It’s a global talent race, and your choice of Employer of Record may be the difference between winning and watching from the sidelines.
Cutting through the noise of Deel vs Oyster HR, let’s get straight to what matters in 2025 – your ability to hire anyone, anywhere, without compliance headaches.
Think of it this way: While your competitors are still figuring out international payroll paperwork, you could be onboarding that brilliant developer from Estonia or that marketing genius from Brazil. While both platforms promise to make this happen, they’re not created equal and your growth strategy deserves better than a coin flip decision.
And so, here is the bottom line. Deel does stand out with its user-friendly interface and contractor-friendly approach, while Oyster HR shines in robust compliance support and dedicated customer care.
The ideal choice? Well, that depends on your scaling strategy, budget, and global footprint goals. Better still, we’re here to suggest an alternative that does all of that just as well as these two.
What is Deel?
Founded in 2018, Deel is a new go-to platform for companies who want to simplify international hiring.
From ambitious startups to established enterprises, teams can hire both contractors and full-time employees while ensuring compliance with local labor laws and payroll regulations. Companies of all sizes rely on Deel to onboard and manage remote talent globally.
With contractor-friendly policies and an easy interface, Deel enables organizations to make global hiring and payroll much more streamlined in the process, making your global expansion objective more easily achievable and efficient.
What is Oyster HR?
Oyster HR makes it easy to manage a global team with everything you need to hire, pay, and stay compliant across 180+ countries.
Well regarded for its global payroll services, Oyster HR ensures timely local currency payments while handling complex tax and labor regulations. It also offers contractor management tools with automated tax forms, localized payments, and smooth onboarding.
In addition, Oyster HR assists in tailoring employee benefits packages with options like health insurance and equity. As a compliance-driven platform, it protects companies from risks such as GDPR and SOC 2. Its already easy-to-use interface even includes a support chatbot.
What both Deel and Oyster HR are know for, though, are their employer of record services. Let’s first establish what makes a good EOR a good EOR.
What to look for in EOR services?
If you’re going the EOR route to build a global workforce, you must select a partner you can trust and work closely with, and they should provide the necessary functionalities and flexibilities to make expanding beyond borders as easy as it can be.
The key factor is understanding your business needs, particularly how the EOR will manage global hiring, payroll, compliance, and employee experience.
Here’s what you should prioritize when selecting your EOR partner.
Global compliance expertise
Managing compliance across various countries is often the most challenging aspect of workforce management. Companies must adhere to numerous labor laws, tax regulations, and employment rules unique to each nation. Non-compliance can lead to significant penalties or legal issues.
A reliable EOR can handle these complexities by ensuring adherence to local laws, preparing compliant contracts, and managing tax obligations.
International payroll solutions
Your EOR partner should provide a global payroll solution that ensures timely and accurate payments in multiple currencies while complying with local tax laws.
Features to look for include automated payroll calculations, currency conversion, and real-time payroll status updates. For example, Deel’s platform supports over 150 currencies and offers real-time transaction tracking.
Human resources and benefits administration
EORs typically manage employee benefits such as health insurance and retirement plans in accordance with local preferences and regulations. Understanding the local landscape is crucial; for instance, health insurance is mandatory in some countries while more flexible in others.
Onboarding and employee experience
A structured onboarding process is vital for enhancing the employee experience, especially for international hires who may require additional orientation regarding local regulations and company policies.
The EOR should facilitate a smooth onboarding process that is both legally compliant and culturally relevant.
User-friendly platforms
As businesses expand globally, a user-friendly platform that integrates contracts, onboarding, payroll, and compliance management becomes essential. Look for an EOR that simplifies these processes with intuitive interfaces that reduce administrative burdens.
Pricing and transparency
Ensure that the EOR provider offers clear pricing structures without hidden fees. Common models include subscription fees per employee or country-specific rates.
Scalability
Choose an EOR that can scale operations alongside your business’ growth. Whether expanding into new locations or increasing headcount, your EOR should be equipped to support such changes effectively.
Both Deel and Oyster HR are notable providers in this space, each offering unique strengths tailored to different business needs.
Let’s dive deeper into what really sets these EOR giants apart.
Deel vs. Oyster HR: Comparing core USPs
Although the platforms seem alike, each tool offers distinct features and functionality making them suitable for different organizations and needs. Understanding their core features is essential to finding the right fit.
Employer of Record capabilities
Feature | Deel | Oyster HR |
Role | Deel serves as an Employer of Record (EOR), handling compliance, payroll, and benefits for your global hires. | Oyster also acts as an EOR, ensuring compliance and managing payroll for international hires. |
Key Features |
|
|
Pros |
|
|
Cons | Limited support for full-time employees in some regions | Slightly steeper learning curve for new users |
Pricing |
|
|
Global payroll capabilities
Feature | Deel | Oyster HR |
Role | Deel’s global payroll solution ensures timely payments in various currencies while managing local regulations. | Oyster’s global payroll feature simplifies payroll management, ensuring compliance with local labor laws. |
Key features |
|
|
Pros |
|
|
Cons | Limited payroll reporting features | Limited customization options for payroll processes |
Pricing | Starting at $29 per employee per month | Starting at $25 per employee per month |
When making a choice between Deel and Oyster HR, the fundamental question often revolves around cost. Both tools are known to be somewhat pricey, yet their pricing is comparable.
Deel vs. Oyster HR customer reviews
Being two most popular EOR options available, choosing between Deel vs. Oyster HR is quite tricky. We found that both of them had many positive reviews. Let’s start with two recent Deel customer reviews we liked.
Deel customer reviews
G2: 4.8/5
“Deel makes it possible for my company to easily and reliably pay our globally distributed team of contractors and employees. It covers all the different configurations (contractors, EOR, part-time, full-time, hourly, salaried, etc.).” Jonathan A., G2 Review
“Deel is a financial app that allows you, as a contractor or employer, to manage all the payment systems and logic when it comes to salary and contracts. When it comes to being a contractor (foreign workers earning in dollars) it also has a virtual and physical card for funding with the payment and other perks, all with a strong and secure system.” Camilo P., Software Engineer, G2 Review
Oyster HR customer reviews
G2: 4.5/5
“Oyster has been really responsive to questions coming from me and the staff. If someone is directly helping me with an issue and they go out on leave, the issue is handed over seamlessly to a different colleague. The hiring process is fairly smooth and the platform is easy to use. They also provide a nonprofit discount which is very helpful.” Bren K., Director of Talent, G2 Review
“Oyster is very easy to use and is very clear in allowing us to set up employees that live elsewhere. I also enjoy the cost calculator feature which is very useful when deciding whether to hire employees or not. It is easy to bring this data quickly to a discussion with Leadership which before required me to spend a long time working out the cost of bringing people through an EOR. And the hiring process and onboarding flows through Oyster are very simple to use and easy to complete, making it less cumbersome for us as admin and for employees.” Sami C., G2 Review
Reddit reviews: What are users talking about?
Insights from Reddit discussions indicate a strong consensus: Many users view Deel as the preferred choice for mid-sized companies in the Deel vs. Oyster debate.
“Deel is definitely one of the leading EOR platforms in my mind, particularly for mid sized digital startups. I’d start with Deel and then consider the down market or up market-based on this experience. It’s right smack dab in the middle of the EOR market.”
On the other hand, some prefer Oyster purely for its pricing:
“My overall take here is that Oyster is still the more cost-effective option for smaller brands with international contractor footprints. Deel becomes more useful for mid to large size enterprises with multiple pain points.”
Multiplier: The best alternative to alternative to Deel and Oyster HR?
The Deel vs. Oyster HR debate is here to stay as both of these platforms are some of the most common EOR platforms globally. However, if you are still unsure which one to pick, there are several Oyster HR and Deel alternatives you can consider.
Notably, Multiplier stands out as a top alternative to both Oyster HR and Deel.
Multiplier is a comprehensive EOR and global payroll platform that enables businesses to manage international teams seamlessly. It helps organizations onboarding, payroll, taxes, compliance, benefits, and contracts for international employees, contractors, and freelancers in more than 150 countries – so it’s feature-rich and fits businesses of all sizes.
But, why Multiplier over Deel and Oyster HR?
- EOR services: Serves as the legal employer for your international employees, eliminating the need to establish local entities
- Multilingual contracts: Offers contracts in various languages to ensure compliance with local laws
- Global payroll: Simplifies payroll for global teams, enabling payments in employees’ preferred currencies and managing taxes and withholdings according to local labor laws
- Leave management: Optimizes employee leaves and customizes leave policies.
- Compliance assurance: Ensures 100% compliance with local labor and tax regulations
- Multiple payment methods: Allows payments to employees in their local currency using one dashboard
- Benefits packages: Provides competitive benefits packages along with onboarding and coverage management support
- In-country experts: Features on-ground experts providing round-the-clock support to keep HR and finance teams updated on compliance and regulations in all countries where they have employees
- Employment contracts: Delivers fully compliant employment contracts for international hiring
Wrapping up
In the Deel vs. Oyster HR debate, both platforms bring unique strengths to the table.
Deel shines with its intuitive interface and contractor-friendly approach, catering to fast-moving companies focused on quick, seamless onboarding. In contrast, Oyster HR offers robust compliance features and dedicated support, appealing to organizations that prioritize risk management and comprehensive benefits.
But in the complex world of global employment in 2025, you need to take a step ahead and think out of this debate.
Forward-looking firms are turning more to platforms like Multiplier, which effectively bridge the gap by combining Deel’s user-friendliness with Oyster HR’s compliance strengths, plus added features including multilingual contracts and in-country expertise.
Ultimately, the best option will depend on your specific needs, but ensure that you consider a platform that not only meets your current requirements but also scales to meet the ambitions of global aspirations. After all, in today’s dynamic global marketplace, versatility and reliability are paramount.
Book a demo with Multiplier’s experts today.
