What is a Fully Remote Company? (And 15 Best Examples)

Fully remote companies have been thriving for years, but previous to the pandemic that started in 2020,  not many organizations were ready to actually commit to every employee working virtually.

Certainly, there was a growing demand for remote work and better technology before 2020 that made remote work more lucrative for organizations to consider.

However, the idea of a company becoming a fully remote workplace was still a bit unprecedented or approached with caution. But fast forward to the present day and it seems each week a well-established or new exciting start-up has become completely remote.

So what does it mean to be a fully remote company? And what companies have gone fully remote that you should know about?

What Is A Fully Remote Company?

Fully remote companies are organizations that do not have a physical office for employees to go and work from. Instead, a fully remote company enables all their employees to work from home or anywhere with a solid internet connection, which can span across various time zones and places around the world.

Not all companies hiring currently are fully remote, nor will every business ever be able to offer that. There are also some organizations that are doing hybrid work, where you might work from home a few days per week and a few in the office.

But a fully remote company means all the job positions they offer are 100% remote.

And currently, only about 16% of companies in the world are 100% remote. It might seem like a low percentage, but it’s amazing still to think that there are companies that have no office for employees to work at.

Some things you might notice when looking for remote work:

• Not all jobs are remote. Pending what field you are in, some jobs are remote and others are in an office location. This is not a fully remote company, but that still could be a good option for you.
• Temporary remote company. With the pandemic triggering businesses to operate differently in 2020, some organizations are indefinitely staying remote, but others might just be temporary. Make sure you ask and know what the company might be planning if you are looking for work.
• Flex remote work. This is essentially the hybrid model mentioned above, where the company does not require you to be in the office every workday, but is not allowing you to be fully remote at this time. 
• Even if the company is fully remote, there might be limitations to where you can be located. For example, some organizations might only want to hire those located in the United States, as global employees can introduce more complications with employment and taxes.

What companies allow fully remote?

As we have seen with the recent pandemic, many forward-thinking businesses decided to move to fully remote operations. Quite a few of them already offered some flexibility to work from home or had a mix of permanent remote positions and in-office.

There are a few companies that have been pioneers in being remote-first organizations. A few that come to mind who have not only had success but have been fully remote for years include:

• Basecamp
• Buffer
• Zapier
• Doist
• Invision
• GitHub

The above pioneer companies you will find in our examples below and they also made our Top 100 Remote Companies list too, which I highly recommend checking out.

What Companies Are Fully Remote?

So what are some examples of fully remote established companies?

While you saw the stat in the previous section, there are still many great companies that allow all employees to work remotely. Most of these companies will host employee retreats or meet-ups to get together and utilize remote work tools to stay connected with co-workers and managers.

Ready to launch a full-time remote career? Here are some companies to you might want to look for open positions:

1. Aha!

• Industry: Computer Software
• Number of Employees: 201 - 500
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

Aha! Is a top roadmap software that over 5,000 enterprise organizations use to empower 500,000+ employees in product and engineering. It’s how these teams and leaders build great products that their own customers will love. The company is self-funded, profitable, and has been fully remote since its inception in 2013. Learn more about Aha! here.

2. Andela

• Industry: Information Technology & Services
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

Andela specializes in helping companies quickly scale with top engineering talent in their extensive network, which spans across six continents.  Companies can quickly find the best fit, saving them time and money in getting the best engineers on your team to scale your business faster. Learn more about Andela here.

3. Automattic

• Industry: Internet
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

Automattic was founded back in 2005 and is still thriving today. The company is the makers behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, Tumblr, WordPress VIP, Simplenote, Longreads, Crowdsignal, Atavist, Happy Tools, Day One, and much more. They are a fully distributed company, with more than 1,500 employees in 80+ countries, speaking over 90 different languages. Learn more about Automattic! here.

4. Basecamp

• Industry: Internet
• Number of Employees: 101- 200
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

As mentioned earlier, Basecamp is one of the pioneers of being a fully remote company, getting its start back in 1999. The company helps solve the problems that every growing business deals with through their project management tool that makes it easier to organize, manage, communicate about specific projects company-wide. Learn more about Basecamp here.

5. Buffer

• Industry: Internet
• Number of Employees: 101- 200
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

Another early adopter of a fully remote workplace is Buffer, a social media management tool that has become highly popular for its product, but also the level of company transparency the company leaders provide publicly. Their suite of products for publishing, engagement, analytics, and team collaboration is just by some of the best companies in the world. Learn more about Buffer here.

6. Doist

• Industry: Computer Software
• Number of Employees: 51 - 100
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

Doist is also an early adopter in the remote workspace, founded back in 2007. The company specializes in productivity software. Their team creates tools that simplify and organize the workday into manageable tasks, communication, and better collaboration. It’s the best way to start centralizing all your work. Learn more about Doist here.

7. DuckDuckGo

• Industry: Internet
• Number of Employees: 101- 200
• Remote Work Modell: Fully Remote

DuckDuckGo is the Internet privacy company for anyone who is ready for more internet privacy and to remove the hidden tracking from common web browsers. Since 2008, DuckDuckGo has worked with policymakers and built innovative products to make online privacy accessible for everyone. Learn more about DuckDuckGo here.

8. GitHub

• Industry: Computer Software
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

GitHub might be a recognizable name as well, a fully remote company that has followed this work model since 2008. GitHub is the largest community where people can share code with friends, co-workers, classmates, and strangers. Currently, over 31 million people use GitHub to build projects by using over 97 million repositories. Learn more about GitHub here.

9. Help Scout

• Industry: Internet
• Number of Employees: 101- 200
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

Help Scout is a leading customer support platform for helping growing businesses. The product suite includes email and live chat and a way to deliver help content right where your customers need it. Help Scout is used by 12,000+ customers in over 140 countries. Learn more about Help Scout here.

10. InVision 

• Industry: Internet
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

InVision was founded in 2011 and quickly became the leading design and visual collaboration platform. The product was built to make design work more collaborative, inclusive, and impactful. And the companies’ customers include ALL the Fortune 100, and organizations including American Express, Adidas, Boeing, Ford Motor, Netflix, HBO, Ikea, Slack, and Virgin Atlantic. Learn more about InVision here.

11. Product Hunt

• Industry: Internet
• Number of Employees: 51 - 100
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

Although Product Hunt is all the smaller side, it’s a well-established name in the tech scene. Product Hunt is a community platform that helps people discover the best new products that others around the world are building. It's the ultimate place to learn about the latest mobile apps, websites, hardware projects, and tech creations – and members can submit, browse, vote, and comment on the product submissions. Learn more about Product Hunt here.

12. SmartBug

• Industry: Marketing & Advertising
• Number of Employees: 101 - 200
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

While there are many internet and computer software companies that are on this list, we also have marketing agencies too! SmartBug is an inbound marketing agency that helps organizations grow revenue through web development, content marketing, marketing automation, PR, and more. The agency was founded in 2007 and operates completely remote! Learn more about SmartBug here.

13. Toggl

• Industry: Computer Software
• Number of Employees: 100-201
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

Since 2014, computer software company Toggl has been fully remote. The company is the shared brand for three different products Toggl Track, Toggl Plan, and Toggl Hire. While all three products are different in the value they provide, all share the same mission—to eliminate workplace stress. Learn more about Toggl here.

14. Toptal

• Industry: Internet
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

Founded in 2010, Toptal is a platform with an exclusive network of the top freelance in the world. This includes talented software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers. And just as cool, Toptal is one of the largest fully distributed workforces in the world. Learn more about Toptal here.

15. Zapier

• Industry: Information Technology & Services
• Number of Employees: 501 - 1000
• Remote Work Model: Fully Remote

If you ever searched for remote work, you’ve probably come across the tech company, Zapier. The founders have been outspoken advocates for remote work and built a fully remote company since its founding in 2011. Zapier makes automation easy and accessible to everyone at work. You can automatically move data between applications like Salesforce, Google, Dropbox, and many many more. Remote workers for Zapier span across 36 U.S. states and 30 countries around the world. Learn more about Zapier here.

Final Thoughts

There you have it, some of the best companies that are fully remote. I highly recommend checking out their careers pages to learn about their culture and any reviews you can find from employees on places like Glassdoor and Comparably.

And remember, there are WAY MORE  companies offering remote work flexibility or may have a mix of remote positions, but this does not mean they are fully remote.

If you are looking for other well-known (and awesome) organizations that offer hybrid positions (in-office and remote work positions), then check out our list of companies offering hybrid work here.

Happy Remote Working!