Spending too much on recruitment, payroll or global HR?
The search for the ideal Employer of Record (EOR) partner is never an easy one. Depending on the countries where you want to hire employees without owning an entity, you often have a choice of dozens or even hundreds of service providers. While smaller, local companies have their benefits, it’s hard to ignore the professionalism and experience of larger, global providers like Deel and Multiplier. These companies have built names for themselves by offering a wide variety of services and delivering them through expertly polished platforms. Which is the right choice for your organization? This Deel vs. Oyster review will give you all the details you need to help you make that selection easily.
Head-to-Head: Deel vs. Oyster
| Deel | Oyster | |
| EOR price | $599/employee per month | $699/employee per month |
| Contractor Management Price | $49/contractor per month; $325 for contractor of record services | $29/contractor per month |
| Global Coverage | 150+ countries with owned and third-party entities | EOR hiring in 120+ countries with owned and third-party entities; contractors in 180+ |
| Recruitment | Deel Talent connects clients with staffing and recruitment agencies globally | Oyster connects clients with pre-vetted recruitment agencies |
| Platform Software Integrations | Integrates with over 85 apps for HR, accounting, workflow, and communication | Integrates with 14+ communication, HR, and communication applications |
| Supplementary Benefits | Deel offers health insurance, equity, and pension plans in some countries | Oyster provides allowances and equity, pension, and health benefits |
| Support | 24/7 live chat support | 24/7 AI chatbot support; live support during business hours |
Deel Overview
Deel was founded in 2019 and is based in San Francisco. The next year, the start of a major global shift to remote and international hiring helped Deel expand across the globe, where it now offers services in over 150 countries. Working first and foremost as an EOR, Deel hires workers directly for its clients and manages their HR needs like payroll, benefits administration, and leave management. It also takes care of contracts, compliance, and ensuring that your employees get all the benefits they’re entitled to. Deel also lets employers sign their workers up to additional benefits plans that include health insurance, pensions, equity, and life, dental, and vision insurance, though not all of these benefits are available in all countries.
In addition to its EOR services, Deel provides outsourced IT, payroll, and consulting services. It also works as a PEO (Professional Employer Organization) and, when clients decide it’s time to incorporate entities in other countries, provides company registration services as well.
For more information on Deel, check out our in-depth Deel Review.
Deel’s Key Features
| Platform | Deel’s extensive online platform is used to manage employees and deliver all of its services. It lets clients sign up to use only its basic HRIS (human resources Information system) for just $5/employee per month. However, most services, including EOR, come with its Deel Engage platform that adds on performance management, learning management, career management, engagement, compliance, and reporting tools. This platform also provides AI support for analytics, building customized workflows, and creating documents. A new mobile app also lets them clock their hours and request paid time off (PTO), while admins can handle their requests from anywhere. |
| Onboarding | New hires are given access to Deel’s employee portal, through which they can speed through self-service onboarding tasks. While they can upload their information and sign documents in just a few minutes, it takes longer for Deel to add them to your payroll and register them with the appropriate tax and social security authorities. On average, however, new employees can be completely onboarded in just two or three days. |
| Immigration Services | If you want to hire international talent, Deel can help them relocate to new countries efficiently by managing their visa and work permit application processes. |
| Contractor Management | Deel’s clients can pay a flat fee of $49/contractor per month to manage their contractors, generate contracts, and make international payments. It also offers a Contractor of Record (COR) service for $325/contractor per month that includes invoice management, payments, contract management, and misclassification checks. It also provides indemnity protection against penalties. Deel lets clients pay contractors in 150 currencies, with crypto, or through online payment platforms like Revolut and Wise. |
| HR | Clients can simply use Deel’s platform as an advanced HRIS for $5/employee per month, or upgrade to Engage for $20/employee per month to manage their teams. |
| Global Payroll | You can outsource payroll for your US companies in all 50 states or your entities around the world. It charges $29/employee per month for global payroll and multi-currency salary payment services. |
| Recruitment | Instead of keeping recruitment in-house, Deel connects its clients with reliable staffing agencies and recruiting agencies worldwide. |
Advantages of Partnering with Deel
| 24/7 Support | Deel provides live chat support with humans at all times if clients or their employees need help with its system. |
| Data Security | Deel’s platform is compliant with SOC 2 and GDPR guidelines, and is ISO 27001 certified, providing a high degree of assurance that employee data will be properly protected. |
| Easy Onboarding | It takes an average of 2-3 days for Deel to generate compliant contracts, collect employee documents and signatures, and fully onboard them to its system so they can start working. |
| Convenient Payments | Deel helps clients pay workers in 150 national currencies, and contractors can also be paid through cryptocurrencies, Revolut, and Wise. |
Oyster Overview
Oyster, sometimes known as Oyster HR, is a Charlotte, North Carolina, company that was launched in 2020. Quickly gaining interest in its professional services, Oyster has now expanded to offer EOR services in over 120 countries and contractor hiring in more than 180. In addition to hiring and managing HR and mandatory benefits for its clients’ employees, Oyster also offers supplementary benefits in over 165 countries. These include equity, pensions, and allowances, as well as health insurance through Allianz that includes mental health, vision, and telehealth coverage.
Oyster also provides contractor management, COR, and visa support services. It connects clients with recruiters and manages their payroll needs if they own entities around the world.
To learn more about Oyster, check out our detailed Oyster review.
Oyster’s Key Features
| Platform | Oyster’s online platform is generally rated highly by users. It’s not nearly as extensive as Deel’s, leaving out functions like performance management, engagement, analytics, applicant tracking, and learning management that would make it useful as a standalone HRIS. On the other hand, this simplification makes it easier for new users to learn than Deel’s platform. Unfortunately, Oyster also doesn’t have a mobile app like Deel does. While it’s not as many as Deel’s integrations, Oyster features 14 out-of-the-box integrations with HR, accounting, and communications software, helping you smoothly and easily share data across your tech stack. Oyster provides clients with a free trial to help them become acquainted with its platform before making a commitment. |
| Onboarding | Oyster uses onboarding tracking software to help employees work through their tasks while also identifying where it is in the process itself. New employees can normally be onboarded successfully in as little as 48 hours. |
| Contractor Management Services | Oyster matches Deel’s basic contractor management price of $29/person per month, but beats its coverage by offering this service in over 180 countries. This service helps you generate compliant contracts, manage invoices, and pay contractors in over 140 currencies. While its price isn’t stated online, Oyster offers an add-on called Oyster Shell to protect clients from penalties to a total indemnity of $500,000. |
| Visa Sponsorship Services | If you need employees to relocate to other countries, Oyster helps to speed up the process with its visa and work permit sponsorship services. |
| Global Payroll | Oyster manages payroll for its clients who own entities around the world. It charges $29/employee per month for this service, which is available in over 30 countries. |
| Recruitment | Instead of actively recruiting for you itself, Oyster gives you access to its Talent Network. This service matches your needs with a recruitment agency internationally, which will help you source the talent you require. |
Advantages of Partnering with Oyster
| Data Security | Oyster is GDPR compliant and SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certified. These strict regulations help protect your data and that of your employees. |
| Extensive Contractor Hiring | Oyster’s contractor management services can help clients hire in over 180 countries and feature add-on indemnity protection against misclassification penalties. |
| Supplementary Benefits | When you hire employees through Oyster, you’re able to provide them with a wide range of supplementary benefits that include pensions, equity, and health, mental health, dental, vision, and life insurance. |
Best Use Cases for Deel
With its lower price for EOR services, Deel is an appropriate choice for mid-sized companies looking to hire employees worldwide. It’s also the better choice if you only want to use an excellent HR platform without other services. This platform is full of features, and its 24/7 live chat support makes it ideal for first-time users of EOR, PEO, and payroll service users.
Best Use Cases for Oyster
Oyster’s EOR price is slightly higher than Deel’s, but its contractor management fees are significantly lower, making it a better choice for managing fewer employees and more contractors. Oyster also provides a wider range of benefits, so employers who want to attract and retain top talent with impressive compensation packages might want to choose this provider.
The Final Word: Deel vs. Oyster
In this Deel vs. Oyster review, we took a detailed look at two big names in the EOR and global employment industry. There’s no clear reason to say one is better than the other – instead, the partner you choose will depend on how the provider’s specific services match the needs of your organization.
To find out more about how Deel measures up against its competitors check out our comparison guides:
Or alternatively, get in touch with RemotePad’s EOR experts for tailored hiring advice.
