How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Deel and Remote are the premium defaults at a reported 599 dollars per employee per month for EOR, with the deepest platforms and owned entity coverage in major markets.
- Multiplier and Papaya Global undercut on price at a reported 400 and 499 dollars, and Plane matches 499 with a free HRIS for smaller teams.
- The platform fee is the small print of global hiring: employer social contributions and statutory benefits add roughly 15 to 40 percent on top of salary depending on the country.
- Owned entities versus local partners in your specific countries matters more than headline country counts, which every vendor inflates differently.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Deel | Global hiring at scale | $599 per employee per month | No |
 Remote | Compliance first, owned entities | $599 per employee per month | No |
 Papaya Global | Payroll consolidation and payments | $499 per employee per month | No |
 Multiplier | Cost conscious hiring across APAC and beyond | $400 per employee per month | No |
 Plane | Startups wanting EOR with a free HRIS | $499 per employee per month | No |
 Rippling | EOR inside a full HR and IT platform | See website | No |
 G-P | Enterprise grade global employment | See website | No |
 Pebl | Established EOR for complex coverage | See website | No |
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The best Oyster HR alternatives
#1Deel
Best for: Global hiring at scale4.7/5 on
G2 (6,959 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit deel.com
Starting price$599 per employee per month
Free planNo
What we like- Deel is the market's centre of gravity: EOR in 150 plus countries at a reported 599 dollars per employee per month, contractors at 49 dollars, global payroll for your own entities, a free HRIS, and equity and engagement tooling layered in. Its platform automation, onboarding speed and integration catalogue suit companies hiring internationally every month rather than once. Scale brings a support and compliance operation that smaller rivals cannot match in the major markets.
Watch out for- Premium pricing with reported setup costs per entity on some products, and a hybrid model where long tail countries run through partners like everyone else's. The platform's breadth creates the usual sprawl: products and pricing pages multiply, and buyers should pin down exactly which Deel products their quote includes. Contractor misclassification protection and benefits quality vary by country in ways that deserve specific questions.
#2Remote
Best for: Compliance first, owned entities4.5/5 on
G2 (5,000 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit remote.com
Starting price$599 per employee per month
Free planNo
What we like- Remote's pitch is structural: it owns its entities in its core countries rather than renting partners, and sells that as compliance and employee experience quality, with EOR reported at 599 dollars per employee per month, no setup fees, and a fair price guarantee against hidden markups. Contractors start free with paid tiers at 29 dollars. For companies hiring in the mainstream markets and caring how the employment actually works, its model is the most defensible here.
Watch out for- Owned entity coverage is narrower than partner network coverage by definition: Remote's direct EOR footprint runs to roughly 80 to 100 countries against rivals claiming 150 plus, so an unusual hiring location can fall outside. Off cycle payroll runs and year end processing cost extra in current comparisons. It deliberately declines some high risk markets that partner based rivals will serve.
#3Papaya Global
Best for: Payroll consolidation and payments4.5/5 on
G2 (55 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit papayaglobal.com
Starting price$499 per employee per month
Free planNo
What we like- Papaya Global leads with the money movement: EOR from a reported 499 dollars per employee per month, global payroll across 160 plus countries, and payments in 130 plus currencies with same day capability, wrapped in analytics that finance teams use to see total workforce cost across countries. Companies whose problem is consolidating payroll for entities they already own, not just EOR, find Papaya's centre of gravity matches theirs.
Watch out for- Its full pricing includes platform licence, setup and cycle fees in its published structure, so the EOR sticker is not the whole invoice. The HRIS layer is thinner than Deel's or Rippling's
- Papaya is a payroll and payments platform with EOR, not an HR suite. Enterprise orientation means smaller teams get a heavier product than they need.
#4Multiplier
Best for: Cost conscious hiring across APAC and beyond4.7/5 on
G2 (1,494 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit usemultiplier.com
Starting price$400 per employee per month
Free planNo
What we like- Multiplier is the price challenger: EOR reported from 400 dollars per employee per month on annual terms, coverage claimed across 150 plus countries with owned entities in its key markets, and strength in APAC hiring where it began. No setup fees headline its pitch to early stage teams. For a startup whose hiring is India, Southeast Asia and a scattering of other markets, it delivers the core EOR job for materially less than the premium pair.
Watch out for- Reported starting prices vary by source and billing period, 400 to 499 dollars, so the quote decides. Depth in non mainstream countries is less operator tested than Deel's or Remote's, and equity administration and account management infrastructure are thinner. Its global payroll product is newer than its EOR, which matters if consolidation is your main need.
#5Plane
Best for: Startups wanting EOR with a free HRIS4.6/5 on
G2 (904 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit plane.com
Starting price$499 per employee per month
Free planNo
What we like- Plane, formerly Pilot, prices EOR at 499 dollars per hire per month and contractors at 39, and bundles a free HRIS, which makes its total stack cost the lowest coherent offer for a small distributed team. Its API first tooling appeals to developer led startups that want payroll and people data wired into their own systems. Onboarding and support draw strong reviews from its startup customer base.
Watch out for- Coverage and entity depth trail the leaders, so an expanding hiring map can outgrow it. It is a smaller company carrying your employment compliance, a concentration some boards weigh at hiring scale. Benefits breadth by country is narrower than Deel's or Remote's catalogues.
#6Rippling
Best for: EOR inside a full HR and IT platform4.8/5 on
G2 (13,464 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit rippling.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
What we like- Rippling is the platform play: HR, IT device management, spend and payroll in one system, with global payroll and EOR attached, reported EOR figures clustering between 499 and 650 dollars per employee per month through quotes. A US headquartered company that wants one system from laptop provisioning to international payslips finds nothing else like it. Its automation across the employee lifecycle is the deepest in this list by a distance.
Watch out for- EOR is an add on to a platform sale, not a standalone product: pricing is quote only and the total depends on the modules you take, so comparing its EOR line to Deel's sticker misleads. Its global employment runs partner reliant in many countries. Companies that only need EOR buy a platform to get it, which is either the point or the problem.
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
What we like- G-P, Globalization Partners, is one of the category's founders: EOR across 180 plus countries, an enterprise compliance posture, AI assisted guidance in its Gia product, and the analyst recognition large companies use to justify the choice internally. Regulated and risk averse employers shortlist it first. Its contractor product publishes at 39 dollars in current comparisons, though EOR itself is quoted.
Watch out for- Quote only pricing reported from around 599 dollars and up, with an enterprise sales motion to match. The platform experience is heavier than the startup born rivals, and smaller teams are not its design centre. As with all founders, you pay partly for the assurance brand, which is either waste or the entire value depending on your risk committee.
#8Pebl
Best for: Established EOR for complex coverage4.6/5 on
G2 (605 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit pebl.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
What we like- Pebl, the rebranded Velocity Global, claims coverage across 185 plus countries with a direct entity and partner model and a long operating history in complex hires, including markets and structures newer platforms decline. Enterprises with awkward geographies, project based employment and multi year relationships in this category know the name. Its global mobility and immigration support extends beyond standard EOR.
Watch out for- Pricing is custom and reported at the premium end, 700 dollars and upward in some comparisons for full service coverage. The rebrand means research under two names, and its platform polish trails Deel and Remote in current reviews. For mainstream hiring it is rarely the cheapest credible option.
How we chose
Oyster itself is excluded because this article covers its alternatives. We selected employer of record providers in active operation in October 2026 with genuine multi country coverage, spanning the price bands from budget to enterprise. EOR per employee starting prices are reported figures from vendor pages and current comparisons, and where sources conflicted we used the most consistently reported number and flagged the variance in the text. Coverage counts are vendor claims under differing definitions and are treated as such. Nothing was hands on tested, and no provider's compliance quality is endorsed here; employment law duties remain the employer's to verify per country.
How to choose your Oyster alternative
List your actual and two year hiring countries first, then ask each finalist one question per country: owned entity or partner, and who is the employer on the contract. That answer, not the global country count, decides your employees' experience and your compliance reality. In mainstream markets the premium platforms earn their price in process quality; in a single long tail country, everyone is renting the same local partner and the cheaper platform wins honestly.
Then budget the loaded cost: platform fee, employer contributions and statutory benefits at 15 to 40 percent of salary by country, FX spreads on payouts, and the one off costs of moving existing employees between providers, which involve consent and new contracts in many jurisdictions. Switching EORs is an employment event, not a software migration, so time it with hiring rather than mid employment where you can.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an employer of record cost?
Headline EOR fees in current comparisons run from about 199 dollars per employee per month at the budget end to 699 at the premium end, with the credible mainstream clustering between 400 and 599: Multiplier reported from 400, Papaya Global and Plane at 499, Deel and Remote at 599. Employer taxes and statutory benefits come on top of salary separately and dwarf the fee difference between vendors in most countries.
What is the difference between owned entities and partners?
An EOR with its own entity in a country employs your worker directly through its local company. A partner model subcontracts employment to a local firm you never see. Owned entities generally mean tighter compliance control and a more consistent employee experience; partner models mean wider coverage. Most large providers mix both, which is why the per country question matters more than the marketing label.
Can an EOR replace setting up our own entity?
For hiring one to a few dozen people in a country, usually yes, and it is the standard route. At larger headcount the arithmetic flips: EOR fees per employee per month eventually exceed the cost of your own entity and local payroll, which is why growing companies graduate anchor countries to their own entities and keep EOR for the tail. Providers here, Papaya Global and Deel especially, sell that payroll layer too.
Is Oyster actually more expensive than the alternatives?
Its reported 699 dollars per employee per month sits at the premium end beside Pebl's custom pricing, above Deel and Remote at 599 and well above Multiplier's reported 400. What the premium buys is its support model and distributed team tooling. Whether that is worth 100 to 300 dollars per employee per month over credible rivals is a judgement your hiring volume makes easy or hard to defend.
What should we check before switching EOR providers?
Employee consent and contract continuity in each country, benefits equivalence, especially health cover and pension contributions, IP assignment language in the new contracts, and the timeline for payroll cutover so no payslip is missed. Get the per country entity answers in writing. A cheaper platform that mishandles one country's termination rules costs more than a decade of fee savings.
Sources we checked (0)
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.