Deel vs Zerodha: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
A full-year revenue figure is unavailable here for Deel. Zerodha had ~$1B of annual revenue in FY2025 and ~$491.5M of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
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.
Zerodha
Zerodha reported revenue of ~$1.03 billion (₹8,847 crore) and net profit of ~$491 million (₹4,237 crore) in FY25, down from about $1.16 billion (₹9,993 crore) and ~$638 million (₹5,496 crore) in FY24 after SEBI's F&O changes. FY26 profit was ~$497 million (₹4,283 crore) on roughly flat revenue, helped by margin trading income.
Revenue and profit by year
Deel
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 run-rate | $1.5B | — | — | — | Source |
| FY2025 run-rate | $1B | — | — | — | Source |
| FY2024 run-rate | $800M | — | — | — | Source |
| FY2022 run-rate | $295M | — | — | — | Source |
| FY2021 run-rate | $57M | — | — | — | Source |
Zerodha
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | ~$1B | ~$491.5M | 47.9% | -11.5% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$1.2B | ~$637.5M | 55.0% | +45.3% | Source |
| FY2023 | ~$797.7M | ~$336.9M | 42.2% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
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.
Zerodha
- Brokerage (intraday and F&O)
~$318M (₹2,738 Cr) in FY26
Flat fee of up to ₹20 per executed order on intraday and derivatives trades. FY26 brokerage income fell about 11% from ~$356 million (₹3,066 crore) in FY25.
- Interest income
~$263M (₹2,269 Cr) in FY26
Interest earned on client margin funds and the company's own reserves; down about 4% year on year in FY26.
- Margin trading facility (MTF)
~10% of FY26 revenue
Launched in December 2024. Kamath said the MTF book reached about $1.04 billion (₹9,000 crore), with customers borrowing around $696 million (₹6,000 crore).
- Demat annual maintenance charges
~$20.9M (₹180 Cr) in FY26
Annual charges on demat accounts, up from ~$18.6 million (₹160 crore) in FY25. Accounts opened from 1 June 2026 get the first year free.
Business model and strategy
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.
Zerodha
How it makes money
Zerodha earns most of its money from trading and from client funds. Brokerage is charged only on intraday and futures and options orders, capped at ₹20 per executed order, while equity delivery trades are free. The second large stream is interest income, mainly on client margin money and on its own cash reserves.
Growth strategy
With retail derivatives activity slowing under SEBI's F&O rules, Zerodha is shifting its focus from adding traders to growing customer assets. Its levers are margin trading funding, the integration of mutual funds into Kite, Zerodha Fund House's passive funds, and new businesses in asset management, lending and insurance.
Competitive advantage
Zerodha keeps costs low through in-house technology, a team of fewer than 1,100 people and no advertising spend, which lets it stay highly profitable even as trading volumes slow.
Questions about Deel vs Zerodha
Which company has higher revenue — Deel, Inc. or Zerodha?
Zerodha had ~$1B (FY2025). A comparable annual revenue figure for Deel, Inc. was unavailable here.
How does revenue per employee compare for Deel, Inc. and Zerodha?
Zerodha generates $933k / employee in revenue per employee. A comparable figure for Deel, Inc. requires matching employee and revenue data from the same reporting period.
How do Deel, Inc. and Zerodha make money?
Deel, Inc. and Zerodha generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Deel, Inc.: Deel sells recurring, per-worker services. Zerodha: Zerodha earns most of its money from trading and from client funds.
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 Deel vs Zerodha overview