Deel vs Paylocity: Payroll and HR Service Comparison

Many companies today are looking to modernize payroll, whether they employ people in one state, one country, or across several regions. They need systems that reduce manual work, increase accuracy, and give them more visibility into costs and compliance.

Deel and Paylocity both offer HR and payroll capabilities, but they’re built on different foundations. Paylocity is a strong US payroll provider with expanding global add-ons, while Deel delivers one platform that supports every way companies pay their people—local payroll, multi-country payroll, contractor payments, or EOR—in one place.

This comparison breaks down how each system supports payroll operations, HR workflows, compliance, and long-term scalability.

What is Deel?

Deel is a unified global HR, payroll, and compliance platform that helps organizations hire, manage, and pay teams anywhere in the world—all from one place. Built for global scale, Deel brings every type of worker and every payroll scenario onto a single, integrated platform.

Our end-to-end solution supports the full employee lifecycle, including:

• Deel Payroll—one unified payroll platform for running payroll locally or worldwide, on your own or with Deel’s expert support

• Deel HR—a connected HR management system for core people operations

• Deel IT—for global equipment and app provisioning, logistics, cyber security, and more

• Contractor management for independent contractor management, invoices, and payments

• Deel EOR and Deel PEO for compliant hiring in new markets

• Compliance automation

• Deel AI to streamline workflows across HR and payroll

Deel combines global reach with deep local expertise. We operate our own entities in 110+ countries and have more than 2,000 in-house specialists across payroll, HR, legal, and compliance to ensure speed, accuracy, and localized support wherever you work.

Our platform is trusted by more than 37,000 companies worldwide and consistently earns top customer satisfaction, including a 4.8 G2 rating and recognition through industry awards for exceptional customer experience.

What is Paylocity?

Established in 1997, Paylocity is a US-based HR and payroll provider. It has developed a strong reputation in the US for managing domestic operations.

In recent years, Paylocity HR and payroll have expanded through acquisitions. This started with Blue Marble in 2021 to extend its global payroll capabilities and continued with the expense management software, Airbase, in 2024.

While Paylocity continues to adapt its platform for a global market, its offerings are limited. Services are still largely delivered through local partners in each country rather than its owned entities, leading management to become inconsistent and fragmented. As a result, the platform works best for companies with primarily US-based teams and operations.

Payroll

Paylocity

Paylocity offers a strong, compliant payroll solution for US businesses. It has a comprehensive platform with dedicated features for tax and benefits management.

But Paylocity’s global offerings are fragmented and limited. Due to its partnership with Blue Marble, it depends heavily on third-party integrations to manage international payroll. Some of these global features and services inevitably lag behind its core US systems.

This fragmentary approach could impact operations. Implementing the software reportedly takes up to four months and involves coordinating with third-party intermediaries. Afterward, teams may have difficulties reconciling US and international payroll data for reporting.

Deel

A truly international payroll platform needs to deliver a consistent experience everywhere you operate. Deel Payroll does exactly that—one product, one platform, built on Deel’s own global infrastructure for real-time processing, unified visibility, and dependable compliance in 130+ countries.

Here’s how it works: Deel Payroll combines our owned entities and in-country expertise to deliver fast, accurate payroll with implementation in as little as 10 days (for start-ups). Because Deel runs on its own infrastructure, you get standardized processes, predictable timelines, and a single, integrated experience globally.

At the core is Deel’s real-time payroll engine, powering instant gross-to-net calculations, automated updates, and precise compliance handling in 50+ markets (and expanding fast). This gives you faster payroll cycles, transparent visibility, and the ability to make changes with immediate results, all from one unified dashboard.

Deel’s intelligence layer provides an added safeguard. Deel AI continuously evaluates payroll data to flag anomalies, potential errors, and compliance risks before they escalate, giving finance and payroll teams greater confidence and control.

With Anytime Pay, employees have fee-free access to a portion of their earned salary, on their terms. Fully integrated into Deel, it’s the first and only truly global on-demand pay solution built to support employee financial well-being without disrupting payroll. Anytime Pay is available today for EOR employees and coming soon to Deel Payroll, PEO, and all worker types.

Since all payroll experiences sit under one product—Deel Payroll—customers can choose the level of involvement that fits their operational maturity. For US companies, Deel Payroll includes different level of support, enabling you to run payroll yourself or get expert-led support for less admin work.

Benefits Administration

Paylocity

Paylocity delivers strong compliance coverage for companies with primarily US-based teams. Its Benefits Administration module integrates closely with major US benefits carriers, supporting a wide range of plans.

The platform allows businesses to configure plan details and manage enrollment workflows directly within the system. For US operations, this creates a reliable, well-established benefits experience with strong carrier connectivity.

However, Paylocity’s compliance and benefits capabilities are largely centered on the US market. Companies with employees in multiple countries typically have to use separate systems or third-party partners to manage international benefits, labor law changes, and local compliance requirements.

Deel

Deel delivers a unified, payroll-native benefits administration experience for both US and international teams.

Deel makes US benefits easier by embedding enrollment, deductions, and carrier connections directly into payroll. Companies can:

• Connect to major medical, dental, and vision carriers
• Manage OE and QLE approvals in one place
• Support pre-tax programs (HSA, FSA, DCFSA, commuter benefits)
• Ensure deductions stay compliant and accurate
• Auto-sync elections, changes, and cancellations into payroll with audit logs

Employees get guided enrollment steps, plan summaries with clear employer/employee cost breakdowns, and automated notifications to reduce questions and increase enrollment completion.

For global teams, Deel offers a compliant benefits solution that scales across countries. Companies can:

• Provide localized, competitive benefits packages in 130+ countries
• Partner with trusted local providers through Deel’s Marketplace
• Maintain existing broker relationships while centralizing setup, enrollment, and payroll sync
• Ensure every employee—local or international—receives compliant, market-appropriate benefits
• Access detailed global and US reporting in one dashboard

This unified model means HR and Finance get one source of truth for benefits adoption, costs, exceptions, and deductions across the entire workforce.

HR management

Paylocity

While Paylocity has a comprehensive HR suite, it’s best suited for US operations. The overall setup may not work well for multi-country operations with a mix of different teams.

The main reason is that Paylocity has a strong US focus across its features. HR compliance tools are for US regulations, such as I-9s and ACA, and benefits administration is mostly integrated for US plans. There are only limited equivalents for other countries.

Paylocity’s global HR capabilities also depend on third-party extensions. This structure can lead to extra complexity and an uneven experience for workers across regions.

Additional tools, like the talent management and time tracking features, are mostly included as add-ons. However, this modular structure can increase complexity as you expand internationally and attempt to keep processes consistent.

Deel

Deel HR is a unified global HR management platform, supporting every worker type within one system. It’s specifically designed for distributed teams with multi-lingual support and access to local, on-the-ground expertise.

All our core Deel HR software features include:

• Workforce planning
• Benefits admin
• Compensation
• Background checks
• Talent sourcing and management
• Immigration
• A global HRIS

Plus, Deel weaves our AI capabilities throughout these tools. For example, our AI tools can generate career paths and development plans, automate HR workflows, and surface compliance insights. This makes processes more efficient, freeing up teams to focus on supporting employees, and helps you make smarter, more informed decisions.

Deel HRIS integrates seamlessly with HR, payroll, and IT, creating a single source of truth for all your workforce data. There’s no need to manually copy across information or manage multiple tools.

Global coverage and compliance

Paylocity

Over the past few years, Paylocity has been expanding its reach through acquisitions, now claiming coverage in over 100 countries. However, they deliver these services through local partners instead of owned entities. This approach may cause inconsistencies in compliance management and limit visibility into operations.

Moreover, the platform currently offers no EOR or contractor management services. In the meantime, companies must establish their own legal entities in new markets, increasing their administrative workload.

Deel

Deel offers fully integrated global coverage that spans more than 150 countries. Our owned entities and in-house compliance experts also mean we have direct control over more processes. That means faster resolutions, stronger data security, and a more consistent quality of service wherever you hire.

Deel supports global compliance through a range of built-in automation. Our Compliance Hub provides continuous updates on changing tax, labor, and employment laws to give you time to adjust your processes. For compliant hiring, Deel provides localized contracts, worker classification, and self-service benefits enrollment.

Support and customer experience

Paylocity

As a US-based company, Paylocity's customer service hours are limited to 6 am to 7 pm, Monday to Friday. They don’t have 24/7 service for teams in different time zones or following alternative weekly schedules.

Plus, queries are often routed through Paylocity’s third-party providers. While largely positive, Paylocity reviews on G2 say that they get conflicting advice and often have to speak to several representatives before they get a resolution. Some also say support has a lack of product knowledge.

Deel

Since we were built for international teams, Deel has 24/7 global support for localized guidance through:

• Email
• Video
• Slack
• Teams
• WhatsApp
• WeChat

Deel promises fast response times. For example, we currently average four hours for emails and five minutes for Slack. Our responsive teams have led to an over 90% CSAT score, 99% escalation-free rate, and industry awards in customer experience.

For quick questions, Deel has an AI support agent trained on the latest business and regulatory data. So far, it’s resolved two-thirds of queries on the first response.

Integrations and Scalability

Paylocity

With over 350 integrations, Paylocity has a comprehensive catalog. Businesses can connect with a range of popular HR, ERP, and accounting systems to build out their tech stack. The challenge is that the integration setup can reportedly take up to 16 weeks and requires technical support.

Deel

Although Deel has a smaller integration catalog to Paylocity—offering over 130 native integrations with popular apps such as BambooHR, NetSuite, and QuickBooks—we’re also a Workday-certified Global Payroll Cloud partner.

Deel also offers real-time syncing between our HR, finance, and payroll features. This keeps your data accurate and consistent across systems, eliminating the need for manual updates.

With Deel Payroll Connect, you can combine all of your payroll data from ICPs and Deel into one standardized Gross to Net report. It works by consolidating your Deel payroll reports with those from your third-party payroll providers, creating a truly global view of your payroll operations.

Pricing

Paylocity

Paylocity has an opaque fee structure with the total costs hidden behind demo requests. What we do know is that the platform has modular pricing for all its HR and payroll features. This means that as your company grows and needs to add new tools, your subscription expenses may escalate.

Deel

Deel has transparent, bundled pricing for all our features to make budgeting more manageable and predictable. On our website, we’ve got clear tiers by product. Where the cost varies, we provide tools like our EOR and entity setup calculator to give you a reasonable estimate.

Customer reviews

Paylocity

Overall, customers appreciate Paylocity’s HR and payroll features and give them a consistent 4.5 rating on G2. They say it’s easy to use and suitable for paying US-based staff and managing federal and state tax compliance.

But some reviews reveal that Paylocity has poor integration, meaning modules are disconnected and harder to manage. They also report missing features that would make the platform easier to use.

Deel

Deel receives overwhelmingly positive reviews with a 4.8 average on both G2 and Trustpilot. Our customers say we offer a great experience: Deel is easy to implement, simple to use, and always quick to respond to any issues.

Reviews frequently mention Deel’s expert and proactive support. Our team is made up of dedicated Customer Success Managers and local HR and payroll specialists, which is what enables us to respond so quickly to every issue. We can assign you a dedicated point of contact for consistency, but still find you the niche expertise to solve unique challenges.

Deel vs Paylocity: Which platform is right for you?

Deel and Paylocity offer different levels of coverage, in-house expertise, and consolidation. Understanding their best use cases can help you make a more informed decision that pays off in the long term.

Paylocity works well for companies based in the US. It’s built for domestic payroll, HR compliance, and benefits administration, making it a strong fit for teams scattered across a few states.

On the other hand, Deel is the best option for organizations planning to hire locally in the US or across borders. Our platform unifies payroll, HR, and compliance while accounting for variations in requirements across industries and regions.

Make your business future-ready with Deel

Both Deel and Paylocity offer smart HR and payroll solutions. However, Deel stands out for its modern, centralized design and owned infrastructure that makes it easier for both local and international teams to scale in and out of the US.

Deel’s advantage lies in how everything connects. With owned entities and in-house experts globally, we can deliver consistent service everywhere you operate.

Interested in Deel Payroll? Book a call with the Deel team to see how Deel’s solutions support every worker, everywhere.