Snippet
- The top five platforms for payroll and compliance in India are Uplers (sourcing + EOR), Deel (EOR), RazorpayX Payroll (self-serve software), Asanify (payroll outsourcing), and Deel Contractor (contractor platform).
- Which one fits you comes down to just two questions: do you have a legal entity in India, and do you have your people yet?
- Get those answers straight and the right model almost picks itself.
- We’ll walk you through each platform, what it actually does, and a simple table that matches your exact situation to a model, so you can stop guessing and start hiring.
Figuring out how to hire teams in India with all the different models that exist? Before you get drowned in information and bang your head on the wall, let us simplify it for you.
The one decision that matters
Everything comes down to two questions:
- Do you have a legal entity in India?
- Do you have the people yet?
Your answers point you to one model. That’s it. The rest is detail.
Why the entity question is a big deal
To employ someone directly in India, you need a registered entity including an address, a local bank account, PAN/TAN numbers, and compliance with PF, ESI, professional tax, and TDS.
Setting this up can take months. Until then, you cannot legally put someone on your own payroll.
So you have 2 paths: you either set up the entity, or let someone else be the employer while you get the work.
Top 5 platforms handle payroll and compliance
- Uplers – Sourcing + EOR
A hiring platform that helps with payroll and compliance too. Finds and screens developers from India, then puts them on its own payroll while you direct the work.
Another model also exists where you can own the payroll and they just help in sourcing. Same company, different business models. One partner for both finding and employing so you don’t need any entity.
- Deel – Employer of Record (EOR)
You bring the candidate, Deel becomes the legal employer in India. Handles contract, payroll, and PF/ESI/TDS. No entity needed.
- RazorpayX Payroll – Payroll software (self-serve)
A tool you run yourself. You log in and process salaries and filings; the software does the math, but the work stays on your side. You stay the legal employer.
- Asanify – Payroll outsourcing (done-for-you)
A service, not a tool. You hand over your data and their team runs payroll and filings for you. You remain the legal employer.
- Deel Contractor – Contractor platform
Engage developers as contractors, not employees. Fast and cheap, but classification risk sits with you.
Match your situation to a model
Depending on your situation, find your row and see what fits.
| Your situation | Payroll | Compliance | Employment | Model name | Legal employer | Examples |
| No entity, need people + full setup | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sourcing + EOR | Provider | Uplers |
| No entity, have candidate, need to employ them | Yes | Yes | Yes | EOR | Provider | Deel, Remote |
| Have entity, no team, just need sourcing | No | No | No | Recruitment | You | Uplers |
| Have entity + team, just run salaries | Yes | Yes | No | Payroll software | You | RazorpayX |
| Have entity + team, outsource payroll admin | Yes | Yes | No | Payroll outsourcing | You | Asanify |
| Want contractors, not full-time employees | Optional | Yes (classification risk is yours) | No | Contractor platform | You (engaging party) | Deel Contractor |
