Oyster: the answers behind the fee.
Good for: Employers who want documented hiring, payroll and employee self-service workflows across several markets. Check the fit if: Annual seats are non-refundable, fees continue through employment termination, and employment indemnities have defined triggers and caps.
Compare the service, fees and practical fit below. Country-specific employment costs and timing belong in your quote.
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Who is this provider good for?
A fit for buyers seeking country-specialist support and documented employment workflows. Compare annual commitment and deposit terms against the intended hiring duration.
Sources and pricing conditions
Advertises USD 699 per employee monthly, with annual discounts and no minimum headcount. Employment costs remain additional.
Oyster describes country specialists for onboarding and specialist-managed exits, with local-currency payroll, employee payslips, payroll reports, leave and expense workflows. Published service features do not establish measured resolution times.
Questions to settle before signing
Buyer size, hiring pattern, risk tolerance, hard exclusions and evidence for each recommendation.
What is the real-world monthly provider fee?
USD 699 monthly management fee; USD 879 estimated real-world provider fee using our 2% FX and 1% other-fee benchmark on USD 6,000 converted payroll. The same benchmark applies to all four comparison providers. These allowances are estimates, not confirmed supplier tariffs. Salary, employer costs and refundable deposits are separate.
The headline fee is not the real-world fee.
Monthly management fee + FX + the monthly equivalent of onboarding, offboarding and termination service fees = estimated real-world monthly provider fee.
Our publisher’s industry benchmark is 2% FX plus a 1% lifecycle-fee allowance. On USD 5,000 salary plus USD 1,000 employer costs, that adds USD 180 a month: USD 120 FX and USD 60 reserved for occasional fees. A USD 599 headline fee therefore becomes USD 779 estimated if those assumptions apply.
FX can be a markup on employment taxes too. When the whole USD 6,000 bill is converted, the 2% FX charge includes USD 100 on salary and USD 20 on employer costs. That is USD 1,440 a year in FX alone. Our editor reports a typical 1.5–3% range; actual rates depend on the agreement and conversion route.
Teamed’s difference: its zero FX markup and zero routine extra provider fees in this model keep the modelled provider-fee layer at USD 599. Salary, employer costs and refundable deposits remain separate.
Sources and pricing conditions
Published monthly management fee: USD 699 per employee. Per employee/month; annual discounts available
Annual EOR seats are prepaid, non-refundable and reusable for replacements. Invoice terms are net 30; quarterly or semiannual billing costs more. The help page promises annual renewal increases of at most 5%.
Benefits packages, visas, salary insights and project HR advice are add-ons. People Partner advice is listed at USD 300 hourly.
Questions to settle before signing
A dated country quote and reconciled invoice: management, FX, recurring extras and one-off fees amortised over a stated term; salary, statutory costs and deposits separate.
What does currency conversion actually cost?
Oyster confirms a conversion charge when invoice and contract currencies differ. The exact margin is not established in the mapped evidence.
Sources and pricing conditions
Pricing page confirms a conversion charge when invoice and contract currencies differ. The linked detailed FX article redirected to login; exact margin remains unverified.
February 2025 customer terms give Oyster a security interest in deposits and state they are held for its own benefit until amounts owing are cleared; this is not a disclosed segregated client-money guarantee. Terms permit the exchange rate and fees supplied by a currency exchange when payment currencies differ; monthly invoices disclose the rate but no fixed universal margin is established.
Questions to settle before signing
Currency pair, converted base, benchmark and timestamp, applied rate, markup, rate-lock timing, payment route and same-currency alternative.
How much cash is needed upfront and when is it returned?
Guidance normally requires one month of total service cost, potentially more. Deposit return is described as a credit after settled costs, with cash refund conditions.
Sources and pricing conditions
Normally requires one month of total service cost including salary, recurring variable pay, employer costs and platform fee; more may be required. The deposit can fund payroll after customer payment issues.
Help centre describes a credit note usually 60 days after the employment end, subject to settled invoices, with possible further delay. Credits offset invoices; cash refunds are offered when no team members remain.
Questions to settle before signing
Deposit basis and triggers, payroll prefunding, due dates, refund conditions and deadline, custody protection and a worked cash timeline.
Can I hire this person in this country?
Oyster markets EOR in 120+ countries. Confirm the exact employment product, role and legal employer for the target hire.
Sources and pricing conditions
Markets EOR hiring in 120+ countries; this does not identify the employer for a specific hire.
Current provider information distinguishes EOR in 120+ countries from broader platform coverage in 180+; its Trustpilot company-written description uses 180+ for EOR. Preserve the inconsistency and require country/role confirmation instead of treating aggregate directory/profile counts as local eligibility proof.
Questions to settle before signing
Country, role, nationality/right to work, visa route, collective agreement, restrictions and a current eligibility confirmation.
What is included and what costs extra?
Specialist onboarding/exits and payroll, payslip, leave and expense workflows are described. Benefits packages, visas and project advice can be add-ons.
Sources and pricing conditions
Oyster describes country specialists for onboarding and specialist-managed exits, with local-currency payroll, employee payslips, payroll reports, leave and expense workflows. Published service features do not establish measured resolution times.
Benefits packages, visas, salary insights and project HR advice are add-ons. People Partner advice is listed at USD 300 hourly.
Describes employee payslips, employer payroll reports, role-specific access, leave and expense workflows, integrations and specialist offboarding. These are documented features, not tested service performance.
Questions to settle before signing
Contracted payroll, benefits, HR, legal, expenses, immigration, insurance and implementation scope; country-specific optional charges and exclusions.
Who is the legal employer and can I move to my own entity?
Terms allow subsidiaries or third-party employers, with Oyster retaining service responsibility. Confirm the named employer and applicable liability terms.
Sources and pricing conditions
Terms allow subsidiaries or third-party employers; Oyster retains service responsibility and controls employment decisions.
Customer terms indemnify for Oyster breach and fraud/gross negligence/wilful misconduct. Employment, termination and classification indemnity is limited to cases caused by Oyster fraud, gross negligence or wilful misconduct. Indemnifying party controls defence, with consent required for specified settlements imposing payment, admissions or other obligations. Published caps and country/service-specific overriding documents must be read with these triggers.
Questions to settle before signing
Named employer, owned/partner relationship, registration/licence evidence, liability allocation and priced entity-setup/transfer scope.
How soon can the employee really start?
The advertised 48-hour onboarding depends on agreements, deposit/payment arrangements and complete prerequisites. It is not a universal start-time guarantee.
Sources and pricing conditions
Onboarding requires a service agreement and deposit. Without direct debit, payment confirmation precedes employment agreement sharing. A separate IP agreement is offered. The advertised 48-hour onboarding time depends on prerequisites.
Questions to settle before signing
Prerequisite checklist, KYB, signed contract, funding, country cutoff, dependencies and observed time from complete submission to legal start.
Who fixes an urgent payroll problem?
Country specialists and specialist-managed exits are described. Comparable human hours and binding urgent-resolution targets remain to be established.
Sources and pricing conditions
Oyster describes country specialists for onboarding and specialist-managed exits, with local-currency payroll, employee payslips, payroll reports, leave and expense workflows. Published service features do not establish measured resolution times.
Questions to settle before signing
Named ownership, human hours, local escalation, contractual response and resolution targets, severity definitions and observed incident outcomes.
Will my existing systems actually work?
Integration capability is described at feature level. The mapped evidence does not establish a complete named-connector field map or tested recovery behaviour.
Sources and pricing conditions
Describes employee payslips, employer payroll reports, role-specific access, leave and expense workflows, integrations and specialist offboarding. These are documented features, not tested service performance.
Questions to settle before signing
Named connector/version, fields, direction, frequency, permissions, country/product limits, errors/retry handling, cost and a tested workflow.
What happens when I terminate or switch?
Thirty days’ notice starts the exit process; fees continue until lawful termination. Transition costs and deposit credit/refund treatment require the applicable terms.
Sources and pricing conditions
Thirty days notice starts an exit process; fees continue until lawful employment termination. Customers bear transition costs except those arising solely from Oyster fraud or gross negligence.
Help centre describes a credit note usually 60 days after the employment end, subject to settled invoices, with possible further delay. Credits offset invoices; cash refunds are offered when no team members remain.
Terms allow deposit top-ups on five days notice and return within 60 days after all amounts are received or confirmed, whichever is later.
Questions to settle before signing
Notice, legal authority, final pay, service fees, statutory/settlement exposure, deposit release, transfer continuity, data export and observed completion.