# Abillio vs Remote Crew: IT recruitment or contractor payments?

Remote Crew is a Lisbon-based IT recruitment agency placing developers from Portugal, Europe and Latin America. Abillio pays contractors and handles their invoices and taxes. A recruiter finds the person; then someone has to pay them every month. That is where Abillio comes in.

**Quick answer:** use Remote Crew to find developers: it charges 15% to 20% of first-year pay for a permanent placement. Use Abillio to pay the ones who work for you as contractors: 4% of each paid invoice for businesses (3% above €50k a month), with no subscription.

## Remote Crew vs Abillio at a glance

Remote Crew

Abillio

What it is

IT recruitment agency

Payment and compliance layer for contractors

Price

15% to 20% of first-year pay (permanent); 20% of monthly pay (contract hiring); from €29/hour (RPO)

3% to 5% depending on volume, custom pricing available

After the hire

You pay the hire yourself, or Remote Crew employs them

Abillio handles invoices, payouts and reporting

Prices as of November 2026, from each company’s own pricing page (checked 12 November 2026).

## What Remote Crew does

Remote Crew offers permanent placement at 15% to 20% of first-year gross pay, with no money upfront and a 90-day replacement guarantee; contract hiring at 20% of monthly pay, where it finds and employs the developer; and recruitment process outsourcing from €29 an hour. It also offers an employer of record from €399 a month for contractors you already have ([Remote Crew pricing](https://www.remotecrew.io/pricing), checked 12 November 2026).

## What Abillio does

Abillio is not a marketplace, a recruiter or an employer of record. It is the payment and compliance layer for the freelancers and contractors you already work with. More than 17,400 freelancers have used it, and it has paid out over €30M.

*   **Invoices in the contractor’s name.** The contractor does not need their own company or VAT number.
*   **Identity checks and payouts** to bank (SEPA or SWIFT), card, PayPal or Airtm in 170+ countries, one by one or in bulk.
*   **Reporting:** DAC7 for everyone outside Latvia and Estonia, and 1099 support for US freelancers.
*   **Income tax withheld and paid** for Latvian and Estonian tax residents, through Abillio’s own entities there.
*   **Setup in about 5 minutes** for a freelancer or a business account.

**Price: 3% to 5% depending on volume, custom pricing available.** A freelancer who invoices their own client pays 5% of each paid invoice, with no subscription. When a business pays contractors it is 4% of each paid invoice, paid by the business or by the freelancer, their choice, and 3% above €50k a month. Above that, pricing is custom. There is no setup fee and no per-seat fee.

## The key differences

*   **Finding vs paying.** A recruiter’s job ends at the hire. Abillio’s starts there.
*   **Contractors without a company.** Many good developers do not have their own company. Abillio issues invoices for them.
*   **Ongoing cost.** Remote Crew’s contract hiring costs 20% of monthly pay. Paying the same contractor directly through Abillio costs 4% of each paid invoice.

## When Remote Crew is the better fit

Pick Remote Crew to recruit developers from Portugal, Europe or Latin America on a success-fee basis, or to have them employed for you.

## When Abillio is the better fit

Pick Abillio to pay contractors you have hired, wherever you found them.

## Using Remote Crew and Abillio together

They fit together: Remote Crew finds the developer, and Abillio pays them every month if they work for you as a contractor.

**Paying contractors you found through Remote Crew?** [Talk to us](/book/). In a 30-minute call we work out what your setup would cost on Abillio.

## For contractors in Latvia and Estonia

If a client you met through Remote Crew pays you directly as a contractor, you can invoice them through Abillio without a company or VAT number of your own. For Latvian and Estonian tax residents, Abillio withholds and pays the income tax and sends the rest to your bank account. In Latvia this runs through the Abillio Services cooperative, in Estonia through Abillio Services OÜ. [Create a free account](https://app.abill.io/auth/signup/) in about 5 minutes.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does Remote Crew charge?

15% to 20% of first-year gross pay for a permanent placement, 20% of monthly pay for contract hiring, and from €29 an hour for recruitment process outsourcing (checked 12 November 2026).

### Is Abillio cheaper than contract hiring through an agency?

For an independent contractor you already know, usually yes: Abillio charges a business 4% of each paid invoice, against 20% of monthly pay for Remote Crew’s contract hiring. The agency also recruits and employs the person, which Abillio does not do.

### How much does Abillio cost a business?

4% of each paid invoice when a business pays contractors, and 3% above €50k a month, with custom pricing above that.

Source: https://abill.io/en/compare/remote-crew/