Last reviewed: October 2026
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This Oyster review grades Oyster, an employer of record (EOR) platform that lists compliant employment in 120+ countries at $699 per employee per month, against our fixed rubric. It is a polished, support-heavy product with a premium price and an entity model that is less transparent than a five-figure contract deserves. Below we cover price, legal protection, coverage, security, integrations, and who should look elsewhere.
Verdict: our Oyster review score
Grade: C. Score: 72 out of 100. Our Suite Score is conservative: anything a vendor does not publish loses points. Oyster does not publish its split between owned and partner entities, the size of its annual-plan discount, or a certificate for its own ISO 27001 status.
Oyster is a credible EOR with a clear list price, broad contractor coverage, and a strong pitch on expert support. It loses ground on cost, on legal-chain transparency, and on a thinner integration catalog than the biggest platforms.
- Best for: mid-sized teams making several hires across a handful of countries, especially if you expect hard cases such as terminations and want expert help included in the fee.
- Skip if: you need the lowest price, a documented owned-entity chain, or journal-level finance reporting.
For context, Oyster HR, Inc. is a Delaware public benefit corporation. It was founded in 2020 and raised a $59 million Series D led by Silver Lake Waterman at a $1.2 billion valuation, with total funding of $291 million. In January 2026 Hadi Moussa became CEO, with founder Tony Jamous moving to Executive Chairman.
Suite Score breakdown
| Category | Score | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & Total Cost | 10 / 15 | Published, but highest list price |
| Security & Compliance | 11 / 15 | SOC 2 Type II; own ISO 27001 unconfirmed |
| Integrations & Platform | 7 / 10 | Solid HRIS and ATS set, thin accounting |
| Support & Onboarding | 8 / 10 | Expert help included; partner delays reported |
| Legal Protection & Entity Model | 13 / 20 | Mixed model, split undisclosed |
| Country Coverage | 16 / 20 | 120+ EOR countries, 180+ contractors |
| Payroll & Payments | 7 / 10 | 120+ currencies; FX terms undisclosed |
| Total | 72 / 100 | Grade C |
A C on our scale means below 78, not unusable. Several of the lost points are disclosure points that Oyster could win back by publishing more.
Pricing and total cost
Oyster publishes its list prices, which is better than the quote-only approach some rivals take. Oyster’s pricing page lists the EOR product at $699 per employee per month, with annual discounts available, and Global Contractors at $29 per month.
| Product | List price | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Employer of Record | $699 | per employee/month |
| Global Contractors | $29 | per contractor/month |
| Global Payroll | $29 | per employee/month |
| US PEO | $114 | per employee/month |
| People Partner Services | $300 | per hour |
The payroll, PEO, and People Partner prices come from a March 2026 third-party review of Oyster’s listings, so confirm them in a quote. Several comparison sites still quote $599 or $499 for EOR. The vendor’s own page says $699, so treat lower figures as outdated or negotiated until Oyster puts them in writing.
What the platform fee looks like at scale
These figures are platform fees only, at the monthly list rate. They exclude salary, employer taxes, statutory benefits, and any FX margin.
| EOR hires | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | $2,097 | $25,164 |
| 5 | $3,495 | $41,940 |
| 10 | $6,990 | $83,880 |
What to ask before you sign
- Annual discount: Oyster says annual pricing exists but we found no published rate. Ask for it, and ask what happens to unused seats at renewal.
- Deposits: one third-party review says Oyster may require a refundable deposit equal to one month’s service fee per hire. Oyster does not state this on its pricing page.
- FX margin: undisclosed in what we reviewed. Ask for the exchange-rate markup in writing.
- Termination support: Oyster says complex situations are handled by in-house HR experts at no extra charge. Get that in the order form.
One independent comparison puts Oyster about $100 per month above Deel’s list rate, which makes Oyster the priciest of the major platforms on sticker price. The fee is easier to justify when you hire several people in the same market and use the included expert help. It is harder to justify for a single hire in a straightforward country.
Legal protection and entity model
This is where an Oyster review needs the most care. Oyster’s own comparison page describes its legal infrastructure as a mix of owned entities and partners. Its privacy definitions separately distinguish Oyster subsidiaries from “Third-Party EOR” entities through which team members may be employed.
What Oyster does not publish is which countries run on which model. Third parties disagree: one reviewer says Oyster owns entities in the US, UK, Germany, France, India, and Australia, while another says every market runs through a partner. We could not verify either claim from a primary source, so we treat the split as undisclosed and scored accordingly.
Why it matters: in a contested termination or a labor audit, the legal employer is the party that answers. Oyster’s older published terms allow it to move a team member to a different Oyster partner within the country, and they also state that Oyster provides employment practices liability insurance for people it employs. We did not find a current coverage limit in the public documents, so ask for the policy summary.
If an owned-entity chain is a procurement requirement, Remote positions itself on exactly that point, and Oyster’s own marketing treats Remote as the owned-entity benchmark.
If your hires are in the US, check whether you need an EOR at all. Oyster sells a US PEO product, and our guide on EOR vs PEO explains which structure fits which situation.
Country coverage
Oyster’s pricing page lists compliant employment in 120+ countries. Marketing material elsewhere on its site says 180+, and third-party reviewers explain the gap: roughly 120+ countries for employees and 180+ for contractor payments. Use 120+ for any hiring decision and ask for the country list in writing.
- EOR: 120+ countries.
- Contractors: 180+ countries, per third-party reviews.
- Global Payroll: about 30 countries, for companies that already own local entities. Oyster is not the employer in this product.
Reviewers report that major European and North American markets work well, and that thinner partner-run markets can be slower. That is consistent with a model that mixes owned and partner entities. We scored coverage on the verified 120+ figure, not the marketing number.
Payroll and payments
Oyster’s pricing page lists multi-country payroll in 120+ currencies, although some third-party sources cite 140+. Customers reportedly pay Oyster in USD, EUR, GBP, or CAD, and Oyster handles in-country payroll and tax filing. The platform includes automated expenses, time off, and reports.
Two gaps keep the score at 7 out of 10. First, the FX margin and payout timing are not published. Second, one review says the accounting export is summary-level, so a finance team that wants journal-level payroll postings may need manual work. Controllers should request a sample invoice and a sample payroll export during the trial.
Security and compliance
Oyster reports a SOC 2 Type II audit. Secondary sources say the report is available through its trust portal or on request, and that a SOC 1 Type 2 report is listed under NDA. Treat all of that as “request the report” rather than “published.”
ISO 27001 is murkier. Oyster’s public data processing addendum says its production environment is hosted in ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certified data centers. That describes the hosting provider, not Oyster’s own certification, and we found no Oyster ISO 27001 certificate. We scored it as unconfirmed.
- Public DPA: yes, with a technical and organizational measures schedule.
- Data hosting: reportedly AWS with data stored in Ireland.
- Pen-test summaries and SSO details: undisclosed in what we reviewed.
Integrations and platform
Oyster’s integrations page claims 500+ tools. We could count only about 20 named native connectors, with Zapier and a customer API filling the rest. A tighter catalog is fine if your stack matches it.
- HRIS: BambooHR, HiBob, Personio, Workday, ADP Workforce Now, TriNet.
- ATS: Greenhouse, Ashby, Workable, BambooHR ATS.
- Accounting and expenses: QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, Concur, Expensify.
- Other: Carta for equity, Slack, Okta, Zapier, API.
The weak spots are narrow ATS coverage (no Lever, for example), a summary-only accounting export, and webhook documentation that is not public. If you run a larger finance stack, expect to lean on Zapier or the API.
Support and onboarding
Support is Oyster’s strongest pitch. It says hard employment cases are handled by in-house HR experts included in the subscription, and in February 2026 it launched a paid People Partner Services advisory line for broader HR projects. Third-party reviewers also mention dedicated customer success managers.
The counterpoint is partner-run markets, where reviewers report slower responses. One third-party estimate puts typical onboarding at 5 to 10 business days because of the partner model. We could not verify that from Oyster, so test it: ask for a reference customer in your target country.
Alternatives to Oyster
- Deel: bundles EOR, contractors, and payroll in one product, with broader integration depth. Third-party comparisons also put its list price lower. Best if you want one vendor for a mixed workforce.
- Rippling: one system of record across HR, IT, and payroll, which removes the reconciliation work a standalone EOR adds. Best if you also want to replace your HRIS.
- Remote: the owned-entity alternative discussed above. Best if a documented legal-employer chain is a procurement requirement.
Choose Oyster over these when expert hand-holding on difficult cases matters more than price, and when your target countries are ones where reviewers report smooth partner operations.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Oyster cost?
Oyster lists its EOR service at $699 per employee per month, with annual discounts available. Contractors are $29 per month. These fees exclude salary, employer taxes, and benefits.
Does Oyster own its legal entities?
Oyster says it uses a mix of owned entities and partners, but it does not publish which countries use which. Third-party reviewers disagree, so ask for the entity that will employ your hire in each country.
Is Oyster SOC 2 compliant?
Oyster reports a SOC 2 Type II audit, which it shares through its trust process. We could not confirm its own ISO 27001 certification, so request the SOC 2 report during procurement.
How many countries does Oyster cover?
Its pricing page lists employment in 120+ countries. Third-party reviews say contractor payments reach 180+ countries, which is the figure behind some marketing claims.
Who should skip this Oyster review’s top pick?
Skip Oyster if you are making one simple hire on a tight budget, need a documented owned-entity chain, or need deep accounting integrations. Lower-priced and owned-entity alternatives exist, and Deel is the usual first comparison.