The world is your Oyster
Grade: A — Score: 95/100
Oyster leverages advanced technology to streamline the hiring process, ensuring compliance and efficiency across various jurisdictions. Their automated platform allows businesses to onboard, manage, and pay employees and contractors seamlessly.
The workflow is designed to minimize the complexities associated with global employment, providing a single point of contact for tailored support. This approach ensures that businesses can focus on their core operations while Oyster handles the intricacies of local laws and regulations.
By mitigating risks related to compliance and payroll management, Oyster empowers companies to expand their global workforce confidently. Their commitment to transparency and support sets them apart in the Employer of Record space.
Employer of Record: $699/employee/month
Global Contractors: Free for 30 days, then $29/contractor/month
Global Payroll: $29/employee/month
US PEO: $114/employee/month
People Partner Services: $300/hour
Consider switching to Deel: Deel also offers global payroll and compliance solutions but may have different pricing structures and features.
Oyster and Deel both offer EOR services, but they differ in scope and pricing. Oyster's EOR costs $699/employee/month and focuses on employment, compliance, and employee experience in 120+ countries, with dedicated onboarding specialists and a B Corp commitment. Deel's EOR starts at $599/employee/month across 110+ countries but adds a broader product suite including a modular HRIS (from $5/employee/month), IT device management, and immigration services. Oyster is a stronger fit for teams that prioritize hands-on HR support and employee experience, while Deel suits companies that want HR, payroll, and IT consolidated in one platform.
Oyster covers APAC markets through a mix of owned entities and third-party local partners. In countries where Oyster uses partners, reviewers on G2 and Capterra have reported occasional inconsistencies in service quality, onboarding timelines, and communication speed. Oyster is generally stronger in Europe, Latin America, and North America where it has more direct presence. If APAC is a primary hiring focus, it is worth asking Oyster directly about their partner structure in the specific countries you need.
Yes, Oyster offers a dedicated contractor-to-employee conversion workflow. The process begins with a misclassification risk assessment, followed by a project plan built by Oyster's legal and people operations teams. Oyster's team consults with you throughout the transition, handling contract termination, new employment agreement generation, and payroll setup in the target country. The converted employee then moves to the EOR plan at $699/employee/month, with benefits and compliance handled by Oyster.
Oyster Shell is an optional add-on available with the Global Contractors plan ($29/contractor/month). It provides aggregate misclassification protection up to $500,000, covering legal and financial exposure if a contractor is reclassified as an employee by local authorities. The platform also includes a built-in misclassification analyzer that assesses classification risk before you engage a contractor. For companies where misclassification liability is a primary concern, Deel's Contractor of Record plan at $325/contractor/month offers an alternative approach where Deel becomes the legal contracting entity.
Oyster targets 48-hour onboarding for most EOR hires. Pearl, Oyster's AI assistant, guides the hiring form and drafts a compliant employment agreement, which is then reviewed by Oyster's legal team before being sent for signatures. A dedicated Hiring Success Manager is assigned to each engagement to ensure a smooth process. In practice, timelines can vary by country. Regions where Oyster relies on third-party partners may take longer, and complex situations like visa sponsorship or contractor conversions require additional lead time.
Oyster integrates with HRIS platforms (BambooHR, HiBob), applicant tracking systems (Greenhouse, Ashby), accounting tools (QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite), equity management (Carta), and productivity tools (Slack, Zapier). These integrations sync employee data, time-off records, approved expenses, and payroll information between systems. For custom workflows, Oyster provides a public API. The integration depth is focused on syncing employment and payroll data rather than deep bi-directional HRIS functionality.
Oyster offers localized benefits packages as an EOR add-on, including country-specific health insurance, retirement plans, and statutory benefits. A Benefits Advisor tool recommends packages at bronze, silver, or gold tiers based on the employee's country. Benefits enrollment and administration are handled through the Oyster platform. Reviewers note that benefit options are strong in major European and Latin American markets but can be more limited in smaller or less common hiring destinations.
Oyster is the only major EOR provider with B Corporation certification, scoring 96.5 on the B Impact Assessment (the median for assessed businesses is 50.9). The company is also registered as a public benefit corporation and publishes annual impact reports. Through its Oyster for Impact program, it offers discounted or free EOR services for certified nonprofits, B Corps, and refugee hiring initiatives, plus startup discounts of up to $1,200 on EOR fees. For organizations that factor social responsibility into vendor selection, this is a concrete differentiator rather than a marketing claim.