How to hire and pay a remote worker in Kenya

You can hire someone in Kenya without a company of your own there in two ways: take them on as a contractor and pay their invoices, or use an employer of record, a service that employs them locally for you and runs their payroll and tax. To pay them, Payoneer, PayPal, Wise or a bank transfer all work, and many move the money on to M-PESA.

This is a plain guide, not legal or tax advice. We checked the payment services’ own pages on 11 November 2026; read the page linked beside each one before you choose.

Three ways to hire

As a contractor. They invoice you and look after their own tax. It is the quickest way to start. If they work like an employee, with set hours and one employer, local law may treat them as one, so take advice before you rely on it.
Through an employer of record. A service employs them in Kenya on your behalf: it issues the local contract, runs payroll and pays the local taxes and contributions, and you direct the work. Deel and Remote are two of the larger ones.
Through your own company there. You register a company in Kenya and employ them yourself. It takes the longest and costs the most, and makes sense once you have several people there.

How the money reaches them

Payoneer. They can receive from you and withdraw to a local bank. Payoneer’s price list shows US$1.50 for a bank withdrawal there. (Payoneer: fees, dated 1 January 2026)
PayPal. They can receive and withdraw to a Kenyan bank: free above KES 20,000, KES 105 below that. Safaricom also runs a service that moves PayPal dollars to M-PESA. (PayPal: fees for this country) (Safaricom: the M-PESA PayPal service)
Wise. You can send shillings to their account through Wise. They can’t hold a Wise balance or have their own account details. (Wise: where you need to live to hold money with Wise) (Wise: currencies you can send to and from)

The same from their side: how to get paid by a company abroad from Kenya.

What to put in the offer

The pay, the currency and the pay day.
How you’ll pay, and who covers the fees on the way.
Whether they are a contractor or an employee, and through whom.
That you hire in Kenya, in so many words. People apply when a listing names their country.

See who hires in Kenya now

Remotejobify reads companies’ own job boards every day and lists the remote jobs open to people in Kenya today, each with the line in the listing that says so. You can also see what those jobs pay.

Put your job in front of Kenyans

Hiring in other countries

Questions people ask

Can I hire someone in Kenya without a company there?

Yes. Take them on as a contractor who invoices you, or use an employer of record, which employs them locally on your behalf and runs payroll and tax.

Can I pay someone in Kenya with Wise or PayPal?

Yes. Wise sends shillings to their account, though they can’t hold a Wise balance, and PayPal lets them withdraw to a Kenyan bank or move dollars to M-PESA.

What is an employer of record?

A company that legally employs your worker in their own country for you. It issues the local contract, runs payroll and pays the local taxes and contributions, while you direct the work.

Do I have to say which countries I hire from?

It helps. People only apply with confidence when a listing names their country, and Remotejobify lists a job for a country only when the listing shows it is open there.