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A third party recruitment agency in India that carries the risk.

Third-party recruitment means a firm outside your company finds, screens and delivers your candidates. The model's weakness has always been fee timing: retainers charge before results and contingency fees land the day an offer is signed. Ours lands on day 90, after the hire has proven out, at a flat 12% of annual CTC.

External recruiters, internal accountability: 12% of CTC, invoiced only after the hire's first ninety days.

Speak to sales EOR vs entity, in detail

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing teams in India through us.

Teams building in India. First hire to full team.

Retained, contingency, and the day-90 model.

Indian recruitment agencies mostly sell two structures. Both make you the risk-bearer. Here is how the third option redistributes it.

Typical third-party structures

Versatile day-90 model

When you pay
Retainer up front, or full fee at offer stage
Single invoice after ninety days of tenure
Mis-hire risk
Refund clauses, contested and partial
No day 91, no invoice, ever
Fee level
8.33% to 20% depending on agency and level
12% flat, 15% senior, leadership by scope
Candidate ownership
Same CV shopped to several clients at once
Sourced against your brief, offered to you alone
After the placement
Relationship ends at the invoice
We employ the hire and stay accountable
Replacement terms
One replacement, narrow window, conditions
Free re-search whenever day 90 is not reached

Typical third-party structures
When you pay Retainer up front, or full fee at offer stage
Mis-hire risk Refund clauses, contested and partial
Fee level 8.33% to 20% depending on agency and level
Candidate ownership Same CV shopped to several clients at once
After the placement Relationship ends at the invoice
Replacement terms One replacement, narrow window, conditions

Versatile day-90 model
When you pay Single invoice after ninety days of tenure
Mis-hire risk No day 91, no invoice, ever
Fee level 12% flat, 15% senior, leadership by scope
Candidate ownership Sourced against your brief, offered to you alone
After the placement We employ the hire and stay accountable
Replacement terms Free re-search whenever day 90 is not reached
Day 0
Brief taken: role, band, bar and timeline
Day 9
Exclusive shortlist with market pay evidence
Day 15
Interviews finished, offer extended
Day 20
Hire onboarded, on our entity if you need one
Day 90
Tenure milestone reached, invoice raised
Day 91+
Employment services continue if we are the EOR

Fees paid at offer stage are bets, not purchases.

Pay a full contingency fee the week an offer is signed and you have bought a probability, not a hire. Indian notice periods run 30 to 90 days, counter-offers are aggressive, and first-quarter attrition is the industry's known dirty number.

Deferring the fee to day 90 converts that bet back into a purchase: you pay for a hire who showed up, stayed and performed through a full quarter.

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Illustrative fees at risk across three early-stage exits Cumulative agency fees paid for hires who left before day 90
$3,600 Exit 1
$7,400 Exit 2
$11,800 Exit 3
$0 Day-90 model
Illustration using three mid-level placements lost inside their first quarter at typical contingency rates. Refund clauses rarely recover the full amount.
Who funds a placement that fails early
Fee at offer stage, hire exits month two You, minus a contested refund
Day-90 invoicing through Versatile Nobody; the fee never existed

An agency paid at the offer stage is structurally incentivised to close, not to match. Fee timing is the honest signal of whose side the recruiter is on. If the role might sit on our entity afterwards, price it end to end in the EOR versus entity calculator before talking to any agency.

Where the third party stops and you stay in charge.

External sourcing power, internal decision rights. The triangle only works when the lines are drawn clearly.

You run

  • The bar, the brief and the budget
  • Every interview and every offer decision
  • The working relationship after joining

We handle

  • Market mapping and outreach
  • Screening with written evidence
  • Offer mechanics and negotiation support
  • Employment itself, when you lack an entity

You run
  • Own the brief
  • Hold interviews
  • Approve offers
  • Manage the hire

We handle
  • Map the market
  • Run the outreach
  • Screen and document
  • Benchmark the pay
  • Close the offer
  • Employ if needed

When something happens in India, it is ours.
Candidate pipeline and outreach Versatile operates
Shortlist quality and pay evidence Versatile stands behind it
Hire and compensation decisions Never leaves you

A named compliance manager owns your account. Not a queue, not a chatbot, one person who already knows your headcount and your last filing.

Account managerMedian first reply 4 to 6 hours
Recruitment coordinatorBrief to shortlist 9 days
Finance associateFilings on time 8 / 8

Exclusivity as default

Candidates we bring you are approached for your role, not lifted from a pool being shopped across five clients. It means slower pipelines than a CV-blast agency and dramatically better offer-acceptance rates.

The fee structure carries our conviction

Twelve percent invoiced after a completed quarter is only a viable business if the hires stick. Every screening decision upstream is shaped by that, which is the point of the structure.

The only third party that can also employ

Most agencies hand you a candidate and a problem: no Indian entity to put them on. We close that gap the same week, employing the hire on Foo Falcon Technologies with full statutory cover for $149 a month.

Evidence-first screening

Every shortlisted profile arrives with screening notes, comp validation against live market data, and the reasoning for inclusion. Your interview time goes to candidates, not to filtering.

Exclusivity as default

Candidates we bring you are approached for your role, not lifted from a pool being shopped across five clients. It means slower pipelines than a CV-blast agency and dramatically better offer-acceptance rates.

A shortlist should not be a marketplace.

The fee structure carries our conviction

Twelve percent invoiced after a completed quarter is only a viable business if the hires stick. Every screening decision upstream is shaped by that, which is the point of the structure.

Structure beats promises.

The only third party that can also employ

Most agencies hand you a candidate and a problem: no Indian entity to put them on. We close that gap the same week, employing the hire on Foo Falcon Technologies with full statutory cover for $149 a month.

Search and employment, one accountable party.

Moving someone across

If you later insource recruitment entirely.

Some clients build internal TA teams after the first dozen hires. The pipelines, screening notes and market maps built during our engagement are yours to keep; the model was never a dependency.

Candidate relationships Kept
Market maps and pay data Kept
Employment of past hires Continuous
Termination notice on search work 0 days

Third party should mean replaceable, and we are.

Supporting evidence

Vet the third party like a hire.

We recruit and employ through Foo Falcon Technologies Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, MCA-registered in 2022. The filings, the GST record and client references are all yours for the asking.

  • Incorporation
  • GST
  • EPFO code
  • ESIC
  • Shops and Establishments
  • PAN and TAN
  • Udyam MSME
What we verify
  • Incorporation Ministry of Corporate Affairs
  • GST Goods and Services Tax
  • EPFO code Employees Provident Fund Organisation
  • ESIC Ministry of Labour and Employment
  • Shops and Establishments Government of Karnataka
  • PAN and TAN Income Tax Department
  • Udyam MSME Government of India

References from current clients, offered up front.

200

heads absorbed onto our books during one transition

33

client teams paid on schedule by us every month

5 days

from offer accepted to employed, when we are the EOR

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing teams in India through us.

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing through us.

Companies that switched their agency model.

On what day-90 invoicing and exclusive shortlists changed about hiring from India.

Video
Bharath Rasoi KS Rajeshwari Founder, Bharath Rasoi
Video
Open Theatre Anand Raj Founder, Open Theatre
Abid Hassan Verified client
Sensibull
“They moved fast and took the whole compliance side off my plate. For a founder making an early India hire, that is exactly what you want.”
Abid Hassan Founder and CEO, Sensibull
Via G2
Moonshot
“Every option was either 'set up your own entity' or a platform that quotes a great price then hits you with add-ons. Versatile was the one that actually made it simple. First payroll ran on time. No scramble.”
Angad S. Co-Founder, Moonshot
Via G2
Digital Marketing Agency
“Contracts, PF, ESI, TDS and payroll all in one place. Invoicing in USD meant zero exchange rate surprises. The compliance rigour is genuinely reassuring.”
Vedant T. Founder, Digital Marketing Agency
Via G2
Design Studio
“Setting up in a new country can get messy fast, but their India EOR made onboarding feel easy. The team is responsive, clear, and great to work with.”
Setu C. Studio Owner, Design Studio
Via G2
US Startup
“We used Versatile to hire our first employee in India after months of putting it off because the compliance side seemed like a mess. They walked us through it and now we don't think about it.”
Verified US Founder First-time Founder, US Startup
Via G2
Mid-Market Tech Co.
“Versatile consistently delivered work that was both strategically sharp and execution-ready. Their turnaround times are impressive, and they think about problems the way an in-house team would.”
Shivani K. Senior Manager, Tech TA
Via G2
Growth-stage Startup
“Their team was highly responsive, professional, and easy to work with. They made a complex process feel simple.”
Mukul S. Core Team, Growth-stage Startup

Case studies.

Largest food delivery app in India, decacorn View case study The world's largest professional network, part of Microsoft View case study Legacy US software company, publishing platforms View case study

One structure, published in full.

No retainers, no offer-stage fees, no blended mystery rates. The two numbers below are the entire commercial model.

Third-party search

External pipeline, your decisions
12% of annual CTC

Senior roles 15%, leadership scoped individually. The invoice date is day 90 of tenure, without exceptions.

Send a brief
  • Exclusive sourcing per brief
  • Nine-day shortlist rhythm
  • Screening notes and pay evidence
  • Offer and counter-offer support
  • Notice-period management
  • Day-90 invoice, no retainer
  • Unlimited replacement search
  • Optional EOR employment after
  • Exclusive sourcing per brief
  • Nine-day shortlist rhythm
  • Screening notes and pay evidence
  • Offer and counter-offer support
Plus four more inclusions
  • Notice-period management
  • Day-90 invoice, no retainer
  • Unlimited replacement search
  • Optional EOR employment after

Referrals and inbound candidates you bring carry no fee.

Employer of Record

For hires without an Indian entity
$149 /employee/mo

$129 monthly past twenty heads. Turns a third-party placement into a fully employed team member in five days.

Add employment
  • Five-day employment onboarding
  • Bengaluru entity, MCA-registered
  • Payroll, PF, ESIC, PT, TDS
  • Group health insurance
  • Payslips and Form 16
  • HR letters and documentation
  • Exit processing
  • Transfer to your entity anytime
  • Five-day employment onboarding
  • Bengaluru entity, MCA-registered
  • Payroll, PF, ESIC, PT, TDS
  • Group health insurance
Plus four more inclusions
  • Payslips and Form 16
  • HR letters and documentation
  • Exit processing
  • Transfer to your entity anytime

Optional, but it is why placements through us do not stall.

Teams past twenty

$149 $129 /employee/mo

Employment steps down at head twenty-one. Search pricing is volume-blind by design.

Included in every search

  • Role calibration session
  • Market map for the function
  • Outreach and screening
  • Compensation benchmarks
  • Interview scheduling
  • Offer negotiation support
  • Notice-period follow-through
  • Day-one handoff to employment

Volume pricing

$149 $129 /employee/mo

$129 per employed head once the team clears twenty.

Included in every search

  • Role calibration session
  • Market map for the function
  • Outreach and screening
  • Compensation benchmarks
  • Interview scheduling
  • Offer negotiation support
  • Notice-period follow-through
  • Day-one handoff to employment

When a placement needs employment infrastructure too, salaries and statutory costs bill at actuals. Model the complete picture in the EOR versus entity calculator before the search begins.

Third-party recruitment, the honest version.

The questions procurement and founders ask before signing an agency agreement.

What is a third-party recruitment agency exactly?

A firm outside your company that sources and screens candidates on your behalf, in contrast to your internal talent team or a candidate applying directly. The triangle has three parties: you as the client, the agency as the intermediary, and the candidate. Fee structures and incentives vary wildly across agencies; that is where the comparison matters.

How are third-party recruiters in India usually paid?

Two dominant models. Retained: a portion up front, the balance on milestones, common for leadership searches. Contingency: typically 8.33% of annual CTC at the lower end and up to 20% for niche roles, invoiced when the candidate accepts or joins. Both concentrate the mis-hire risk on you, which is what our day-90 timing reverses.

Why is your fee invoiced on day 90?

Because a placement is not a result until the person has stayed through a quarter. Indian first-90-day attrition is significant, driven by counter-offers and multiple simultaneous processes. Fee timing at day 90 aligns our screening incentives with your retention outcome, and if the hire leaves earlier there is simply nothing to invoice.

Do you work on retainer for leadership roles?

Leadership searches are quoted by scope rather than forced into the 12% structure, but even there we avoid front-loaded retainers. The bulk of any leadership fee still follows the hire's arrival and tenure, because the incentive logic does not change with seniority.

Can you place candidates if we have no Indian entity?

Yes, and this is the gap most third-party agencies cannot close. We employ your hire on our Bengaluru entity for $149 a month with full statutory cover, five days after offer acceptance. The search fee and the employment fee are independent; take both or either.

What is your replacement guarantee?

If a hire does not reach day 90, the fee never gets invoiced and we rerun the search at no charge. There is no cap on re-searches for a genuinely open role, because an uninvoiced placement is our problem to fix, not a warranty claim for you to negotiate.

Which roles and levels do you cover?

Engineering, product, design, data, finance and operations, from early-career through senior management, hired into Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and remote-across-India setups. Leadership searches run as scoped engagements. Volume hiring below junior-engineer level is not our market, and we say so rather than doing it badly.

Longer reading: Recruiting in India with us directly · Fourteen-day hiring, explained · The cost of hiring in India

Tell us where you are on the decision.

A role you want to hire, a team you want moved, or just the two routes to compare. A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours.

A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours, not an autoresponder.

We use these details to respond to your enquiry.

A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours, not an autoresponder. We use these details to respond to your enquiry.

What the first call covers

30 minutes

A cost comparison for your headcount, on your numbers, both routes.

  • A written cost breakdown
  • Entity documents before the call
  • PF, ESI, TDS, termination law
  • No follow-up sequence
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