Brex vs Deel: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Brex reported $700M of revenue in FY2025 and — of net income. Deel reported $1.5B of revenue in FY2026 and — of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Brex
Brex never published audited results as a private company. Sacra estimates annualized revenue slowed to $312 million in 2022, growing 30%, while the company was reportedly burning about $22 million a month. After the January 2024 restructuring, growth picked up: Brex said in February 2025 that enterprise revenue rose 80% with net revenue retention near 140%, and Sacra estimates total annualized revenue reached $700 million in August 2025, up 50%. Brex turned operating-cash-flow positive for the first time in October 2025, according to Sacra. Before the sale it raised about $2.3 billion in equity. Capital One paid $5.15 billion, roughly 58% below the $12.3 billion valuation of 2021.
Deel
Deel is private and does not publish audited financials, but it discloses ARR milestones. ARR rose from about $57 million at the end of 2021 to $295 million at the end of 2022 (TechCrunch), $800 million by December 2024, more than $1 billion by June 2025, and more than $1.5 billion in the first half of 2026. Deel says it recorded its first $100 million revenue month in September 2025 and describes itself as profitable, without disclosing margins. Funding includes a $425 million Series D at $5.5 billion (October 2021), a $12 billion valuation in May 2022, a $12.6 billion secondary sale in early 2025, and a $300 million Series E at $17.3 billion (October 2025) led by Ribbit Capital with Andreessen Horowitz and Coatue. In November 2025 it hired former Intuit executive Joe Kauffman as CFO, a move widely read as IPO preparation.
Revenue and profit by year
Brex
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $700M | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
| FY2022 | $312M | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Brex
- Card interchange
Majority (undisclosed)
Fees paid by merchants' banks when customers use Brex corporate cards. Sacra estimates gross take of about 2.7% of card volume before partner costs.
- Software subscriptions
Growing share (undisclosed)
Brex Premium at $12 per user per month, plus enterprise contracts for spend management, approvals, travel and accounting automation.
- Cash management and payments
Undisclosed
Fees from partner banks and funds that hold customer cash in Brex Business Accounts, and transaction revenue from bill pay.
Deel
- Employer of Record (EOR) fees
Not disclosed
Monthly per-employee fees (list price from $599) for employing staff abroad through Deel's local entities.
- Contractor management subscriptions
Not disclosed
Monthly per-contractor fees (from $49) for contracts, compliance, and payouts; Deel Shield is priced on top.
- Global Payroll and HR modules
Not disclosed
Per-employee fees for payroll on clients' own entities, plus paid HR, immigration, and PEO services.
- Deel IT, payouts, and FX
Not disclosed
Equipment provisioning fees and income from currency conversion and worker payout products such as the Deel Card.
Business model and strategy
Brex
How it makes money
Brex makes most of its money from interchange, the fee a merchant's bank pays each time a Brex card is used. Sacra estimates Brex collects about 2.7% of card volume as gross revenue and keeps roughly 65% gross margin after paying its issuing and network partners.
Growth strategy
Brex's growth since 2024 has come from enterprise customers, international companies and partners. It serves more than 300 public companies, holds an EU payment institution licence obtained in August 2025, and distributes its cards through other software: Brex Embedded partners include Navan, Zip, Coupa and Sabre, and Brex is the default commercial card for Fifth Third Bank's commercial clients, according to Sacra.
Competitive advantage
Brex's main technical advantage is its own card-issuing stack. It integrated directly with Mastercard rather than relying on a third-party processor, which lets it issue local corporate cards, settle in local currency and reimburse employees in more than 50 countries. That matters to multinational customers such as Anthropic, Arm and Robinhood.
Deel
How it makes money
Deel sells recurring, per-worker services. When a company wants to hire someone in a country where it has no legal entity, Deel's local entity becomes the Employer of Record: it signs the employment contract, runs payroll, withholds taxes, and provides statutory benefits, while the client directs the work and pays Deel one invoice.
Growth strategy
Deel is expanding from international hiring into running payroll and HR for a company's whole workforce. Levers include Global Payroll for clients' own entities (strengthened by buying Safeguard Global's enterprise payroll business in March 2025), domestic US payroll and PEO services, a free HRIS that pulls in small and mid-size companies, and acquisitions;
Competitive advantage
Deel's advantage is owned coverage plus product breadth. It operates its own entities and payroll capability in most of the countries it serves, so it can onboard workers quickly and control compliance instead of relaying work to local partners.
Questions about Brex vs Deel
Which company has higher revenue — Brex Inc. or Deel, Inc.?
Brex Inc. reported $700.0M (FY2025), while Deel, Inc. reported $1.5B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Deel, Inc. is the larger business, with Brex Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
Which is more financially efficient — Brex Inc. or Deel, Inc.?
Brex Inc. generates $636k / employee in revenue per employee, while Deel, Inc. generates $156k / employee. Brex Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Brex Inc. and Deel, Inc. make money?
Brex Inc. and Deel, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Brex Inc.: Brex makes most of its money from interchange, the fee a merchant's bank pays each time a Brex card is used. Deel, Inc.: Deel sells recurring, per-worker services.
Is Brex Inc. bigger than Deel, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Deel, Inc. ($1.5B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to Brex Inc. ($700.0M (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Brex vs Deel overview