What makes Oyster special is its ability to serve as a platform in over 180 countries globally whereas many payroll and benefits platforms are limited to a handful of countries, making it ideal for global organizations and remote teams.
Ratings
Ease of Use
Best For
Key Differentiator
Price
Free Trial
PROS
- Intuitive: The platform is easy to navigate and makes logical sense.
- competitively priced: The flat rate for employees and contractors makes cost comparisons simple, and is competitive in the market.
- Targeted for a remote workforce: Whether your employees are in one country or 100, Oyster can accommodate them accordingly, and this is a feature few platforms can boast.
CONS
- Slight delays in processing times for payments in the local currency are somewhat common.
- Immediate communication via phone support is not an option, but they do offer live support via Zoom when necessary.
- An initial security deposit is necessary to begin the engagement and is refundable.
- The platform lacks native time-tracking functionality and provides only an in-app tool for managing time off.
- If you’re looking to co-employ your employees and partially outsource HR responsibilities, Oyster isn’t for you. They are more akin to employer of record services (EOR) than a Professional Employer Organizations (PEO).
Need Help? Talk to an HR Software Advisor!
Tell us more about your company & an HR Software Advisor will help you find the right software
Oyster is a human resources solution specifically designed with the remote workforce in mind. It enables leaders and HR teams to onboard contractors and employees, in almost any country on earth, manage payroll, and offer local health insurance, paid time off, and other perks, all on one platform.
Using the platform, you’ll be given guidance on the hiring process as well as relevant compliance information anywhere employees live. You can also benefit from Oyster’s EOR offering, which includes employee liability insurance, direction on employee privacy compliance, and intellectual property protection.
We like that Oyster’s pricing is transparent, which is remarkable in an industry that often saves sticker shock for demos/sales calls. Although custom pricing is available, pricing for contractor and employee services is fixed and published on their website which makes their service easy to compare to competitors. Oyster’s chatbot is also remarkably helpful when browsing their website, which can connect you to a sales representative when you are ready.
As an HR consultant, I used Oyster HR to manage several key workflows for our organization. Primarily, I utilized the platform to handle the end-to-end hiring process for our international employees, from posting job openings to onboarding new hires. Oyster simplified compliance and guaranteed that all our contracts and employment practices followed local labor law regulations, which was brilliant and would have been too complicated for us to manage. I also oversaw payroll management, ensuring that all our remote employees were paid accurately and on time, and handled complaints and inquiries. Additionally, the platform helped us administer localized benefits. Oyster streamlined many of our HR processes.
The interface was intuitive, so even employees who were not tech-savvy could use it. There is a built-in time zone coordination feature, which is perfect for international team alignment. It made scheduling easy. Customer service was exemplary. I think they probably had 24/7 people on call because we never had to wait "till tomorrow" for a reply.
We set up an account with Oyster about four years ago and used it for about two years. We were expanding rapidly and needed a workforce from countries with lower salary rates to be more economically efficient. We did not want to go through the hassle of setting up entities in different countries, and our HR team did not feel confident we could do it in-house and remain compliant. So, we outsourced this service. The platform's ability to handle international payroll has been a game changer.
Cost. We dropped it because of the cost; it simply made no sense for us to use such a pricey platform. If the company had been developing as fast as we hoped, we might have stayed with them, but not under the circumstances we had. There were also some limitations with the integrations, and we could not lose some of the other platforms we were using for other aspects of people management. I also would have liked to see more customization; the system was rather robust and did not allow finesse.
Oyster stood out from its competitors mainly because of its top-notch compliance management across countries, which was a game changer for us. Many other tools don't cover this as thoroughly. I also found Oyster's interface incredibly user-friendly, which isn't something I can say about all the HR platforms I've tried—some of them feel like navigating a spaceship. One special thing I really appreciated is how it helps with time zone coordination; it's a small detail, but it makes scheduling across a global team much easier.
Other than the compliance aspect, look for a user-friendly interface that makes daily operations smooth and straightforward. It is important to evaluate the integration capabilities with your existing HR systems to avoid tech compatibility issues. Lastly, consider the quality of customer support, as having reliable, real-time assistance can save you a lot of trouble down the line and is a reason clients would walk away.
Initially, Oyster was mainly about helping companies hire and stay compliant with local laws globally. Over time, they added stronger payroll management features, making it easier to pay employees accurately and on time, which goes hand in hand with the first service. They also kept working on the interface and the integrations.
Oyster is perfect for companies that want to hire talent from all over the world without getting bogged down by local labor laws and payroll hassles. It is ideal for startups looking to grow quickly and mid-sized businesses expanding their global footprint.
Oyster might not be the best fit for very small businesses or startups with tight budgets that don't plan to hire internationally. If your organization primarily hires locally and doesn’t need to navigate different countries' labor laws, Oyster may be overkill.
We use Oyster to research hiring practices and culture in our target offshore destinations. It has great hiring guides and an inbuilt offshoring University, which we discuss at weekly meetings. We use the inbuilt cost calculator to properly plan and budget gross costs each time we want to hire. We source the talent ourselves, and then Oyster takes care of the onboarding process for us. It's automated, so we just need to add a new hire.
We generally use the "employee" option and don't use the "contractor" option, as we use gig workers on other platforms. We have also integrated our HR software to sync employee personal data and working time data.
It is very easy to use. The country-based information guides are well-researched and helpful. The onboarding process is slick and pain-free.
My organization was struggling to get reliable resources in overseas locations. Freelancers did not stay around long enough and were expensive. The organization wanted to reduce salary costs and increase staff retention by hiring actual employees instead of freelancers.
However, we were only hiring one or two employees in multiple locations, so it didn't make financial sense to establish an offshore legal entity. We needed to use an Employer of Record service to quickly and efficiently employ staff offshore. We wanted to convert some of our freelancers to employees as well.
Oyster impressed us as it offered this service in a unique SaaS format, making it transparent, quick, and great for remote collaboration. I have been using it for about six months and appreciate the easy onboarding process, cost calculator, and HR information per country, which is great for planning.
We have converted several existing freelancers to local employees and hired multiple employees into the local EOR entities via Oyster's one-stop-shop service.
I wish there was more information and guidance on offboarding. Some help with finding talent could be useful. Integration with sites like Upwork for contracting to hire via Oyster would be beneficial.
It's a one-stop-shop SaaS digital service, whereas I have used more analog organizations. I prefer the Oyster model as it's better for remote collaboration across different time zones.
People should consider cost and ease of use when buying this type of tool. Additionally, the global HR information guides provided are crucial to successful offshoring.
They have evolved into a one-stop global payroll tool that can save a lot of time if you have many workers in different locations that need to be paid.
Organizations that have good HR knowledge but want to hire just a few staff (1 to 5) in multiple locations around the world will find Oyster to be the best fit.
Oyster would suit most organizations. However, if you are a larger organization and only want to set up in one location with 10 or more staff, you probably don't need Oyster as it makes sense to do it yourself.
I used Oyster daily. I spoke with their compliance and payroll teams at least twice weekly (more during payroll weeks). Key workflows were Benefits, Global EOR for EE's and Contractors, and Multi-Country Payroll. They made hiring and keeping track of our global applicant pool easy. Tasks were sorted by country.
I like the user experience. I like that the platform takes a fun approach (not cookie-cutter). I really love that I can set up a page for each country we do business in but have all the pages in one portal.
Our organization had many pain points as a startup. We needed the flexibility to hire people outside of the US quickly. Oyster was super user-friendly and was a wonderful EOR for us. I can't say enough nice things about their product and people! I have personally used them for just over a year.
Cons of having an EOR (or a PEO) are that we have less control over growing costs year over year (especially benefits costs - you are pretty much stuck with their recommendations). Another disadvantage of Oyster is the detailed customization usually wanted in smaller businesses. The cost of the tool is also steep.
Oyster is different from Atlas, for example, in the user interface. Oyster is more fun to use! In HR, so much of what we do is serious, urgent, and complex - high stress. This tool makes the work a bit more enjoyable.
Do you need an EOR? Have you researched EOR versus PEO, and why is an EOR more of a fit for your company?
They seem to be making continual improvements. Not stagnant.
Oyster can be a great fit for a company with employees, contractors, or vendors in multiple countries worldwide.
If a company has US based employers only, Oyster wouldn't be necessary.
Native Teams
Native Teams
.png){kind=logo}
Deel
Deel
Multiplier
Multiplier
Rippling
Rippling
Papaya Global
Papaya Global
If you would prefer your business to remain the employer of record for all hires, this platform is likely not a great fit for you (our article on the difference between EORs and PEOs has more information). Additionally, if the majority of your employees are located in one country, you won’t experience the full benefit of Oyster so you can do without it.
Quora, Wagestream, Impala, and Grover are some of the companies on Oyster’s long list of customers.
- Compliant global hiring: Oyster takes responsibility for ensuring local compliance with new hires in each location they serve.
- Onboarding: The onboarding process is automated and you can have the Oyster team assist you in it.
- Automated, multi-currency payroll: Oyster can be configured to pay your employees in their local currency, on a certain delivery schedule.
- Benefits administration: Oyster sources local benefit plans for employees in each of your locations.
- Time off management: Employees can request time off on their own through the portal, reducing the admin work your HR team otherwise needs to do.
- Employee document management: The platform offers storage for onboarding documents, employee counseling, and the ability to access and store pay information.
- Automated expense reimbursement: Employees can submit requests for reimbursement through the platform and approvals happen remotely.
- Contractor conversion: You can convert contractors to employees using the platform quite easily, without having to reenter information a second time.
Oyster integrates with many of the tools your business already uses, including Xerox, QuickBooks Online, Bamboo HR, Bob, and Greenhouse, and the list is always growing. If a product you depend on isn’t listed, you can reach out to the Oyster team using their handy chat feature and a sales representative will assist you.
Oyster pricing starts at $29 per month for each contractor, and between $499-$699 per month for each employee (price per employee depends on the selected country). If your business is looking to scale quickly, custom pricing is also available.
Businesses whose employees either reside in or often move to different countries, as well as businesses looking to hire globally would get the most from Oyster.
Oyster's list of countries they service has been growing since we've been aware of the tool. Further, they're integration options have gotten more varied over time. Recent additions include Greenhouse, BambooHR, HiBob, Workday, and numerous other HR and business tools.
Oyster’s team will assist you in implementation, which will include the migration of employee, benefit, payroll, and administrative information into the Oyster system.
Oyster has a support chat function on the main page for any sales-related questions. While they don't do phone support due to the distributed nature of their organization, they do offer Zoom calls for live assistance. They also offer onboarding support, and will work with you to ensure you get on successfully, especially when hiring new employees.
Founded in 2019, Oyster is an HR software vendor that helps companies expand their workforce beyond local borders, particularly from emerging markets. As an organization, Oyster practices what they preach; their staff is made up of a remote workforce with 25% of corporate employees in emerging business markets and a goal to increase that number to 30% by the end of 2024. The company has a robust annual impact report and plan stemming from its mission to support emerging business regions and their employees. Among their goals is to add 15 employees per week to the global roster and to continuously support its clients in hiring within emerging business markets.
Company HQ
Wilmington, Delaware
Number of Employees
Approximately 500
Year Founded
2019
Amount Raised
In 2022, Oyster announced its $150 million series C, and has a current valuation of 1 billion dollars.
FAQ
About SSR
We spend hundreds of hours researching the best HR and recruiting software so you don’t have to. We never take money from vendors during our research phase and rely heavily on practitioners and experts to help us recommend the right software. However we may earn a small fee if you click on vendor links on this page.
