Oyster vs Deel (2026): $29 vs $5 — Which Wins?
Compare / Oyster vs Deel
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Team size
25 seats

Oyster vs Deel

HR/HRIS pricing comparison · 2026

Oyster pricing ranges from $29–$699/employee/month, while Deel ranges from $5–$899/contractor/month. Deel is typically 73% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.

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See pricing on each vendor's site
Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Deel pricing Affiliate partner — does not affect ranking.
Compare
2 products · HR/HRIS
Side-by-side · live
O
Oyster
Oyster is a B Corp-certified global employment platform that handles compliant hiring acro
verified 9w ago
$8.7K $33K
View pricing →
Deel
Deel is a global payroll and compliance platform that simplifies hiring employees and cont
verified 3d ago
$8.7K $33K
View pricing →
Verdict · list-price math · year 1
Deel saves $2.7K vs Oyster · 25 seats
Cheapest $6.0K
Spread 31%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Global Payroll
$8.7K/yr
year 1 license · $29/seat
Deel Engage
$6.0K/yr
year 1 license · $20/seat
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
No Vendr data
Not in Vendr's deal flow
Median annual
$33K/yr
Vendr · n=41
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 11 sourced facts
8 hidden-cost · 1 contract · 2 review platforms
Last verified 2mo ago
Confidence Limited confidence
Sources 19 sourced facts
14 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median · 3 review platforms
Last verified 3d ago
Confidence High confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
5 documented
  • EOR Fee Exclusions
    20-50% or more
    1 source
  • Contractor Management Fee
    $29 per contractor per month
    1 source
  • Optional Misclassification Protection
    $49 per contractor monthly
    1 source
  • EOR Team Member Security Deposit
    1 source
  • Global Payroll Plan Implementation Fee
    $500 per entity
    1 source
5 documented
  • Withdrawal and Transfer Fees
    $50-$150/month
    2 sources
  • Currency Conversion Fees
    1-3% of transaction amount
    2 sources
  • Immigration and Visa Support Fees
    $500-$3000
    1 source
  • Legal Review for Contract Templates
    $1000-$5000
    1 source
  • Parallel Payroll Fee
    5-10% of license costs
    1 source
REF · 04

Contract terms

The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.

Oyster
Deel
Auto-renewal
Yes
Cancellation
30 days' written notice
Standard 30-day notice for EOR contracts
Commitment
The Scale plan, designed for enterprises planning to hire more than five full-time employees, often requires upfront payment of all annual fees and reduces per-employee cost when committing to hiring three.
Month-to-month for contractors; typically annual for EOR
Price escalation
No published annual uplift schedule, but users report tier price changes as Deel expands product modules
Can downgrade
Yes
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
Trustpilot
4.5out of 5 (267)
G2
4.4out of 5 (1,466)
Best for
Hiring and paying international contractors compliantly
Watch out
Payroll Processing Delays
TrustRadius
8.4out of 5 (84)
Trustpilot
4.7out of 5 (8,640)
G2
4.8out of 5 (13,922)
Best for
Companies needing standalone HRIS at the lowest entry price
Watch out
Customer support responsiveness can be slow
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Deel pricing Affiliate partner — does not affect ranking.
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
HR/HRIS

Oyster

$29–$699
/employee/month
5 plans
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
HR/HRIS

Deel

$5–$899
/contractor/month
9 plans
Full pricing breakdown →

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan Oyster Deel
Global Contractors $29 /user/month $5 /employee/month
Global Payroll $29 /user/month $20 /employee/month
US PEO $114 /user/month $29 /employee/month
Employer of Record $699 /user/month $49 /contractor/month
Scale Custom $125 /employee/month
Contractor of Record (COR) $325 /contractor/month
Deel IT $99 /month
EOR Standard $599 /employee/month
EOR Enterprise $899 /employee/month

What Users Say

Oyster

G2
4.4out of 5 (1,466)
Trustpilot
4.5out of 5 (267)
Top complaints
  • Payroll Processing Delays
  • Customer Support Responsiveness and Quality
  • Cost/Pricing

Deel

G2
4.8out of 5 (13,922)
Trustpilot
4.7out of 5 (8,640)
TrustRadius
8.4out of 10 (84)
Capterra
4.9out of 5 (4,268)
Top complaints
  • Customer support responsiveness can be slow
  • Software reliability issues affecting payroll in certain regions
  • Per-contractor pricing more expensive than competitors like Oyster

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

Oyster 8 hidden costs

critical
EOR Fee Exclusions 20-50% or more
medium
Contractor Management Fee $29 per contractor per month
high
Optional Misclassification Protection $49 per contractor monthly
high
EOR Team Member Security Deposit
medium
Global Payroll Plan Implementation Fee $500 per entity
See all Oyster hidden costs →

Deel 10 hidden costs

medium
Withdrawal and Transfer Fees $50-$150/month
medium
Currency Conversion Fees 1-3% of transaction amount
low
Immigration and Visa Support Fees $500-$3000
medium
Legal Review for Contract Templates $1000-$5000
medium
Parallel Payroll Fee 5-10% of license costs
See all Deel hidden costs →

Contract Terms

Term Oyster Deel
Auto-renewal Yes
Cancellation 30 days' written notice Standard 30-day notice for EOR contracts
Minimum commitment The Scale plan, designed for enterprises planning to hire more than five full-time employees, often requires upfront payment of all annual fees and reduces per-employee cost when committing to hiring three. Month-to-month for contractors; typically annual for EOR
Price escalation No published annual uplift schedule, but users report tier price changes as Deel expands product modules
Can downgrade Yes

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