Remote Team Tools

Oyster HR Pricing in 2026: EOR, Contractors and the Fees Around Them

Oyster HR pricing for 2026: EOR at $699 per employee a month, contractors at $29, the refundable deposit, and how the bill compares with Deel and Remote.

By Engineer Foodie Desk Oct 19, 2026 ✓ Sources checked Oct 19, 2026

6 min read

Base list prices checked Oct 15, 2026 on Oyster’s pricing page; the refundable EOR deposit rule rechecked Oct 19, 2026 on that page plus Oyster’s Help Center deposit article. All prices in USD. No affiliate links on this page (how we work). This is pricing information, not legal or tax advice.

Oyster HR pricing is the page you open when Deel and Remote both said “$599” and you’re wondering what the $699 option is actually buying. Short version:

Employer of Record (EOR): $699 per employee a month (“Annual discounts available”; the % isn’t printed).
Contractors: $29 per contractor a month, free for the first 30 days.
People Services: $300 per hour.
Refundable EOR deposit: required; normally about one month of Total Cost of Services (not a fixed dollar figure on the pricing page).
Startup savings: “save up to $1,200 on EOR subscription fees.”

We haven’t hired through Oyster. Everything below is what Oyster publishes. For deeper Deel and Remote menus, use Deel pricing and Remote.com pricing.

TL;DR by situation

One full-time hire abroad: budget $699/employee/mo for the platform fee, plus salary, employer taxes, benefits, and the refundable deposit before day one.
Contractors only: $29/contractor/mo after 30 days free. That’s the same list price Remote prints for Contractor Management, and $20 under Deel’s $49.
You need HR hand-holding beyond the platform: People Services at $300/hour. Ask what’s included in the EOR fee before you buy hours.
Early-stage startup: Oyster advertises up to $1,200 off EOR subscription fees. Confirm eligibility and how the credit lands.
Comparing to Deel / Remote on EOR list price only: Oyster is $100 above both. Whether that gap is worth it depends on country coverage and support, not this table alone.

Oyster price table

List prices in USD from oysterhr.com/pricing (Oct 15, 2026) and deposit detail from Oyster’s Help Center (Oct 19, 2026).

Product	Price	Billing	Includes	Source
EOR	$699	Per employee/mo	Annual discounts available (% not published)	Oyster pricing
Contractors	$29	Per contractor/mo	Free for 30 days	same
People Services	$300	Per hour	Add-on services beyond platform	same
EOR deposit	≈ 1 mo TCS	Refundable	Usually 1 month Total Cost of Services; sometimes more	Help Center
Startup offer	Up to $1,200	EOR fees	“Save up to $1,200 on EOR subscription fees”	Oyster pricing

TCS = Total Cost of Services (salary components + employer taxes/VAT + Oyster platform fee). Details below. The $699 is the platform fee, not the cost of the human.

EOR: $699 and the annual asterisk

Oyster’s Employer of Record is $699 per employee a month. The pricing page says “Annual discounts available” and does not print the percentage (Oyster pricing, checked Oct 15, 2026; still the case Oct 19, 2026).

That puts Oyster $100 above Deel’s $599 and Remote’s from-$599 on list price alone. Higher list price can still win on support, benefits or country fit — just don’t pretend the homepage numbers are close. For the wider field (Pebl from $399, Papaya from $499, and friends), see best employer of record.

Ask sales for the annual number in writing. “Available” is not a calculator.

Contractors: $29, free for 30 days

Oyster lists contractors at $29 per contractor a month, free for 30 days (Oyster pricing, checked Oct 15, 2026).

That’s the same everyday contractor list price Remote publishes for Contractor Management, and under Deel’s $49. If your team is mostly freelancers, this row matters more than the EOR row. For the ops playbook (contracts, invoicing, classification traps), see how to pay international contractors.

Oyster’s public pricing page doesn’t print a separate Contractor of Record tier the way Deel and Remote do at $325. If you need that product shape, ask Oyster directly rather than assuming it from a competitor’s menu.

Fees around the plan: deposit and People Services

Refundable EOR deposit

The pricing page says Oyster requires a refundable deposit for EOR Team Members and does not print a fixed dollar amount. The Help Center spells out the rule (checked Oct 19, 2026):

Normally a 1-month fully refundable deposit, roughly one month of Total Cost of Services.
Total Cost of Services ≈ monthly rate (annual salary ÷ 12) + recurring bonuses/allowances + employer taxes/VAT + the Oyster platform fee.
In some situations Oyster may require more than one month.
Deposit invoice typically about two business days after Team Member submission; payment is due at Service Agreement signature.
Fully refundable after final invoices are settled (return timing is covered in a separate Help Center article; credit notes are often around 60 days after end date).

So: not a hidden fee, but real cash you park before the hire starts. A $80k salary with employer costs and the $699 fee can easily make the deposit several thousand dollars. Budget it.

People Services: $300/hour

Oyster lists People Services at $300 per hour. That’s an add-on clock, not the monthly EOR fee. Before you buy hours, ask what HR/legal support is already inside the $699.

Startup savings: up to $1,200

Oyster says startups can “save up to $1,200 on EOR subscription fees” (Oyster pricing, checked Oct 15, 2026). That’s a ceiling, not a coupon code with terms printed on the same card.

For comparison, Remote prints 15% off EOR and Contractor Management for 12 months for pre-seed to Series A, and Rippling offers eligible US VC-backed startups six months free (see Rippling vs Deel for Rippling’s quote-only reality). Get Oyster’s startup terms in writing: eligibility, which fees the $1,200 applies to, and when the credit hits.

Oyster vs Deel vs Remote (EOR list price)

EOR starting list prices only, USD per employee per month. Not a full product bake-off.

Provider	EOR list	Source
Deel	$599	deel.com/pricing
Remote	From $599	remote.com/pricing
Oyster	$699	oysterhr.com/pricing

Checked Oct 15, 2026. Remote’s figure is a “from” price. Deel and Remote also undercut or match Oyster on several contractor and payroll rows; details live on Deel pricing and Remote.com pricing. List price is one slice of the bill — deposit, FX, country costs and support still move the real number.

Here’s what I’d do

Get a written quote for each country: platform fee, employer costs, FX, and the deposit amount using Oyster’s Total Cost of Services formula.
If you’re contractor-heavy, price the $29 / 30-day free trial against Remote’s $29 and Deel’s $49 before you pay for an EOR you don’t need yet.
Ask whether the annual discount and the “up to $1,200” startup savings stack, and how.
Put Oyster next to Deel and Remote on list price, then pick on country coverage and how fast each team answers — not on who won the homepage screenshot.

FAQ

How much does Oyster cost? EOR is $699 per employee a month; contractors are $29 per contractor a month after 30 days free; People Services is $300 per hour (Oyster pricing, checked Oct 15, 2026).

Does Oyster require a deposit? Yes for EOR Team Members. It’s refundable and normally about one month of Total Cost of Services, not a fixed dollar amount on the pricing page (Help Center, checked Oct 19, 2026).

Is Oyster cheaper than Deel? Not on EOR list price: Oyster is $699 vs Deel’s $599. Contractor list price matches Remote at $29 and beats Deel’s $49.

Is there a free trial? Contractors are free for 30 days. No free EOR plan is listed on the pricing page.

Does Oyster offer annual discounts? The page says “Annual discounts available” and does not print the percentage (checked Oct 15 and Oct 19, 2026). Ask sales for the number.

What is People Services? An add-on billed at $300 per hour on top of the monthly EOR or contractor fees. Confirm what the base plan already includes before buying hours.

Sources

Oyster pricing: https://www.oysterhr.com/pricing (base prices checked 2026-10-15; deposit wording checked 2026-10-19)
Oyster Help Center — Why is a deposit required: https://support.oysterhr.com/hc/en-us/articles/34221683638289-Why-is-a-deposit-required (checked 2026-10-19)
Deel pricing: https://www.deel.com/pricing/ (checked 2026-10-15)
Remote pricing: https://remote.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-15)
Rippling pricing: https://www.rippling.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-15)