Deel vs Rippling for Startups: EOR at $599 vs From $499, Contractors, US Payroll and the Lawsuit
Pick Deel if most of the people you are adding are abroad, you want published prices and month-to-month terms, or you mainly pay contractors ($49 a month each). Pick Rippling if your team is mostly in the US, you want payroll, HR, devices and spend in one system, and you will hire abroad through its EOR, which starts at $499 per employee per month against Deel's $599. Rippling's price comes from a quote and an annual order form; Deel's EOR invoice carries deposits and country lines on top of the $599. The two companies are also suing each other; nothing in the case so far changes the service either one provides.
What each costs at pre-seed, seed and Series A
| Stage, US + abroad | All on Deel (US Payroll $29 + EOR $599) | All on Rippling (payroll from + EOR from $499) | Abroad as Deel contractors ($49) | Employer on-costs abroad (EOR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed, 2 US + 1 abroad | $7,884 (16.1 runway days) | $6,900 (14.1 days) | $588 (1.4 days) | $17,242 |
| Seed, 8 US + 4 abroad | $31,536 (27.3 days) | $26,160 (22.7 days) | $2,352 (2.2 days) | $37,708 |
| Series A, 28 US + 12 abroad | $96,000 (30.5 days) | $78,384 (25.0 days) | $7,056 (2.5 days) | $151,247 |
Per year in USD from our payroll cost model. Abroad: Germany (pre-seed); Germany, UK, Canada, India (seed); two each in Germany, UK, Canada, India, Poland, Brazil (Series A). Rippling = $40 base + $8 platform + $10 payroll per US employee, EOR at its "from" price. Excludes Deel deposits, accruals and the Employer Liability Cost line. Runway on $500K / $3M / $12M cash.
The US payroll fee is small either way ($2,784 a year on Deel and $2,208 on Rippling at seed). The EOR fee is the line that moves runway, and the contractor route costs less than a tenth as much in fees but leaves classification risk with you. Run your own team in the payroll cost calculator.
Price tables
| Plan | Price (monthly / billed yearly) | For / limits |
|---|---|---|
| Employer of Record (EOR) | $599/mo | Full-time employees abroad without a local entity; Deel is the legal employer |
| Contractor management | $49/mo | You contract and classify; Deel handles contracts, invoicing, payouts in 120+ currencies |
| Contractor of Record (COR) | $325/mo | Deel is the contracting entity and carries classification liability |
| Deel Payroll: Global | $29/mo | Payroll in countries where you own the entity |
| Deel Payroll: US | $29/mo | US payroll, self-service |
| US PEO | $125/mo | |
| Deel HR Core | $5/mo | |
| Find talent (ATS) | $14/mo | |
| Add-on: EOR deposit | 1 to 1.5 months of all monthly charges per EOR hire (refundable) | help.letsdeel.com/hc/en-gb/articles/15574494993297; higher for removed probation (2 months), extra PTO above legal minimum by more than 8 days (2 months), notice periods over one month (one month per notice month) |
| Add-on: Severance accrual | Monthly accrual, country-specific, separate from the deposit | Listed for Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Poland among others (article 20575602878097); UK not listed |
| Add-on: Employer Liability Cost (ELC) | Per-employee line on EOR invoices, % of gross salary, varies by country; mandatory | help.letsdeel.com/hc/en-gb/articles/48042489452049 |
| Add-on: Non-local currency EOR contract | $50 per employee per month | e.g. Poland paid in EUR (article 15580585431313) |
| Add-on: Late payment fee (EOR) | 0.15% of the invoice per day after a 7-day grace period | article 35680538714897 |
| Add-on: EOR Equity Service | $100 per EOR per month up to 10 EORs; $50 above 10 | |
| Add-on: Benefits Management: Global | $10 per employee per month | |
| Add-on: Treasury | $10 per employee per month | |
| Add-on: Payroll Connect | $5 per employee per month | |
| Add-on: Card funding | $0.30 + 2.9% (US/EU cards), $0.30 + 3.9% (other cards); ACH/SEPA/BACS/wire $5 | article 4407745380241; FX at a bank forward rate, no markup percentage published |
| Add-on: Contractor withdrawals | Local bank $0; cross-border $5; SWIFT $5 to $10; PayPal 2.5%; Payoneer 1% (min $12) | Paid by the contractor (article 14391381019537) |
Prices verified on deel.com/pricing on October 13, 2026.
| Plan | Price (monthly / billed yearly) | For / limits |
|---|---|---|
| Platform (Core HRIS) | From $8 per user/month + $40/month base fee | Required for every other Rippling product (pricing FAQ: products are bought 'alongside the core, required Rippling Platform'). |
| Payroll (US) | From $8 per employee/month billed annually, $10 billed monthly (on top of the platform) | |
| Employer of Record | From $499 per employee/month | |
| PEO | Quote | |
| Global Payroll | Quote | |
| Contractors (US and international) | Quote | |
| Add-on: Benefits administration, time and attendance, IT, Spend and other modules | Quote | Each module is priced separately on top of the platform (pricing FAQ). |
| Add-on: Startup Stack offer | First 6 months free (EOR: first 3 months) | rippling.com/terms/startupstack: venture-backed, new customers, demo required, order form within 30 days; applies to recurring subscription charges and the consultative implementation package on the initial order form; 1-50 FTE need an 18-month minimum contract, 51+ FTE 24 months; excludes EOR deposits, FX and wire fees. |
| Add-on: Failed payment fee | $25 per failed debit; 1.5% per month interest on past-due amounts | Customer Terms of Service, last updated 2026-07-02, section 4.1(c). |
| All Rippling purchases (reported) | median $45,645/yr (range $5,860-$186,673), 289 purchases | Page dated February 2026; the same figure is also labelled 'Avg Contract Value' on the page. Earlier snapshots: $44,363 (203 purchases, Feb 2025), $43,599 (218, Oct 2025), $40,122 (233, Feb 2026).; reported by Vendr |
| Per module and implementation (reported) | modules $4-$12 PEPM each; standard onboarding $2,000-$5,000 | Vendr editorial ranges, also: 10-50 employees observed $15-$35 PEPM all-in; renewal rises 5-15% at list unless negotiated.; reported by Vendr |
| PEO (reported) | $85 per employee/month | Review updated 2024-11-20; the article does not say how the PEO figure was obtained. Same article cites a quote of $35 base + $8 per employee for the platform.; reported by FitSmallBusiness |
Prices verified on rippling.com/pricing on October 13, 2026.
Deel's prices come from its pricing page. Rippling's pricing page shows no price; its figures come from Rippling's small-business page and blog, which disagree on the base fee ($40 vs $35). More on our Rippling pricing page.
The decisions that actually differ
EOR: $599 vs from $499, and what sits on top
Deel's EOR has been $599 per employee per month on every Wayback capture since June 2024, and its FAQ promises "flexible month-to-month pricing with no long-term commitments required". Its help center documents more lines on the invoice:
- Deposit: "between 1 - 1.5 all monthly charges, including employee salary, employer costs, fixed allowances, and management fees" per hire; two months if you remove probation or give more than 8 days of PTO above the legal minimum. Refunds come within 60 days after the termination is complete and invoices are paid.
- Severance accrual: a monthly charge in countries including Brazil, Canada, Germany, India and Poland, separate from the deposit.
- Employer Liability Cost: a new mandatory line, a share of gross salary that varies by country. Deel: "Previously, the employer liability costs were either inside the G2N, or absorbed entirely by Deel."
- $50 a month per employee on a contract paid in a non-local currency, and 0.15% a day on late invoices.
Rippling's EOR is "starting at $499 per employee, per month" (Rippling's blog). It requires deposits too, but their size sits in EOR terms behind a login, and no country prices are published. Startup Stack makes the first three EOR months free, inside an 18-month contract.
Contractors
Deel: $49 per contractor per month, or $325 for Contractor of Record, where Deel carries the classification liability. Rippling publishes no contractor price.
US payroll and PEO
Deel US Payroll is $29 per employee per month, self-service; it was $19 in 2024 and early 2025, then "Speak to sales" on captures from April 2025 to January 2026. Deel's US PEO price conflicts on its own page: $125 per employee on one tab, PEO Starter $110 and Pro $120 on another. Deel HR, once "free of charge", is now $5 per employee for Core. Rippling's US payroll is from $8 billed annually or $10 monthly, on top of the platform fee; its PEO is quote-only.
Contract and lock-in
Deel's EOR and contractor plans run month to month; its PEO promotion (three months free) needs a two-year term and charges full list price for the whole order form if you leave early. Rippling's Customer Terms (July 2, 2026) auto-renew with 30 days' notice, keep fees non-refundable and bar cutting seats mid-term.
The Rippling v. Deel lawsuit
People Center, Inc. (Rippling) v. Deel, Inc., N.D. Cal. No. 3:25-cv-02576, before Judge Charles Breyer (docket). From the court record:
- March 17, 2025: Rippling files suit against Deel and three executives. It alleges Deel paid a Rippling employee in Ireland to pass on confidential information, with claims including RICO and trade-secret misappropriation.
- February 2026: the court denied Deel's motion to dismiss the RICO and trade-secret claims.
- September 25, 2026: the court denied Deel's motion to strike the former employee's affidavit; sent to arbitration Deel's counterclaims alleging that a Rippling employee used a "Quandary Insights" account on Deel's platform, and stayed Deel's RICO counterclaims; dismissed Deel's cybersquatting and trademark counterclaims over a deal.com address with leave to amend; and let part of Deel's false-advertising counterclaim, aimed at statements on rippling.com, proceed.
- Next: a status conference on November 13, 2026. No trial date is on the docket. Deel also filed its own suit against Rippling in Delaware state court in 2025 (per Deel's blog); we could not confirm its current status.
None of these rulings decides who is right, and none affects either company's customers. Both companies publish advocacy posts about the case; read them as one side's view.
Not hands-on tested yet: we have not run a live account on Deel or Rippling. Deel's prices and terms come from its published pricing page and help center; Rippling's come from Rippling's own marketing pages and blog, its customer terms, and third-party data labelled as such, read on October 13, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is Deel cheaper than Rippling?
For EOR, no at list price: Deel is $599 per employee per month against Rippling's starting $499, before Deel's deposits and accruals. For contractors, Deel publishes $49 and Rippling publishes nothing to compare.
Can Rippling replace Deel?
For EOR and global payroll, yes on paper; Rippling sells both. Deel's month-to-month terms and published contractor prices are what you would give up.
Can Deel replace Rippling?
Largely, on its price list: US payroll ($29 per employee), a US PEO, HR from $5 per employee and IT plans from $49 per user. Whether those modules match what you use in Rippling is the test.
Does the lawsuit affect customers?
Not so far. The case is between the two companies; no ruling has touched either one's service to customers.
Related: payroll and EOR costs by stage, Deel pricing, Gusto vs Rippling, and cash runway.