Some startups launch without a central office where employees are expected to work. That can give founders more flexibility in where work happens and where they look for talent, but it is not the same as having no legal address—and it does not guarantee lower costs or better results. The available figures also do not establish that more startups are choosing this model: surveys measure remote and hybrid work or international hiring, not the number of startups with no headquarters.
What “without a headquarters” means
In this context, a startup without a headquarters has no central company office where employees are based or routinely expected to work. The business may still need a registered address, legal domicile, or administrative base. An office-free workplace is an operating choice, not the absence of legal or administrative arrangements.
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The terminology matters. GitLab defines all-remote as a model with no company office where employees are based. A remote-first company may still have a physical headquarters or other offices, while a hybrid company expects some combination of remote and in-person work. A distributed company may have employees in multiple locations and still maintain one or more offices.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchDo the figures show more startups are going office-free?
No. The available surveys do not count startups with no headquarters, and the figures they do report do not demonstrate a general increase in that arrangement.
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- Gusto’s 2025 New Business Formation Report surveyed 1,000 founders about businesses started in 2024. It found the share of new businesses allowing fully remote or hybrid work fell from 40% in 2023 to 34% in 2024. That combines remote and hybrid arrangements; it is not a measure of startups without an office. Read Gusto’s report.
- The European Startup Initiative’s 2025 Startup Heatmap Europe Annual Report, using the Startup Heatmap Europe Survey 2024, reported that 52% of surveyed startups had employees based abroad and 25% had branches abroad. Eight percent had relocated their headquarters internationally. The last figure measures relocation, not elimination of a headquarters. Read the Startup Heatmap Europe report.
These numbers describe related but distinct choices: allowing remote or hybrid work, employing people abroad, opening branches, and moving a headquarters. None, on its own, establishes how many startups have no central office.
Why founders may choose an office-free setup
More choice about where work happens
Without a required daily workplace, employees may work from home, a coworking space, or another suitable location. That flexibility can matter to founders and workers, but it is not the same as a promise that every person can work from anywhere: company policies, role requirements, and local employment rules still shape where someone can be hired.
Workspace needs also vary. The GitLab and Herman Miller Work-From-Home Field Guide notes that equipment, space limitations, and location preferences differ among workers. An office-free company may therefore need to consider support for different work environments rather than assume one setup suits everyone. See the field guide.
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A wider potential hiring geography
A company that does not require staff to commute to one office can consider candidates in more places. That is a potential recruiting advantage, not evidence that every remote startup can hire globally or fill roles more easily. Hiring across borders brings employment, payroll, tax, and immigration questions that depend on the countries involved.
Less dependence on one shared workplace
Some founders prefer not to organize daily work around a single office. GitLab co-founder Sid Sijbrandij has described the idea this way: “It’s not that we don’t have a headquarters, it is that we have 1,000+ (and growing) headquarters!” That is a framing for distributed work, not a literal count of legal headquarters. In GitLab’s scaling guidance, Sijbrandij also argues, “The more widespread an organization is, the less it benefits from being colocated.” Both are practitioner views, not proof that office-free arrangements improve results for every startup. Read GitLab’s explanation of “all-remote” and its scaling guidance.
How all-remote, remote-first, and hybrid models differ
| Model | Company office | Meetings and onboarding | Information and participation | Workspace choices | Hiring across locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-remote | No company office where employees are based, according to GitLab’s definition. | Plan meetings and onboarding for people who are not gathered at a central workplace. | Make important information accessible across locations; establish practices for asynchronous work. | Employees may work from home, coworking spaces, or other locations; support needs differ. | Employment and payroll arrangements depend on where the company hires. |
| Remote-first | May retain a headquarters or other physical offices. | Remote access needs to be considered even when some colleagues meet in person. | Guard against decisions and context being available mainly to people who are together in the office. | Remote and office-based employees may use different workspaces. | Cross-border hiring still requires location-specific arrangements. |
| Hybrid or distributed with offices | May have one or several offices; distributed does not mean office-free. | Coordinate remote and in-person participation, including onboarding for employees outside office locations. | Ensure people in different locations can follow decisions and contribute. | Work may be split between an office and other locations, depending on company policy. | Hiring across locations still depends on applicable employment and payroll arrangements. |
The table describes practical distinctions, not a ranking. GitLab’s guidance is company-specific; it can help clarify operating choices, but it does not prove that any one model suits every startup. See GitLab’s guide to all-remote work and its drawbacks.
What it takes to make office-free work function
Document work that would otherwise happen informally
In a shared office, people can pick up context through quick conversations. A distributed team needs deliberate ways to record decisions, responsibilities, and project status so colleagues in different places or time zones can find them. GitLab recommends documentation and asynchronous practices in its handbook; this is practitioner guidance, not controlled evidence that a particular process produces better outcomes. Explore GitLab’s all-remote handbook.
Design meetings and onboarding for inclusion
If leaders or parts of a team meet in person, people who are not there can miss discussion and informal decisions. Set expectations for which decisions need written records, how remote participants can contribute, and how new hires will learn processes and meet colleagues without relying on office contact.
Build connection intentionally
Less informal contact can make it harder for new colleagues to form relationships and can leave some employees feeling isolated. Teams need suitable ways to ask for help, check in, and build social connection; the right mix depends on the people and work involved.
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Make location expectations explicit
“Remote” does not automatically mean employees may work from any country. Define eligible locations, time-zone expectations, any in-person requirements, and what workspace support is available. Coworking can be an option, but it is not a universal requirement or a substitute for clear work practices.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Hiring internationally: understand the employment arrangement
Hiring a worker in another country does not necessarily mean the startup must form a local legal entity there, but the company needs a suitable arrangement for the specific country and role. An employer of record (EOR) is one possible model: Remote describes its own EOR service as acting as the legal employer for international hires. A provider’s description of its service is not legal advice, and an EOR does not automatically resolve every tax, immigration, employment, or permanent-establishment question.
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GitLab’s hiring guidance discusses EOR/PEO arrangements as one option where it lacks a local entity and cautions that coverage and service quality vary. Before choosing an arrangement, verify the countries and employment types covered, provider responsibilities, and what issues remain the startup’s responsibility. Get country-specific professional advice where needed. Read GitLab’s guidance on hiring an all-remote team and Remote’s explanation of working with its EOR service.
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How to decide whether a startup should launch without an office
The choice is less about declaring a company “remote” than deciding how its work will operate in practice. Founders can assess:
- Whether the work can be done effectively without people sharing a workplace regularly.
- Which locations are practical for hiring, and what local employment arrangements those locations require.
- How decisions, project updates, onboarding, and access to help will work across time zones.
- How the company will address participation gaps, social connection, and workspace differences.
- Whether an office, occasional meeting space, or no shared workplace best fits the team’s actual needs.
There is no established general estimate in the cited sources for office savings, productivity, startup survival, or fundraising impact from launching without a headquarters. Treat those as questions to evaluate for a particular company rather than guaranteed effects of the model.
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