What Wisemonk Will Actually Quote You at INR 20L / 30L / 50L CTC

Wisemonk's pricing page reads "starting from $99". SynkPay's reads "$349 flat". A founder comparing the two for a 30L CTC senior engineer hire sees a $250/month gap on the headline and reasonably assumes Wisemonk will be cheaper. That assumption is usually right but by less than the headline suggests, and at the top of Wisemonk's range it flips. The reason is a pricing mechanic Wisemonk doesn't lead with on its pricing page: their fee scales with the employee's salary band. Wisemonk publishes $99 to $399 per employee per month, banded by CTC. This piece walks through what that mechanic looks like in practice at three real salary bands — INR 20 LPA, INR 30 LPA, and INR 50 LPA — and plots SynkPay's flat $349 on the same axis. The goal is one number per band that a founder can take into a sales call already knowing what to ask for.

Why the headline price isn't the quote

EOR pricing in India has settled into two camps. The global generalists (Deel, Remote, Multiplier, Oyster) quote roughly $459–$750/month per employee (published pricing; Multiplier verified October 2026) with, depending on the vendor, surcharges, salary deposits, FX markups or add-on fees stacked on top. The India specialists (SynkPay, Wisemonk) quote under $400/month with cleaner structures; SynkPay doesn't add an FX markup on currency conversion. Both India specialists own their Indian entity, neither lists a setup fee, and both lead with a single number in their hero copy.

The flat number is where the comparison gets misleading. SynkPay's $349 is genuinely flat — the same fee applies to a junior engineer on INR 6 LPA as to a senior engineer on INR 50 LPA. Wisemonk's $99 is the entry tier in a banded structure. Wisemonk's India EOR page states the range: $99 to $399 per employee per month, banded by CTC. Its pricing page leads with "starting from $99" plus a custom Enterprise tier. Wisemonk publishes its price range, but what is included between the entry tier and the Enterprise tier is not documented — the upper tier is quoted on a call. The CTC thresholds for each band aren't published either, so which band a 30L or 50L hire lands in only becomes clear in a sales conversation.

None of this is hidden — the range is on Wisemonk's own site and the band is confirmable on a sales call. But it's not surfaced in the price comparison most buyers do before they talk to anyone, which is where the assumption gets fixed.

The 90-second TLDR

Estimated monthly EOR fee per employee at three CTC bands. The Wisemonk ranges are our estimates within its published $99–$399 range, assuming the fee rises roughly evenly with CTC. Wisemonk doesn't publish its band thresholds, so these are not obtained quotes. Confirm any real number directly with the vendor.

That table is the whole post in one screen. The rest walks through where each row comes from, what gets added on top, and how to use this in a sales call.

What Wisemonk likely quotes at INR 20 LPA CTC

This is the band most founders hit on their first commercial India hire — a mid-junior engineer with 2–4 years of experience, often the first person hired through an EOR rather than as a contractor. INR 20 LPA is approximately US$20,900 in annual CTC (converted at ₹95.47 per US$, indicative mid-market rate, 27 August 2026).

Wisemonk doesn't publish where its bands start and stop, so this is an estimate. Our working assumption is that INR 20 LPA sits above the $99 entry band but well below the $399 top band, which applies to higher CTCs.

Estimated Wisemonk quote at INR 20 LPA: ~$149–199/month per employee. That's a meaningful step up from the $99 headline — a buyer comparing $99 against SynkPay's $349 and concluding "Wisemonk is $250/month cheaper" is actually looking at a $150–200/month gap once the band kicks in.

SynkPay's quote at INR 20 LPA is $349/month — the same number it would be at INR 6 LPA or INR 80 LPA. The annualised EOR fee is $4,188 per employee per year.

The math at this band: Wisemonk is still the cheaper EOR fee. The gap is real, just smaller than the headline suggests. The decision moves to what the $150–200/month delivers — covered in a later section.

What Wisemonk likely quotes at INR 30 LPA CTC

INR 30 LPA — approximately US$31,400 — is the most common band for an experienced engineering hire built through an EOR. Mid-level engineers with 5–8 years of experience, senior engineers in their early career, or specialised roles (DevOps, ML, mobile) typically sit here. For most funded startups hiring their first 3–5 engineers in India, the median CTC lands somewhere in this band.

This is the band where Wisemonk's pricing model and SynkPay's flat fee converge. If Wisemonk's published $99–$399 range rises roughly evenly across CTC bands, INR 30 LPA lands somewhere from ~$249 to ~$349/month per employee, depending on exact CTC.

Estimated Wisemonk quote at INR 30 LPA: ~$249–349/month per employee. At the top of that range, the headline-price gap has effectively closed.

SynkPay's quote at INR 30 LPA is still $349/month. Annual: $4,188.

The math at this band: This is the crossover. The "Wisemonk is cheaper" assumption that anchored the buyer on the $99 number is no longer reliably true at INR 30 LPA. Depending on where Wisemonk's actual quote lands within the band — which depends on factors the public pricing page does not disclose — the EOR fee can be lower than, equal to, or higher than SynkPay's flat $349. The headline comparison stops being decisive.

What Wisemonk likely quotes at INR 50 LPA CTC

INR 50 LPA — approximately US$52,400 — is the senior or tech-lead band. Principal engineers, engineering managers, senior architects, and specialised senior roles (staff ML, security, infrastructure leads) sit here. For a funded startup hiring an engineering leader to anchor their India team, this is the band that matters.

It's also the band where the gap closes or inverts. INR 50 LPA plausibly falls at or near the top of Wisemonk's published range, which tops out at $399.

Estimated Wisemonk quote at INR 50 LPA: ~$349–399/month per employee. A founder who anchored on Wisemonk's $99 headline and assumed it would stay flat at higher CTCs gets a meaningfully different number at this band.

SynkPay's quote at INR 50 LPA is $349/month. Same number, same fee structure. Annual: $4,188.

The math at this band: SynkPay's flat fee is level with or cheaper than Wisemonk's estimated fee, by up to $50/month per employee. At Wisemonk's $399 top band, that's $600 a year in EOR fee savings on a single senior hire — independent of any difference in salary deposit, support model, or service breadth. It's a modest gap; the decision at this band usually turns on the non-price factors.

What gets added on top of the per-employee fee

Both providers run lean fee structures, but a few categories of cost can sit outside the headline monthly number. These rarely change the total by huge margins, but they're the second tier of "ask before signing" questions.

Statutory bonus and gratuity. Statutory bonus (now under the Code on Wages, 2019) applies to eligible lower-paid employees; check the current eligibility ceiling and rates for your hires, as most software salaries sit above it.Gratuity is now governed by the Code on Social Security, 2020: 15 days' wages for each completed year of service, payable after five years for permanent employees and after one year for fixed-term employees, capped at ₹20 lakh. The employer cost sits with you, outside the EOR fee. Budget for gratuity monthly at about 4.81% of Code wages (Code wages are at least 50% of gross), but SynkPay doesn't pre-collect it: when an employee becomes eligible and leaves, the gratuity is calculated under the Code on Social Security and invoiced to you at that point. Ask Wisemonk how it handles gratuity so you know what your accounting needs.

Equipment procurement. Both providers handle equipment provisioning; Wisemonk includes it in its base tier, with equipment sourced locally. SynkPay facilitates it when a client needs it: SynkPay handles the purchase and delivery of the laptop or equipment, and the client pays for the hardware. Ask each provider exactly how the hardware is billed before signing.

Background verification. SynkPay publishes this as a $300 per employee, one-time, optional add-on; checks run in parallel with onboarding or after it, depending on the client's requirements. Wisemonk doesn't list background verification pricing on its pricing page, so ask for it. Either way it's a one-time cost and doesn't move the monthly comparison.

Contract amendments. Salary revisions, role changes, location changes within India, and benefit modifications are handled as contract amendments by both providers. Neither advertises a fee for amendments. Verify that mid-contract changes — especially mid-year promotions — are included rather than chargeable in the contract you sign.

SynkPay's published-tier comparison: the same hires, same axis

Putting the same three hires through SynkPay's pricing gives a single number across all three: $349/month per employee. The annual EOR fee for one employee at any of the three bands is $4,188.

For a startup hiring a mixed team — say, two juniors at INR 20 LPA, two mids at INR 30 LPA, and one senior at INR 50 LPA — the total annual EOR fee at SynkPay is $4,188 × 5 = $20,940. At Wisemonk, the estimated annual range is $13,740 (low end of each band) to $17,940 (high end of each band). The gap narrows at the team level as senior hires enter the mix, and only inverts for hires who land in Wisemonk's $399 top band.

These numbers are estimates within Wisemonk's published range, not obtained quotes. Your actual Wisemonk quote will differ, because its band thresholds aren't disclosed publicly. The point isn't the exact dollar; it's that the headline "Wisemonk is $250/month cheaper" only holds at the entry band.

For an exact published number you can take to a budget conversation, SynkPay's published $349 flat tier is the only number that doesn't move with CTC. For Wisemonk's real number at your hiring mix, ask for a written quote at each CTC band you're hiring at — don't accept the $99 headline as the answer.

The "$0 setup fee" footnote that matters

Neither provider lists a setup fee, a fee to add an employee, or a charge for the initial onboarding process. That's a genuine match.

The footnote: SynkPay does not require a salary-month deposit. The monthly invoice is issued at the start of each month and the employee is paid at the end of the month. Wisemonk's salary-deposit policy is not stated publicly on its pricing page — verify on the sales call before signing.

For comparison, Deel's India EOR requires 100% of one month's gross salary as a deposit. On an INR 30 LPA hire, that's approximately US$2,600 of working capital tied up per employee for the duration of the contract. The deposit isn't a fee — it's returned at offboarding — but it's working capital the business doesn't have access to during the engagement. SynkPay doesn't take one. Wisemonk does not publish a deposit requirement, so whether it holds any deposit at all is the question worth asking explicitly.

A decision framework: when to ask, what to ask

The headline numbers — $99 versus $349 — are real, but they're inputs to a decision, not the decision. The framework below is what to do with this information before signing.

If your hiring mix is concentrated at lower CTCs, Wisemonk's entry tier likely applies and the headline price gap is real. Optimise on price, ask about support coverage hours, and verify that the $99 quote is what your specific hires will be billed at — not a tier average.

If your hiring mix spans mid-level CTCs (roughly INR 15–30 LPA), get an itemised written quote from Wisemonk at each band before drawing the comparison. The gap narrows through this range, and exactly how far depends on band thresholds Wisemonk doesn't publish. SynkPay's number stays at $349 regardless, which makes the comparison straightforward to do on paper.

If your hiring mix concentrates above INR 30 LPA, the headline price advantage shrinks to little or nothing, and inverts for any hire in Wisemonk's $399 top band. Ask Wisemonk explicitly for the per-employee monthly fee at the specific CTC range you're hiring at. Compare that itemised number against SynkPay's published $349 — the gap may be the opposite of what the headline implied.

Across all bands, the questions worth asking that aren't on either pricing page:

• What's the per-employee monthly fee at INR 20 LPA, 30 LPA, and 50 LPA specifically?

• Is there a salary deposit, and if so, how much per employee?

• What's the support channel — phone, WhatsApp, email, chat — and what coverage hours apply?

• Is equipment procurement included in the per-employee fee, or billed separately?

• What's included in the per-employee fee versus quoted on request?

For the broader head-to-head on what each provider does outside of price, see the side-by-side comparison of the two providers. For typical CTCs by role and city, see city-level salary benchmarks — useful for predicting which band each hire will land in before you ask for the quote.

If you want SynkPay's number for your specific hiring band without a sales call, the published flat $349 is the answer at every band. See SynkPay's published quote for your band.

Frequently asked questions

Where does Wisemonk publish its full pricing range?

On its India EOR page: $99 to $399 per employee per month, banded by CTC. The pricing page itself leads with "starting from $99" plus a custom Enterprise tier. Wisemonk publishes its price range, but what is included between the entry tier and the Enterprise tier is not documented — the upper tier is quoted on a call. The CTC thresholds for each band aren't published either. This is a common pattern across SaaS pricing — a headline price that applies cleanly to one buyer segment, with the detail surfaced in the sales conversation. It's not hidden, but it's not the first number a comparison shopper sees. The practical consequence is that the headline comparison most buyers do before talking to anyone gives an answer that doesn't survive a real quote.

Is the $99 ever the real quote at higher CTCs?

Not according to Wisemonk's published pricing. The $99 is the entry tier of a range that rises with CTC to $399, so it applies to lower-salary bands only. For a buyer hiring exclusively senior engineers, the $99 number is unlikely to apply to any of the hires. The right question to ask Wisemonk directly is "what's the per-employee monthly fee at INR X LPA CTC specifically" — not "is your price $99".

How much will SynkPay charge at INR 50 LPA?

$349/month per employee. Same as INR 20 LPA, same as INR 80 LPA. SynkPay's pricing does not scale with CTC. The annual EOR fee is $4,188 per employee regardless of band. Optional add-ons sit outside the monthly fee: $300 one-time background verification per employee, and recruitment at 12% of annual CTC if used (separate service, not bundled).

Does the math change if I'm using both providers for recruitment too?

Both providers offer recruitment as a separate service alongside EOR. SynkPay's recruitment is 12% flat of annual CTC with a 90-day replacement guarantee. Wisemonk's recruitment is 10% of annual salary. Recruitment fees do not change the per-employee EOR monthly comparison — they're a separate, one-time cost paid when a hire is sourced through the provider. If you're sourcing your own hires and using either provider for EOR only, the recruitment fee is zero on both sides.

What about background verification and equipment?

Background verification is a per-employee one-time cost in both cases: SynkPay publishes $300 per employee as optional; Wisemonk doesn't list BGV pricing on its pricing page, so ask for a figure. Both providers handle equipment provisioning; Wisemonk includes it in its base tier, and SynkPay facilitates purchase and delivery when a client needs it, with the client paying for the hardware. For both categories, ask exactly how the cost is billed before you sign.

How should I use these numbers in a sales call?

Treat the band-by-band estimate in this piece as a working hypothesis to test against the actual quote. Ask Wisemonk for an itemised written quote at the specific CTC bands you're hiring at — not a tier average or a "starting from" number. Ask SynkPay to confirm that $349 covers all employees regardless of CTC with no setup or salary deposit. Compare the per-employee monthly fees side by side at each band, then layer in support model, operating history, and service breadth as tie-breakers. The headline-price comparison alone is not a sufficient decision.

Is one provider trying to mislead buyers with the headline price?

No. Both providers advertise their entry tier accurately. The $99 is a real entry-tier rate for a defined set of hires, and the $349 is a real flat rate that applies across all bands. The gap between headline and quote at Wisemonk is the structural consequence of band-based pricing, not a misleading practice. The buyer-side action is to ask for the right quote — at the CTC band you're actually hiring at — rather than to take either headline as the decision number.