---
title: "Oyster Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra"
description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about Oyster Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Remote Work products and more."
source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/229351/Oyster/"
page_type: "product"
language: "en"
---

# 

 Oyster Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons

Last updated on September 16, 2026

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team.

[Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Integrations](#integrations)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews)

Oyster

## What is Oyster?

Oyster helps companies build and manage remote teams around the world. With a single platform, businesses can hire, pay, and support employees and contractors across multiple countries while staying compliant with local labor laws and tax requirements. Oyster simplifies global workforce management by handling payroll, benefits, contracts, and HR administration—so teams can focus on collaboration and growth. By removing the complexity of international hiring and compliance, Oyster makes it easier for companies to embrace remote work and access the best talent anywhere.

## What is Oyster used for?

[Payroll](https://www.capterra.com/payroll-software/)[Remote Work](https://www.capterra.com/remote-work-software/)[Human Resources](https://www.capterra.com/human-resource-software/)

Recognitions

Shortlist

Best ease of use

Overall rating

Based on 91 user reviews

Reviews sentiment

Positive

93%

Neutral

3%

Negative

3%

Starting price

$699

Per User, Per Month

Free trial  
available

Includes Free Version

Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products...

-   Contractor Management / 2026
-   Direct Deposit Payroll / 2026
-   Human Resources / 2026
-   Benefits Administration / 2025

Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings...

-   Benefits Administration / 2026
-   Contractor Management / 2026
-   Direct Deposit Payroll / 2026
-   Human Resources / 2026
-   Onboarding / 2026
-   Payroll / 2026
-   PEO / 2026
-   Remote Work / 2026

Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings...

## Oyster alternatives

Highest Rated

[4.9 (4,881)](https://www.capterra.com/p/172127/Rippling/reviews/)

Starting price

$8.00

Per User, Per Month

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

User Rating

98%

of reviewers

rated it above 4 stars

[4.9 (4,312)](https://www.capterra.com/p/205015/Deel/reviews/)

Starting price

$5.00

Per User, Per Month

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

User Rating

98%

of reviewers

rated it above 4 stars

[4.6 (5,315)](https://www.capterra.com/p/153140/Connecteam/reviews/)

Starting price

$29.00

Per User, Per Month

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

User Rating

96%

of reviewers

rated it above 4 stars

[4.5 (43)](https://www.capterra.com/p/167640/Papaya-Platform/reviews/)

Starting price

$5.00

Per User, Per Month

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

User Rating

86%

of reviewers

rated it above 4 stars

[View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/229351/Oyster/alternatives/)

## FAQs about Oyster

Overview

### What problems does Oyster solve?

Oyster solves the complexity of hiring, onboarding, paying, and supporting employees or contractors across countries without local entities. It reduces legal compliance risk, payroll administration, scattered HR documents, and slow international setup. HR leaders, people teams, finance teams, and remote managers benefit most from its centralized, easy-to-use platform and responsive support.

Answer based on 70 reviews

Overview

### Which roles and teams benefit most from Oyster?

Oyster is most used by HR leaders, people operations teams, and executives managing distributed hiring and international employment. Engineering and product teams benefit from faster onboarding and compliant payroll support, while operations and country managers use it to streamline global workforce administration, contracts, and cross-border team expansion.

Answer based on 91 reviews

Overview

### What company size and industries is Oyster built for?

Oyster is built for small businesses expanding internationally, with 67% of reviewers from small companies and Information Technology and Services leading at 16%. It also serves midsize businesses at 22% and enterprises at 11%, with strong use in Computer Software at 13% and Marketing and Advertising at 7%.

Answer based on 91 reviews

Features and Usability

### What are the key features of Oyster?

Oyster includes core HR and global employment features such as multi-country hiring, employee onboarding, payroll management, expense management, and document management. Differentiating capabilities include compliance management, contractor management, and multi-currency payments, with an employee portal for contracts, payslips, time off requests, and payroll approvals.

Answer based on 51 reviews

Pricing

### How much does it cost and what fees or limitations are included?

Oyster starts at $29/user/month for Contractors, with a free version and a 30-day free trial; US PEO costs 114/user/month and Employer of Record 699/user/month. Reviewers describe pricing as transparent and fair for small teams, but some call per-person fees hefty, especially at scale, with added deposits, prefunding, or termination costs.

Answer based on 16 reviews

Integrations

### Which third-party tools and platforms does Oyster integrate with?

Oyster connects to 10 third-party tools and platforms, including ADP Workforce Now, Ashby, BambooHR, Carta, Expensify, Greenhouse, Workday HCM, Xero, Slack, and Zapier. It also integrates with Humaans, Lucca, Okta, Personio, TriNet, and Workable for HR, payroll, identity, recruiting, and finance workflows.

Answer based on 4 reviews

Getting Started and Support

### What training and onboarding options does Oyster offer?

Oyster provides live online sessions, webinars, documentation, and videos to help teams get started. Live online sessions and webinars support guided training, while documentation and videos offer self-paced reference material for setup steps, feature overviews, and ongoing learning.

Answer based on 1 reviews

Getting Started and Support

### What customer support options does Oyster offer, and how do users rate the experience?

Oyster offers email/help desk, chat, a knowledge base, and FAQ/forum resources. Users often describe support as friendly, helpful, and quick to resolve routine questions, especially during onboarding. Some report slower responses for urgent or complex issues, generic ticket handling, and occasional delays when third-party partners are involved.

Answer based on 51 reviews

Employee payroll

### How well does Oyster handle global employee payroll?

Oyster handles global employee payroll well for many distributed teams that need compliant hiring, payments, and HR administration in one place. Small businesses and remote-first companies like the clear interface and easier approvals, though some payroll edge cases, manual reporting, expense workflows, and country-specific variations can still require extra effort.

Answer based on 25 reviews

## Features

AI summary

Based on 18,623 Remote Work reviews

Capterra reviewers highlight these as the features buyers value most when choosing remote work software:

-   **Communication Management** (**55%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical)
-   **Access Controls/Permissions** (**47%**)
-   **Collaboration Tools** (**46%**)

Oyster includes **Access Controls/Permissions**, which helps businesses manage user access and protect sensitive employee and company information. However, it does not include **Communication Management** or **Collaboration Tools**. Instead, Oyster offers **Remote Access/Control** (**49%**), a feature that reviewers also rate highly. This can help distributed teams securely connect to systems and resources from different locations, providing teams with more control over remote operations and day-to-day work.

Access Controls/Permissions

4.5 (32)

68.75% of 32 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems

Payroll Management

4.5 (51)

92.16% of 51 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Manage employee salary processes, data, taxes, and records administration efficiently

Employee Database

4.5 (30)

83.33% of 30 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Electronic storage of staff/employee contact information and job status in a centralized repository

Self Service Portal

4.4 (23)

78.26% of 23 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Online portal through which end users can access the system, manage tasks, or obtain information

Vacation/Leave Tracking

4.2 (23)

65.22% of 23 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Request, track, and manage time off requests and vacation time

Activity Dashboard

4.2 (20)

60.00% of 20 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities

Oyster 57 features

### All Features
- Access Controls/Permissions: Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems
- Activity Dashboard: Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities
- Alerts/Notifications: Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges
- Attendance Tracking: Track the attendance of specific individuals or groups
- Benefits Dashboard: Use a dashboard to view benefits that are selected by employees or offered by employers
- Benefits Management: Record employee's benefit plans and selections throughout career progression
- Billing & Invoicing: Create, manage, and send invoices or bills to customers
- Compensation Management: Manages compensation such as salary, bonus, and benefits processes, aligning with policies
- Compliance Management: Track and manage adherence to policies for any service, product, process, or supplier
- Contract/License Management: Track, store, and access client contracts or licenses
- Contractor Database: Easily track all contractor information in one centralised location
- Contractor Management: Specialized for general contractors/sub-contractors (those who conduct work on a contract basis)
- Customizable Reports: Alter the layout and content of reports
- Data Import/Export: Import and export data to and from software applications
- Digital Signature: Electronic signing method that validates the authenticity and integrity of a digital document
- Direct Deposit: Digitally deposit correct payroll amounts into individual employee's bank accounts
- Document Management: Store, manage, and track all electronic documents in a centralized location
- Document Storage: Store and organize documents in a centralized system
- Electronic Forms: Digital forms that are shared and accessed online
- Electronic Signature: Digitally sign online documents
- Employee Benefits Administration: Manage benefit portfolio selection that is available to your employees through workplace and automate related administrative tasks
- Employee Database: Electronic storage of staff/employee contact information and job status in a centralized repository
- Employee Management: Track employee schedules, availability, and performance across projects and tasks
- Employee Onboarding: Process of familiarizing new employees with the company, their position, and responsibilities
- Employee Portal: Online portal where employees can access and track their own information
- Employee Profiles: Centralized storage for employee data, records, and performance metrics
- Employee Self Service: Gateway through which employees can access the system
- Enrollments/Onboarding: Manage the enrollment and onboarding of all new members and accepted applications
- Expense Management: Plan, pay and track business related expenses.
- For PEO/ASO: Designed for professional employer organizations or administrative services organizations.
- Health Insurance Administration: Set up and manage health insurance benefits for employees
- HR Management: Automates core HR functions such as talent management, employee evaluation and learning management
- Learning & Development: Facilitate training materials that help employees grow and progress in their positions
- Leave Tracking: Manage and track employee attendance
- Multi-Country: Pay employees in multiple countries using correct currencies and correct tax deduction amounts
- Multi-Currency: Manage and handle various international currencies
- Multi-State: Pay employees in multiple states with correct tax deduction amounts in each
- Offboarding: Closing out contracts by reviewing contract/project completion, finalizing payments, and ensuring terms and compliance as been achieved
- Onboarding: Process of familiarizing new clients, stakeholders or employees with the company, a new location, or a service
- Online Benefits Enrollment: Select benefits and provide information needed to participate in a benefit via an online portal
- Orientation Workflow Management: Create orientation programs for new employees or students
- Payroll Management: Manage employee salary processes, data, taxes, and records administration efficiently
- Payroll Reporting: View and track payroll metrics including tax liabilities, pay rates, working hours, deductions and more
- Reminders: Timed notification for any upcoming task, deadline, appointment, or activity
- Reporting & Statistics: Collection, analysis, and representation of numerical data and generation of reports to understand various patterns
- Reporting/Analytics: View and track pertinent metrics to find patterns and gain insights from data
- Search/Filter: Search and filter data across systems to locate required information by entering keywords or certain criteria
- Self Service Portal: Online portal through which end users can access the system, manage tasks, or obtain information
- Sick Leave Tracking: Track and manage sick leave time
- Tax Compliance: Track tax-related transactions, tax remittance and tax reporting for various groups of employees and contractors
- Third-Party Integrations: Set up connections to third-party platforms to improve business processes
- Time & Attendance: Track and manage employee's work hours to improve payroll accuracy
- Time Off Management: Track and manage employee time-off, vacation, and sick leave requests
- Time Off Requests: Tools that allow employees to request/schedule time off
- Time Tracking: Measure and track time including hours worked and paid time off (PTO)
- Vacation/Leave Tracking: Request, track, and manage time off requests and vacation time
- W-2 Preparation: Automatically create and distribute W-2/1099 tax forms to employees.

---

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Features

4.5 (91)

4.5

Based on 91 reviews

## Pricing

Value for money

4.4 (76)

Free Trial

Free Version

[View pricing plan details](https://www.capterra.com/p/229351/Oyster/pricing/)

Employer Of Record

$699.00

Per User,Per Month

It includes:

-   Compliant Contracts
-   Payroll in 140+ Countries
-   Fast Onboarding
-   Global Benefits
-   Local Expertise

US PEO

$114.00

Per User,Per Month

It includes:

-   One-platform
-   Compliant Contracts
-   Local Expertise
-   Quick Onboarding
-   Manage everything

Contractors

$29.00

Per User,Per Month

It includes:

-   Free for 30 Days
-   Compliant Contracts
-   Quick Onboarding
-   140+ Currencies Available
-   Manage everything
-   One-platform

People Partner Services

$300.00

Flat Rate,One Time

Value for money

4.4 (76)

4.4

Based on 76 reviews

## Integrations

[

Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/)[

ADP Workforce Now](https://www.capterra.com/p/155895/WorkforceNow/)[

BambooHR](https://www.capterra.com/p/110968/BambooHR/)[

Xero](https://www.capterra.com/p/120109/Xero/)[

Zapier](https://www.capterra.com/p/130182/Zapier/)[

Workday HCM](https://www.capterra.com/p/66908/Workday-HCM/)[

Expensify](https://www.capterra.com/p/97594/Expensify/)[

Okta](https://www.capterra.com/p/119653/Okta/)

Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation

Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs.

## Support, customer service and training options

Customer Service

4.4 (88)

Support

-   Email/Help Desk
-   FAQs/Forum
-   Knowledge Base
-   Phone Support
-   24/7 (Live rep)
-   Chat

Training

-   In Person
-   Live Online
-   Webinars
-   Documentation
-   Videos

Deployment

-   Web
-   Android
-   iPhone/iPad

Typical users

-   Freelancers
-   Small businesses
-   Mid size businesses
-   Enterprises

Customer Service

4.4 (88)

4.4

Based on 88 reviews

## User reviews

Overall rating

4.6

Based on 91 reviews

Filter by rating

5(64)

4(21)

3(3)

2(0)

1(3)

Mentioned topic

Sorted by most recent

YK

Yuliana K.

Global People Operations Manager

Information Technology and Services

### "Trustful partner "

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

10/10

March 19, 2026

Pros

Transparent communication, trustful relationships, fast responses from Oyster Support Team. Outstanding support form the account managers.

Cons

Third party local providers - communication with them is difficult, not always straight-forward, limited. Support is rather poor (not in all countries though).

Alternatives considered

[Deel](https://www.capterra.com/p/205015/Deel/)

[Rippling](https://www.capterra.com/p/172127/Rippling/)

Reasons for choosing Oyster

Better price, flexibility, better customer service

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

MJ

Michael J.

CSM

Financial Services

### "Oyster HR South Africa"

4.0

Overall Rating

4.0

4.0

Ease of Use

4.0

4.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

2.0

2.0

Likelihood to Recommend

6/10

January 21, 2025

been good thus far, i haven't run into many issues. my only issues is non of the email address i have on file work, i always get a bounce back

Pros

It seems user friendly enough to submit leave and access payslips.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

VC

Vince C.

Senior Product Manager

Hospitality

### "Would recommend"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

10/10

January 20, 2025

Positive! Support is especially good. I've always been impressed by service

Pros

The UI is very simple and easy to navigate

Cons

The homepage is not very relevant for me.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

MT

Marwan T.

Qa specialist

Computer Software

### "Seamless experience "

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

10/10

January 20, 2025

It's easy to be onboarded on, easy to use, and the support team knows the platform and super nice

Pros

The seemless onboarding process and the user friendly platform

Cons

Some requests are mainly for the employee, but the roles would limit the employee, forcing them to request the company to request it on their behalf, like proof of employment

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

CH

Chris H.

Senior Software Engineer

Oil & Energy

### "Loving the switch made to oyster"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

9/10

January 17, 2025

I have had a great experience using oyster compared to our previous payroll/expense platform

Pros

Ease of use and everything being in one place

Cons

Sometimes submitting expenses is unclear when categories aren't available

Switched from

[ADP Workforce Now](https://www.capterra.com/p/155895/WorkforceNow/)

More features and better customer service with oyster

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

YG

Yavor G.

Junior CRM manager

Marketing and Advertising

### "Efficient platform for global hiring. "

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

10/10

January 17, 2025

My experience with Oyster has been positive overall. It’s a reliable solution that I’d recommend to others.

Pros

The platform is user-friendly and the customer support team is always helpful.

Cons

I haven't found any cons so far. I am satisfied with Oyster.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

AA

Alistair A.

Regional Sales Manager

Government Administration

### "Hassle free admin. "

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

9/10

January 17, 2025

My experience has been positive with minimal challenges in using the site and prompt responses to queries and an easy set up of my account

Pros

The website is very straightforward to use and navigate. The expenses function is particlarly simple and gives transparency on the amounts to be reimbursed very accurately in local currencies.

Cons

Oyster works through a local third party where I am based and I had a few teething problems but these have now settled down.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

HF

Honie Faith C.

Accounting Representative

Accounting

### "Amazing To be Part of Oyster"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

3/10

January 14, 2025

It was great experience.The payslip was on time.

Pros

It is very friendly and easy to navigate

Cons

Actually for now nothing everything was great.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

SO

Simon O.

Senior Customer Success Manager

Human Resources

### "Reliable service and good platform"

4.0

Overall Rating

4.0

4.0

Ease of Use

4.0

4.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

4.0

4.0

Likelihood to Recommend

8/10

January 14, 2025

Pros

Very responsive team, easy to use platform.

Cons

They can be a bit inflexible at times, and I’ve had encounters with support where there was a knowledge gap.

Switched from

[Deel](https://www.capterra.com/p/205015/Deel/)

I switched companies. But I’m happy I’m not with Deel anymore, the experience with Oyster has been much better so far.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

AK

Anne K.

Designer

Internet

### "Easy to use, some things could be improved"

4.0

Overall Rating

4.0

4.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

7/10

January 14, 2025

Overall it is sufficient for what it does and the platform is relatively simple to use compared to other HR software.

Pros

Easy to sign in and get the basic things I need, like copy of my contract or access to help desk. Also the support is very responsive.

Cons

The way to submit expenses could be a lot easier to do in bulk. I also think some basic common support tasks, like vacation rollover, should be easier to request than me having to fill in a whole ticket from scratch.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

[View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/229351/Oyster/reviews/)

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Popular comparisons

[Deel vs Oyster](https://www.capterra.com/compare/205015-229351/Deel-vs-Oyster)

[Remote vs Oyster](https://www.capterra.com/compare/211639-229351/Remote-vs-Oyster)