As globalisation and remote work continue to expand, businesses are increasingly hiring international employees. With this comes the challenge of navigating international payroll, compliance, and employee benefits. Two platforms that have gained significant attention in this area are Oyster and Deel. Both provide global hiring solutions, but how do they compare in terms of features and costs? This article provides a detailed comparison of Oyster vs Deel to help you decide which platform is best suited for your business.
Overview of Oyster vs Deel
Oyster
Oyster is a global employment platform that helps businesses hire, pay, and manage full-time employees and contractors in over 180 countries. It provides tools to ensure local compliance and streamlines the entire hiring process, making it easier for companies to expand globally without the need for a legal entity in each country.
Deel
Deel, much like Oyster, is designed to simplify global hiring. The platform supports both full-time employees and contractors and offers legal compliance services in more than 150 countries. Deel has a strong focus on payroll, contracts, and benefits, allowing businesses to manage international teams with ease.
Features comparison
| Category | Oyster | Deel |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding & compliance | Provides compliant contract templates specific to local laws in over 180 countries. Offers tax and legal risk management tools. | Offers tailored contracts that comply with local laws in over 150 countries. Provides access to legal experts for ongoing compliance. |
| Payroll management | Supports payroll in multiple currencies, integrates with local banking systems, and handles tax filings and social contributions. Payroll automation for accurate payments. | Supports payments in over 120 currencies, handles exchange rates, and offers payroll automation. Allows flexible payment scheduling for contractors. |
| Employee benefits | Offers health insurance, pension plans, and other country-specific perks, with a focus on full-time employees. | Provides comprehensive health insurance, retirement contributions, and equity plans. Customisable benefits packages. |
| Contract flexibility | Specialises in managing full-time employees and permanent contracts. Provides long-term employment tools and resources. | Highly flexible, supporting full-time employees, contractors, freelancers, and project-based workers. Suitable for mixed workforces. |
| User experience | User-friendly interface with integrations to other business tools (HR, finance). Some users report a learning curve for advanced features. | Intuitive, clean interface, easy to use, with excellent customer support. Offers clear monitoring of international teams. |
| Contractor support | Charges $29 per contractor per month. Focus on compliance and payroll for contractors. | Charges $49 per contractor per month. Provides more flexible management of contractors and freelancers. |
| Full-time employee support | Charges $399 per full-time employee per month, including payroll, compliance, and benefits. | Charges $599 per full-time employee per month, covering payroll, compliance, and benefits management. |
| Additional services | No major additional services mentioned. | Offers equity management and advanced compliance support at additional costs. |
| Coverage (Countries) | Supports businesses in over 180 countries. | Supports businesses in over 150 countries. |
| Free plan | Free plan available for companies with up to two contractors. | No free plan, but offers a range of optional services at additional costs. |
| Ideal for | Businesses focused on long-term hires and full-time employees seeking competitive benefits and compliance tools. | Businesses with a mix of full-time employees and contractors, especially if flexible payment and contract options are needed. |
Onboarding and compliance
- Oyster: One of Oyster’s standout features is its strong focus on compliance. The platform ensures that your business remains compliant with local employment laws, offering contract templates that adhere to each country’s specific regulations. Oyster also provides tools to manage tax and legal risks, reducing the need for in-house legal teams.
- Deel: Deel excels in this area as well, offering a range of legal compliance services. It provides standardised contract templates tailored to local laws, ensuring your contracts are legally compliant. Deel also offers built-in compliance support and access to legal experts, which helps businesses stay updated with regulatory changes.
Payroll management
- Oyster: Oyster’s payroll system supports multiple currencies and integrates with local banking systems, making payments to international employees seamless. Payroll automation is available, ensuring timely and accurate payments. Oyster also handles tax filings and social contributions, minimising administrative overhead.
- Deel: Deel is renowned for its robust payroll features, offering payments in over 120 currencies. Deel handles exchange rates and compliance with local tax laws, and its automation tools allow for easy scheduling of payments. Deel also provides the flexibility to pay contractors on a fixed schedule or per project.
Employee benefits
- Oyster: Oyster goes beyond basic payroll by offering competitive employee benefits, including health insurance, pension plans, and other perks in multiple countries. It helps businesses provide local benefits that align with market standards, boosting employee retention.
- Deel: Deel has a wide range of benefits packages tailored to each country, including health insurance, retirement contributions, and equity plans. Deel’s benefits are customisable, allowing businesses to offer packages that meet their employees’ specific needs.
Contract flexibility
- Oyster: Oyster is geared towards long-term hires, with a focus on full-time employees. It provides tools to manage permanent employment contracts and offers a wealth of resources to ensure contracts are compliant with local laws.
- Deel: Deel is highly flexible in terms of contract types. In addition to full-time employees, it provides comprehensive support for contractors, freelancers, and project-based workers. Deel is well-suited for businesses that require a mix of permanent employees and flexible workers.
User experience
- Oyster: Oyster’s interface is user-friendly and provides a seamless experience from hiring to payroll management. It integrates with other business tools, such as HR and finance systems, which helps streamline operations. However, some users report a learning curve when using advanced features.
- Deel: Deel has a clean and intuitive interface, with a strong emphasis on ease of use. The platform simplifies complex tasks like payroll and contract management, and its customer support is highly rated. Deel’s dashboard offers a clear view of international teams, allowing businesses to monitor performance and costs.
Costs comparison
Oyster pricing
Oyster offers a tiered pricing model based on the level of service required:
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- Contractor payments: Oyster charges $29 per contractor per month, which includes payroll management and compliance.
- Full-time employees: For full-time employees, Oyster charges a flat fee of $399 per employee per month, which covers all aspects of payroll, compliance, and benefits.
Oyster also offers a free plan for companies with up to two contractors, which can be appealing for small businesses just starting to hire internationally.
Deel pricing
Deel’s pricing structure is also tiered but varies based on the contract type:
- Contractors: Deel charges $49 per contractor per month for compliance and payment processing.
- Full-time employees: Deel’s pricing for full-time employees starts at $599 per employee per month. This covers payroll, legal compliance, and benefits management.
- Additional services: Deel offers optional services, such as equity management and advanced compliance support, at additional costs.
Comparing key company statistics
When evaluating Oyster vs Deel, it’s useful to consider their key company statistics to understand their market presence, growth trajectory, and overall service reach. Below is a comparison of important metrics between the two platforms:
| Statistic | Oyster | Deel |
|---|---|---|
| Year founded | 2019 | 2019 |
| Countries supported | 180+ | 150+ |
| Number of employees | 500+ | 2,000+ |
| Valuation | $1 billion+ (as of 2022) | $12 billion+ (as of 2023) |
| Total funding raised | $200 million+ | $680 million+ |
| Customers | 1,000+ | 15,000+ |
| Currencies supported | 120+ | 120+ |
| Contractor support | Yes, with compliance and payroll | Yes, with advanced tools for freelancers |
| Full-time employee support | Comprehensive payroll, compliance, benefits | Comprehensive payroll, compliance, benefits |
| Benefits coverage | Global, competitive local packages | Global, customisable packages |
Key insights:
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- Valuation and funding: Deel has significantly outpaced Oyster in both valuation and total funding raised, indicating a faster growth rate and larger market share. Deel’s $12 billion valuation suggests more aggressive scaling.
- Customers and employees: Deel has a much larger customer base (15,000+) compared to Oyster (1,000+), and it employs over four times as many people as Oyster, reflecting its rapid expansion.
- Global coverage: Both platforms cover a broad range of countries, with Oyster supporting a few more markets (180+ versus Deel’s 150+).
While Oyster is newer and smaller in scale, it’s highly focused on compliance and full-time employee management, whereas Deel’s larger market reach and robust funding indicate a stronger position for rapid growth and diverse workforce management.
Which platform is right for your business?
Choosing between Oyster vs Deel depends largely on your business needs and the type of workforce you plan to hire.
- For businesses focused on full-time employees: Oyster’s pricing is competitive for full-time hires and includes strong compliance and benefits features, making it a solid choice if your goal is to build a permanent international team.
- For businesses hiring contractors or a mix of workers: Deel’s flexibility with contractors and its robust payroll and compliance tools make it a great option if your workforce includes freelancers, contractors, and full-time employees. Deel’s pricing may be higher, but the added features, especially for contractors, can justify the cost.
Final thoughts – Oyster vs Deel
Both Oyster and Deel offer excellent features for global hiring, with their own strengths depending on your business model. Oyster may be more cost-effective for companies focused on long-term employees, while Deel’s flexibility with contractors and customisation options make it a better fit for businesses with diverse hiring needs.
Ultimately, the choice between Oyster vs Deel will depend on your workforce composition, budget, and the level of service and features you require.
FAQ – Oyster vs Deel
Yes, both Oyster and Deel manage local tax obligations for your employees or contractors. They automate tax filings and ensure compliance with each country’s tax regulations, minimising administrative work and ensuring legal requirements are met.
Both platforms provide access to legal support. Oyster offers tools to manage legal compliance, while Deel goes further by giving businesses access to legal experts to navigate complex local employment laws, particularly beneficial for companies expanding into multiple countries.
Oyster and Deel offer simple onboarding processes, but Deel is known for having a more streamlined, intuitive setup, making it easier for businesses to get started. Oyster’s onboarding is comprehensive, especially for full-time employees, but may require more effort to navigate initially.
Yes, both Deel and Oyster integrate with popular HR systems, allowing businesses to streamline payroll and compliance workflows. These integrations help automate tasks and provide better visibility into global workforce management, saving businesses time and effort on manual processes.
Both platforms are upfront about their costs, but Deel offers optional add-on services, such as equity management and advanced compliance, which can increase the overall cost. Oyster’s pricing is more transparent, with fewer additional fees beyond its tiered plans.
Both platforms scale well as your business grows. However, Deel’s flexibility with contractors and mixed workforces makes it particularly suited for scaling businesses that hire a diverse range of employees across different countries and employment types.
Deel manages currency exchange directly within the platform, allowing payments in over 120 currencies with competitive exchange rates. Oyster also supports multiple currencies and integrates with local banking systems, but Deel is often praised for offering smoother currency exchange processes.
Deel offers equity management as an optional service, allowing businesses to offer stock options or equity plans to employees. Oyster focuses more on benefits and compliance but does not have a dedicated equity management tool integrated into its services.
Deel is generally considered to have stronger tools for managing contractors and freelancers, offering more flexible payment options and a streamlined interface for handling project-based work. Oyster supports contractors, but its features are more focused on full-time employee management.
Oyster and Deel both offer benefits packages tailored to local markets. Deel provides more flexibility, allowing businesses to customise benefit offerings to fit specific employee needs, while Oyster focuses on offering competitive, standardised benefits that align with local expectations in each country.