// head to head
Remote vs Oyster
Remote and Oyster compete on the same three services, EOR, payroll, and contractor management, and they open at the same published entry price for EOR. Where they split is on country coverage and reviewer sentiment: Remote maps a broader country footprint and carries a higher blended rating from third-party reviews. The figures behind each axis sit in the matrix below.
Which one fits you
Choose Remote if
your team is hiring across many markets and wants the wider country list, including places where a provider with its own employing entity matters to you. Remote documents its own entities in a long list of countries, while Oyster's public entity evidence points to one. You also get a larger review base, more listed integrations and a longer list of security certifications, which suits finance and IT teams that connect payroll to several systems. The trade-off: the published starting EOR fee is the same as Oyster's, so you are not paying less for the extra breadth, and Reddit sentiment about Remote is more mixed than you might expect from its review scores.
Choose Oyster if
your team hires in a smaller set of countries and cares most about day-to-day support and a clean platform. Oyster lists a dedicated customer success manager among its support channels, which Remote does not, and that can matter if you want one named contact as you grow. Community sentiment on Reddit leans positive for Oyster, and its third-party ratings are solid on a smaller review base. The trade-off: Oyster covers fewer countries, shows fewer integrations and security certifications on file, and documents its own employing entity in only one country, so check your target markets before you commit.
Where Remote and Oyster can employ
On our coverage data, Remote runs an EOR in 186 countries and Oyster in 116. They overlap in 114, so for 61% of the 188 countries either one covers, you can pick on price and service rather than reach. The difference sits in 72 countries only Remote covers and 2 countries only Oyster covers. If your next hire is in one of them, that decides it.
Only Remote 72 countries
- Americas
- Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Venezuela
- Europe
- Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Svalbard and Jan Mayen
- Africa
- Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia
- Asia
- Bahrain, Bhutan, Brunei, China, Jordan, Kuwait, Laos, Macau, Maldives, Oman, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Yemen
- Oceania
- Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu
Only Oyster 2 countries
- Americas
- Bermuda
- Europe
- Belarus
Own entity or local partner
An EOR either employs your hire through its own local company or through a partner it contracts. With its own entity, the provider controls payroll and compliance directly; with a partner, a third company is the legal employer.
Remote publicly documents its own employing entity in 94 countries (Australia, Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, India, Latvia, Norway, Poland and 84 more).
Oyster publicly documents its own employing entity in 1 country (United States).
Only entities with a public source (a registry record or the provider’s own legal documents) are counted. A provider can have more entities than it publishes.
What the fee difference adds up to
Both publish the same starting EOR fee, so the choice comes down to coverage, service and the fees below the headline.
| Employees | Remote | Oyster |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $8,388 | $8,388 |
| 5 | $41,940 | $41,940 |
| 10 | $83,880 | $83,880 |
| 25 | $209,700 | $209,700 |
| 50 | $419,400 | $419,400 |
Starting fees only, excluding salary and employer contributions. The matrix above lists the setup, offboarding, deposit and FX fees each provider discloses. Model a full hire in the cost calculator.
// reddit reputation, side by side
Remote vs Oyster on Reddit
On Reddit, Remote draws the highest share of negative mentions (29% of 56); Oyster the lowest (28% of 18). Approved mentions only. We screen real community mentions for relevance, then label sentiment, separate from our Select Score.
| Provider | Mentions | First-hand | Positive | Neutral | Negative | Sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remote | 56 | 37 | 36% | 36% | 29% | Mostly positive |
| Oyster | 18 | 12 | 39% | 33% | 28% | Mostly positive |
Most-discussed topics: Remote — compliance · Oyster — compliance
// faq
Remote vs Oyster: your questions
How do Remote and Oyster pricing compare?
Both publish the same starting fee for EOR per employee per month, and both start contractor payments at the same lower fee. Remote also publishes a starting fee for payroll, which Oyster's profile does not list. The fee-by-team-size table on this page shows how the numbers play out for your headcount.
Which provider covers more countries?
Remote covers more countries than Oyster, and the coverage breakdown on this page shows which countries both serve and which only one does. If your hires are concentrated in popular markets, the gap may not affect you. Check the countries you need before you decide.
How do Remote and Oyster employ people locally?
Remote documents its own employing entity in a long list of countries on public sources. Oyster documents its own entity in the United States only, so in other markets you should ask how employment is arranged. The entity evidence on this page lists the details for each provider.
Which has better reviews and support?
Remote has a larger review base and a slightly higher blended rating across major review sites. Oyster earns strong marks for support and includes a dedicated customer success manager among its channels. Both list live chat, a knowledge base and round-the-clock support, so the difference comes down to whether you want a named contact.