does not. The three models are priced on different bases:

The full cost of an EOR hire at five salary levels is worked through in our guide to EOR pricing in Vietnam.

How should you request and compare quotations?

Send every provider the same three items: headcount by payroll group, your pay rules, and one month of time-attendance data in the format your system exports. Then compare the offers on the same basis: the monthly cost at your real headcount, plus setup and add-ons over the first year, converted to Vietnamese dong, with VAT shown separately.

Nhan Kiet returns a written quotation within 24 hours of receiving those three items; what its quotation states, and the monthly invoice at 20 to 200 employees, are in the payroll service pricing guide. To estimate gross-to-net pay, insurance and tax for any salary first, use the free Vietnam salary calculator. The 2026 rules behind every figure are explained in our guide to calculating payroll in 2026.

Who compiled this guide

This guide was compiled by Nhan Kiet Manpower Supply Company Limited (tax code 0308022768), a Vietnamese payroll and manpower provider founded in April 2009 that serves more than 40,000 workers for over 500 clients across 34 provinces, certified to ISO 9001:2015. Nhan Kiet is one of the providers compared above. Every other price is taken from a public page of the provider or source cited, read on 25 September 2026 and linked in the sources below.

Sources

• Multiplier — Pricing — Global Payroll from USD 20 per employee per month, billed annually; read 25 September 2026
• RemotePeople — Pricing — Global Payroll from USD 25 per employee per month
• Remote — Pricing — Payroll USD 29 per employee per month; implementation and payroll delivery fees
• Papaya Global — Pricing — Payroll Plus from USD 29 per employee per month
• Borderless AI — Pricing — Global Payroll USD 29 a month
• Playroll — Payroll pricing — from USD 10 with minimums; list of payroll countries
• Bestar Asia — Outsourced Payroll Services in Vietnam — price ranges by provider type, read 25 September 2026
• terra — Top 10+ Outsourced Payroll Services in Vietnam for 2026 — ten providers, no prices published
• Vina TPT — Payroll outsourcing for small FDI companies — VND 4–15 million packages; payroll accountant salaries of VND 15–25 million
• HR1 Vietnam — Cost of payroll outsourcing services in Vietnam: hidden fees — common add-on fee categories
• Resolution 204/2025/QH15 — 8% VAT rate until 31 December 2026

USD figures for Nhan Kiet are approximate, rounded conversions at about VND 26,250 per US dollar; Nhan Kiet quotes and invoices in Vietnamese dong. Other providers' prices are shown as each provider publishes them and may change without notice; always confirm the current price with the provider. This article is general information, not tax advice for a specific case.

Contact

• Nguyen Quoc Trung — Deputy General Director
• Phone and WhatsApp: +84 908 636 108 — [email protected]
• Switchboard: +84 28 3505 4224
• Head office: Room 202, Building 57, 57 Le Thi Hong Gam, Ben Thanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City

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