Velocity Global (Pebl) vs Atlas HXM: Entities and Pricing

Deciding between Velocity Global vs Atlas HXM for your international hires?

Say you are placing a compliance officer in Poland and two analysts in Brazil. Neither provider will show you a price, so the question quickly becomes a different one: who actually employs those three people?

That is the real split here. One claims more countries; the other claims it owns every country it operates in.

This one is for anyone shortlisting a global EOR and trying to work out which provider actually employs their people. We compare what each states publicly: country reach, the entity model behind it, what they will and will not say about price, and the questions worth asking before you sign.

What is the difference between Velocity Global and Atlas HXM?

Reach against directness. Pebl, formerly Velocity Global, claims the longer country list. Atlas HXM claims a shorter one and says every country on it is an entity the company owns outright.

That is an unusually clean trade-off for this category, because most providers will not say where the line between owned and partner sits.

The names need untangling first, because both companies have changed them. Velocity Global became Pebl in September 2025, and Atlas HXM traded as Elements Global Services until a rebrand in 2022.

So a comparison written two years ago may be describing this pair under two names you would not recognise today.

Here is how the two line up on what each one actually states:

Wisemonk is in that table because we sell India EOR ourselves. Treat our row as disclosure, not a neutral recommendation. The two providers this page is about are the first two rows.

The entity column is where the decision actually lives, so it is worth taking each company in turn.

If neither turns out to be the fit, our roundup of the best EOR companies covers the wider field.

What is Velocity Global?

Velocity Global is a global employment platform that hires, pays and administers people on your behalf where you hold no entity. It has traded as Pebl since September 2025.

The company presented the change as a repositioning rather than a change of control, and said existing contracts, pricing and support carried over unchanged. Its own site still names Velocity Global, LLC as the legal entity behind the brand.

Coverage is its headline claim at 185+ countries, the widest figure in this comparison. The product range is broad: EOR, global payroll, benefits and international pensions, immigration, talent sourcing and an equity programme.

On price it is explicit about being unexplicit:

Pebl's pricing structure uses a flat-rate model with a single predictable monthly fee per employee. For current pricing, reach out to us directly for a custom quote.

That is from Pebl's own pricing page. What it does not state anywhere is how many of those 185 countries are entities it owns.

Best for: companies whose priority is the widest possible footprint, or who need equity and pensions handled alongside employment.

If you are still widening the field, our roundup of Velocity Global alternatives covers the rest of the market.

What is Atlas HXM?

Atlas HXM is a global employment platform that built its positioning around a single idea: owning every entity it employs through, rather than routing any country via a local partner.

It traded as Elements Global Services until a rebrand in 2022, and took a substantial growth investment from Sixth Street around that time.

The claim it leads with is the one that separates it here:

Atlas HXM has the largest network of owned and operated entities across 160+ countries, ensuring enhanced compliance and faster resolution times.

That is from Atlas HXM's own pricing page. It also describes itself as the largest direct Employer of Record, and states visa and global mobility support across 100+ countries, with visa sponsorship specifically cited at 75+.

It publishes no rate either, but it does publish the structure. Its pricing page states you pay a monthly platform fee per employee plus a Local Employer Services rate that varies by country of employment.

That is more disclosure than a bare custom quote, and it tells you something useful: the country you hire in changes the fee, so a single global rate is not what you should expect to be offered.

It also states onboarding in as little as two weeks across its network.

Best for: regulated work, or any situation where a first-party entity in each country matters more than the length of the country list.

Why does the owned versus partner question matter?

Because it decides who is accountable when something goes wrong in one specific country, and how many parties sit between you and a fix.

With an owned entity, the provider is the employer and the escalation path is internal. With a partner, your provider is coordinating a third party you have no contract with.

Three things get harder through a partner chain:

• Escalation speed: a payroll error has to travel through two organisations before anyone can fix it.
• Data handling: employee data reaches a company you did not contract with, which is worth reading against EOR data security expectations.
• Termination risk: severance and notice obligations sit with the local employer, which is the partner rather than your provider.

None of that makes a partner model wrong, and most large footprints depend on it. Our explainer on owned entity versus aggregator EOR covers when each is the better fit.

What it does mean is that a bigger country number is not automatically the better one. Which brings us to what each provider will actually charge.

How do Velocity Global and Atlas HXM compare feature by feature?

They overlap on the core employment stack. The differences sit at the edges, and in what each is willing to state publicly.

Side by side, on what each one puts on its own site:

"Not published" means the provider does not state it publicly. The Wisemonk column is our own service.

The pattern is fairly clear once it is laid out. Pebl names more products around the employment layer; Atlas HXM says more about the machinery underneath it.

Which leaves the question everybody actually wants answered, and the one neither site will settle for you.

How much do Velocity Global and Atlas HXM cost?

Neither publishes a rate. Both route you to a quote. If you have seen a specific figure attached to either name, it did not come from the vendor's own pricing page.

There is a gradation worth noticing though. Atlas HXM publishes the shape of its pricing even without the number, and Pebl does not.

That difference tells you what to expect in the quote:

Pebl describes a single predictable monthly fee per employee, which implies one rate. Atlas HXM says the country of employment changes the figure. Those are different commercial models, and it is worth knowing which you are negotiating against.

In both cases the platform fee is not the cost of the employee. Gross salary and employer statutory contributions in the country of employment sit on top, and in most markets they are the larger numbers.

Our EOR pricing guide sets out which costs sit where, so you can turn two quotes into a like-for-like annual number.

Since you will be comparing two quotes rather than two price pages, make both of them itemise the same five things. Otherwise you cannot lay them side by side at all.

• The platform fee per employee: the monthly figure, broken out per country wherever it varies.
• What the fee includes: whether onboarding, benefits administration and offboarding sit inside it or get billed separately.
• Employer statutory contributions: as their own line, not folded into one blended monthly number.
• Any deposit or prepayment: how much is held, for how long, and what releases it.
• The exit terms: notice period, and whether anything is withheld on the way out.

Two quotes built that way can be compared in an afternoon. Two blended monthly figures cannot be compared at all, which is usually why they arrive blended.

So which one fits which buyer?

When should you choose Velocity Global?

When footprint and the surrounding benefits stack matter more than a first-party entity in every market. Three signals point this way:

• Country count is the constraint: 185+ claimed is the wider of the two, and the gap is where the partner model buys reach.
• Equity and pensions are in scope: both are named products here, which is not the case across the whole category.
• You want one flat rate: its stated model is a single monthly fee per employee rather than a rate that shifts country by country.

The trade-off is that you cannot tell which of those 185 countries are its own entities, and a recent rebrand means more stale references to reconcile while you research it.

When should you choose Atlas HXM?

When the employing entity in each country matters more than the length of the list. Three signals point this way:

• Regulated or sensitive work: a first-party entity removes a third party from the data and accountability chain.
• Your countries are inside its network: if all the markets you need sit within its 160+, the shorter list costs you nothing.
• Visa and mobility support is needed: it states visa and global mobility support across 100+ countries and visa sponsorship across 75+.

The trade-off is a smaller stated footprint, and a rate that moves with the country of employment rather than staying flat as you add markets.

When should you choose Wisemonk?

Disclosure first: this is our own service, so weigh this section accordingly. It answers one specific version of the question rather than belonging on every shortlist.

Three signals point to a single-market specialist rather than either platform above:

• India is most of your headcount: one market run through a first-party entity beats a long list where you cannot see the split.
• You want a published rate: our EOR pricing starts at $99 per employee per month and sits on our pricing page rather than behind a quote.
• You want a route to your own entity: we incorporate, run and hand over the company when you are ready for it.

The honest limitation is that we cover one country. If your plan spans dozens of markets, one of the two platforms above is the simpler answer.

There is a third option this page has not covered, and on the owned-versus-partner question it is the most direct answer available: your own India entity, built and run for you.

We build the entity, operate compliance, payroll, people and banking on it, and hand over full control when you graduate. A subsidiary usually takes six to twelve months to stand up alone; built this way it takes weeks.

You hold 100% of the equity from incorporation onward, which is not how nominee-ownership arrangements work. We operate on your behalf rather than over you, within authority limits you set.

When you take full control we hand over the director seat, banking and records for a one-time transition fee rather than a penalty. Our guide to transitioning from an EOR to a legal entity covers the sequence.

What should you ask before you sign either contract?

Since neither publishes a rate, almost everything that matters here comes out of the quote process. Six questions do most of the work.

Get each answer in writing, against your own country list:

• Owned or partner, country by country: ask both to confirm it per market rather than accepting a headline claim about the network as a whole.
• The rate per country: one of them states the fee moves with the country, so a single global figure will not hold.
• Which legal entity signs: on the Pebl side the site still names Velocity Global, LLC, so confirm the contracting company rather than the brand.
• The minimum commitment and deposit: how long you are locked in, whether a deposit is held, and the conditions for its return.
• The notice period to exit: how much notice you owe, and whether it differs by country.
• Who carries termination liability: severance sits with the local employer, so this answer follows from the first one. Our guide on termination under an EOR covers the exposure.

Put the answers into the agreement rather than an email thread. Our guide to EOR contract management covers where each clause belongs.

If you are running this as a formal process, our EOR vendor selection guide sets out how to score two providers who both decline to publish a price.

What if neither one is the right fit?

Plenty of shortlists start with these two and finish somewhere else. A few places to look next, depending on what pushed you off them.

If the lack of a published rate is the sticking point, Deel is the obvious third option here, and our roundup of Deel alternatives covers who else publishes one.

If you are no longer sure an EOR is the right model at all, the alternatives to an EOR cover contractors, entities and the options in between.

If co-employment is closer to what you need, settle PEO vs EOR first, because it changes the shortlist completely.

Buyers who weigh providers on owned-entity depth almost always look at Globalization Partners too, so our roundup of Globalization Partners alternatives is a useful next stop.

Remote is the other provider that markets heavily on owning its entities, and its competitors and alternatives roundup shows where that argument holds.

For the lower-cost end of the market, start with Multiplier competitors and alternatives.

Oyster comes up on most of these shortlists as well, and its alternatives and competitors roundup covers that corner.

And early-stage teams weigh all of this differently, which is why we keep a separate roundup of the best EOR for startups.

How can Wisemonk help you hire in India?

Wisemonk is an India-native Employer of Record (EOR) that helps global companies hire, pay, and manage talent in India without setting up a local entity.

On the owned versus partner question this page turns on, India is our own entity rather than a partner arrangement, which is the whole basis of how we work.

We run India payroll and compliance for more than 2,000 employees on behalf of global companies, with EOR from $99 per employee per month as of August 2026.

Here is how we help:

• Employer of Record: hire in India from $99 per employee per month, with compliance, payroll and benefits included.
• Managed payroll: monthly runs, statutory filings and payslips for a team you already employ in India.
• Contractor of Record: compliant agreements, GST and TDS handling, and payouts at 6% per contractor payment.
• Recruitment: sourcing and screening at 10% of annual salary, with a 90-day placement guarantee.
• Background checks: identity, employment, education and criminal verification before a start date is confirmed.
• Entity setup: incorporation, registrations and banking when you move your India team onto your own company.

The crossover point between an EOR and your own company is worth working out early rather than late, and EOR vs your own entity sets out the maths.

One thing worth passing on from running a single market: the providers who will name their entity per country tend to be the ones who can answer a payroll question the same day, and that correlation shows up long after the contract is signed.