What is Ruul and how does it work?

Ruul is a global invoicing and payment platform built around independent work. It connects two sides of the same problem: freelancers who need to bill clients and get paid - without setting up a company of their own - and businesses who need to pay contractors anywhere without the cross-border compliance headache.

Ruul does this by acting as the legal layer between the two sides - its Agent of Record model. That keeps invoices compliant and payments clean, so a freelancer doesn’t need a company to get paid, and a business doesn’t need a local entity in every country it pays into.

If you’re a freelancer, contractor, or independent professional

1. Create your account and verify your identity. A quick one-time setup (KYC) unlocks invoicing and payouts.
2. Add your client and create an invoice. Enter the work, amount, and currency. Ruul, as the legal counterparty, issues its own compliant invoice and sends it to your client - this is how you invoice clients anywhere, even without a registered company.
3. Your client pays Ruul. They receive a secure payment link, fill in their details, and pay by bank transfer or card. They can create a Ruul account if they like, but they don’t need one - and if they’re wondering why the invoice comes from Ruul, point them to why they got an invoice from Ruul.
4. Ruul pays you. Once the payment clears, Ruul deducts its commission and releases your payout - usually within one business day, in the currency and method you chose. SWIFT transfers can take a few extra business days, and for your first transaction with a client, compliance (KYC) checks can add a little extra time.

Once you connect a payout account, you can receive payouts in 140+ currencies, to a bank account or crypto wallet. Every contract and payment record lives in one place, ready for tax time.

If you’re a business paying contractors

1. Create your business account and verify your company. A one-time business verification (KYB) sets you up to pay.
2. Add your talent. Invite the contractors you want to pay into your dashboard.
3. Create a payment for the work. Pay a contractor individually, or run bulk payments to pay many people at once.
4. Ruul handles the payout and compliance. Ruul pays your contractors in their preferred currency and acts as the counterparty for the engagement, keeping everything documented and compliant.

Contractor agreements, invoices, and payment records all stay in one dashboard, so your paper trail is ready whenever you need it.

The common thread - Agent of Record

In both flows, Ruul is the Agent of Record: the legal counterparty in the middle. That’s what lets a freelancer without a company issue a real invoice, and a business pay a contractor abroad without compliance risk.

Curious about that middle layer? Read what an Agent of Record is.

What it costs

There are no setup costs and no monthly fees. Ruul charges a flat 5% commission per transaction - so you only pay when money actually moves. On a single invoice, you choose who covers the fee - you or your client. On bulk payments, the fee is always paid by the business. You can see the full breakdown on the pricing page or in fees and pricing explained.

Today more than 240,000 freelancers use Ruul, which has processed over $1.18B in transactions, with teams at organizations like the UN, McKinsey, and Toyota among those paying through it.