Softwr

Recruitment · head to head

Deel vs Karat

Deel logo

Deel

Recruitment

Global payroll and compliance made easy

From
$14/month per worker
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Karat logo

Karat

Recruitment

Outsourced technical interviewing, engineers conduct your candidate interviews for you

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Deel contractor management starts at $49 per contractor per month, so cost scales linearly with every person engaged; Karat pricing is quote-only, so a buyer cannot model cost per hire against internal interviewer time without a sales conversation
  • They diverge on capability: Deel covers Global Payroll, Karat covers Interview Engineers.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Deel and Karat actually diverge.

Attributes where Deel and Karat differ
AttributeDeelKarat
Starting price$14/month per workerOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
Founded2019Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Recruitment).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Deel

  • Global Payroll
  • EOR Services
  • Contractor Management
  • Compliance
  • Benefits Administration
  • Immigration Support
  • BambooHR
  • Greenhouse

Only in Karat

  • Interview Engineers
  • Structured scoring
  • High-volume screening
  • Interview intelligence
  • Scheduling integration

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Deel

  • Hiring and paying contractors across multiple countriesnot Karat
  • Employing staff abroad without opening a local entitynot Karat

Karat

  • A company scaling engineering headcount quickly and unable to free up enough internal engineer time for first-round technical interviewsnot Deel
  • A hiring team wanting a consistent bar across interviewers when growth has diluted interview qualitynot Deel
  • A seasonal hiring push, such as a new-grad or intern cohort, that needs a large volume of structured interviews in a short windownot Deel
  • A company that has measured interviewer no-shows or inconsistent scoring as a source of candidate drop-offnot Deel

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Deel

  • Contractor management starts at $49 per contractor per month, so cost scales linearly with every person engaged
  • Employer of Record starts at $599 per employee per month
  • Contractor of Record is $325 per contractor per month, far above plain contractor management
  • US PEO starts at $125 per employee per month
  • Payroll and HR support are not sold standalone and are bundled inside the EOR and PEO per person prices

Karat

  • Pricing is quote-only, so a buyer cannot model cost per hire against internal interviewer time without a sales conversation
  • Handing the interview itself to a contractor removes the one part of the process where candidates meet a real employee, which can weaken employer brand for roles where culture fit matters most
  • It solves interviewer capacity for technical screens but does not replace hiring manager or team-fit rounds, so it only removes part of the funnel
  • Quality depends on how well the client-provided rubric and questions are written; a poor rubric produces poor Karat interviews just as it would internally
  • Contracted interview volume can create pressure to keep using the service even after an internal hiring slowdown, since commitments are typically annual
  • Candidates sometimes react negatively on discovering the interviewer is not an employee of the company they applied to, which is a reputational risk not visible until candidates start talking about it publicly

Pricing, plan by plan

Deel

$14/month per worker
  • Find Talent (ATS & Talent)$14/month per worker
    • Job posting
    • AI-powered screening
    • Interview scheduling
  • Hire Contractors (Standard)$49/month per contractor
    • Centralized contractor management
    • Multi-currency payments
    • Automated invoicing
  • Hire Contractors (Contractor of Record)$325/month per contractor
    • All Standard contractor features
    • Enhanced compliance and liability coverage
    • Contractor of Record benefits
  • Hire Full-Time Employees (US PEO)$125/month per employee
    • US payroll processing
    • Tax filings
    • Benefits (healthcare, dental, vision, mental health, fertility, 401k)

Karat

On request
  • Karat$undefined/year
    • Interview Engineer coverage
    • Structured technical interviews
    • Interview analytics and calibration

Which should you pick?

Choose Deel if

  • You need global payroll.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want eor services.
Deel review

Choose Karat if

  • You need interview engineers.
  • You also want structured scoring.
Karat review

Questions people ask

Is Deel or Karat better?
Neither clearly leads. Deel starts at $14/month per worker and Karat at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Deel or Karat?
Deel starts at $14/month per worker and Karat at On request.
Does Deel or Karat run on more platforms?
Deel runs on Web, Ios, Android. Karat runs on Web.
What is Deel best used for?
Deel is most often used for hiring and paying contractors across multiple countries, employing staff abroad without opening a local entity. Of those, hiring and paying contractors across multiple countries and employing staff abroad without opening a local entity are not what Karat is typically brought in for.
What can Deel do that Karat cannot?
Deel covers Global Payroll, EOR Services, Contractor Management, Compliance. Karat covers Interview Engineers, Structured scoring, High-volume screening, Interview intelligence.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Deel: What is the lowest Deel pricing tier?

Deel Find Talent (ATS & Talent) starts at $14 per worker per month and includes job posting, AI-powered screening, interview scheduling, candidate management, and integrations.

Source
Karat: Do candidates know they are being interviewed by a contractor rather than an employee?

Karat discloses that Interview Engineers are trained third-party interviewers rather than employees of the hiring company, though disclosure practices are set by the client.

Deel: How much does Deel charge for contractors?

Deel Hire Contractors costs $49 per contractor per month for standard management or $325 per contractor per month for Contractor of Record services. Both plans include multi-currency payments, automated invoicing, and compliance guidance. No long-term commitments are required.

Source
Karat: Can Karat interview for languages or stacks outside mainstream web and backend engineering?

Coverage depends on the pool of Interview Engineers Karat maintains for a given stack; niche or highly specialised roles may have less coverage than common web and backend roles.

Deel: What is the difference between Deel US PEO and Global EOR pricing?

Deel US PEO costs $125 per employee per month for US-based hiring, while Global EOR costs $599 per employee per month for hiring in 100+ countries. Global EOR includes comprehensive benefits, local tax filings, and HR/legal support across different jurisdictions.

Source
Karat: Is pricing per interview or per contracted block of volume?

Karat does not publish pricing; it is quoted per client based on expected interview volume and contract term.

Deel: Are there discounts for long-term Deel contracts?

Deel offers month-to-month billing with no long-term commitments required and the ability to scale teams up or down as needed. A current promotional offer provides 3 months complimentary platform fees for qualifying 2+ year PEO contracts signed July-December 2026.

Source
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