Employer of record, or your own company.The rule, then the numbers.
If anyone you hire needs a work pass, the answer is a company. For local hires it is a money question with a clear break-even: an employer of record costs S$6,400 to 11,200 a year per person in 2026, a company costs S$700 to 7,500 a year to keep. This page has both sides, the reasons people stay on a platform longer than the arithmetic says, and the switch.
The assessment asks who you are hiring and how many, and gives you the route on screen.
- Employer of record, one hire, per year
- S$6,400 to 11,200 in fees
- Own company, per year
- S$2,300 to 7,500
- Break-even on money
- 1 to 2 local hires
- Break-even in practice
- About 5 people
- Needs a pass
- Company, always
- Time to first payslip
- 10 days vs 4 to 8 weeks
Employer-of-record fees are public list prices from the platforms we compare. Company costs are list prices from the self-serve platforms and managed firms we compare. Checked September 2026.
One rule, then a break-even, then a switch.
Ask the passport question first
If any hire is a foreign national who needs an Employment Pass or S Pass, the decision is made: you need a Singapore company. An employer of record cannot reliably sponsor a pass, because MOM issues it to the employer that applies and expects the person to work for that employer. Everything below applies to citizens and permanent residents only.
How a pass is applied for from a companyThe money break-even is earlier than the platforms say
An employer of record costs US$400 to 700 a month per person, or S$6,400 to 11,200 a year for one hire. A Singapore company costs S$700 to 2,500 a year to keep if a director lives here, and S$2,300 to 7,500 if you need a nominee director, with payroll software at S$15 to 50 per employee a month on top. On money alone the company wins from the first or second local hire.
Why people still stay on a platform until about five
The company costs time and commitment that the fee does not. Incorporation is two days, but a bank account is four to eight weeks, and once the company exists it files an annual return, a tax return and monthly CPF whether it has one employee or twenty. If you are testing whether Singapore works, the platform lets you stop in a month. If you already know it works, the company is cheaper today.
What the company gives you that the platform cannot
Contracts and invoices in your own name, which some customers and all government tenders require. The ability to sponsor passes and to relocate a founder. Local grants, most of which need 30% local ownership and a Singapore entity. Ownership of the employment relationship, which senior hires care about. Tax residence in Singapore for the profits the team generates, at 17% with the start-up exemption.
What incorporating as a foreigner involvesThe switch, when it comes
Incorporate, open the bank account, and register the company as an employer with the CPF Board. Give the platform notice, usually 30 to 60 days. The employee resigns from the platform and signs a contract with your company on the same terms and a continuous start date. Their CPF account carries over. Leave balances and notice are contract terms, so write them into the new contract. The overlap is a month or two of paying both, which is why the switch is best done as soon as the decision is made.
Both routes, side by side.
The platform is a monthly fee. The company is a set-up year and then a running cost, and the running cost falls once a director lives in Singapore.
| Item | Typical range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up | ||
| Foreign founder, year one | S$2,300 to 7,500 | Self-serve with three months of nominee director at the low end. Managed provider with director, secretary, accounting and immigration at the top. |
| Singapore-resident founder, year one | S$700 to 2,500 | No nominee director needed. Corporate secretary and address are the main cost. |
| Hiring | ||
| One employee via employer of record | US$400 to 700 per month | Platform fee on top of salary and employer CPF. Only for citizens and PRs. |
| Employer CPF contribution | 17% of wages | For employees aged 55 and below, on wages up to S$8,000 a month (2026). Lower rates above 55. |
| Outsourced payroll, per employee per month | S$15 to 50 | Software at the low end, a provider running it for you at the top. Usually a minimum monthly fee. |
| Ongoing | ||
| Nominee director, per year | S$1,500 to 5,000 | Some providers add a refundable deposit. Falls away once a resident director is in place. |
| Corporate secretary and address, per year | S$500 to 1,500 | Mandatory. The cheapest tier is fine for a simple company. |
| Accounting and tax, small company, per year | S$900 to 3,000 | Transaction volume and whether payroll and GST are included. |
Setting upShow 2 items
- Foreign founder, year oneS$2,300 to 7,500
Self-serve with three months of nominee director at the low end. Managed provider with director, secretary, accounting and immigration at the top.
- Singapore-resident founder, year oneS$700 to 2,500
No nominee director needed. Corporate secretary and address are the main cost.
HiringShow 3 items
- One employee via employer of recordUS$400 to 700 per month
Platform fee on top of salary and employer CPF. Only for citizens and PRs.
- Employer CPF contribution17% of wages
For employees aged 55 and below, on wages up to S$8,000 a month (2026). Lower rates above 55.
- Outsourced payroll, per employee per monthS$15 to 50
Software at the low end, a provider running it for you at the top. Usually a minimum monthly fee.
OngoingShow 3 items
- Nominee director, per yearS$1,500 to 5,000
Some providers add a refundable deposit. Falls away once a resident director is in place.
- Corporate secretary and address, per yearS$500 to 1,500
Mandatory. The cheapest tier is fine for a simple company.
- Accounting and tax, small company, per yearS$900 to 3,000
Transaction volume and whether payroll and GST are included.
Public list prices from the platforms and firms we compare. CPF from the CPF Board. Checked September 2026.
Get your exact numberWho does what, on each route.
The platform on one side. A firm to incorporate, hold the nominee seat and run payroll on the other. We send you to whichever fits and say so if it changes.
An employer-of-record platform
One to four citizen or permanent-resident hires, no company here, and you are still finding out whether Singapore works. Paying someone in ten days and leaving with a month of notice is what you are buying.
A managed corporate services firm
Anyone who needs a pass, five or more people, or a team you already know you will build. One firm incorporates, holds the nominee seat until you have a resident director, and runs payroll and the filings.
A decision today
If you have one local hire and no plan past this year, stay on the platform and revisit when something changes. The switch costs a month or two of overlap, and doing it twice costs more than doing it late.
How we are paid. The firm you go ahead with pays us a share of its fee. You pay its normal price, the same as going direct. Your plan names the firm and what it pays us.
What we tell companies that ask us which one.
Most people who ask this question have already decided to build a team in Singapore. If that is you, the company is cheaper from the first hire and it is the only route for a pass, so the platform is a detour. Set up the company and use a platform only for the person who has to start before the bank account exists.
The platforms' own break-even charts put the switch at eight to ten employees. That is the number where their fee stops being defensible, which is a different question from where it stops being cheaper. On the figures on this page it stops being cheaper at one to two.
We have watched a company spend a year and S$30,000 in fees on three platform hires while waiting to feel ready for a company. The company would have cost S$5,000. Being ready is a two-day incorporation and a bank application, and we can tell you what both take on the assessment.
What people ask us
Is there a number of employees at which I must set up a company?
No legal threshold. The thresholds are practical: the first hire who needs a pass, the first contract that has to be in your name, and the point where fees exceed running costs, which is one to two hires on money and about five in practice.
Can I run both at once?
Yes, and many companies do during the switch, or for a single hire in a second country. Keeping local hires on a platform after your Singapore company exists rarely makes sense; the company can employ them for less.
What if I only ever want one person in Singapore?
A platform for a citizen or PR, for as long as that stays true. One local hire at S$8,000 a year in fees is cheaper than a company only if you value not filing anything at more than a few thousand dollars a year, and some people rightly do.
Does the employee lose anything in the switch?
Not if the new contract is written properly. Continuous service date, the same salary and leave, and any accrued leave carried over. CPF is in their own account and is unaffected. The one thing to check is a probation clause; do not start a new one.
Which is better for a founder who wants to move to Singapore?
Only the company works. The founder's pass is applied for by the founder's own company, with a nominee director covering the resident-director rule until the pass is approved.
Tell us who you're hiring and how many. We'll tell you which route and what it costs this year.
Two minutes on the form. A written plan within one business day: platform or company, the year-one number for each, and the provider we would use.