Hire and pay international contractors

You can pay contractors around the world right from Gusto—add your international contractors for free and pay them with only a small exchange fee(s). International contractor payments are supported on our “contractor-only” plan (in addition to all others), but only after a domestic contractor has been added.

Checking the cost to pay an international contractor

If you’re considering paying your first international contractor using Gusto, sign in to your account and check the cost of paying a contractor in a specific country. If you’ve already onboarded and paid your first international contractor, check costs by starting to process an international payment.

Here's how it works

  1. You add an international contractor and we'll invite them to finish their setup.
  2. Customize onboarding checklists for your international contractors.
  3. Your contractor self-onboards.
    • They'll enter their bank details and fill out US tax forms—to stay compliant, contractors are required to fill out Form W-8 BEN or W-8 BEN(E).
  4. Choose if you'd like to add them to a recurring payment schedule.
  5. You send payments—they'll be paid within 5-10 business days.
    • Exchange rates are shown in Gusto as you enter payments—a variety of factors go into the rate:
      • The amount of the payment
      • The rate(s) our partner banks offer
      • Additional fees
      • Any applicable markup.
    • Our total exchange rate(s) will differ from non-Gusto midmarket rates.

Use the dropdowns below to learn more, or use CMD + F (or CTRL + F) to search for keywords throughout the article.