Danh mục: Tin trong ngày

 Alienware is a name synonymous with gaming hardware, and this year the company is upgrading its laptops with the Legion 3.0 design language. The newly released x14 and x16 feature magnesium alloy chassis designs and aluminum lids. Our review unit is a nicely equipped x16 with an Intel Core i9-13900HK processor, 32GB of LPDDR5-6000 memory, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU and a 1TB SSD.

Other features include a 16-inch QHD+ display (2560×1600) and something that I’ve never encountered before on a laptop: an RGB touchpad. While Alienware has offered this feature in the past, the x16 offers more customizable settings. Alienware packs all these features into a relatively thin and lightweight laptop, but is it enough to place it among the best gaming laptops on the market?

Alienware x16 Specifications

Design of the Alienware x16

You won’t mistake the x16 for anything other than an Alienware laptop, and that’s a good thing for fans of the brand. The lid is made of aluminum and features a prominent alien head logo, while a large “X” is positioned in the lower right of the lid. The hinge area of the x16 is finished in a light gray plastic, which to my eyes, clashes with the aluminum finish. Alienware should have either finished the hinge in aluminum like the lid or at least painted the plastic to match. As it stands, it just looks oddly unfinished.

The x16’s bottom chassis plate is also made from aluminum, while a rounded, rectangular ring serves as the “feet” for the laptop, allowing airflow for the numerous honeycomb-style vents. The rectangular ring is a lighter shade of grey plastic.

Image 1 of 7

The left and right sides of the x16 don’t have any ports,but feature vents to aid cooling. All the x16’s external ports are on the back panel. There you’ll find a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a microSD slot, one USB 3.2 Type-C port, one Thunderbolt 4 port, an HDMI 2.1 port, two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a mini DisplayPort and a proprietary barrel-style power port.

Opening the lid puts the 16-inch QHD+ display front and center. The bezels are minimal along the sides and top. A larger bezel resides below the display and carries Alienware branding. Despite the large 16-inch frame, the x16 forgoes a dedicated number pad and instead features fan intake grills on either side of the RGB keyboard. A relatively small touchpad sits below the keyboard, featuring RGB lighting (more on that later). The keyboard deck is dark gray, with a shimmering “moon dust” effect that is primarily noticeable under direct light.

The x16 measures 14.36 x 11.41 x 0.73 inches and weighs 5.67 pounds. The MSI Raider GE78 HX measures 14.97 x 11.73 x 1.13 inches, making it quite a bit thicker than the x16, and it weighs 6.83 pounds. The Gigabyte Aorus 15X measures 14.1 x 10.8 x 0.78 inches and weighs 5.79 pounds, while the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 tips the scales at 6.83 pounds with dimensions of 15.71 x 11.57 x 1.21 inches.

Gaming and Graphics Performance on the Alienware x16

The x16 uses a Core i9-13900HK processor, 32GB of DDR5-6000 memory and a GeForce RTX 4080 GPU. That’s a potent punch for this 16-inch display with a 2560 x 1600 resolution. However, we should note that the Core i9-13900HK in the x16 is at a disadvantage to the “HX” processors in this grouping due to fewer performance and efficiency cores (and a lower TDP), which can affect gaming performance.

However, the x16 had no trouble handling Cyberpunk 2077 in my hands-on testing, averaging around 78 frames per second at native resolution (2560 x 1600) with Ultra settings, ray tracing enabled and DLSS set to Quality. Turning off ray tracing saw the framerateincrease to 90 fps, but who would do that in a game this gorgeous?

Image 1 of 5

We pitted the x16 against the MSI Raider GE78 HX (i9-13950HX, RTX 4080, 1600p), Gigabyte Aorus 15X (i9-13900HX, RTX 4070, 1440p) and the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (i9-13980HX, RTX 4090, 1600p) in all our tests.

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Highest), the x16 ranked behind the similarly-specced Raider GE78 HX at 137 frames per second versus 177 fps at 1080p. However, the difference was much smaller at 1600p, with the x16 hitting 101 fps versus 107 fps for the Raider GE78 HX. Not surprisingly, the ROG Strix Scar 18 was the top performer, with 181 fps at 1080p and 124 fps at 1600p.

Grand Theft Auto V (Very High) saw the RTX 4080- and RTX 4090-equipped systems clustered close together at 1080p resolution; the x16, Raider GE78 HX and ROG Strix Scar 18 were all within a few fps of each other. However, the ROG Strix Scar 18 flexed its muscle at 1600p, where its RTX 4090 allowed it to score roughly 50 percent higher fps than its closest rivals at 132 fps.

In Far Cry 6 (Ultra), the Raider GE78 HX zoomed to the top, hitting 121 fps at 1080p and 104 fps at 1600p. The x16 was well behind, achieving 97 fps and 86 fps, respectively. The ROG Strix Scar 18 wound up in a head-scratching second place with 107 fps at 1080p and 94 fps at 1600p.

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Medium) saw a return to form for the ROG Strix Scar 18, which topped all competitors with 123 fps at 1080p and 85 fps at 1600p. The Raider GE78 HX and x16 settled into their respective second and third positions, with the latter touching 100 fps at 1080p and 63 fps at 1600p.

It was more of the same with Borderlands 3 (Badass), with the ROG Strix Scar 18 leading the field with 165 fps/112 fps (1080p/1600p). The Raider GE78 HX again took second, with 153 fps/100 fps (1080p/1600p). The x16 took third with 137 fps at 1080p and 93 fps at 1600p.

On the Metro Exodus benchmark, the x16 averaged 87.14 fps throughout 15 runs at 2560 x 1600 with the RTX preset. During our benchmark testing, the Core i9-13900HK performance and efficiency cores averaged 3.61GHz and 2.43GHz, respectively, with a package temperature of 88.16 degrees Celsius (190.7 Fahrenheit). The GPU clocked in at 2.1GHz at 81.67 C (179 F).

Productivity Performance on the Alienware x16

The Alienware x16 comes equipped with an Intel Core i9-13900HK processor, 32GB of DDR5-6000 memory and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.

Starting with Geekbench 5, the Core i9-13900HK immediately has a disadvantage due to its “HK” processor. That used to be the top end, but now that’s been ceded to the newer “HX” chips. The Core i9-13950HX in the Raider GE78 HX has eight performance cores and 16 efficiency cores compared to the six performance cores and eight efficiency cores in the x16’s Core i9-13900HK. This is reflected in the x16 performing worse than its “HX” peers with a 14,919 multi-core score (1,929 single-core). For comparison, the Aorus 15X hit 2,007 for single-core and 18,129 for multi-core, while the Raider GE78 HX led all contenders with scores of 2,121 and 21,063, respectively.

Image 1 of 3

However, the x16 eked out a win in our 25GB file transfer test, hitting 1,913.59 MBps versus 1,885.81 MBps for the second-place ROG Strix Scar 18 and 1,721.37 MBps for the Aorus 15X.

The x16’s core disadvantage once again reared its head in our Handbrake benchmark, which involves transcoding a 4K video to 1080p. Here, the x16 finished in four minutes and 50 seconds compared to four minutes and eight seconds for the Raider GE78 HX. However, the ROG Strix Scar 18’s took just two minutes and 49 seconds to perform the same task.

Display on the Alienware x16

The x16 uses a 16-inch IPS panel with a 2560 x 1600 (QHD+) resolution and a 240 Hz refresh rate. Alienware uses an anti-reflective coating on the display to reduce unsightly reflections outdoors or indoors under bright lights.

At 300 nits as measured by our lightmeter the x16’s display wasn’t as bright as the Raider GE78 HX (412 nits) and the ROG Strix Scar 18 (402 nits). That’s not to say I had a subpar experience with the display. It was quite the contrary, as I had no trouble enjoying the display indoors with copious overhead LED lighting or outside on my front porch with mid-day sunlight beaming down.

According to our colorimeter, the x16 covers 75.3 percent of DCI-P3 and 106 percent of the sRGB color gamut. These figures closely mirrored the Aorus 15X and ROG Strix Scar 18. However, the Raider GE78 HX surpassed those, reaching 115.4 percent for DCI-P3 and 163 percent for sRGB.

To test out the display, I queued up Throttle House’s comparison test of the BMW M2 versus the Porsche Cayman GTS and Volkswagen Golf R. My eyes were immediately drawn to the Cayman GTS, which was painted in Python Green. I had previously watched the video on my desktop Dell S3221QS 4K monitor, but the x16’s display breathed new life into the color.

While the green looked somewhat duller and flatter on my Dell monitor, the x16 gave it a deeper, more rich green that is truer to what it looks like in real life (yes, I’ve seen Porsche’s Viper Green up close and in person on more than one occasion, usually on 911s). Little details stood out clearly and accurately, like the bright red stitching along the interior doors and the GTS stitching on the seat headrests.

I also spent plenty of time playing Cyberpunk 2077 and Overwatch 2. I spent most of my time in the bright and airy Colosseo map while playing Overwatch 2 and hanging around the dark, desolate despair of Vista Del Rey in Cyberpunk 2077. Both games looked good on the x16 in just about every possible situation.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Alienware x16

Our review unit came equipped with an AlienFX mechanical keyboard with per-key RGB backlighting. The clicky keys and the sound they generate is like music to my ears. It reminds me of my younger days using classic IBM Model M keyboards in middle and high school.

Despite the 16-inch form factor of the x16, Alienware opted not to include a number pad. Instead, you’ll see nicely spaced-out keys and vents on either side of the keyboard covering one of the system’s four cooling fans.

Using my go-to typing speed website, keyhero.com, I achieved 90.51 words per minute with 98.81 percent accuracy. For comparison, I mustered just 75 wpm and 90.61 percent accuracy with the similarly sized Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra and 67.81 wpm and 97.1 percent accuracy with the Asus ROG Strix G16.

While RGB keyboards are nothing new, the RGB touchpad was something that I haven’t yet encountered on a laptop. The edge-lit RGBs add a colorful touch to an otherwise mundane touchpad. I opted for the Rainbow Wave effect, which lasts roughly 10 seconds after you last used the touchpad before it turns off on the High duration setting. The touchpad measures just 4.4 x 2.6 inches, which is a bit small to me for a 16-inch laptop. While you’re better off using one of the best gaming mice for play time, it’s nice to have a full-sized touchpad for actual work.

Audio on the Alienware x16

The Alienware x16 has no shortage of speakers. There are two 2-watt tweeters located towards the back of the chassis and four 3-watt speakers right up front under the palm rest. These speakers can get very loud, easily filling my upstairs home office. Even with the sound cranked to 100%, distortion is not discernable, although my ears begged for mercy at that volume.

Gunfire and ambient noises were clear and crisp in Cyberpunk 2077, with gunshots reverberating throughout my office. It was a similar experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, with the clear sound of horseshoes hitting the pavement and flesh being torn apart when shooting an enemy in the chest at close range.

I also pulled up one of my favorite tracks from Keane, “Black Burning Heart.” Tom Chaplin’s voice soars on the track, and you can even make out the subtle gasps of air he takes before each verse starts. It’s something that I’ve always noticed with Tom’s vocals (across multiple albums) while listening to tracks with headphones on, but it’s one of the few times that I could make out that peculiarity from laptop speakers.

Upgradeability of the Alienware x16

The x16’s bottom panel is held in place by six Philips head screws and detaches easily. Once removed, the battery and dual M.2 SSD slots are easily accessible (one of which is occupied by the system’s 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD). The Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo card is also within reach to the left of the M.2 slots.

Image 1 of 3

Unfortunately, the memory is soldered onto the motherboard, so there are no future upgrades in store once you’ve selected your memory configuration at purchase time.

Battery Life on the Alienware x16

The x16 uses a 90-kWh battery, leading to good battery life versus the competition. The x16 managed to endure for five hours and 37 minutes on our battery test, which included browsing the web, streaming videos and running OpenGL tests with the screen to 150 nits.

The Aorus 15X was the next-closest competitor at five hours and 20 minutes, while the Raider GE78 HX lasted just two hours and 32 minutes during the test.

Heat on the Alienware x16

We can only assume that Alienware went with the fewer cores of the Core i9-13900HK to cut down on the heat output in this thin chassis. However, the heat levels are still high, even with four cooling fans exhausting air from the chassis. While gaming, my legs got uncomfortably hot from the heat being transferred to the aluminum bottom panel. Heat also poured out from the area above the keyboard where the two rear fans are located.

Our testing showed that temperatures measured 96.1F (35.6 C) between the G and H keys while running the Metro Exodus benchmark. The touchpad measured 78.4 F (25.8 C), while the bottom aluminum panel measured 116.8 F (47.1 C). However, the hottest points measured were on the underside near the rear exhaust vents at 129.7 F (54.3 C).

Webcam on the Alienware x16

The x16 features a 1080p RGB+IR webcam with Windows Hello support, and overall image quality was excellent. It’s a clear step up from the shoddy 720p webcams we’ve been subject to over the years. In this case, the camera has remarkably low noise levels, even in low-light conditions. Details were easily picked up by the camera, and colors were well represented. At first, my skin color was skewing slightly red, and there were some weird halos around my overhead lights – then I realized that a thin piece of protective tape was still in place over the sensor. With that removed, the crisis was averted.

As I peered closer into the webcam, I clearly noticed that it was time to get my electric shaver out to tackle this balding head. The x16 doesn’t have a physical privacy shutter or keyboard shortcut to turn off the webcam, but a white LED does come on when the camera is active.

Software and Warranty on the Alienware x16

The x16 is loaded with four Alienware-specific apps: Alienware Command Center, Alienware Customer Connect, Alienware Digital Delivery and Alienware Update. Alienware Customer Connect and Alienware Update are pretty much self-explanatory. Alienware Digital Delivery is where you’ll find the software you purchased with your system.

However, most of your time will be spent in Alienware Command Center. This is where you can monitor system performance/vitals, set power profiles, and control AlienFX lighting (among other things).

Other installed apps included Dolby Access for adjusting Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision settings along with the Killer Intelligence Center for monitoring the Wi-Fi 6E card and network traffic. There are also several installed shortcuts for things like WhatsApp, ESPN, Instagram and Spotify.

The Alienware x16 comes with a one-year manufacturer warranty.

Configurations of the Alienware x16

The x16 is available with a Core i7-13620H, i7-13700H or i9-13900HK processor paired with 16GB or 32GB of DDR5-6000 memory. The full range of Nvidia Lovelace GPUs are available, ranging from the GeForce RTX 4050 to the RTX 4090. Likewise, customers can choose from 512GB to 4TB of internal storage and 165Hz or 240Hz refresh rate options for the 16-inch QHD+ display.

A base system with a Core i7-13620H processor, 16GB of DDR5, 512GB SSD, RTX 4050 and 120Hz QHD+ panel costs $1,999. A fully decked out system with a Core i9-13900HK, 32GB DDR5, 4TB (2x 2TB in RAID-O), RTX 4090, 240Hz QHD+ display and an AlienFX mechanical keyboard costs $4,149.

Our review unit is specced with a Core i9-13900HK, 32GB of DDR5, 1TB SSD, RTX 4080, 240Hz QHD+ display and the AlienFX mechanical keyboard. It’s priced at $3,349.

Bottom Line

The Alienware x16 is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to performance, and that’s due to the choice of the Core i9-13900HK processor versus the “HX” offerings in the competing laptops that we tested. This processor selection allows the x16 to come in at just 5.67 pounds with a frame that is just 0.73 inches thick.

Compared to the MSI Raider GE78 HX with a Core i9-13950HX and RTX 4080 at the same resolution, the x16 came up with the short end of the stick nearly every time. In addition, the chassis of the x16 gets uncomfortably hot in your lap while gaming and even the top portion of the keyboard deck gets noticeably hot. The Raider GE78 HX’s advantage in performance comes at the cost of a thicker chassis that weighs roughly a pound more.

But the biggest detractor is the price, which as tested, came in at $3,349. You can get the much faster but admittedly heavier Raider GE78 HX for $2,999. You’ll have to decide if the slightly slimmer profile and lower weight of the x16 are worth having the RTX 4080 handicapped by its processor.

MORE: How to Buy a Gaming Laptop

MORE: Best Gaming PCs

MORE: Best Ultrabooks and Premium Laptops

Data is one of any organization’s most valuable resources. And while data has its benefits, such as enabling businesses to better understand their customers and financial health, it’s also a complicated science.

It isn’t enough to simply capture your data. You must clean, process, analyze and visualize it to glean any insights. This is where data science tools and software make all the difference.

SEE: Save on Python training with this deal from TechRepublic Academy.

As a result of the amount of data collected each day (quintillions of bytes), the data science software market has exploded. There are thousands of tools out there for every stage of data science, from analysis to visualization. Selecting the tools that are best for your organization will require some digging.

Jump to:

Top data science tools comparison

Apache Spark: Best for fast, large-scale data processing

Apache Spark is an open-source, multi-language engine used for data engineering and data science. It’s known for its speed when handling large amounts of data. The software is capable of analyzing petabytes of data all at once.

Batching is a key feature of Apache Spark, which is compatible with various programming languages, including Python, SQL and R. Many organizations use Apache Spark to process real-time, streaming data due to its speed and agility. Apache Spark is great on its own or it can be used in conjunction with Apache Hadoop.

Pricing

Apache Spark is an open-source tool available at no cost. However, if you are sourcing the tool from third-party vendors, they may charge you a certain fee.

Apache Spark features

• Has capability for batch/streaming data.
• Includes SQL analytics.
• Enables users to perform Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) on petabyte-scale data without downsampling.
• Has the ability to train machine learning algorithms on a laptop.
• Integrates with several third-party services, including TensorFlow, Pandas, Power BI and more.

Pros

• Has over 2,000 contributors.
• Works with both structured and unstructured data.
• Includes advanced analytics.
• Boasts fast processing speed.

Cons

• Has limited real-time processing.
• Users report that they experience small file issues.

Jupyter Notebook: Best for collaborating on and visualizing data

Jupyter Notebook is an open-source browser application made for sharing code and data visualizations with others. It’s also used by data scientists to visualize, test and edit their computations. Users can simply input their code using blocks and execute it. This is helpful for quickly finding mistakes or making edits.

Jupyter Notebook supports over 40 programming languages, including Python, and enables code to produce everything from images to custom HTML.

Pricing

Jupyter Notebook is a free open-source tool.

Jupyter Notebook features

• Supports over 40 languages, including Python, R, Julia and Scala.
• Enables users to configure and arrange workflows in data science, machine learning, scientific computing and computational journalism.
• Users can share Notebooks with others using email, Dropbox, GitHub and the Jupyter Notebook Viewer.
• Supports centralized deployment — it can be deployed to users across your organization on centralized infrastructure on- or off-site.

Pros

• Includes big data integration.
• Supports containers such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Boasts ease-of-use for visualization and code presentation.
• Users praise the tool for its adaptability capability.

Cons

• Some users report that the software infrequently lags when working with large datasets or carrying out complex calculations.
• Users report difficulty in managing the version control of large projects.

RapidMiner: Best for the entire data analytics process

RapidMiner is a robust data science platform, enabling organizations to take control over the entire data analytics process. RapidMiner starts by offering data engineering, which provides tools for acquiring and preparing data for analysis. The platform also offers tools specifically for model building and data visualization.

RapidMiner delivers a no-code AI app-building feature to help data scientists quickly visualize data on behalf of stakeholders. RapidMiner states that, thanks to the platform’s integration with JupyterLab and other key features, it’s the perfect solution for both novices and data science experts.

Pricing

RapidMiner doesn’t advertise pricing on its website. They encourage users to request for quotes by filling out a form on their pricing page. Publicly available data shows that RapidMiner AI Hub’s pay-as-you-go plan starts from $0.80 per hour and may cost significantly more depending on your instance type.

RapidMiner features

• Visual workflow designer.
• Automated data science.
• Data visualization and exploration.
• Code-based data science that enables data scientists to create custom solutions.
• Support for organizations to access, load and analyze structured and unstructured data.

Pros

• Has over a million global users.
• Enables analytics teams to access, load and evaluate different data types, such as texts, images and audio tracks.
• Includes extensive learning materials which are available online.

Cons

• Steep learning curve for new and inexperienced users.
• Performance and speed issues; some users report the platform slows down when processing complex datasets.

Apache Hadoop: Best for distributed data processing

Although we’ve already mentioned one Apache solution, Hadoop also deserves a spot on our list. Apache Hadoop, an open-source platform, includes several modules such as Apache Spark and simplifies the process of storing and processing large amounts of data.

Apache Hadoop breaks large datasets into smaller workloads across various nodes and then processes these workloads at the same time, improving processing speed. The various nodes make up what is known as a Hadoop cluster.

Pricing

Apache Hadoop is an open-source tool available for free. If you are sourcing the tool from third-party vendors, they may charge you a certain fee.

Apache Hadoop features

• Offers machine learning capabilities.
• Provides fault tolerance.
• Includes data replication capabilities.
• Integrates with other tools like Apache Spark, Apache Flink and Apache Storm.

Pros

• High availability.
• Faster data processing.
• Highly scalable.

Cons

• Users report the tool is slower than other querying engines.
• Steep learning curve.

Alteryx: Best for offering data analytics access to all

Everyone within an organization should have access to the data insights they need to make informed decisions. Alteryx is an automated analytics platform that enables all members of an organization self-service access to data insights.

Alteryx offers various tools for all stages of the data science process, including data transformation, analysis and visualization. The platform comes with hundreds of code-free automation components organizations can use to build their own data analytics workflow.

For more information, read our in-depth Alteryx review.

Pricing

Alteryx prices vary based on the product you choose, the number of users in your team and the length of your contract.

Designer Cloud

• Starter: $80 per user per month with an annual contract. No minimum license count.
• Professional: $4,950 per user per year. Minimum three user licenses.
• Enterprise: Custom quotes. Minimum seven user licenses.

Designer Desktop: Costs about $5,195.

According to information on the AWS marketplace, Alteryx Designer/Server, which bundles one Designer user license and one Server, costs $84,170 for 12 months and $252,510 for 36 months.

Alteryx features

• Drag and drop UI.
• Support for Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).
• Orchestration of data pipelines.
• Role-based access control.
• Active data profiling and adaptive data quality.

Pros

• 30-day free trial.
• Excellent support from Alteryx.
• Easy to setup.

Cons

• Users report the integration capability can be improved.
• Data visualization capability can be improved.

Python: Best for every stage of data science

Python is one of the most popular programming languages used for data analytics. It’s simple to learn and widely accepted by many data analytics platforms available on the market today. Python is used for a wide range of tasks throughout the data science lifecycle. For example, it can be used in data mining, processing and visualization.

Python is far from the only programming language out there. Other options include SQL, R, Scala, Julia and C. However, Python is often chosen by data scientists for its flexibility as well as the size of its online community. And being an open-source tool, this is critical.

Pricing

Python is a free, open-source programming language; you can download it and its frameworks and libraries at no charge.

Python features

• Cross-platform language.
• Large standard library.
• Dynamic memory allocation.
• Object-oriented and procedure-oriented.
• Support for GUI.

Pros

• Extensive library.
• Large community.
• High-level language, making it easy for beginners to understand.

Cons

• Can be slower than other languages like Java and C when running computation-heavy tasks.
• Heavy memory usage.

KNIME: Best for designing custom data workflows

The KNIME Analytics Platform is an open-source solution that provides everything from data integration to data visualization. One feature that’s worth highlighting is KNIME’s ability to be customized to fit your specific needs. Using visual programming, the platform can be customized through drag-and-drop functionality without the need for code.

KNIME also features access to a wide range of extensions to further customize the platform. For example, users can benefit from network mining, text processing and productivity tools.

Pricing

• Personal plan: Free of charge.
• Team plan: Starts at $285 per month.
• Basic, standard and enterprise plan pricings are available on request.

KNIME features

• Ability for users to share and collaborate on workflows and components.
• Workflow automation.
• Integration authentication with corporate LDAP / Active Directory setups and Single Sign-On (SSO) via OAuth / OIDC / SAML.
• User credential management.

Pros

• Collaboration on workflows in public spaces.
• Community support.
• Excellent user interface.

Cons

• Team plan storage is limited to 30GB.
• Users report slow performance when using the tool.

Microsoft Power BI: Best for visualizations and business intelligence

Microsoft Power BI is a powerhouse tool for visualizing and sharing data insights. It’s a self-service tool, which means anyone within an organization can have easy access to the data. The platform enables organizations to compile all of their data in one place and develop simple, intuitive visuals.

Users of Microsoft Power BI can also ask questions in plain language about their data to receive instant insights. This is a great feature for those with very little data science know-how.

As a bonus, Microsoft Power BI is also highly collaborative, making it a great choice for larger organizations. For example, users can collaborate on data reports and use other Microsoft Office tools for sharing and editing.

Pricing

• Power BI Pro: $10 per user per month.
• Power BI Premium: $20 per user per month.
• Power BI Premium: Starts at $4,995 per capacity per month.
• Autoscale add-on: $85 per vCore/24 hours

Microsoft Power BI features

• Up 100TB storage capacity.
• Multi-geo deployment management.
• Dataflows (direct query, linked and computed entities, enhanced compute engine).
• Advanced AI (text analytics, image detection, automated machine learning).

Pros

• Up to 400GB memory size limit.
• Useful for performing complex tasks.
• Self-service capability.

Cons

• User interface which can be improved.
• Infrequently lags.

TIBCO: Best for unifying data sources

As an industry-leading data solution, TIBCO offers a collection of products as part of its Connected Intelligence platform. Through this platform, TIBCO helps organizations connect their data sources, unify that data and visualize real-time insights efficiently.

TIBCO first enables users to connect all of their devices, apps and data sources into one centralized location. Then, through robust data management tools, users can manage their data, improve its quality, eliminate redundancy and so much more. Finally, TIBCO delivers real-time data insights via visual and streaming analytics.

Pricing

TIBCO Cloud Integration

• Basic: Starts from $400 per month, billed annually.
• Premium: Starts from $1,500 per month, billed annually.
• Hybrid Plan: Custom quote.

TIBCO Spotfire pricing is available on request.

TIBCO features

• Deployable on-premise, cloud or hybrid environment.
• Visual analytics.
• Embedded Data Science and Interactive AI capabilities.
• GeoAnalytics capabilities

Pros

• Easy to learn and use.
• Highly customizable.
• Extensive visualization options.

Cons

• Knowledge base can be improved.
• Data filters can be improved.

Frequently asked questions about data science

What is data science?

In its simplest form, data science refers to the gleaning of actionable insights from business data. These insights help businesses make educated decisions about everything from marketing to budgeting to risk management.

Data science features a unique process with various steps. Data is first captured in its raw form from various sources such as customer interactions, daily transactions, your company’s CRM and even social media. This data is then cleaned and prepared for mining and modeling. Finally, the data is ready to analyze and visualize.

SEE: Discover 5 things you need to know about data science.

Each step in the data science process will require specific tools and software. For example, during the data capture and preparation steps, both structured and unstructured data must be captured, cleaned and converted into a usable format. This is a process that will require the help of specialized software.

What is the importance of data science?

For every industry, the use of data to inform business decisions is no longer optional. Businesses must turn to data to simply stay competitive. Global tech leaders such as Apple and Microsoft use data to inform all of their critical decisions, highlighting the success that awaits the data-driven. And by 2025, data will be embedded in every decision, interaction and process according to McKinsey.

In other words, organizations that are not yet using their data will soon be far behind in just a few years. And in the here and now, these businesses are missing out on the many benefits of data science.

Real-world data science applications

There isn’t an industry that can’t benefit from data science and analytics. For example, in healthcare, data science can be used to uncover trends in patient health to improve treatment for all.

SEE: Explore everything you need to know to become a data scientist.

In manufacturing, data science can support supply and demand predictions to ensure products are developed accordingly. And in retail, data science can be used to scour social media likes and mentions regarding popular products, informing companies which products to promote next. Of course, these examples are just scratching the surface of data’s capabilities.

What are the tools used in data science?

There’s a wide range of tools out there to cover each step in the data science lifecycle. Data scientists and organizations typically use multiple tools to uncover the right insights. The following are the basic steps involved in the data science process as well as examples of the common tools used for each.

• Data extraction tools: The data extraction step requires organizations to use tools such as Hadoop, Oracle Data Integrator and Azure Data Factory to pull data from available sources such as databases and other tools like Excel.
• Data warehousing tools: The data warehouse is an environment where all data from disparate sources resides. Various data warehousing tools exist on the market, including Google BigQuery, Amazon Redshift and Snowflake.
• Data preparation tools: Tools such as Python are used to scrub data. However, other tools are available that simplify data preparation such as Alteryx.
• Data analysis tools: Data science tools such as RapidMiner and Apache Spark are suitable options for the analysis step.
• Data visualization tools: Data visualization makes it easy to glean insights from otherwise complex datasets. Some examples of powerful data visualization tools include Google Charts, Domo and Microsoft Power BI.

SEE: Here’s what you need to know before choosing a data warehouse service.

Benefits of data science tools and software

Better serve your customers

Analyzing customer behavior data can help you better understand their needs and desires. As a result, you can provide better experiences across your entire organization.

Improve your productivity

Data can highlight areas of your internal processes that are draining your productivity. You can then make the changes necessary to improve operational efficiency.

Prevent future risks

Through data science methods such as predictive analysis, you can use your data to highlight areas of potential risk. By taking action on those risks, you can protect your organization, employees and customers.

Make educated decisions in real-time

Decisions must be made daily that can either make or break your business. Through data science, you have access to real-time analytics about the state of your company. Any decision will then be based on the most up-to-date data.

Optimize your resources

Analyzing company data can help you pinpoint processes and tasks that are draining your financial and human resources. You can then make the necessary changes to protect your bottom line and your employees’ sanity.

Increase your data security

Protecting your data is critical, especially as more of it is created and more devices are used to access it. Data science tools such as machine learning can help you detect potential security flaws and fix them before your data is compromised.

How do I choose the best data science software for my business?

The best data science software for you depends on your business needs, data expert capabilities and data complexity. In order to select the best tool for your use cases, there are several factors to consider, including the technical knowledge of your team, your data science goals, the complexity of your data and your budget.

SEE: Explore ways you can use data science tools without hiring a data scientist.

Additionally, review at least three different data science software that aligns with your business needs, test run them by signing up for a free trial or request for a product demo, then select the one that best serves your business purposes.

Review methodology

We collected primary data about each tool from the vendor’s website, including features, use cases and pricing information. We also reviewed user experience feedback from independent websites like Gartner to learn about each data science software’s usability, ease of use and customer satisfaction.

Employers looking for quality talent expand their options when they open positions to international workers. However, global talent sourcing can be complex and costly, and the complications don’t stop after hiring: Employers must then manage payroll for their international employees, which can be challenging due to different tax laws and currency exchange rates.

International payroll services can simplify global payroll by calculating and paying taxes, managing compliance and distributing payments on your company’s behalf. Using these tools can make hiring internationally more worth an employer’s time and money, allowing you to access top talent without letting complex tax regulations monopolize your time.

Keep reading to see the top eight international payroll services for global organizations in 2023.

SEE: Feature comparison: Time tracking software and systems (TechRepublic Premium)

Jump to:

Top international payroll solutions: Feature comparison table

The best global payroll systems offer full-service automatic payroll runs with tax administration (if applicable). For the most part, they also offer employee payments in local currencies. Otherwise, each international payroll service offers a slightly different payroll solution with features tailored to different sizes and types of business.

Papaya Global: Best for global employee benefits

Papaya Global is a professional employer organization that offers international payroll services in 160+ countries. It benefits organizations by syncing payroll information from employees across the globe in one unified software system. As an all-in-one payroll and payments program, Papaya Global’s fintech solution deposits employee pay for you in 160 global currencies with payments attributed to your company rather than a third-party bank.

Papaya’s international payroll solution contains features that support businesses in gaining insights from their payroll data. For instance, its reporting and analytics tools allow workforce leaders to track their payroll and human resources data in real time for faster analysis that shortens the time it takes to arrive at actionable insights.

Along with its international payroll processing tools and data and analytics feature, Papaya Global helps you find location-specific employee benefits. The payroll software also gives you valuable insights into how your company’s compensation stacks up globally so you can make informed choices about how to compete in today’s job market.

Finally, Papaya Global’s focus on compliance ensures you can hire the best candidate for the job by helping you understand immigration processes, upload the correct documents and track the right information.

Pricing

Papaya’s global PEO plans are fully customizable to each customer. The ultimate cost depends on which of Papaya’s services you choose to incorporate onto its unified platform:

• Full-Service Payroll: Starts at $12 per month per employee.
• Payroll Platform License: Starts at $3 per month per employee. (Integrates your existing payroll and payments software with Papaya Global’s operating system.)
• Data and Insights Platform License: Starts at $150 per month per business location.
• Employer of Record Service: Starts at $770 per month per employee.
• Contractor management: $25 per month per global contractor paid.

Features

• Automatic document review to ensure compliance with international regulations.
• Multi-language support.
• In-house payments solution guarantees worker payments are deposited within 72 hours.
• Mobile app and employee self-service portal.

Pros

• Operates in more countries than most other international payroll solutions.
• Comprehensive platform bundles employee benefits, payroll tax and thorough HR features in one operating system.
• Transparent online pricing.
• Affordable integration with business’s existing payroll software to enable multi-country payroll.

Cons

• Plans can get expensive quickly depending on which services you need.
• Dashboard could be more user-friendly.

Learn more about Papaya Global on our complete Papaya software review.

Rippling: Best time-saving automations

Rippling offers global payroll management technology so businesses can hire remote employees, manage their payroll and HR processes, and generate worldwide employee data reports in a single centralized system. Additionally, Rippling makes onboarding international workers easy, as the system sets up employees and contractors with their training and devices quickly so they can get to work in no time.

Rippling easily automates and syncs data for payroll operations, enabling organizations to develop custom workflows that keep their teams on track. For example, automated notifications keep staff members informed about payroll adjustments. Rippling’s software also automatically categorizes and syncs payroll and finance data to users’ general ledger, saving them time on reconciliation.

The payroll company also automates global compliance processes, providing support for global minimum wage enforcement, overtime enforcement and leave enforcement. It supports many integrations with HR, IT and finance systems, including Slack, Zoom, Google Workspace and multiple accounting solutions.

Pricing

Pricing for Rippling’s full-service global payroll processing starts at $8 per month per user plus a monthly fee for using Rippling’s unified software platform, Rippling Unity. Rippling allows buyers to choose exactly which services they prefer to receive, which is why its plans require users to get a custom quote.

Features

• Extensive tech management features, including remote device management.
• Self-service onboarding and offboarding tools.
• Built-in financial tools, including expense tracking and corporate card access.
• Employee reimbursement in 100+ local currencies.
• Optional international PEO and global Employer of Record services.

Pros

• HR, IT, payroll, finance and inventory management on one software system.
• Generally high ratings from users on third-party review sites.
• Customizable features and pricing.
• Intuitive dashboard creates a solid user experience.

Cons

• Limited transparent pricing information online.
• Expensive plans.

To learn more, read our comprehensive Rippling software review.

Oyster: Best for international hiring

Oyster is an international payroll provider available in 180+ countries, making it an optimal choice for businesses with distributed workforces.

The software’s global employment tools are designed to help with international staff onboarding and payroll management. Users can access vetted resources, including global employment templates and checklists. The software also comes with a Time Zone Crossover Calculator for determining optimal talent sourcing locations. Its Global Employment Cost Calculator helps you instantly calculate your employment costs for workers worldwide.

Oyster also provides services for simplifying global talent sourcing with end-to-end employee management for international hiring. Its features help employers ensure hiring and payroll compliance through onboarding paperwork and consolidated in-platform communication. These streamlined tools speed up the process of hiring full-time employees in 130+ countries or contractors in 180+ countries.

SEE: Checklist: Employee Termination (TechRepublic Premium)

Pricing

Oyster has three main international payroll and HR plans:

• The Contractor plan starts at $29 a month and is suited for businesses that hire only international contractors in 180+ countries.
• The Employee plan is Oyster’s global employer of record solution. It starts at $499 per employee per month when billed annually or $599 billed monthly and can operate in 130+ countries.
• The Scale plan is ideal for growing global enterprises. It requires you to request a custom quote.

Features

• Country-specific global employment guidance tools.
• Financial management tools, including expense tracking, employee allowances and benefits.
• Global employee benefits options.
• Bulk hiring tools and dedicated global employment support (Scale plan only).

Pros

• Comparatively affordable employer of record service.
• Localized benefits attract top talent.
• Contractor payments in 120+ currencies.
• Free account access/trial period.

Cons

• Less customizable packages than some competitors.
• Fewer third-party business software integrations than most competitors.

Remote: Best employee relocation assistance

Remote’s employer of record service can hire employees globally on your organization’s behalf while managing payroll for contractors. It’s a particularly good choice for businesses that are breaking into the global market for the very first time. As an EOR service, Remote will handle every aspect of employee hiring and onboarding, assuming liability while dealing with the tricky legal tangle of bringing global employees on board.

Most notably, the company also helps businesses figure out how to assist employees with international relocation. Along with offering legal assistance as you figure out visa sponsorships, Remote offers cross-cultural training to help employees adjust to a new country. It also offers general moving assistance and country-specific insurance guides.

Pricing

Remote’s pricing and plans are fairly similar to Oyster’s:

• Contractor management starts at $29 per active contractor per month.
• Employer of record services start at $599 per employee billed annually or $699 billed monthly.

Remote has two other customizable payroll solutions with tailored quotes available by request:

• Global Payroll is a non-EOR payroll service for companies with entities in multiple countries.
• Remote Enterprise is Remote’s enterprise-level international payroll solution.

Features

• Fully customizable contracts for global employees.
• Intellectual property and international invention rights protections.
• Employee benefits packages.
• Integration with third-party applicant tracking systems, payroll and accounting software.
• Remote API for custom integrations.

Pros

• Easy onboarding and payroll processes.
• Useful country-specific guides to employment around the world.
• No exchange-rate fees for international contractor payments.
• Pricing available in local currency (not limited to U.S.-based companies).

Cons

• Waitlist for Global Payroll plan.

Gusto: Best for affordable international contractor payments

Gusto is one of the top payroll software choices for companies of all sizes. While it doesn’t support international employee hiring, it enables businesses to perform payroll processing for contractors in 95 countries, including India, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and Canada. Gusto’s automatic payroll runs, time and attendance tracking and basic reporting and analytics features, it’s a popular pick for employers based in the United States.

International contractor payments are supported in Gusto’s contractor-only plan. Employers can add international contractors to their payroll dashboard and pay them in local currencies. With customizable onboarding checklists for international contractors, self-onboarding features and the ability to add international contractors to a recurring payment schedule, Gusto’s software simplifies payroll so workers can begin their jobs fast.

Pricing

Gusto’s international contractor payment service is an add-on feature that doesn’t come built-in with any of its plans. Pricing for the international contractor service isn’t listed online, though Gusto clarifies that pricing varies based on exchange rate.

However, Gusto does list pricing for most of its other plans and services online. Here is the baseline price you can expect to pay for one of Gusto’s plans before adding its international contractor service:

• Gusto Simple: $39 per month plus $6 per employee per month.
• Gusto Plus: $80 per month plus $12 per employee per month.
• Gusto Premium: Custom quotes only.

Gusto also has a contractor-only plan that costs just $6 per contractor paid per month with no base fee for the first six months. After the six-month period ends, the plan costs $35 per month plus $6 per contractor.

Features

• Multilingual support.
• Mobile time tracking and geolocation tools.
• Unlimited monthly payroll runs.
• Built-in time and attendance tracking.

Pros

• Syncs with more third-party apps than nearly any other standalone payroll software.
• Generally transparent online price information.
• Employee self-onboarding portal with lifetime access to paystubs.

Cons

• No international employee hiring or payments.
• Limited HR features and support.
• Compliance alerts with most expensive plan only.

To learn more about Gusto, read our comprehensive Gusto Payroll review.

ADP GlobalView Payroll: Best payroll-specific solution

ADP provides international payroll and HR services in 40 countries through ADP GlobalView Payroll. ADP’s global payroll solution consolidates multi-country payrolls on one platform and standardizes the workflows needed to quickly process international payroll. Built-in time and attendance tracking tools automatically calculate wages, and the payroll software can make paycheck deductions and submit tax payments on a pre-set schedule.

Along with streamlining and simplifying global payroll, ADP GlobalView Payroll enables organizations to refine onboarding processes, create employee records and upload payroll documents to the system. Users in any country can access their payroll data via ADP’s mobile payroll app, which is fully localized to each area’s unique laws and regulations.

ADP GlobalView Payroll is geared toward companies with at least 500 employees located in one country. If you have up to 1,000 employees in at least three countries, ADP’s enterprise-level global payroll solution. ADP Celergo, could be a better fit for you. You can also add ADP Celergo to your ADP GlobalView Payroll plan if you operate in countries outside the 40 countries GlobalView Payroll applies to.

No matter which product you choose, you’ll need to add ADP WorkForce Now (or your preferred human capital management solution) if you want to integrate payroll processes with your overall HR system. Much like Gusto, neither global payroll solution includes HR features beyond time and attendance tracking and employee self-service access.

Pricing

Although pricing for ADP’s international payroll solution is not provided online, curious readers may call ADP’s sales team to receive a customized demo and cost information.

Features

• Single system of record for all employee payroll data.
• Integration with ADP Celergo expands payroll access to 140+ countries and 51 currencies.
• Tools for global data management, data security and privacy law compliance.
• Integration with QuickBooks Online, Xero, BambooHR, Workday, Slack and more.

Pros

• Employee self-service access to payroll data, paychecks and pay stubs.
• Detailed payroll data and real-time analytics.
• Integration with the most popular HCM solutions to boost your HR features, including ADP Workforce Now.
• Access to 3,000+ international compliance experts.

Cons

• Expensive pricing.
• Most HR features — including employee benefits — available only through the ADP Workforce Now add-on (additional fee).
• Payroll limited to 40 countries without ADP Celergo add-on (additional fee).

To learn more about ADP, read our full ADP review.

Plane: Best employee and contractor benefit options

Plane (previously known as Pilot) lets employers provide automated payments to their international contractors. In addition, the payroll service supports built-in payments without requiring transaction fees or exchange rate markups, making it an economical choice for businesses with global contractors.

Plane helps employers pay international contractors quickly and equitably, and it acts as an employer of record to hire and pay employees in 100+ countries without having to set up local entities. The service also comes with optional workers benefits in 175+ countries (including optional benefits for contractors), expense management tools and local contract compliance oversight.

The centralized payroll platform lets employers submit automated payments to their domestic and international contractors and employees in as little as 1-2 business days. In addition, the contractor self-service platform allows freelance workers to submit expense reports and payments, and overseas contractors won’t need to handle any transaction fees to get paid for their hard work.

Pricing

Plane has three main payroll plans and price points:

• Plane’s Contractor plan costs a flat fee of $39 per contractor paid per month.
• Plane’s U.S. Employees plan costs a flat fee of $19 per employee per month.
• Plane’s International Employees plan starts at $499 per employee per month.

Features

• Employee and contractor hiring in 100+ countries.
• Optional international employee and contractor benefits in 175+ countries.
• Global customer service assistance for employers and employees in all countries.
• Built-in expense management.

Pros

• Unique contractor benefit option helps companies stand out and attract talent.
• No e-wallet required for contractors to receive payments.
• No payment transaction fees.
• No setup, onboarding or cancellation fees.

Cons

• No mobile payroll app.
• Limited third-party integrations.
• Expensive per-employee fee for international payroll.

Multiplier: Best for risk-free international onboarding

Multiplier is a platform that helps employers perform their international payroll with features for managing taxes, social contributions and local insurance policies. The all-in-one system takes care of many different areas involved in the employment, onboarding and payment of international employees.

Multiplier takes “risk-free” to the next level by providing employment contracts that ensure compliance with local laws. The solution lets employers onboard, pay and provide benefits with reliability and security to global teams. It has local business entities in over 150 countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Pricing

Multiplier has several international payroll plans with relatively clear pricing:

• The Hire Employees plan starts at $300 per month.
• The Pay Freelancers plan starts at $40 per month.
• The Run Global Payroll plan starts at $20 per month.
• The Provide Employee Insurance plan starts at $20 per month.

Note that unlike its competitors, Multiplier’s prices are listed per month, not per employee. Depending on the number of employees you have and with payroll features you need, this pricing structure could save you a fair amount of money compared to other international payroll solutions.

Features

• Employee and contractor hiring in 150+ countries.
• Local currency payments (120+ currencies).
• Benefits administration.
• Compliant pensions and social contributions.
• Country-specific, customized insurance policies.

Pros

• GDPR-compliant and enterprise-class data protection policies.
• Onsite legal and tax experts.
• Transparent online pricing.

Cons

• Relatively new software company (founded in 2020) means features may be limited compared to competitors.

Key features of the best international payroll services

The exact international payroll features your team needs will vary depending on the countries you operate in, whether you work with more employees or freelancers and what your financial constraints are. However, with that in mind, most international companies need some combination of the following global payroll features.

Full-service payroll

Global companies don’t have the time to process payroll on an individual basis. Instead, they need time-saving automations like pre-scheduled payroll runs and automatic general ledger updates. Ideally, your payroll software also automates paycheck calculations by syncing with time and attendance software. It should automatically calculate wage garnishments, healthcare premiums and tax deductions, then file those deductions with the right country-specific agency.

Bear in mind that while self-service payroll software is cheaper than full-service, it requires too much time and hands-on oversight and data entry to be feasible for international companies of any type. That includes global enterprises that employ hundreds of people worldwide as well as small U.S.-based businesses that work with international contractors only.

Comprehensive compliance

Each country has a radically different set of tax laws, employment regulations and data security guidelines. The best international payroll services provide comprehensive compliance oversight and give you immediate access to local compliance experts who can offer trustworthy, top-notch insight into global employment concerns.

International employee and contractor payroll

Are you planning to add full-time employees in countries around the world, or are you planning to only work with freelancers, contractors and self-employed individuals as you expand your company? Even if you’re working with contractors for now, are you hoping to eventually add full-time international employees?

While most global payroll companies that support employee payments also support contractor payments, contractor-only services like Gusto don’t — and likely won’t — support employee payments. Consider your company’s future plans for expansion before signing up for a payroll service that locks you into paying just one type of worker over another.

When you’re considering what your global workforce will look like in the future, don’t overlook the number of countries your payroll software operates in and which local currencies it’s able to process. Migrating to a payroll provider only to learn it doesn’t support hiring in a country you have in mind creates a lot of unnecessary paperwork, hassle and wasted money.

Employee benefits

With the exception of contractor-specific payroll software like Gusto, most international payroll services either integrate with third-party employee benefits brokers or partner with global benefits providers so you can find the right benefits for your unique workforce.

Some global payroll providers restrict benefits to healthcare options only while others offer workers’ compensation insurance and country- or culture-specific benefits. Still others offer optional contractor benefits, which is a unique perk that could help you draw more workers to your company and retain top talent long after the hiring process is complete.

Global onboarding tools with employee self-service features

When you’re managing a global workforce, it’s crucial to ensure your employees can get on the same page quickly and stay there throughout their employment. For the most part, the best international payroll products have employee self-service portals with in-depth onboarding tools. Some providers, such as Rippling, include global IT services that let you manage devices remotely and ensure company data security while virtually guiding employees through onboarding.

Additionally, depending on your company’s needs and onboarding requirements, look for international payroll products that either include or integrate with learning management systems. These systems should have an international course library with customizable templates and country-specific compliance training.

Methodology

To choose, evaluate and rank the best payroll software for international companies, we looked at top payroll brands that offered, at minimum, global contractor payments in at least a dozen countries. From there, we prioritized payroll services that offered both employee and contractor payments in at least 40 countries with at least 50 types of global currencies.

We then thoroughly reviewed each software provider’s websites, demos and user reviews on third-party sites like TrustPilot, Garner Insights, Apple’s App Store and Google Play. We assessed each global payroll service in the following categories:

• Pricing: Transparent online pricing, add-on fees and number of features offered for price.
• Scalability: Number of plans, number of countries served and global customer support options.
• International payroll features: Full-service payroll, automatic paycheck deductions and customizable payroll reports.
• Third-party integrations: Specifically accounting, HCM, HR and human resources information system integrations.
• Customer satisfaction: Verified user reviews on third-party sites, registered complaints with the Better Business Bureau, customer service reputation and 24/7 customer support.

How do I choose the best international payroll service for my business?

Apart from analyzing features, assessing pros and cons and considering costs, the best way to find the right international payroll outsourcing service for your business is to get hands-on experience with multiple products before making a final choice. Most global payroll services don’t offer free trials, though some notably allow you to create a free account and explore the software on your own before paying a fee.

For the most part, global payroll companies require you to set up a customized demo where a sales representative will walk you through the program’s dashboard and offer you a tailored quote. The payroll system you choose will have a massive impact on your company’s bottom line, your employees’ experience with your company and the amount of time you have to spend dealing with paychecks and tax regulations — so make sure to ask questions like the following during your demo before committing to a global payroll provider:

• What does your ideal customer look like in terms of sizing and industry?
• What are your customers’ most frequent pain points and how do you plan to address those in the future?
• Which features do your customers appreciate the most? Which features are you planning to add in the future?
• Can I access a trial version of your software before committing to a plan?
• Do you offer white-glove setup and data migration assistance for new customers?
• What is the ideal use case for your payroll software?
• Does your software integrate with the specific personnel, HR and financial tools our business currently uses?

Feel free to consult our guide to choosing and setting up a payroll system as you sort through your payroll options to find the best global payroll service for your business.

Soldering is one of, if not the most important maker skill and using the best soldering iron is the smart way to produce your best projects. There is no facet of technology that the heat of a soldering iron has not touched. The best GPUs, CPUs and even 3D printers have components soldered to printed circuit boards (PCBs). Whether you are seasoned pro, or new to soldering, you need the right iron for the task at hand, be it robotics, data science projects or arcade cabinets. But what is the best soldering iron?

Just like an artist has their favorite brush, pencil etc, makers have their favorite type of soldering iron. Some prefer a full station with precise temperature control, hot-air rework and a built-in stand, some prefer a smart soldering iron, others just want a cheap soldering iron that gets the job done. There are some who require a soldering gun for bulk use on large joints. We’ve tested more than a dozen different soldering irons, measuring both their ease-of-use and the time it takes for them to get to an acceptable working temperature. Below, we’ve listed the best soldering irons, along with a guide to help you choose the right kind of your needs. 

If you’ve never soldered before, we recommend getting started by soldering the pins onto a simple microcontroller. See our article on how to solder pins to the Raspberry Pi Pico, a $4 board. If you can find some old circuit boards then you have a ready supply of practice boards and a great way to harvest spare parts using a soldering iron and hot air rework station. Just remember to use a little flux to ease the process.

The Best Soldering Irons

$26 isn’t a lot of money in the world of best soldering irons. It can buy you a cheap kit, loaded with accessories to sweeten the deal. Or it can buy you what is probably the most useful soldering iron a maker could have. We loved the Pinceil v2 so much we gave it an Innovation Award.

Pinecil V2, is a refinement of V1, and brings a fully temperature controlled soldering station into the palm of your hand. No really! Don’t let its size fool you. This is a capable iron that can be used for delicate soldering tasks, or for larger jobs such as speaker cables and other connections with a large thermal mass. Just change the tip (it is compatible with TS-100, TS-101 tips) and you can solder connections both small and large.

Pinecil V2 is quick to heat up. Using the included conical tip and connected to a 20V USB-C power source, Pinecil went from 35 degrees Celsius to 350 degrees Celsius in 20 seconds. This is great for those of us that need to solder something quickly.

The “smart” aspect of Pinecil v2 is the OS. Yes we have an OS on a soldering iron, and with it we can tweak the iron to our needs. Setting a custom temperature profile for specific tasks is just a few clicks away. Customizing the UI for left or right handed users, setting sleep times to keep the iron hot while waiting for the user, then reacting to movement and ramping the iron to your preferred working temperature. 

The downside of Pinecil v2 is that it doesn’t come with a stand. The overall shape of the iron means that it does not roll around your bench. If you need a stand, they can be purchased for just a few more dollars.

Given the size of Pinecil v2 it is the ideal soldering iron for younger or inexperienced makers. It feels more like a pencil than a soldering iron and the quick heat up and cooldown times mean there is less chance of injury. That said, always supervise learners when using any new tool.

Hakko are the Rolls-Royce of the best soldering irons. Its color-scheme may look a little Fisher-Price, but this soldering iron is a professional piece of kit. The Hakko FX-888D is a soldering station that offers excellent thermal performance, with a soldering iron that can reach 480 degrees Celsius. Tips can be easily sourced and changed, enabling precision or heavy duty soldering.

The soldering station control unit has only two buttons but from there we can change the temperature and create presets for quickly moving from one type of job to another. The soldering iron has a great feel, with a non-slip coating and a flexible silicone cord to reduce accidental melting.

We soldered up a Velleman kit (PIC experiment board K8048) and the Hakko worked rather well. The default 350 degrees Celsius felt a little too low for the rather thick PCB so we upped the temperature to 400 and the lead solder flowed perfectly.

This is a pro level soldering station and with that it commands a pro level price. If you are going to solder a lot, or for professional use then this should be on your wish list.

The TS101 continues the greatness of its progenitor, the TS100 but provides a greater choice of power supply options. The iron is precise, quick to heat and easy to use. Compatibility with TS100 soldering tips is a great feature, and opens up a world of choice.

In our review we loved how the TS101 felt in the hand, the button placement is perfect and the tip compatibility with the plethora of Pinecil and TS100 tips means that it caters to every user. Younger or inexperienced makers will find the TS101 slightly larger than say Pinecil v2, but the button placement and balance make this an ideal alternative for makers learning to solder.

The $50 price tag is double that of Pinecil V2 and there isn’t much difference between them. They both support the same power options and soldering iron tips. What does separate them is comfort. If we were soldering all-day long, then the TS101 would be our choice.

A cheap soldering iron kit is how many of us start our soldering journey. It is how I started way back in the 1980s. Sometimes a cheap kit will put us off, other times it offers a low cost point of entry for a new skill. The Tabinger solder iron kit is low cost, under $20 and comes with plenty of extras. This is normally a warning on the quality, in this case the iron is rather good despite our first impression.

In the kit we get lead free solder, spare tips and a folding stand (which works but isn’t the nicest). Sure all of these aren’t the best quality, but if we are starting out they will do a good job until we move onwards.

The iron is light in the hand and features a dial to set your temperature. Tips can be easily changed, and the kit comes with a selection of precision and chunky tips. Changing a tip involves unscrewing the collar and sliding the cold tip off, reversing the process to secure your choice in place.

Tabinger’s soldering iron melts solder well; just increase the temperature on the dial to be a little over your ideal choice. We normally solder at 350 degrees Celsius, but the solder was a little tacky with this iron, so we went to 400 and all was well. We did notice that the tip became “scorched” rather quickly. In our experience cheaper soldering irons can burn out quite quickly, so bear that in mind. Replacements can be easily sourced from Amazon or Aliexpress.

The Tabinger 60W Soldering Iron is a decent iron to get you started. The low cost makes it ideal for dipping your toe into soldering.

The best soldering station with a hot air rework is a dream purchase for most makers. You can buy brand names for hundreds of dollars, but the Yihua 995D+ offers brand name performance for a fraction of the price.

We’ll start with the soldering iron: a rather generic iron which uses the collar system to retain a tip over a heating element. In this case being generic is a good thing. Replacement tips can be easily sourced (even Haako tips will work). The iron feels good in the hand and the silicone cable never gets in the way thanks to its own weight keeping it fixed to the bench. 

The hot air gun also feels good in the hand and has a similar cable. Controlling the iron and hot air is a little tricky at first, requiring the correct controls to be selected (on the left are the hot air controls, on the right the soldering iron) before using the central knob to set the temperature and air flow.

The tall, thin design keeps your bench space clear –  the included soldering iron stand takes a little more space but that’s ok. The included stand is solidly built, doesn’t slip around the bench and has the choice of brass or sponge to clean the tip. The Yihua 995D+ is an excellent soldering station for beginners and pros alike. It gets the job done, looks good and keeps more cash in your pocket.

Weller is a known brand in the world of soldering irons. They produce good quality irons and this 140W soldering gun represents another quality product. 

Soldering guns come in many forms, some feed solder to the tip, others, like this require us to manually feed the solder with a spare hand. The Weller 140W soldering gun is a beast, and lays down a surprising amount of heat in six seconds. From ambient to 480 degrees Celsius in six seconds, you can solder heavy, big joints. If you need to solder some speaker cables, large power connections on a robot or vehicle, then this gun will make the job so much easier.

Slightly pressing the trigger unleashes 140W of power to the tip of the iron. Talking of tips, it comes with a selection for precise and blunt tips for different soldering scenarios. This isn’t a general purpose soldering iron, but when you need raw power, for a large surface area, then this will do the job just fine.

Fnirsi’s HS-01 smart soldering iron is a challenger for Pinecil’s crown. It shares the same price-point, around $30 and it uses USB C power. But the HS-01 is a much better travel companion.

First of all is the cap. Instead of a stand we get a cap which firmly covers the hot tip of the soldering iron. Sure the cap will get hot if you put it on right after soldering, but the iron cools down quick, and heats up even quicker! The screw collet, designed to hold the tip in place, means that we do not need a screwdriver to replace tips, just wait for the iron to cool and you can swap the tip for a compatible replacement. TS100 / TS101 / Pinecil tip compatibility would be the ideal, but a set of Hs-01 compatible tips is around $15.

Soldering with the HS-01 is a joy. The included tip is a good all-rounder and for our review it performed great on solder joints big and small. For $30, if the Pinecil V2 is out of stock, or you need a soldering iron for your traveling maker kit, buy this instead!

Read: Fnirsi HS-01 Review

Picking The Best Soldering Iron For You

Finding the best soldering iron for you is important. You need to be comfortable with the soldering iron in order to concentrate on the task at hand. But which type of soldering iron is for you?

• Basic Soldering irons:  If you are just trying your hand with soldering then perhaps an advanced soldering setup is not for you, yet. A simple soldering iron heats up to a set temperature, giving you the confidence to start soldering without having to tweak the settings.
• Smart Soldering Irons: If space is at a premium, but you need a temperature controlled soldering station, then smart soldering irons are for you. Typically powered using USB C or DC power supplies, these irons provide precise temperature control without dominating the bench.
• Soldering Station: If you need a soldering iron with precise temperature control, along with the best thermal balance, then a soldering station is for you. Stations have an external control unit which contains the power circuitry necessary to deliver precise thermal output. The soldering iron is typically housed in a separate stand giving the user flexibility on the bench.
• Hot Air Soldering Station: These stations offer a temperature controlled soldering iron, along with a hot air gun that is used for surface mount soldering, reflowing circuits and desoldering components from boards.
• Soldering Gun: A soldering gun is a brute force tool, used for larger solder joints. If you are soldering heavy duty cables, speakers or terminals, then a soldering gun has the power you need. For finer, detailed work they are clumsy and awkward, so you will still probably want a soldering iron  to go with your gun.

Other Soldering Irons We Tested

Miniware TS80P

How did this iron not make the list? It looks great, feels great and it has a spring loaded tip ejection system. What let it down was the price, $95 is a lot for an iron. It can put down heat, but you need to change the included precision tip for something more general purpose in order to get it into a board. We love the iron’s user interface and it works really well, but so does Pinecil V2, which retails for a third of the price.

Weller WLSK3023G Soldering Station

Coming from the Weller pedigree we had high hopes for this soldering station. Alas it wasn’t meant to be. The LED light ring is annoying, the iron felt imprecise, and the hot tip of the iron pointing out from the stand felt counter-intuitive. It isn’t a bad iron, but compared to others, it just wasn’t worth the $70 asking price.

YIHUA 938BD+ Soldering Station

It was a tough call between the 938BD+ and the 995D+. The 938BD+ has a wider footprint, but the user interface felt a little less cumbersome. The call was tough, and if the 938BD+ is offered at a reduced price to the 995D+, then jump on it.

Preciva 8786D Hot Air Gun Rework Station

It may look a little dated, but this is a solid, low-cost soldering station. So why didn’t it make the list? The hot air rework gun felt weak, we had to ramp the temperature to the max in order to melt the solder on a heavy joint. The soldering iron felt fine, much like the Yihua stations (Preciva and Yihua are one and the same) but it lacked a silicone cord, instead using PVC. PVC cords are fine, but they are prone to creeping along your bench, getting in the way.

New Acalox Soldering Gun

This gun was the antithesis of the Weller. It took a while to heat up and required solder to be fed via a ratchet system, through the gun. It felt cheap, and the easily removable plastic cover exposed mains voltage connections. If you need a soldering gun, spend the extra money and get the Weller. This cheaper version is not safe for general use.

How We Test The Best Soldering Irons

Each soldering iron was tested with a Velleman PCB kit, chosen for its mixture of small through-hole components and large soldering joints (mechanical joints to anchor components to the board). We used the same solder, lead based 60 / 40 with tin and rosin flux core across all tests, to ensure that our results were consistent.

From Cold to Hot: Getting to A Working Temperature

For each soldering iron / station / gun we tested how long it would take to get to a working temperature from cold. What is a working temperature? Well that is a personal choice. Some prefer to solder at 350 degrees Celsius, others much higher. Rather than set a temperature target, we chose to pick the moment where solder instantly melts on the tip of the iron. In the case of the hot air rework stations we chose the moment that a heavy solder joint would fully melt. All times are measured in seconds, and a lower time is better.

Basic Soldering Iron Times

These basic irons are there for “plug and play” soldering and the Tabiger 60W iron gets to a solder melting temperature much quicker (42 seconds) than the venerable Antex XS25 (116 seconds). The Tabiger has basic temperature control, and almost three times the power of the Antex iron. That said, Antex is a respected brand and offers superb performance.

Hot Air Rework Station Times

These stations all feature a soldering iron and a hot air gun. The irons all heated up fast with the Yihua 995D taking first place in 24 seconds. The Yihua 938BD+ claimed second place at 33 seconds. For hot air, the 938BD+ was way slower than the others, 112 seconds versus a joint 92 seconds for the 995D and Preciva 8786D.

Smart Soldering Iron Times

Smart soldering irons are the F1 cars of the soldering world. They get hot, fast! Pinecil v2 took first place with a time of 10 seconds, joint second were Miniware’s TS100 and TS80P. Any of these smart soldering irons would be a great addition to a maker’s toolbox. But for under $30, Pinecil v2 is hard to resist.

Soldering Gun Times

If you absolutely have to solder large solder joints, then a soldering gun is for you. These things get hot, and have the thermal mass to dump solder onto the target. Weller’s soldering gun is impressive. It heats up within six seconds, and can sustain large solder joints for a considerable amount of time. The Acalox soldering gun is slow to heat up (26 seconds) and it feels rather cheaply made. Avoid it and pay the extra for Weller.

Soldering Station Times

Weller may have won the soldering gun round, but it loses out to Hakko’s FX888D. Heating up in 25 seconds, versus Weller’s 76 seconds, the Hakko FX888D is a sublime soldering experience, but we expect that given its price. If you are going to be soldering professionally it is always best to have the right tool for the job (as Star Trek’s Scotty can attest.)

Managing human resource and payroll tasks can be complicated and time-consuming for businesses, especially ones that employ workers on a global scale. Oyster’s software solutions for HR and global payroll have become a popular choice for these organizations, as they offer a way to streamline international workforce management processes.

SEE: Head to the best. Check out our comprehensive list of the top payroll solutions of 2023.

Still, alternative software solutions to Oyster HR are available, with different features that may be more aligned with your organization’s unique needs. In this article, we will explore the top competitors and alternatives to Oyster HR software, analyzing their features, pricing, pros and cons to help you make an informed decision on the best tool for your business.

Jump to:

Top Oyster HR competitors and alternatives: Comparison table

Take a look at this representation of how Oyster HR’s alternatives compare, based on their approach to several key global payroll and HR features.

Top Oyster HR competitors

The following software providers offer comparable solutions to Oyster’s products. Take a look at the options below for a breakdown of their features, pros, cons and prices.

Papaya Global: Best for data analytics and monitoring

Papaya Global is a global professional employer organization and provider of integrated global systems for payroll and HR processes. The company’s software uses automated technology to help businesses pay and manage their team members across 160+ countries.

Papaya Global’s standout software features include its real-time reporting and analytics tools, which enable organizational leaders to reach insights and make informed decisions through their payroll and HR data. In addition, each of the software plans comes with strong AI-based automation tools to streamline payroll and compliance processes.

Features

• 160+ countries supported.
• Automated direct payments in local currency.
• Third party tax payments.
• Customized user permissions and approval chains.
• Reporting for payroll, HR, payments, billing and admin data.
• EOR & payroll contract management and compliance management for GDPR requests and with SOC2 requirements.

Pros

• The solution provides a BI analytics suite and people reports on key datasets like payroll costs and HR workforce data and comes with data monitoring, so organizations can identify important trends in real-time.
• The software comes with Papaya Personal, a self-service platform for employees, workers and contractors that is available in multiple languages and accessible both on desktop and on mobile devices.
• The HRIS system offers a high level of customization, so users can personalize their tools according to the business’s unique HR and organizational needs.

Cons

• Papaya Global does not own EOR subsidiaries or legal entities in the countries it services.
• The solution lacks HR features commonly offered in other HR and team management solutions, like performance monitoring and training features.

Pricing

Papaya Global provides its software through seven plans:

• Full-Service Payroll plan starting from $12/month per employee.
• Payroll Platform License plan starting from $3/month per employee.
• Data and Insights Platform License plan starting from $150/month per location.
• Payments-as-a-Service plan starting from $3/month per employee.
• Employer of Record plan starting from $770/month per employee.
• Contractor Management plan starting from $25/month per employee.
• Global Expertise Services plan starting from $250/month per employee.

Customers can also contact the company sales team or go online to get a customized price quote based on their business needs.

Read our full review of Papaya Global for more details.

Plane: Best for fast international payroll

Plane is another software provider that acts as an employer of record for the businesses that use it. (Note that Plane is a recent name change for the company previously known as Pilot. We’re working on getting updated brand and logo information for Plane ASAP.)

Plane’s software enables employers to pay international contractors in 240+ countries and acts as an employer of record for organizations that hire and pay employees in 100+ countries. The solution provides features for processes including payroll, benefits administration, expense management and localized contracts.

This provider takes the cake for fast international payroll processes, as its payroll platform allows businesses to submit automated payments to domestic and international contractors and employees in as little as 1-2 business days. With local currency payments and bank transfers in 70+ countries with no currency markups, international contractors can have payments deposited directly into their bank accounts.

Features

• Contractor payments in 240+ countries, employee payments in 100+ countries and multi-state W2 payroll.
• Guided hiring and onboarding workflow.
• W-8, W-9 tax form collection and 1099 filing.
• Expense reimbursements.
• Locally compliant contracts.
• Health insurance and other benefits available.

Pros

• Self-service features for employees are available through the contractor self-service platform, which allows users to submit expense reports and view payments.
• Allows businesses with global contractors to make built-in payments without requiring transaction fees or exchange rate markups.
• Through the built-in expense management features, organizations can approve expenses submitted by global employees and quickly process expense reimbursements.

Cons

• Several advanced features and services are only available through the Plus plan.
• Pricing for the International Employees Plus plan is determined based on the price tier, with all countries aside from Canada costing more.

Pricing

Plane’s services are provided through the following pricing plans:

• Contractors plan priced at $29 per contractor/month.
• US Employees plan priced at $29 per employee/month.
• International Employees plan starting at $299 per employee/month for Tier A (Canada included) or $549 per employee/month for Tier B (100+ other countries included).
• Employees Plus plan starting at  $459 per employee for Tier A (Canada included) and $749 per employee for Tier B (100+ other countries included).

Rippling: Best for employee onboarding and offboarding

Rippling offers an all-in-one HR Cloud software that helps businesses run their global workforces, regardless of the location of their teams. The global HR platform makes it easy for organizations to manage their workers through each stage of their employment lifecycle, from onboarding through to offboarding.

Rippling provides global payroll services for employees and contractors with a 100% accuracy guarantee, and lets employers generate worldwide employee data reports in a single centralized system. Organizations can start setting up international teams with the software, as the system streamlines training for employees and contractors. Businesses can even develop custom workflows for their teams thanks to Rippling’s automation technology.

Features

• Time and attendance tool for workers to clock in and out.
• Learning management to streamline employee training.
• Talent management and tools for onboarding and offboarding.
• Professional employer organization services for accessing health insurance, HR support, automated state unemployment tax registration and more.
• Pulse employee surveys to analyze worker feedback.
• Headcount planning for global teams.

Pros

• Automates global compliance processes to comply with local laws.
• The built-in time and attendance tool automatically calculates payroll for worked hours, including overtime.
• Workers can easily be onboarded, offboarded and have their employment changes managed through the Rippling HR system.
• The software supports many integrations with popular third-party HR, IT and finance systems.

Cons

• Comes with a steep learning curve for users who are unfamiliar with the technology.
• Rippling does not offer a free trial of its software.

Pricing

Pricing for Rippling software starts at $8/month per user. Customers can choose the services they want and receive a custom quote.

Read our full review of Rippling for more details.

Blue Marble: Best for reporting

Blue Marble Payroll supports international payroll processes in 135+ countries and provides services that help businesses expand their operations globally. Through the cloud-based global payroll platform WebGlobe, users can manage their international payroll operations and access monthly aggregated reporting on cost data among all countries and currencies. The solution allows organizations to run reports on aggregated employee and payroll data, too, so they can reach valuable insights.

Blue Marble also provides users with customized monthly reporting, equipping them with access to international payroll data and helping them maintain compliance in their operations. The customized reporting gives businesses a consolidated view of their payroll costs across all countries, in one location. Furthermore, the payroll software can be integrated with features for accounting, taxes, finance and HR processes.

Features

• Global payroll compliance guaranteed.
• Multinational payroll calendar.
• Treasury management and currency conversion services.
• Advanced controls.
• Aggregated reporting for international payroll.

Pros

• Blue Marble Payroll’s platform is a full-service outsourcing solution for global payroll management with a global network of payroll service partners, simplifying payroll processes for businesses.
• Global payroll compliance is guaranteed through Blue Marble Payroll’s dedicated compliance resources and advanced technology, so users can avoid risk of fines, fees and penalties.
• Standardizes data provided by disparate firms worldwide, for easy aggregated international payroll reporting.
• Uses a network of carefully vetted global consultants to help with various tasks, including registering companies abroad, providing local benefits, automating time keeping, calculating foreign accruals, recruiting and onboarding global talent, establishing banking abroad, managing employee performance and other global HRIS processes.

Cons

• Blue Marble does charge exchange rates, however the treasury management and currency conversion services can give users access to lower rates.
• Blue Marble does not offer a free trial of its software.

Pricing

Blue Marble is not transparent about its pricing, instead offering shoppers a customized quote based on individual requirements.

Remote: Best for EOR services

Remote provides global payroll for distributed teams and acts as an employer of record for businesses. This means that employers can use Remote to source workers internationally, and Remote will hire the employees on the organization’s behalf, as well as manage payments for contractors.

Remote’s software includes features and capabilities to help businesses manage their global payroll, compliance operations, taxes and benefits processes through its platform. Organizations can choose between hiring international employees through Remote, or using the software to manage and pay international contractors.

Features

• Employer of record services for payroll administration and contractor management.
• Country-specific benefits packages.
• Compliance with local tax and labor laws.
• 24/7 support from Remote’s network of local HR, legal and finance experts.
• International employee and contractor onboarding services.
• Expense management.

Pros

• As an employer of record, Remote assumes employer liability, handles all tax payments and enables businesses to avoid corporation taxes where they don’t have local entities.
• Provides hiring features including the ability for businesses to generate customized employment contracts.
• In addition to payroll and tax processes, Remote provides expense management and time off management features for teams to help streamline operations.

Cons

• The Remote Enterprise option is the only package that provides access to a dedicated support team. Otherwise, customer support is only accessible via email.
• Remote’s software lacks time tracking capabilities.

Pricing

Remote’s services are provided through the following pricing plans:

• Employer of Record plan, starting at $599/month per employee charged annually, or $699/month per employee charged monthly.
• Contractor Management plan starting at $29/month per contractor.

Businesses can contact the company for Global Payroll plan quotes, or to receive custom pricing for the Remote Enterprise plan.

Deel: Best for employee relocation services

Deel calls itself the future of global HR, providing features to help users hire and pay local employees and international workers. Thanks to Deel’s worldwide infrastructure, employers can source talent worldwide by hiring contractors and EOR employees globally without opening legal entities.

Deel provides payroll and HR services for contractors, EOR and employees. Its worldwide infrastructure has 100+ entities and provides visa support, making it possible to build, onboard and pay teams of global workers. Additionally, with built-in compliance, automated contractor invoicing, tax support and 15+ global payment options, businesses can streamline their global team management in one unified system.

Features

• Hire and pay contractors compliantly in 150+ countries, EOR employees through Deel owned entities in 90+ countries, or direct employees in 90 countries.
• Localized agreements for milestone, hourly or fixed work structures.
• Government declarations.
• Document collection and management.
• People directories, profiles and organizational charts.
• Customized permissions.

Pros

• Deel HR is customizable to fit with the payroll and HR management needs for every worker to ensure compliance within their country.
• Lets users manage their equity, working visas and equipment.
• Provides faster onboarding and offers users a holistic view of data regarding employer costs, headcount and churn.
• Enables businesses to pay contractors, EORs and direct employees through its automatic payroll features, and offers payment through 15+ global payment options.

Cons

• Certain features, like contractor misclassification protection and government declarations, are only available on higher-tier plans.
• The dedicated CSM is not offered to small businesses and is only available to enterprises.

Pricing

Deel’s services are provided through three pricing plans:

• Contractors plan starting at $49.
• EOR Employees plan starting at $599.
• Direct Employees plan priced at a custom rate based on the organization’s needs.

Is Oyster HR worth it?

Oyster HR offers international payroll and HR services for global contractors in 180+ countries and full-time employees in 130+ countries through its software. Oyster HR can act as a global employer of record for businesses, allowing them to compliantly hire, onboard, pay and manage full-time global employees. Alternatively, businesses can use the employee management solution to compliantly source, manage and set up payments for international contractors.

Oyster HR’s wide global support isn’t the only reason businesses use it for their international workforces. The software solution simplifies international business operations and offers users peace of mind through its global employment guidance tools.

SEE: Use our buyer’s guide to review the best solutions for international payroll.

These features allow businesses to make smart decisions when hiring internationally. For instance, organizations can use the Time Zone Crossover Calculator to optimize talent sourcing locations for their needs. They can also instantly calculate all employment costs for their workers worldwide using Oyster’s Global Employment Cost Calculator, so they can stay within their workforce hiring budgets.

Oyster HR provides plenty of features to help businesses ensure compliance with their global employment and payroll processes, making it a beneficial end-to-end employee management option for hiring, paying and managing international workers.

Oyster HR pros and cons

If you’re still on the fence about Oyster HR, consider the following pros and cons of its software, as well as the price of Oyster’s solutions.

Oyster HR pros

• Oyster HR supports integrations with many popular ERP, ATS, expense management and HRIS tools, including third-party programs like QuickBooks Online, Oracle NetSuite and Xero.
• Employers can use Oyster’s Employee Misclassification Analyzer to determine their risk of employee misclassification when hiring internationally.
• Oyster HR can process invoices and pay contractors in 120+ currencies, or process payroll for full-time employees as an EOR in 130+ countries.
• Oyster HR users can hire confidently with the Contractor vs Full-Time Employee Analyzer tool, which allows them to assess potential risks and costs associated with each option.

Oyster HR cons

• Oyster HR lacks some features that are commonly found among global payroll solutions, including advanced analytics, offboarding and employee training management.
• Oyster HR does not offer salary guidelines tailored to specific roles.
• Small businesses may find the pricing for full-time employees to be high compared to its competitors.

Oyster HR pricing

Oyster HR’s services are provided through three pricing options:

• Contractor plan starting at $29 per contractor/month.
• Employee plan starting at $499 per employee/month billed annually, or $599 per employee/month billed monthly.
• Scale plan, which is priced through custom rates based on the buyer’s needs.

Do you need an alternative to Oyster?

While Oyster HR is a popular payroll and HR solution, there are several reasons why organizations may wish to explore an alternative product. Oyster HR can be beneficial for various global payroll needs, but it lacks some HR functionalities that businesses may require, such as employee performance management tools.

Regarding payroll, Oyster HR does not offer advanced analytics or robust reporting. This means it may not be suitable for users that require features to help them identify trends or patterns in employee compensation or financing. Finally, some small businesses may find Oyster HR’s pricing too high for their limited budget, especially those looking to hire full-time global employees.

Oyster HR will be suitable for many businesses’ payroll and HR requirements. Still, its limitations may make it necessary for others to consider alternative products that offer more comprehensive features for tasks like time tracking, employee performance management and in-depth analytics. Therefore, some global teams may need to seek additional options to meet their payroll needs. Fortunately, our payroll services comparison tool can help organizations determine which payroll and HR features are necessary for their ideal software system.

Methodology

This is a technical review using compiled literature researched from relevant databases. The information provided within this article is gathered from vendor websites or based on an aggregate of user feedback.

Extract, transform and load tools are designed to help organizations extract data from disparate sources and consolidate the extracted data into actionable information and insights. With ETL tools, organizations can significantly improve data quality and simplify data management. They can work in either cloud or on-premises IT environments; they also come in either proprietary or open-source software. Here are some of the most popular ETL tools in those categories.

SEE: Explore the difference between ETL and ELT.

Jump to:

Top ETL tools comparison

Here is how the best ETL tools compare in terms of core features.

AWS Glue: Best for fully managed ETL service

AWS Glue is a nice fit for companies that use SQL databases, AWS and Amazon S3 storage services. AWS Glue enables users to clean, validate, organize and load data from disparate static or streaming data sources into a data warehouse or a data lake. It can also process semi-structured data such as clickstream (e.g., website hyperlinks) and process logs.

AWS Glue’s strength is in its ability to work with SQL, which many companies have competence in. On the programming side, AWS Glue executes jobs using either Scala or Python code.

Pricing

Pricing is free for the first million accesses and objects stored and is billed monthly based upon usage thereafter.

Features

• Schedule ETL jobs based on a schedule or an event, or set up trigger jobs as soon as data becomes available.
• Drag-and-drop editor for ETL job development.
• Automatically scales to accommodate the processing and storage resources needed to provide visibility of runtime metrics while it processes data.
• APIs for third-party JDBC (JAVA)-accessible databases like DB2, MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, Apache Kafka and MongoDB.
• AWS offers free online courses. It also provides certification programs.

Pros

• Flexible operations with easy scalability.
• No need for a server.
• Automated data scheme identification.

Cons

• User interface feels outdated.
• Technical support needs improvement.
• Steep learning curve.

Azure Data Factory: Best for Azure users

Azure Data Factory is a pay-as-you-go cloud-based ETL tool that automatically scales processing and storage to meet your data and processing demands. Its strength is that it can be used by both IT professionals and end users. This is because the tool has both a no-code graphical user interface for end users and a code-based interface for IT. Both code and no-code interfaces feature data pulls from more than 90 connectors. Among these connectors are AWS, DB2, MongoDB, Oracle, MySQL, SQL, Sybase, Salesforce and SAP.

Pricing

Pricing is based on usage.

Features

• Free online training.
• Certification for Azure Data Factory.
• 24/7 technical support via phone and email.

Pros

• Outstanding technical support.
• High visual interface.
• Excellent integration capabilities.

Cons

• Steep learning curve.
• Limited data transformation features.

Google Cloud Dataflow: Best for scalability

Google Cloud Dataflow is part of the Google Cloud platform and is well integrated with other Google services. Dataflow uses the Apache Beam open-source technology to orchestrate the data pipelines that are used in DataFlow’s ETL operations. Google Cloud Dataflow requires IT expertise in SQL databases and Java and Python programming languages.

This software can be deployed for both batch and real-time processing and in either a scheduled or real-time on-demand mode. Because Google Cloud Dataflow is cloud-based, it can automatically scale to accommodate the processing and storage that you need for any ETL job. Google Cloud Dataflow is ideal for shops that heavily use the Google Cloud platform.

Pricing

• Pricing is based on usage. Through its Cloud Academy, Google offers a free online tutorial on Dataflow, hands-on training at $34/month and a Google certification program at $39/month.

Features

• Automated management of processing resources.
• Real-time AI capabilities.
• Horizon auto-scaling to maximize resource utilization.
• Fully managed data processing service.

Pros

• Serverless architecture.
• Deep integration with Google Cloud services.
• Programming models allow for high developer productivity.

Cons

• Reliant on Google Cloud infrastructure.
• Complex debugging.

IBM DataStage: Best for large enterprises

DataStage is part of the IBM Information Server Platform. It’s a robust ETL solution that uses a client/server design where jobs are created and administered via a Windows client against a central repository on a server. This tool is designed for IT professionals who have a sound understanding of SQL and knowledge of the BASIC programming language, which InfoSphere DataStage uses.

Regardless of the platform, the IBM DataStage ETL software can integrate data on demand across multiple, high volumes of data sources and can target applications using a high-performance parallel framework. DataStage also facilitates extended metadata management and enterprise connectivity.

Pricing

Pricing is available upon request.

Features

• Support for a variety of connectors, including AWS, Azure Google, Sybase, Hive, JSON, Kafka, Oracle, Salesforce, Snowflake, Teradata and others.
• 24/7 technical support packages.
• Pre-build connectors to help integrate with different types of systems.
• Pay-for online and classroom training and certifications for DataStage.

Pros

• Ability to manage complex data workflows.
• Extensive integration capabilities.
• Large user community that offers extensive support resources.

Cons

• Not ideal for cloud-native architecture.
• Clutter user interface.

Oracle Data Integrator: Best for systems that rely on Oracle technologies

Oracle Data Integrator is a strong platform for larger enterprises that run other Oracle applications that supports data integration for both structured and unstructured data. ODI is designed to move data from point to point across an entire company’s business functions. Like Oracle ERP, it can support integrated workflows across entire organizations.

ODI can process data integration requests that range from high-volume batch loads to service-oriented architecture data services that enable software components to be called and reused in new processes.

ODI also supports relational databases and has a library of application programming interfaces for third-party data and applications. It supports Spark Streaming, Hive, Kafka, Cassandra, HBase, Sqoop and Pig.

Pricing

Customized pricing.

Features

• Supports parallel task execution for faster data processing.
• Built-in integrations with other Oracle tools, such as Oracle GoldenGate and Oracle Warehouse Builder.
• Prebuilt templates and code snippets for various data sources.
• Real-time and batch-oriented data integration.

Pros

• Seamless integration with other Oracle products.
• Extensive prebuilt knowledge modules.
• ETL architecture for high performance.

Cons

• Requires IT expertise and experience in Java programming.
• Limited capabilities for non-Oracle targets or data sources.

Check how Oracle Data Integrator compares with SAP Data services.

Informatica Mapping Designer: Best for advanced users

Informatica PowerCenter is an enterprise-strength ETL tool that is best utilized by large organizations that need to move data across many different business functions. PowerCenter extracts, transforms and loads data from a variety of different structured and unstructured data sources that span internal and external (cloud-based) enterprise applications. PowerCenter has many APIs for a variety of different third-party applications and data.

Common data formats that PowerCenter works with include JSON, XML, PDF and Internet of Things machine data. PowerCenter can work with many different third-party databases, such as SQL and Oracle databases. PowerCenter will transform data based on the transformation rules that are defined by IT.

Pricing

Pricing is based on usage.

Features

• Although PowerCenter is a proprietary ETL tool, it can work in both cloud and on-premises environments.
• Advanced data validation and profiling tools.
• Includes PowerCenter online training subscriptions and provides learning paths for developers, administrators and data integrators through its Informatica University.
• Powerful metadata management and impact analysis features.

Pros

• Highly scalable.
• Drag-and-drop functionality for data mapping.
• Broad range of connectors.

Cons

• Initial setup can be complicated.
• GUI is not user-friendly.
• Limited support for specialized data sources.

Talend: Best for small or simple projects

Talend is open-source software that can quickly build data pipelines for ETL operations. It is a tool best utilized by IT because it requires changes to code every time you need to change a job. That being said, Talend is a highly user-friendly tool for IT professionals that uses a graphical user interface to effect connections to data and applications.

Talend Open Studio can pull both structured and unstructured data from relational databases, software applications and files. It can be used with on-premises, cloud and multi-cloud platforms, so Talend is a good fit for companies that operate in a hybrid computing mode that includes both in-house and on-cloud systems and data.

Pricing

A basic version of Talend is available for free. The enhanced version of Talend is priced on a per-user basis.

Features

• Talend comes with more than 900 different connectors to commercial and open-source data sources and applications.
• GUI enables you to point and click on connections to commonly used corporate data sources, such as Excel, Dropbox, Oracle, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics and others.
• The Talend Academy is available by subscription and offers a variety of online and instructor-led courses. Talend certification programs are also available.
• Talend technical support provides access to a wide user community, an online library and a one-stop customer portal.

Pros

• Impressive free version.
• Intuitive user interface.
• Broad connectivity.

Cons

• Limited ability to handle large data.
• Limited cloud-native capabilities.
• Lack of user community and training documentation.

For more information, read the full Talend review.

Pentaho Data Integration: Best for small and midsize businesses

Pentaho Data Integration is an open-source ETL tool that provides data mining, reports and information dashboards. It works with either structured or unstructured data. As an in-house ETL resource, Pentaho can be hosted on either Intel or Apple servers. It uses JDBC to connect to a variety of relational databases, such as SQL, but it can also connect to proprietary enterprise databases like DB2. Pentaho captures, cleans and loads standard and unstructured systems data, and it works equally well processing incoming IoT data from the field or factory floors.

Pentaho’s strength is its ability to be used by citizen developers, such as business end users, via no-code capabilities. This makes it a good fit for small and midsize businesses that may not have the IT expertise onboard to run ETLs. Users can use a drag-and-drop GUI to get their jobs done.

Pricing

• The Community edition of Pentaho is free of charge, and the Enterprise edition is priced on a per-subscription basis. Pentaho offers online, self-paced learning and instructor-led education for a fee.

Features

• Metadata-driven approach to allow users more control over how they want to extract and transform data.
• Ability to blend traditional data with big data by pulling data from a variety of sources.
• Wide connectivity to a variety of data sources that include structured, semi-structured and unstructured data.
• Data migration between different applications and databases.

Pros

• Easy learning curve.
• Intuitive and highly visual interface.
• Ability to handle large data volume.

Cons

• Limited real-time data integration.
• Required a high level of hardware resources for optimal performance.

Frequently asked questions about ETL tools

What is an ETL tool?

ETL tools transform and consolidate raw data from disparate sources to prepare it for target systems. Today, they play a major role in corporate decision-making. This is because data is culled from a variety of sources and then assembled in a single data repository that corporate decision-makers can access, providing a 360-degree view to make more informed decisions.

SEE: Check out TechRepublic Premium’s database engineer hiring kit.

ETL tools provide a level of comprehensive analysis and visibility that was difficult to achieve even a decade ago. Corporate departments were using their own systems and data, and this data stayed in data silos that weren’t always shared with others with a need to know. With more modernized approaches to preparing and sharing data, a more complete picture of what is going on throughout the company is available to corporate decision-makers.

How do ETL tools work?

ETL software obtains data from one or more sources, transforms the data into a form that is acceptable for another source and then moves the data to the new target source. ETL software is an automated software tool that automates this process. This saves time and effort and helps prevent manual errors.

When an ETL tool extracts data, the data can be extracted from any internal or external data source, whether it is a file or a database.

Once the ETL tool has the data, it transforms the data into a form that is compatible with the target data repository. This data transformation is based on predefined data conversion rules, which then perform the data transformation automatically.

As a final step, the ETL software takes the transformed data and moves it into the target data repository.

How do you use an ETL tool?

ETL tools automate the movement of data between systems, whether on-premises or in the cloud. These tools can be run for both batch and real-time data processing.

However, ETL tools are only as good as the set of business and operational rules that IT provides them. For instance, an organization will have a set of data governance and data cleaning standards. While ETL tools can automate these rules and standards, IT still must define the rules of operation and data quality and governance.

It is also up to IT to continuously monitor the ETL process in the same way IT monitors the performance of any other piece of software. This way, if there is a problem, IT can intervene and solve it.

How do you evaluate an ETL tool?

While ETL tools now automate much of manual processes data migration via APIs that automatically connect to many popular databases and applications, there are several factors companies should consider before purchasing an ETL solution:

• What do you need the ETL for? Consider the different sources your data resides in as well as the types of data you have and whether you need to move it to an on-premises, a cloud or a hybrid infrastructure.
• How do you want to prepare your data? Is the generic formatting (system to system or database to database) your ETL tool comes pre-packaged with going to meet your data cleaning and formatting needs, or do you need to add extra edit rules to the data?
• How well can you support and leverage your ETL tool? Consider the size of your company and the number of skilled personnel you have who are trained in ETL as well as whether non-IT business users also need to use the ETL software.
• How much do you want to pay for an ETL tool? Your budget should consider the cost of usage and data center storage, as well as the cost of training and support.

Key features of ETL tools

Cloud-native support

Cloud-native support in ETL tools refers to the ability of the solution to use cloud computing to process data. This is different from the traditional on-premises infrastructure. The major benefits of cloud-native support are that it is scalable and has greater flexibility as it allows organizations to be more agile.

Pre-built connectors

Pre-built connections are ready-to-use interfaces in ETL tools. This allows for quick and easy integration with different data sources and targets. A key advantage of pre-built connectors is that they minimize the need for custom coding, allowing for better productivity. They also help promote more streamlined data integration workflows.

Data integration

With data integration, ETL tools are able to move and transform raw data from disparate sources. This allows for a unified view of business data. Centralized data management helps improve efficiency in processing data. It also allows access to real-time data for better decision-making.

Visual interface

A visual interface for ETL tools helps simplify the process, helping boost productivity and enhance ease of use. For example, interface features such as drag-and-drop allow users to easily create integration workflows. The visual interface also helps with better visualization of data flow to help identify sources of errors or bottlenecks in the data flow.

Benefits of ETL tools

ETL tools offer a variety of benefits to organizations as they provide a structured approach to extracting data from different sources and transforming it into a more usable format. Here are some of the top benefits of ETL tools:

• Improve data quality by removing data inconsistencies. This helps improve the reliability of decision-making.
• Reduce the likelihood of human errors by automating several recurring or repetitive steps to data extraction and transformation.
• Increase business agility by offering organizations the information required to respond quickly to changing business needs.
• Boost operational residence by reducing reliance on the IT team for data processing.

How do I choose the best ETL tool for my business?

Data integration is one of the most persistent challenges for IT teams. What ETL tools bring to the table is a simplified way of moving data from system to system and from data repository to data repository.

ETL tools come in a wide variety that can meet the needs of enterprises with complex data and system integration needs in hybrid environments, as well as smaller companies that lack IT expertise and must watch their budgets. The ETL tool your business chooses will depend on its specific use cases and budget.

Review methodology

The best ETL tools were chosen based on different factors, including ease of use, features, connectivity and scalability. We also looked at the type of support and user community available for each tool.

While Raspberry Pi boards have been around since 2012, they have historically been powered by Broadcom SoCs. All of this changed in January 2021 when we saw the first Raspberry Pi silicon, the RP2040 arrive. In a short space of time the RP2040 has become a major SoC in the maker community. With two Arm Cortex M0+ cores running at 133 MHz, 264KB of RAM and up to 16MB of Flash (stored external to the RP2040), these chips open up a new range of microcontrollers that compete more closely with traditional Arduino boards than a Raspberry Pi 4. Raspberry Pi used the RP2040 in its Lego compatible Build HAT in place of the STM32 that Lego uses in its control bricks.

The Raspberry Pi Pico, and the Raspberry Pi Pico W are both great boards, but there are many more to choose from. There are now around 100, third-party boards that offer improvements ranging from smaller boards to built-in Wi-Fi, more storage or may more additional outputs. There are even RP2040-powered keypads and digital displays. All of these boards share the same $1 RP2040 chip, but offer much more than the stock model.

With Raspberry Pi still being hard to come by (it is getting better, with 1 million units per month now) we’ve compiled the best RP2040 boards to get your projects up and running. These boards can be used for everything from general learning to building Wi-Fi connected robots to implementing basic A.I. 

• What size / pins do you need?  Smaller RP2040 boards like Pimoroni’s Tiny RP2040, SparkFun’s Pro Micro RP2040 and Adafruit’s QT Py RP2040 have fewer than the standard 40 pins, but can fit in smaller projects.
• Do you need wireless? With the introduction of the Pico W , we now have a low cost and easy to use means to get our projects online. Before that the RP2040 required add on boards such as Adafruit’s Airlift board or Pimoroni’s Pico Wireless Pack. There is also Arduino’s Nano RP2040 Connect, which comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built-in, but this board costs over three times that of the Pico W.
• Choose your ecosystem: The pinouts of different RP2040 boards may align with different add-ons. For example, Adafruit’s Feather RP2040 is compatible with around two dozen different FeatherWing, including those which offer wireless connectivity while the Pico itself connects directly to Pimroni’s “packs.”
• Specialist connectors such as Stemma QT, Qwiic and Grove are desirable extra features for those that want simple and neat electronics projects. The Pico doesn’t come with any of these, but many third-party boards do. The simplicity of these connections belies the choice of sensors and components offered.

Best Raspberry Pi RP2040 Boards You Can Buy Today 

The original and least expensive RP2040 board, the Raspberry Pi PIco costs just $4, and while it provided a solid base for projects it lacked Wi-Fi. The $6 Raspberry Pi Pico W introduced Wi-Fi to the Pico, while retaining the exact same pinout as its predecessor. This smart move means that the plethora of RP2040 accessories are available to the Pico W.

Getting online with the Raspberry Pi Pico W is a breeze. Just five lines of MicroPython is all it takes to connect, and from there we have a multitude of options at our disposal. We now have a $6 data collection device, a web controlled robot, or Internet connected information gathering platform.

The Raspberry Pi Pico W adds to the Pico ecosystem. It provides us with a lower power option to the Raspberry Pi Zero W 2 and keeps the Raspberry Pi product range ticking while the global supply chain recovers.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico W Review 

Adafruit, partners in the RP2040 project have released many great RP2040 boards in a short space of time. The company has its own ecosystem of form factors and its largest, the Feather, is where we saw their first RP2040 system. Designed to take advantage of an expansive range of add-ons called “FeatherWings”, the Feather RP2040 has fewer pins than a typical Raspberry Pi Pico, but the choice of pins is curated to give us the best that the RP2040 can offer.

What we lose in GPIO pins we gain in onboard LiPo / Li-Ion battery charging, great pin labeling and Stemma QT, Adafruit’s connector of choice for components that connect using I2C. With Stemma QT we have none of the messy wiring and polarity issues, enabling us to focus on the project and not our wiring.

If you’re looking for the most versatile RP2040 board on the market, look no further. Sure, we pay a premium over the Raspberry Pi Pico, but the Adafruit Feather RP2040 is a refined product that is ready to drop into your next project.

Read: Adafruit Feather RP2040 Review

The Raspberry Pi Pico is a fun and inexpensive way to get into coding and electronics. After buying a Pico, we need to also buy extra components to expand its scope and this can become costly and complicated. The Maker Pi Pico crams a lot of extra functions into a small package all for less than $10, including a pre-soldered Raspberry Pi Pico.

For $10, the sheer amount of features is amazing. We have a micro SD card reader, buzzer / 3.6mm audio jack, NeoPixel, all of the GPIO pins broken out for use and we have six Grove connectors for use with compatible components. Each of the GPIO pins has a useful LED that can be used to quickly debug an issue. The included ESP-01 header enables basic Wi-Fi access and, since we wrote our review, Cytron has released an updated guide on how to get the Maker Pi Pico connected to wireless. For $10 this board is hard to beat!

Read: Cytron Maker Pi Pico Review 

Adafruit’s QT Py RP2040 is similar to Pimoroni’s Tiny 2040. We have the RP2040 squeezed into the smallest package and we have a curated selection of GPIO pins for our projects. Adafruit’s QTPy RP2040 has castellated edges, designed to surface mount the board into a project and it features a Stemma QT / Qwiic connector which breaks out an additional I2C connection for use with Stemma QT / Qwiic compatible components, a useful and tidy solution for rapid prototyping.

The low cost and ease of use afforded by the QTPy RP2040 is amplified by Adafruit’s MicroPython fork, CircuitPython, which has many libraries of code for use with Stemma QT / Qwiic components. Even if you already own a Raspberry Pi Pico, the QTPy RP2040 should still be part of your project box.

Read: Adafruit QT Py RP2040 Review  

Solder Party’s RP2040 Stamp is a $12, one-inch square board resembles a postage stamp but emblazoned on the center is the familiar RP2040 SoC, along with 8MB of flash storage and a full complement of GPIO pins forming a perimeter of castellations around the board.

RP2040 Stamp is designed for use in your own PCBs. The castellations and onboard LiPo charging system means that most of the hard work is done for us. This is a smartly designed board which we can see being used in a plethora of new projects. 

Read: Solder Party RP2040 Stamp Review 

Many of the Raspberry Pi Pico alternatives have one thing in common, they lack the full set of GPIO pins found on the Pico. Pimoroni’s Pico LiPo is a drop-in replacement for the Raspberry Pi Pico that provides all of the GPIO pins found on a Pico, with added bonus of onboard LiPo / Li-Ion charging and a Stemma QT / Qwiic connector. 

Pico LiPo does cost more than three times the price of a standard Pico, but with these extra features in the same form factor we can justify spending the extra money. If you are planning to build embedded / mobile projects or wish to try out the Stemma QT / Qwiic components ecosystem, then Pico LiPo is a serious contender for your attention.

Read: Pimoroni Pico LiPo Review 

For the Raspberry Pi, the Explorer HAT series of boards were the first step for many roboteers. Mixing easy to use software with great hardware was a winning combination. For the Raspberry Pi Pico W we see Inventor 2040 W following this fine tradition. When we say it just works, we really do mean it.

In our review we loved the simplicity of the board. It afforded us the confidence to invent and create ideas. From motorized contraptions, servos, sensors, a rather cute light show and a sea shanty. You can do it all with this board.

At the heart of the board is the Raspberry Pi Pico W and this brings Wi-Fi to the mix. This board has all the features you could need, and it can replace the Raspberry Pi Zero for many maker projects. In the classroom, makerspace or the home, this board is the one to reach for.

Read: Pimoroni Inventor 2040 W Review 

Seeed’s $5 XIAO RP2040 is an upgrade on its previous SAMD21 model for no extra money. It shares the same pinout as Adafruit’s QT Py RP2040 but lacks the Stemma QT port. If you really need that port then pay the extra $5 for the QT Py, but for most uses Seeed’s XIAO RP2040 is more than up to the job.

The tiny board is made for dropping into an embedded project, and the castellated edges mean we can easily surface mount solder this board to a PCB. The cost per board means that we can embed and forget a project without hurting our wallets. 

Read: Seeed XIAO RP2040 

A bright and clear 2.4 inch IPS LCD that you can wear around your neck, or keep on your desk. Powered by the RP2040, Tufty 2040 is all about the display. Front and center this is a great display with good viewing angles and rich colors. Designed to be worn as a conference badge, Tufty 2040 is much more than a vanity project.

Around the back we see connections for Qw/ST (StemmaQT / Qwiic) sensors, which means we can easily use Tufty 2040 as a desktop data station for air quality and temperature data. Power can come from one of three sources. USB C, AAA batteries or LiPo. The AAA batteries and LiPo options connect via a dedicated JST-PH connector, but note that there is no builtin charging circuit so your batteries will need to be charged externally.

The small size, easy to use MicroPython library and Qw/ST connector elevate Tufty 2040 from being “just a badge” into a great data visualization tool. Sure we would love to see Wi-Fi as an option, Tufty 2040 came out just before the Raspberry Pi Pico W, so the overlap is unfortunate. That said, Tufty 2040 is still a great purchase.

Read: Pimoroni Tufty 2040 Review 

Pimoroni’s Keybow 2040 is something special in the RP2040 range: a programmable 16-key keypad, powered by the RP2040. This isn’t a board that you use to build a project, rather it is something that we integrate into a project. With 16 mechanical keys, each with an addressable NeoPixel LED we can build the Keybow 2040 into our daily workflow.

The board ships with Pimoroni’s fork of MicroPython with modules to use Keybow 2040, but you will only get the best from this board via Adafruit’s CircuitPython and its USB HID module. Using this we can assign keypresses, media keys and mouse movements to any of the keys, making short work of tedious tasks.

Read: Pimoroni Keybow 2040 Review 

The $10 SparkFun Pro Micro RP2040 is the cheapest model in SparkFun’s range and follows a classic design that resembles an Arduino Nano board layout which is at home in a breadboard and embedded into your projects. We have fewer GPIO pins than a Pico, but more than Adafruit’s QTPy RP2040 while retaining a small layout.

SparkFun’s Qwiic connector, compatible with Adafruit’s Stemma QT, enables us to use many of the compatible components such as sensors and displays with the Pro Micro and for $10 this is a Swiss Army Knife of a board that provides a cost effective and multi-purpose means to explore the RP2040 ecosystem.

Read: SparkFun Pro Micro RP2040 Review 

The Raspberry Pi Pico W unleashed a low-cost, easy to use entrypoint for education and citizen science projects. For just $6 we now have a Wi-Fi connected device that can stream data over a network. Pimoroni’s Enviro Indoor uses the Pico W as the brains of an Internet of Things appliance that comes with its own temperature, humidity, air pressure, light and air quality sensors, packaged in a small board. The included setup script elevates Enviro Indoor from being “just another” sensor, into an accessible appliance designed to get results with minimal effort.

Read: Pimoroni Enviro Indoor