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In a world where remote work is becoming the norm and talent knows no borders, businesses of all sizes are tapping into the global workforce. Hiring international talent and paying workers worldwide is no longer exclusive to large corporations. Thanks to innovative platforms, even small businesses can easily hire and manage teams across the globe.
Two leading service providers facilitating this global expansion are Deel and Wise. While they serve different primary functions, both platforms help organizations navigate the complexities of international operations:
- Deel specializes in global hiring solutions, allowing businesses to hire, onboard, and pay contractors and employees worldwide compliantly. It streamlines international payroll, contracts, and compliance, making it easier to build and manage a remote team.
- Wise, formerly known as TransferWise, specializes in international money transfers. It helps businesses pay freelancers and contractors efficiently and cost-effectively by offering competitive exchange rates and low transfer fees.
Both platforms cater to different yet overlapping business needs. Deel excels in managing a global workforce, ensuring all aspects of employment—contracts, taxes, compliance—are handled seamlessly. Wise, while not a hiring platform, offers businesses an efficient way to send payments across borders, ensuring cost-effectiveness and transparency in international transactions.
What You’ll Discover:
- In-Depth Feature Analysis: A thorough breakdown of the features and usability of both platforms.
- Pricing Comparison: A detailed look at the costs associated with each service to assist with effective budgeting.
- Pros and Cons: Unbiased assessments of the strengths and limitations of Deel and Wise.
As you explore this comparison, you’ll discover which platform better aligns with your business’s operational goals. Whether your priority is building and managing a remote workforce or simplifying global payments, understanding the distinct value each service offers will help you make the right decision for your company’s growth.
Dive deeper to learn how Deel and Wise can unlock your business’s global potential.
Deel vs Wise Overview
| Feature | Deel | Wise | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| User Reviews |
G2: 4.8/5 Trustpilot: 4.9/5 |
G2: 3.9/5 Trustpilot: 4.3/5 |
Deel has excellent user reviews, while Wise’s are good to very good. |
| Pricing |
$599/employee per month $49/contractor per month $29/person per month for payroll |
From 0.33% for sending money $6.11 for receiving USD wire payments $31 for account details in 23 currencies |
These companies’ fees are for very different services. Deel charges service fees for managing HR functions, while Wise charges fees for money transfers. |
| User-friendliness | Very good | Good | Deel has very good ratings for ease of use and setup, while Wise has mostly positive reviews. |
| Customer Support | 24/7 live chat support | 24/7 in-app live chat support | Both providers offer 24/7 live chat support. |
| Integrations | Very good | Good |
Wise has an API and offers 14 pre-made integrations with major accounting and finance apps. Deel has an API and integration with major HR and accounting software like Ashby, QuickBooks, and Xero. |
| Data security | Excellent | Excellent | Deel is GDPR and SOC2 compliant and ISO 27001 certified. Wise is SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2, PCI DSS and ISO 27001 certified, as well as GDPR compliant. |
| International hiring (EOR) | Excellent | Not offered | Deel offers EOR in 150+ countries and contractor services in 200+. Wise doesn’t provide this service. |
| Recruitment | Not offered | Not offered | Neither provider works in recruitment. |
| Benefits administration | Good | Not offered | Deel manages standard benefits like PTO, bonuses, and social security. Wise doesn’t administer benefits. |
| Payroll | Excellent | Not offered | Deel runs payroll for US-based businesses and globally in 100+ countries. |
| International money transfers | Very good | Excellent | Wise excels in international payments, supporting payments in over 40 currencies and fast transfers to 160+ countries. Deel can let teams withdraw money in 150+ currencies or use crypto, online payment platforms, or debit cards. |
Comparison of Deel vs Wise
Platforms like Deel and Wise are empowering companies to hire and manage international teams with ease while ensuring smooth cross-border payments. While Deel focuses on comprehensive global hiring solutions, Wise excels in cost-effective, transparent international money transfers.
Deel
Deel describes itself as a “global people platform.” This means that it works with businesses of all sizes, from small to large enterprises, and helps them hire teams around the world.
Like most modern providers, its services center around a cloud-based online platform with a smart user interface and a vast range of functionality. This system has most of what you need to use it as your single human resources information system, or HRIS. You can use it to onboard, manage, and offboard employees, manage paid time off (PTO), administer benefits, run payroll, and much more.
Services offered by Deel
- Employer of Record (EOR): Hire employees in over 150 countries where your company doesn’t have a legal entity.
- Professional Employer Organization (PEO): Deel acts as a co-employer for U.S.-based businesses, handling HR tasks from onboarding to payroll.
- Contractor Management: Manage independent contractors in over 200 countries, including payments and legal compliance.
- Global Payroll: Run payroll for entities in 100+ countries, handling taxes, social security, and payslips.
Wise
Wise is a very different kind of service provider created specifically to offer international money transfers. It moves over $130 billion annually, making it one of the biggest online payment platforms in the world.
Wise lets businesses set up local business accounts in their choice of eight major currencies, but they can be used to hold over 55 currencies. Wise can send business payments (for employees, contractors, freelancers, or vendors) in over 70 countries. Wise also integrates with 11 popular accounting and financial software packages, including Xero and Quickbooks, to help automate payments for businesses with high volumes of accounting to work on.
Services offered by Wise
- International Money Transfers: Send payments to 70+ countries at real exchange rates with low transfer fees.
- Multi-Currency Accounts: Hold over 55 currencies and pay in 8 major currencies.
- Business Integrations: Sync with accounting software like Xero and QuickBooks for automated financial management.
- Batch Payments: Automate mass payments to employees or contractors across the globe.
Deel Pricing
| Plan | Price per employee/contractor per month |
|---|---|
| Deel EOR Services | $499 per employee per month and up |
| Deel PEO Services | $79 per employee per month and up |
| Deel Contractor Management | $49 per contractor per month and up |
| Deel Payroll | $29 per person per month and up for global payroll or $19 per person per month and up for US payroll |
Wise Pricing
| Plan | Price per employee/contractor per month |
|---|---|
| Wise Account Setup | Free. Costs $31 to get account details in 23 currencies. |
| Wise Sending Money | 0.33% and up |
| Wise Receiving Money |
$6.11 for receiving USD wire payments 10 CAD for SWIFT payments in CAD |
Wise doesn’t charge a markup on exchange; instead, it uses continuously updated mid-market exchange rates.
Key Differences
Service Expansion
- Deel: Designed for global hiring, offering payroll, HR services, and compliance solutions.
- Wise: Specializes in international money transfers with multi-currency capabilities.
Global Reach
- Deel: Supports hiring in over 150 countries, managing payroll in 100+ countries.
- Wise: Enables payments in 70+ countries but focuses on financial transactions rather than HR functions.
Pricing Transparency
- Deel: Fixed pricing for services like EOR and PEO, but custom rates may vary.
- Wise: Transparent, upfront pricing for every transaction with competitive exchange rates.
If you’re looking to either scale your global workforce or streamline international payments, understanding the nuances between Deel and Wise is crucial for making the right decision. Each platform offers unique advantages, but only one may align with your specific business goals.
Deel Pros and Cons
All providers have specific strengths and weaknesses in the services they provide. For Deel, these include:
- Pros
Easy onboarding
Deel can make onboarding of both employees and contractors quick and painless. Its platform automatically generates contracts, which workers can sign online easily. They can also quickly upload their necessary documents to the platform, where they’re stored for later use.
Data security
Deel is GDPR, SOC 1, 2, and 3 compliant, and ISO 27001 certified. It uses encryption protocols and 2FA (two-factor authentication) to protect data and user information against threat actors.
Convenient payments
Deel lets clients pay their workers in over 150 currencies. It also lets contractors receive payments through cryptocurrencies or online payment platforms like Payoneer, Revolut, and even Wise.
Free HR offering
Deel’s reduced HRIS, Deel HR, is a forever free offering for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 200 employees.
Dedicated support for enterprises
Enterprise accounts receive dedicated, professional support from account representatives. They can provide quick assistance whenever possible and access expert advice when required.
- Cons
Steep learning curve
The Deel platform is fairly user-friendly, and new users find it easy to get used to. However, it can be hard to set up and difficult for users to learn to use all of its complex functionality. While its extensive features are a plus, the learning curve to use them can be a minus.
Complex pricing
While Deel’s starting prices are clearly laid out in its online information, they can quickly become more complex and expensive with the addition of add-on benefits, services, and support in different countries. Potential clients will need to request quotes for fully-calculated prices.
High contractor management price
At $49/person per month and up, Deel’s contractor management price is higher than the average for this industry.
Lacks features
Despite being a very large and robust HRIS, Deel still lacks some features, particularly recruitment management and time tracking. These features have to be found through integrations with other apps. It also has no mobile app on offer as of yet.
Wise Pros and Cons
As an online payment platform, Wise has its own pros and cons that include:
- Pros
Data security
Wise is SOC 1, SOC 2, PCI DSS, and ISO 27001 certified, as well as GDPR compliant, meaning it has excellent security standards to help protect your privacy and money. It also uses 2FA for added security.
User-friendly interface
New users can navigate Wise’s user interface easily. With limited functions and many online resources, learning how to use Wise doesn’t take long.
Mobile app
Most users run Wise through its mobile apps for Android and iOS. These feature excellent security with 2FA and make transferring money fast and convenient.
Fast transfers
Wise transfers can be finished in under 20 seconds and 50% of large transfers still clear in under an hour.
- Cons
Support limitations
Wise offers live chat support 24/7. However, user reviews state that they receive limited support for more serious issues and that can slow down their business dealings.
Limited country coverage
While Wise for individuals can send money to over 160 countries, Wise for Business can send to fewer than 80. This means that if you have contractors or bills to pay in countries that aren’t on its list, you’ll need to use another provider.
Head to Head Comparison: Deel vs Wise Features
We’ve seen what both Deel and Wise do and some specific pros and cons of using these platforms. Now, we’re going to compare them against a few select criteria. There aren’t a lot of places where these platforms overlap, but where they do, we’ll attempt to define which is a better option to use.
User-friendly platform: It’s a tie
Both platforms feature fairly easy-to-use user interfaces that are easy to get used to. What’s not so easy is Deel’s extensive functionality. It’s harder to set up and takes a lot longer to learn. It also doesn’t yet have a mobile app. Wise, on the other hand, is very easy to use and has a great app, but when you need support for complicated situations, it’s often hard to find or quite slow, so we’re calling this a tie.
Integration with other software: Deel Wins
Deel has an API for custom integrations, but most users won’t need it as the platform integrates with over 80 top-level solutions, including Ashby, BambooHR, Greenhouse, HiBob, Workday, Lever, and Workable. Wise includes an API and integrations with 11 top accounting apps, but Deel has it beat in terms of connectability.
Contractor Payment: Deel Wins
While Deel provides a broad range of contractor payment options that include instant card transfers, bank transfers, Revolut, Paypal, Wise, Payoneer, Coinbase, and Deel Cards (pre-paid debit cards), Wise can be used to pay contractors in 70+ countries into their Wise or bank accounts, which is more limited.
Payroll Management: Deel Wins
Deel offers integrations with accounting software, easy payment processing, and extensive payment options for employees and contractors. Wise is useful for quick transfers to your team, but it doesn’t help you make payroll calculations.
Our Verdict: Deel vs Wise
Deel and Wise are very different platforms that are hard to compare. Rather than just finding a winner, our goal was to identify the use cases for each provider.
When to choose Deel
Deel is a great choice for businesses large and small that want to expand their teams internationally. Its platform is extensive, and it offers many solutions to help pay your global team.
When to choose Wise
Wise is a good choice if your business needs to send international transfers frequently. Wise is a good bet if you want an easy system that charges low fees and sends money extremely quickly.
