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If Remote employs your Filipino staff for you, or you need someone reachable at night and on weekends, Remote is a strong place to stay. If you run payroll on your own Philippine company and want 13th month, SSS and PhilHealth built into a system made for Philippine rules, Omni HR is the better fit. This guide compares the two using Remote's own Philippines page, read on 26 October 2026.
The Short Answer
Stay on Remote if you need human support around the clock on weekdays, or if most of your people work outside Asia. Move to Omni HR if the Philippines is where your team is, you pay them on your own Philippine company, and you want a payroll system built around Philippine rules, with a team you can message on WhatsApp or Slack.
Remote is a serious platform, and this page starts by saying so. They publish their prices, including a price block on their Philippines page. They sell payroll for companies with their own entity, in plain words. They name a Payroll Service Level Agreement. Their human support team works 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday. None of that is in dispute.
What follows is the narrower question a team already on Remote is asking: if we move Philippine payroll, what do we gain, and what do we give up?
First, Which Remote Are You On?
Remote sells two very different things for the Philippines. Both prices sit on their own Philippines page, as at 26 October 2026.
| Remote product | What it is | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| Employer of Record (EOR) | "For hiring employees in countries where you don't have an entity yet." Remote employs your staff for you | Starting at $599 per employee/month |
| Global Payroll | "For paying employees in countries where you own the entity." You are the employer and Remote runs payroll | Starting at $29 per employee/month |
This matters more than anything else on this page.
If you are on Remote's Global Payroll, you already employ your Filipino staff on your own company. Moving to Omni HR is a payroll software change. The rest of this page is written for you.
If you are on Remote's EOR, Remote is the employer, not you. Moving payroll alone is not an option, because you have no Philippine payroll to move. Your choice is EOR to EOR, or setting up your own company first. Omni HR offers EOR across Asia, so ask us for a quote. But compare it with Remote's EOR price, not with any payroll price.
What Remote's Philippines Page Gets Right
Start with the credit, because it is real.
- They name the right tax agency. "Employers must file payroll taxes and contributions with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) regularly." The word "PAYE", a British term the Philippines does not use, appears zero times on the page.
- They carry the July 2026 minimum wage. "The minimum wage in the Philippines for workers in the private sector is PHP 755.00 per day effective July 25 2026." That matches Wage Order NCR-27. Most vendor pages have not caught up.
- They show a Philippine price on the Philippines page itself, for both EOR and payroll.
13th Month Pay Is Not on the Page
As at 26 October 2026, the term "13th month" appears zero times on Remote's Philippines country page. "DOLE" also appears zero times.
That is a reading of a web page, not a test of Remote's product. We have not run payroll on Remote. It may well handle 13th month correctly. But 13th month is the best known payroll rule in the Philippines, and it is the first thing a Philippine HR manager looks for. A page that does not mention it leaves you unable to check.
The rule. Presidential Decree 851 requires one 13th month payment. It equals one twelfth of total basic salary earned in the year. It covers rank-and-file employees with at least one month of service. It must be paid by 24 December.
The step people miss. There is also a 13th month compliance report, due to DOLE at reports.dole.gov.ph by 15 January. It gets missed because it is a report, not a payment. No payslip will show you that it was skipped.
The timing. From the date of this read, 24 December is about eight weeks away. If you are on Remote today, this year's 13th month will run on Remote. That is a good reason to ask Remote some questions now (see the list below), and a poor reason to switch in a hurry.
One more figure on the same page. Further down, as at 26 October 2026, the page also says: "The Philippines' minimum wage varies by region, with the highest set at PHP 610 per day in Metro Manila." Wage Order NCR-27 raised the NCR minimum wage from PHP 695 to PHP 755 on 25 July 2026, with a second step to PHP 780 on 20 January 2027. The minimum wage feeds overtime, holiday pay and the 13th month base for minimum wage earners, so it is worth asking which figure your setup uses.
Omni HR, for comparison. Omni HR runs native Philippine payroll covering SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG and BIR. It covers Form 2316, Form 1601-C, 13th-month pay calculations and the DOLE compliance report. You run payroll. Omni HR builds the Philippine rules in.
How the Page Describes SSS and PhilHealth
Both schemes have rules that a simple percentage misses. Here is what the page says, as at 26 October 2026, and what the rule is.
SSS is a table, not a percentage of salary. Contributions are 15% of the Monthly Salary Credit (MSC): 10% from the employer and 5% from the employee. The MSC runs from PHP 5,000 to PHP 35,000, in PHP 500 steps (SSS Circular 2024-006, RA 11199). However high the salary, the employer's total SSS share stops at PHP 3,530 a month.
Remote's page puts the employer share as "a monthly SSS (Social Security System) payment at the contribution rate of 10% of the employee salary". It puts the employee share as "a 5% deduction is taken from the employee's monthly salary payment". Read literally, 10% of a PHP 50,000 salary is PHP 5,000. The rule caps the employer at PHP 3,530. In fairness, the same page does mention the separate MPF fund for earnings above PHP 20,000.
PhilHealth is 5%, on a defined base. It is split evenly, on Monthly Basic Salary, with a floor of PHP 10,000 and a ceiling of PHP 100,000. The base does not drop when someone is late, takes unpaid leave or is absent. Remote's page says "PhilHealth: 5% split equally between employee and employer". The rate is right. The base, floor and ceiling are not stated.
None of this proves Remote's payroll gets SSS or PhilHealth wrong. It means the page does not let you check. A payroll run will.
Support: Who Answers, and How Fast
This is where the trade is real, and it runs both ways.
What Remote publishes, in its help centre as at 26 October 2026:
- "RemoteAI, our AI assistant, gives instant answers 24/7."
- "Live Messaging connects you with our Customer Care team 24/5 (24 hours a day, Monday to Friday)."
- Email: "We aim to respond within 24 hours."
- Global Payroll customers get their own address, gp-help@remote.com, and "Our Payroll Client Services team will get back to you by email."
- A named "Payroll Service Level Agreement", which the page says covers "roles and responsibilities".
That is strong, and it is published. The 24/7 figure is the AI assistant. The human team is 24/5. Both are real.
Omni HR does not offer 24-hour support. If your Philippine payroll depends on a person being reachable at 3am on a Saturday, Remote is the better choice, and nothing else on this page changes that.
What Omni HR offers instead is a team you message where you already work: WhatsApp, Slack and email. In current practice we respond the same day during Asian business hours. That is how we perform today. It is not a contract, and we do not publish a service level.
The question to weigh is presence, not hours. Remote's help centre article does not mention Asia or a regional team, as at 26 October 2026. That does not mean there is no one in Asia. It means the page does not say. When we talk to HR teams across Asia, they rarely ask about hours on a page. They ask whether there is someone on the ground who knows Philippine rules, and how fast a payroll question gets a real answer.
Remote's reviews point at the same thing from a different side. One reviewer in the Gartner Digital Markets pool (the reviews shown on Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice) wrote: "support team is very scripted... doesn't tally with complexities." That is one review, not a pattern we can prove. But it is the right thing to test: bring Remote your hardest Philippine payroll question, and bring us the same one.
Six Questions to Ask Remote Before 24 December
If you are staying for this year's 13th month, which most teams should, ask your Remote contact these six. Ask us the same six.
- Show me a 13th month calculation for one employee, and one for someone who joined mid-year.
- Who files the 13th month compliance report to DOLE by 15 January, you or us?
- Show me SSS for someone earning PHP 50,000. The employer share should stop at PHP 3,530.
- Show me PhilHealth for someone with three days of unpaid leave. The deduction should not move.
- Which NCR minimum wage does our setup use, PHP 755 or PHP 610? Is the 20 January 2027 step to PHP 780 already loaded?
- What does the Payroll Service Level Agreement cover for us, in writing?
If the answers are clear and fast, you may not need to move. That is a fine result.
If You Move, Move in January
The cleanest time to change Philippine payroll systems is the start of a calendar year. Three reasons.
Form 2316. Every employee must get a Form 2316 by 31 January, in triplicate, and the employer keeps its copy for ten years (RR 11-2018). Year-end tax is worked out over the whole year. A mid-year switch splits that year across two systems. Agree who produces your 2026 Form 2316s before you switch.
The 13th month cycle. Pay 2026's 13th month on your current system by 24 December, file the DOLE report by 15 January, then start fresh.
The wage step. The NCR minimum wage rises to PHP 780 on 20 January 2027. A system you start in January has to carry that from its first month, which is a good early test.
Then run one month in parallel. Check SSS above an MSC of PHP 20,000, PhilHealth during unpaid leave, Pag-IBIG capping at PHP 200 from each side on a PHP 10,000 fund salary (HDMF Circular 460), and overtime and holiday pay for minimum wage earners after 20 January.
Cost: Payroll Against Payroll
Compare software with software. Published figures, read 26 October 2026.
| Remote Global Payroll | Omni HR | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $29 per employee/month | $3 per employee/month core platform, plus payroll software from $2 |
| Setup fees | "No setup or onboarding fees" (pricing FAQ) | No published setup fee |
At those starting prices, 100 Philippine employees come to $2,900 a month on Remote Global Payroll and $500 a month on Omni HR. These are starting figures, not quotes. Ask both for a written Philippine quote.
Remote's EOR, starting at $599 per employee per month, is a different purchase. With EOR you are buying an employment relationship, not payroll software, so it does not belong in this table.
What Remote Does Better
Said plainly, because a comparison that gives nothing away is not worth reading.
- Human support at 24/5, plus a 24/7 AI assistant. Both published. Omni HR does not match those hours.
- A named Payroll Service Level Agreement, with a dedicated payroll support address.
- Published prices, including a Philippine price block on the Philippines page, and "no setup or onboarding fees".
- Payroll for your own entity, in plain words: "For paying employees in countries where you own the entity."
- The right tax vocabulary. BIR named, "PAYE" never used, and the July 2026 minimum wage carried.
- Global reach. If a large share of your people sit outside Asia, a global platform fits better than one built for Asia.
Side by Side
| Omni HR | Remote | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | HR and payroll for teams in Asia | Global employment across many countries |
| Philippine payroll schemes | SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG and BIR, native | BIR named on their Philippines page. SSS, PhilHealth and the Home Development Mutual Fund described as percentages |
| 13th month pay | 13th-month pay calculations covered | Not mentioned on their Philippines page, as at 26 October 2026 |
| DOLE 13th month report | Covered | "DOLE" not mentioned on their Philippines page, as at 26 October 2026 |
| Form 2316 and Form 1601-C | Covered | Not named on their Philippines page when we read it on 10 September 2026 |
| Minimum wage on their page | n/a | PHP 755 (current) and PHP 610 (further down), as at 26 October 2026 |
| Support channels | WhatsApp, Slack, email | Live messaging, email, AI assistant |
| Support hours | Same day in Asian business hours, in current practice, not a commitment | Humans 24/5, AI 24/7 |
| 24-hour support | No | Yes on weekdays (human), every day (AI) |
| Named service agreement | None published | Payroll Service Level Agreement |
| Payroll price | $3 core platform + payroll from $2 per employee/month | From $29 per employee/month |
| Other ways to pay people | Managed payroll in 20+ Asian countries, EOR and contractor payments across Asia | EOR from $599 per employee/month, contractor management |
| AI | Mino AI assistant, the Omni MCP connector, and an AI-assisted applicant tracking system | RemoteAI assistant |
| Rating | 4.8/5 on G2 | 4.3/5 from 102 reviews on GetApp, as at 26 October 2026 |
Stay or Move
| Stay on Remote if... | Move to Omni HR if... |
|---|---|
| Remote is your EOR and you have no Philippine company | You pay Philippine staff on your own Philippine company |
| You need a person reachable through the night, Monday to Friday | Same-day answers during Asian business hours are enough |
| You want a named Payroll Service Level Agreement | You want to ask a payroll question in Slack or WhatsApp and get a same-day answer |
| Most of your headcount sits outside Asia | The Philippines is your base, or the Philippines plus other Asian markets |
| Remote's answers to the six questions above are clear and fast | You want 13th month, the DOLE report, SSS and PhilHealth built into one Philippine payroll |
Book a demo to see Philippine payroll in Omni HR.
Further Reading
Frequently Asked Questions
Only if you run payroll on your own Philippine company. If Remote is your Employer of Record, Remote employs your staff, and moving is an EOR decision, not a payroll one. The clearest reasons to move are wanting Philippine rules like 13th month built into payroll, and wanting a team you can message during Asian business hours. The clearest reason to stay is needing human support around the clock.
We can only speak to Remote's page, not its product. As of 26 October 2026, the term "13th month" does not appear on Remote's Philippines country page, and neither does DOLE. Ask Remote to show you a 13th month run. The rule is one twelfth of basic salary earned, paid by 24 December, with a DOLE compliance report by 15 January.
Presidential Decree 851 requires one payment of one twelfth of total basic salary earned in the year, for rank-and-file employees with at least one month of service, paid by 24 December. A compliance report is then due to DOLE at reports.dole.gov.ph by 15 January. The report is the step teams most often miss.
No. Omni HR responds the same day during Asian business hours over WhatsApp, Slack and email. That is how we perform today, not a contractual commitment. Remote publishes human live messaging 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday, and a 24/7 AI assistant, so on hours Remote is ahead.
As at 26 October 2026, Remote's help centre lists RemoteAI at 24/7, Live Messaging at 24/5, an email aim of 24 hours, and a dedicated address for Global Payroll customers, gp-help@remote.com. It also names a Payroll Service Level Agreement, described as covering "roles and responsibilities".
Compare payroll with payroll. Remote's Global Payroll starts at $29 per employee per month, with "no setup or onboarding fees". Omni HR is $3 per employee per month for the core platform, plus payroll software from $2, with no published setup fee. Remote's EOR starts at $599 per employee per month, but that buys an employment relationship, not payroll software, so it is not a like-for-like comparison.
As at 26 October 2026, it describes the employer share as "10% of the employee salary" and the employee share as a 5% deduction from monthly salary. Under SSS Circular 2024-006, SSS is 15% of the Monthly Salary Credit, which runs from PHP 5,000 to PHP 35,000, so the employer's total share stops at PHP 3,530 a month. Ask any provider to show you SSS for someone earning PHP 50,000.
January. Pay 2026's 13th month by 24 December on your current system, file the DOLE report by 15 January, and agree who produces your Form 2316s, which are due to every employee by 31 January. Then start the new system with the NCR minimum wage step to PHP 780 on 20 January 2027, and run one month in parallel before you switch off the old one.
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