Country fileCRCRCVerified 2026-09-24
CR
Employer of Record in Costa Rica: what one employee really costs
Costa Rica, Latin America. One software engineer at $36,000 gross per year, priced through 12 providers with a published fee, on the European Commission's September 2026 exchange rate. Change the salary and headcount below.
- Employer on-cost
- +35.2%
- statutory charges on top of gross
- All-in per month
- $4,254 – $4,754
- salary + charges + published fee, cheapest to dearest listed provider
- Onboarding through an EOR
- 2 days
- per Deel - Hire employees in Costa Rica ('your next hire could start in as little as 2 days with Deel')
Hiring one software engineer in Costa Rica at $36,000 gross a year costs about $1,055 a month in statutory employer charges (+35.2%), plus an EOR fee of $199 to $699 per month depending on the provider: $4,254 to $4,754 all-in, before deposits, FX margins and add-ons. Prices checked 2–24 Sept 2026.
Disclosure Some provider links on this page are affiliate links: if you become a customer after clicking, the provider may pay us a referral fee. It never changes the price you pay, and it never changes the numbers on this page, which come from official sources and are dated. How we are paid
Cost engine · preset to Costa Rica
Price your own hire, line by line.
employee inatgross / year
≈ CRC 16,245,180 gross / year · CRC at the European Commission monthly rate for September 2026
| Per employee | Rate | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | $3,000 | |
| CCSS health insurance (Seguro de Enfermedad y Maternidad) | 9.25% | $277 |
| CCSS pensions (Invalidez, Vejez y Muerte) | 5.58% | $167 |
| Banco Popular employer levy | 0.25% | $8 |
| Family allowances fund (FODESAF) | 5% | $150 |
| IMAS social assistance levy | 0.50% | $15 |
| INA vocational training levy | 1.50% | $45 |
| Banco Popular levy under the Ley de Proteccion al Trabajador | 0.25% | $8 |
| Labour capitalisation fund (Fondo de Capitalizacion Laboral) | 1.50% | $45 |
| Complementary pension (Operadora de Pensiones Complementaria) | 2% | $60 |
| Complementary pension, share the CCSS labels INS (Ley 7983 art. 13(c)) | 1% | $30 |
| Aguinaldo (13th-month salary) | flat | $250 |
| Employer on-cost | +35.2% | $1,055 |
| Cost of employment, before EOR fee | $4,055 |
RemoFirstLowest total
$4,254/ month · 1 employee
- Fee / mo
- from $199
- Per year
- $51,047
- Fee share
- 4.7%
Checked 2 Sept 2026
Get a RemoFirst quotePapaya Global
$4,554/ month · 1 employee
- Fee / mo
- from $499
- Per year
- $54,647
- Fee share
- 11.0%
Checked 2 Sept 2026
Get a Papaya quoteDeel
$4,654/ month · 1 employee
- Fee / mo
- from $599
- Per year
- $55,847
- Fee share
- 12.9%
Checked 2 Sept 2026
Get a Deel quoteEmployer charges from official sources; provider fees are list prices on the dates shown; deposits, FX margins and add-ons are not included. Not legal or tax advice. Methodology
14 providers, one scenario, all-in totals.
| Provider | EOR fee / employee / mo | All-in / mo, 1 hire | Deposit | Countries | Checked | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RemoFirst EOR in 185+ countries from $199 per employee per month, no annual contract. | from $199 | $4,254 | Not stated on the pricing page | 185+ | 2 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from RemoFirst· $4,254/mo |
| Rivermate EOR in 180+ countries from $319 to $639 per employee per month. | from $319 | $4,374 | Not stated on the pricing page | 180+ | 2 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Rivermate· $4,374/mo |
| Pebl Velocity Global, renamed Pebl in 2026. Prints $399 per employee per month. | from $399 | $4,454 | Not stated on the pricing page | 185+ | 22 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Pebl· $4,454/mo |
| Playroll EOR in 180+ countries from $399 per employee per month; deposit of one month's salary. | from $399 | $4,454 | Fully refundable security deposit equivalent to one month's salary when onboarding an employee (pricing page). | 180+ | 2 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Playroll· $4,454/mo |
| Multiplier EOR from $459 (annual) or $499 (monthly) per employee, plus mandated add-ons. | from $499 $459 billed annually | $4,554 | Refundable security deposit required per employee by the EOR terms (effective 1 June 2026), sized by Multiplier; not on the pricing page. | 150+ | 24 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Multiplier· $4,554/mo |
| Papaya Global EOR starting from $499 per employee per month, quote-based, 160+ countries. | from $499 | $4,554 | Not stated for EOR on the pricing page (the contractor block states 'No deposit required'). | 160+ | 2 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Papaya Global· $4,554/mo |
| Borderless AI EOR at $579 per employee per month, no deposit or pre-funding, 170+ countries. | $579 | $4,634 | No deposit: 'No upfront deposits or pre-funding required' (pricing page). | 170+ | 24 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Borderless AI· $4,634/mo |
| Atlas HXM EOR from $599 through its own entities, plus an Agent of Record at $199. | from $599 | $4,654 | Not stated on the pricing page | 160+ | 21 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Atlas HXM· $4,654/mo |
| Deel EOR in 130+ countries, starting at $599 per employee per month. | from $599 | $4,654 | Not stated on the pricing page | 130+ | 2 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Deel· $4,654/mo |
| G-P EOR in 180+ countries from $599, with no minimum contract length. | from $599 | $4,654 | Not stated on the pricing page | 180+ | 24 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from G-P· $4,654/mo |
| Oyster EOR in 120+ countries at USD 699 per employee per month; refundable deposit. | $699 | $4,754 | Refundable deposit required for EOR team members 'to initiate the engagement and to ensure on-time payments' (pricing FAQ). | 120+ | 24 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Oyster· $4,754/mo |
| Remote EOR in 90+ countries at $699 per employee per month, no deposit. | $699 | $4,754 | No deposit: 'We collect reserve payments in rare, high risk circumstances' (pricing FAQ). | 90+ | 2 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Remote· $4,754/mo |
| Rippling EOR bundled with the Rippling platform; custom quote only. | Quote only | — | Not stated on the pricing page | — | 24 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Rippling |
| Safeguard Global EOR sold alongside entity setup and payroll; no price published. | Quote only | — | Not stated | 187+ | 21 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Safeguard Global |
Same salary and statutory charges in every row; only the fee segment changes.
What Costa Rica adds on top of the salary, and where each rate comes from.
Rates apply to the base named in each line; capped lines stop growing above the ceiling. Engine assumptions: The INS occupational-risk policy is carried at zero, so the total below is a floor = 0.
| Line | Employer rate | Base & ceiling | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CCSS health insurance (Seguro de Enfermedad y Maternidad) | 9.25% | Gross salary , floor CRC 4,161,468 / yr The largest single line of the Costa Rican payroll. The CCSS employer calculator prints SEM at 9.25% for the employer and 5.50% for the worker. The base cannot fall below the base minima contributiva, set at CRC 346,789 a month for SEM by Decreto 44756-MTSS, published in La Gaceta 229 of 5 December 2025 and applied from the January 2026 billing; that is the annual floor shown here. There is no ceiling. | Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social2026-09-21 |
| CCSS pensions (Invalidez, Vejez y Muerte) | 5.58% | Gross salary , floor CRC 3,895,080 / yr Raised from 5.42% to 5.58% for employers with effect from January 2026; the worker's share moved from 4.17% to 4.33% at the same time. The CCSS banner states the plan plainly: 'Desde enero 2026 hasta diciembre 2028, el aporte de IVM sera del 11.66%', that 11.66% being the combined employer, worker and State contribution. The IVM floor is CRC 324,590 a month under the same Decreto 44756-MTSS. | Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social2026-09-21 |
| Banco Popular employer levy | 0.25% | Gross salary First of the two Banco Popular lines an employer pays. The CCSS groups it under 'Otras Instituciones', the levies it collects on behalf of bodies other than itself. | Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social2026-09-21 |
| Family allowances fund (FODESAF) | 5% | Gross salary Five points of payroll into the social development and family allowances fund. It is just behind the 5.58% pension line, and it is charged whatever the employee earns. | Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social2026-09-21 |
| IMAS social assistance levy | 0.50% | Gross salary Instituto Mixto de Ayuda Social, collected by the CCSS with the rest of the payroll. | Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social2026-09-21 |
| INA vocational training levy | 1.50% | Gross salary Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje, the Costa Rican training levy. | Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social2026-09-21 |
| Banco Popular levy under the Ley de Proteccion al Trabajador | 0.25% | Gross salary The second Banco Popular line, this one inside the Ley de Proteccion al Trabajador block. The worker pays 1.00% into the same fund. | Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social2026-09-21 |
| Labour capitalisation fund (Fondo de Capitalizacion Laboral) | 1.50% | Gross salary An individual savings fund the employee can draw on when the relationship ends or, after five years, in part. It is paid monthly by the employer, so unlike a severance provision it is money that leaves the company every month whether or not anyone resigns. | Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social2026-09-21 |
| Complementary pension (Operadora de Pensiones Complementaria) | 2% | Gross salary The second pillar. Article 13(c) of Ley 7983 sets the employer's contribution to the Regimen Obligatorio de Pensiones Complementarias at 3%; this 2.00% and the 1.00% line the CCSS labels INS add up to it, which is how this page reads the two lines. It sits on top of the CCSS IVM contribution, so on that reading Costa Rican pension provision costs the employer at least 8.58 points at the example salary, and at least 7.58 even if the INS share funds something else - not the 5.58 that the IVM line alone suggests. | Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social2026-09-21 |
| Complementary pension, share the CCSS labels INS (Ley 7983 art. 13(c)) | 1% | Gross salary Listed by the CCSS as 'INS' inside the Ley de Proteccion al Trabajador block and collected with the payroll. Ley 7983 creates no levy of that name: article 13(c), as amended by Ley 9906 of 5 October 2020, funds the Regimen Obligatorio de Pensiones Complementarias with 'un aporte de los patronos del tres por ciento (3%) mensual sobre los sueldos, los salarios y las remuneraciones de los trabajadores', and this 1.00% plus the 2.00% complementary-pension line add up to exactly that 3%. That is this page's reading of the label, by arithmetic: neither the CCSS nor the law says what the 'INS' share funds. It is not the occupational-risk policy, which the Instituto Nacional de Seguros bills separately and which this ledger does not price. | Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social2026-09-21 |
| Aguinaldo (13th-month salary) | 1 month | Added to the annual costArticle 1 of Ley 2412: 'Todo patrono particular esta obligado a conceder a sus trabajadores ... un beneficio economico anual equivalente a un mes de salario.' Article 2, as amended by Ley 3929 of 8 August 1967, computes it on the average of ordinary and extraordinary pay over the twelve months before 1 December, and article 4 requires payment in the first twenty days of December. Article 7 then exempts it from social charges, so unlike the monthly salary it carries none of the ten lines above. | Ley 2412, Ley Pago de Aguinaldo a Servidores Empresa Privada, articulos 1, 2, 4 and 7 (SCIJ / SINALEVI, version in force, read 21 September 2026)2026-09-21 |
| Occupational risk policy with the INS not in total | — | Carried at zero because the premium is rated by the insurer on the employer's declared activity rather than fixed by a published percentage, and because the Instituto Nacional de Seguros bills it separately instead of the CCSS collecting it with the payroll. It is a real and compulsory cost: Deel's own Costa Rica page books it at 0.37% of salary under the heading 'Workman Compensation'. Because it is left out, the total on this page is a floor, not a final figure. | Deel2026-09-21 |
| Employer on-cost at $36,000 | +35.2% | $12,659 a year, $1,055 a month |
EOR or your own entity
Fees scale with headcount. An entity does not.
Costa Rica charges the employer through ten separate lines, but the CCSS collects all of them on one planilla, so the administrative load of a direct hire is lighter than the line count suggests. What an entity really costs here is registration with the CCSS, a local bank account and a separate occupational-risk policy with the INS before anyone can be paid; Deel's Costa Rica page describes the alternative as 'a local office, an address registered as a subsidiary, and an account with a local bank', taking months, against a start 'in as little as 2 days' through its employer of record. The statutory charges are the same either way. The line to watch in a quote is the aguinaldo: it is a full month of pay every December, it is exempt from social charges, and a provider that quotes only the 26.83% collected by the CCSS has left it out.
Fees grow with every hire; the charges line is owed under an entity too.
| Headcount | RemoFirst fees / yr | Borderless AI fees / yr | Statutory charges / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,388 | $6,948 | $12,659 |
| 3 | $7,164 | $20,844 | $37,976 |
| 5 | $11,940 | $34,740 | $63,294 |
| 10 | $23,880 | $69,480 | $126,588 |
| 20 | $47,760 | $138,960 | $253,176 |
Statutory charges are owed either way; the provider fee is the only line an entity removes, against the cost of incorporating and running local payroll.
Employment terms that move the cost
- Paid leave
- 14 days
- Public holidays
- 12
- 13th month
- Mandatory
- Probation
- up to 3 months
- Notice
- Dismissal without just cause carries two separate obligations set by the Codigo de Trabajo. Article 28 sets the notice (preaviso): one week after three to six months of continuous work, fifteen days up to a year, one month after that. Article 29 sets the auxilio de cesantia: seven days of salary after three months, fourteen after six, then 19.5 to 22 days per year of service, counting the last eight years at most. Before three months neither is due, which is why the Ministry of Labour's guidance calls the first three months 'el periodo de prueba'. Neither is paid while the relationship continues, so neither belongs in the monthly ledger; providers accrue them instead, and Deel's Costa Rica page books the preaviso at 8.33% and the cesantia at 5.33% of salary as end-of-relationship costs.
- Reviewed
- 2026-09-24
Get a quote for Costa Rica.
The lowest published total here, next to the two providers searched for most often (the rule). Totals for 1 hire at $36,000. Ask each provider about deposits, FX margins and mandatory add-ons for Costa Rica: those are the lines that move.
Get a RemoFirst quote· $4,254/mo Get a Papaya quote· $4,554/mo Get a Deel quote· $4,654/mo
Disclosure Some provider links are affiliate links; they never change the numbers on this page. Details
Questions people ask before booking a demo
- How much does an employer of record cost in Costa Rica?
- The CCSS collects 26.83% of gross from the employer in 2026, and the aguinaldo adds a full month of pay, which is another 8.33 points, so budget at least 35% on top of salary. On a US$36,000 salary that is at least US$1,055 a month before the provider's fee. Published EOR fees run from about $199 to $699 per employee per month, so the all-in cost starts near $4,255 to $4,755 a month depending on the provider, and rises by whatever the INS charges for occupational-risk cover.
- Why do some pages say 26.67% and this one says 26.83%?
- Because the employer's IVM pension contribution rose from 5.42% to 5.58% with effect from January 2026. The CCSS's own website carries both figures at once: the FAQ block still prints the old 5.42% and a 37.34% total, while the Calculadora Patronal on the same page prints 5.58% and a 26.83% employer total. The calculator is the one that matches the 2026 billing, and the banner above it states the plan: IVM at 11.66% combined from January 2026 to December 2028.
- Does the aguinaldo carry social security contributions?
- No. Article 7 of Ley 2412 says the aguinaldo 'no sera computable para calcular el monto de ninguna de las prestaciones otorgadas por el Codigo de Trabajo ni las cuotas de la Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social'. One month of salary leaves the company in December with none of the ten CCSS lines on top of it, which is why it costs 8.33% of gross and not 8.33% plus a quarter.
- Is there a ceiling on Costa Rican employer contributions?
- No maximum, only a minimum. Decreto 44756-MTSS, published in La Gaceta 229 of 5 December 2025, sets the base minima contributiva from the January 2026 billing at CRC 346,789 a month for health and CRC 324,590 for pensions; salaries below those figures are charged as if they reached them. Above the floor the percentages simply keep applying, so a senior hire costs the same share of payroll as a junior one.
- What is missing from the total on this page?
- The occupational-risk policy with the Instituto Nacional de Seguros. It is compulsory, but its premium is rated on the employer's activity rather than fixed by a published percentage, and the INS bills it instead of the CCSS collecting it with the payroll, so it is carried at zero here rather than guessed. Deel books it at 0.37% of salary for the profile it sells. Ask any provider to quote it in writing.