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Deel Competitors (2026): The Cheapest One Depends on Who You Are Hiring
On published prices, Deel is the cheapest of the three big platforms for hiring employees abroad — and the most expensive for managing contractors. Switching without knowing which of those you are doing is how companies pay more for less.
- Cheapest EOR
- Deel — $599/employee/mo
- Cheapest contractors
- Remote & Oyster — $29
- Deel contractor premium
- +69% vs both
- Quote-only
- Rippling
The short version
Deel, Remote and Oyster all publish their prices, which makes a real comparison possible. Rippling does not, so it cannot be compared on figures at all. Across the three that do publish, the ranking flips depending on worker type: Deel wins on employees by $100 a head a month, and loses on contractors by $20 a head a month.
- Hiring employees abroad
- Deel at $599 is $100 a month cheaper per head than Remote or Oyster at $699. Over ten employees that is $12,000 a year.
- Managing contractors
- Deel charges $49 where Remote and Oyster charge $29 — a 69% premium. Over fifty contractors that is $12,000 a year in the other direction.
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What each one charges
| Per worker / month | Deel | Remote | Oyster | Rippling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contractor management | $49 | $29 | $29 (30 days free) | Not published |
| Contractor of Record | $325 | from $325 | — | Not published |
| EOR (employees abroad) | $599 | $699 | $699 | Not published |
| PEO | $125 (US) | from $99 | — | Not published |
| Global payroll | Not published | $29 | — | Not published |
| Entry price on the site | from $14 (ATS) | from $29 | Free account | “Starts at $8 a month, per user” |
Read from each vendor’s own pricing page on 15 September 2026. Remote also lists Contractor Management Plus at $99, equity support from $39 a month, and a 15% discount for social purpose organisations; Oyster lists People Partner Services at $300 an hour. Where a cell says “not published” we have left it blank rather than sourcing a figure from a third party — an invented number is worse than an honest gap.
Where Deel is genuinely the cheapest
This is the part most “Deel alternatives” articles leave out, and it is the single most expensive line item in global hiring.
For an employee in a country where you have no legal entity, Deel charges $599 a month. Remote and Oyster both charge $699. That is a $100 per employee per month gap, in Deel’s favour, on the product that costs the most and is hardest to switch once running.
Ten EOR employees on Deel is $71,880 a year. The same ten on Remote or Oyster is $83,880. If EOR is the reason you are on the platform at all, the honest advice is that you are already on the cheapest of the three on published rates, and a switch would cost you $12,000 a year for the privilege.
Two caveats worth knowing. Oyster states that annual discounts are available, so a negotiated Oyster rate may not be $699. And none of these figures include the employee’s actual salary, statutory contributions or country-specific deposits, which dwarf the platform fee everywhere.
Where you are almost certainly overpaying
Flip to contractors and the ranking reverses hard.
Deel charges $49 per contractor per month. Remote and Oyster both charge $29. That is a 69% premium for what is, across all three, essentially the same service: contracts, invoicing, compliant payments and paperwork for people who are legally self-employed.
The arithmetic scales unpleasantly. Twenty contractors costs $11,760 a year on Deel and $6,960 on Remote — a $4,800 difference. At fifty contractors the gap is $12,000 a year. Oyster additionally gives the first 30 days free, which matters if you are testing.
So the question is not “is Deel worth it” but which side of your headcount is bigger. A company with three EOR employees and forty contractors is paying Deel a premium of roughly $9,600 a year on contractors to save $3,600 on employees. A company with fifteen employees and five contractors is ahead by $16,800.
Who writes the other comparison pages
Worth knowing before you read any of them, including this one.
Of the pages currently ranking on Google’s first page for “deel competitors”, the large majority are published by companies that sell a competing product — global hiring, payroll or payments platforms whose own listing appears somewhere near the top of their own ranking. That is not dishonest in itself, and some of those pages are well researched. But a comparison written by one of the alternatives will not tell you that the incumbent is cheaper, because that conclusion costs the publisher a sale.
Our position is different but not neutral either: we carry affiliate links, including to Deel, and we say so above every one. What we can do is publish the figures with the date we read them, show our arithmetic, and tell you plainly when switching is not worth it. On EOR, switching away from Deel is not worth it on price.
Which one suits which company
Stay on Deel if
- Most of your spend is EOR employees — $599 is the lowest published rate of the three
- You want everything from ATS to EOR under one bill, priced on a page rather than in a call
- You need Contractor of Record and want the classification risk carried at a published $325
Look at an alternative if
- You are contractor-heavy — Remote or Oyster at $29 saves 41% per head on the same job
- You need global payroll for your own entities — Remote publishes $29 where Deel quotes
- You want a US PEO below $125 — Remote starts at $99
- Your problem is really IT and app provisioning rather than cross-border hiring — that is Rippling’s territory, though it publishes almost no prices
Frequently asked questions
Who are Deel’s main competitors?
Remote, Oyster and Rippling are the three that come up most often, alongside Papaya Global, Multiplier and Velocity Global. Of those, Remote and Oyster publish full price lists, which makes them the only ones you can compare with Deel on figures rather than on claims. Rippling publishes a single starting figure and quotes the rest.
Is Deel cheaper than Remote?
For employees, yes: Deel’s EOR is $599 per employee per month against Remote’s $699, read from both pricing pages on 15 September 2026. For contractors, no: Deel charges $49 against Remote’s $29. Which one is cheaper for you depends entirely on your mix. We work the numbers through in Deel vs Remote.
What is the cheapest Deel alternative for contractors?
Remote and Oyster are level at $29 per contractor per month, against Deel’s $49. Oyster adds a 30-day free period for contractors, so it is marginally cheaper in year one. At twenty contractors, either saves roughly $4,800 a year against Deel.
Is there a free Deel alternative?
Not for actually paying people. Oyster states that creating an account and using its HR tools is free, with fees starting once you engage a contractor or team member, and gives contractors free for 30 days. That is a free trial rather than a free tier — every platform in this category charges per worker once workers exist.
Should I switch away from Deel?
On published pricing, only if you are contractor-heavy or need global payroll for your own entities. If your spend is mostly EOR employees, Deel is the cheapest of the three at $599 and switching would cost you money. Before moving anything, get the alternative’s quote in writing for your exact mix of workers and countries — list prices and negotiated rates diverge in this category.
How we compiled this
Every figure was read directly from the relevant vendor’s own pricing page on 15 September 2026 and is published as a dated snapshot rather than a permanent claim. Where a vendor does not publish a price we say so rather than sourcing one elsewhere. Annual totals are simple arithmetic on the monthly per-worker rate and exclude salary, statutory contributions and country deposits. This page describes commercial pricing only and is not legal, tax or employment advice.
Spotted a figure that has changed? Tell us and we will correct it. Read our full methodology →
Work out what Deel itself would cost you
Five published prices, and the one decision that moves your bill more than headcount does.