TL;DR: Use Shor. Everything on this page is handled on autopilot, with minimal lift from your team, at some of the lowest published prices in the market: $299-449/month per employee, $19/month per contractor, flat disclosed 2% FX.
Deel's sticker prices are public. What a month of Deel actually costs your startup takes more assembling, because the platform fee is only one line of the invoice. Here's the whole anatomy, with sources, so you can budget properly whether you pick Deel or anyone else.
Disclosure: we build Shor, a Deel competitor. Everything below is from Deel's published pages or clearly cited independent guides, as of August 2026.
Deel's published prices
From Deel's pricing page:
| Product | Published price |
|---|---|
| EOR (hire employees abroad) | $599 per employee/month |
| Contractor management | $49 per contractor/month |
| Contractor of Record | $325 per contractor/month |
| US PEO | $125 per employee/month |
For a startup with, say, 2 international employees and 8 contractors, that's $1,590/month in platform fees ($19,080/year) before anyone's salary.
The costs beyond the sticker
These are the lines that surprise buyers. Some are on Deel's help pages, some show up in quotes, and independent pricing guides document them consistently:
1. Statutory employer costs. Not a Deel fee, but the biggest number missing from any platform's sticker: employer-side taxes and contributions add roughly 10-70% on top of gross salary depending on country (about 20-25% in India, 55-70% in Brazil). Every EOR passes these through. Budget them per country before comparing platforms.
2. Security deposits. Independent pricing guides report that Deel collects a refundable deposit for EOR employees, typically in the range of one month's total employment cost or more, held before your first payroll. That's real cash flow: a $6,000/month all-in employee can mean $6,000+ parked with your provider. Ask for the deposit policy in writing.
3. FX conversion. Cross-border salaries mean currency conversion every month, and this is where costs hide best because they're priced as a spread, not a fee. Independent guides report Deel's conversion markup in the 0.6-2% range depending on corridor. On $30,000/month of international payroll, each 1% of spread is $3,600/year. Whatever provider you use: get the FX margin as a written number.
4. Country complexity surcharges. Buyer guides report surcharges of roughly $50-150 per employee/month in markets with heavier compliance requirements. If you're hiring in Brazil, France, or India, confirm whether the $599 base applies to your country or a higher rate does.
5. Annual-vs-monthly billing. Published rates often assume annual commitments; month-to-month can price higher. Check which one your quote reflects.
A worked example
Two EOR employees in India at $3,000/month gross each, plus 8 contractors paid $2,500/month each, on Deel's published pricing:
| Line | Monthly |
|---|---|
| EOR platform fees (2 x $599) | $1,198 |
| Contractor fees (8 x $49) | $392 |
| Employer statutory costs in India (~22% of $6,000) | ~$1,320 |
| FX on ~$26,000 of payments (at a reported 1%) | ~$260 |
| Platform + statutory + FX total | ~$3,170/month |
Plus salaries themselves, plus any deposit held up front. The statutory line exists on every provider; the other three lines are where providers differ.
The same startup on Shor
Our pricing, published in full on our homepage:
| Line | Monthly |
|---|---|
| EOR platform fees (2 x $299) | $598 |
| Contractor fees (8 x $19) | $152 |
| Employer statutory costs in India (~22%) | ~$1,320 |
| FX at a flat, disclosed 2% where conversion applies | shown on every receipt |
| Security deposit | country-dependent, quoted up front |
| Platform fees total | $750/month vs. $1,590 |
Same statutory costs (physics is physics), $840/month less in platform fees, and the FX margin is a number you can read before you send, not a spread you reconstruct afterward. Contractors can also hold USD, which for many corridors means no forced conversion at all.
Five questions to ask any EOR before signing
- Is my country on the base rate, or does a surcharge apply?
- What deposit will you hold, and when do I get it back?
- What is your FX margin, as a number, in writing?
- What's the price difference between monthly and annual billing?
- What exactly happens (and who answers) when a payment fails on payday?
All third-party pricing referenced is from the provider's published pages or the cited independent guides as of August 2026 and may change; confirm current figures directly with each provider. Trademarks belong to their respective owners; Deel is not affiliated with and does not endorse Shor.
FAQ
How much does Deel cost per month? Deel's published prices are $599 per EOR employee/month, $49 per contractor/month, $325 per Contractor of Record/month, and $125 per US PEO employee/month, per its pricing page as of August 2026. Total monthly cost adds employer statutory contributions, FX conversion, possible deposits, and possible country surcharges.
Does Deel charge for currency conversion? Independent pricing guides report a conversion markup in the 0.6-2% range depending on currency corridor. The exact spread isn't on the public pricing page, so ask for it in writing during procurement.
Does Deel require a deposit? Independent buyer guides consistently report refundable security deposits for EOR employees, typically around one month or more of total employment cost. Confirm the specific policy for your countries in your quote.
What does Shor charge for the same thing? $299-449 per EOR employee/month depending on country, $19 per contractor/month, own-entity payroll from $50-60/month, a flat disclosed 2% FX margin, and no setup fees. Where a country requires a deposit, we quote the amount before you sign, not after.