5 Best Oyster HR Alternatives in 2023

Oyster is a global employment platform with a reach in 180+ countries. They support hiring, onboarding, compliance, payroll and benefits management. All of it promises a good start. But the platform has its limitations.  

Firstly, their pricing can be hefty for small businesses in the long run. Jami W, a small business owner, highlights this issue. "The pricing model can get a bit high after hiring more than 3 people," she says. 

And then, Oyster HR works with third-party vendors in regions they don't have local entities. Ilva G, an Oyster HR user, reported how hard it was to work with their third-party vendors. Another user also said that the third-party providers were not customer friendly or responsive.

In a country like India where laws change from state to state, it's important to partner with a responsive EOR that has local expertise. So, here are the best 5 Oyster HR alternatives for expanding your workforce in India.

Top 5 Oyster HR Alternatives in 2023

1. Rapid

Rapid is an employer of record (EOR) service and one of the top Oyster HR competitors in India. With its deep expertise of 25 years in India, Rapid helps you onboard high-quality tech talent while complying with local laws.

Key Features

• Customised contracts: Generate customised contracts compliant with local laws by simply filling in a few employee details.
• Faster onboarding: Get a self-serve portal for onboarding where employees can upload all the documents. It reduces onboarding time from 6-9 months to 5 minutes. 
• Background verification: Provides three tiers/packages of background verification (Pro, Power and Premium) for basics till advanced checks. You can easily choose packages based on your needs. 
• Integrated service marketplace: Helps you get in touch with recruiters, tax filers and immigration experts via the integrated service marketplace for further support. 
• IT equipment provisioning: Provide laptops and other IT equipment to new hires through a streamlined and safe ordering process.
• Localised benefits: With deep local expertise, Rapid understands local laws and market norms. It offers three packages of health insurance and you can choose what fits best as per your policies.
• Payroll processing: Easily set up payroll and manage employee compensation while also staying compliant with local tax laws.
• Flexible workspace solutions: Rapid is not limited to hiring remote employees. You can request office spaces in the location of your choice directly through the platform.
• End-to-end talent management: Helps you manage the entire employee lifecycle by providing features for:

           - Tracking leaves and timesheets 

           - Giving rewards, incentives and stock options

            - Managing expenses and reimbursements

            - Handling employee support queries

            - Completing exit formalities‍

Integrations: Offers integrations with Slack, HRMS, payroll software and job boards to fit well into your existing system. 

Limitations

• Currently offers support for India only. 

Pricing (as of July 2023)

Employee: $299 per month per employee

Contractor: $49 per month per contractor

Rapid also offers special pricing for startups:

Employee: $199 per employee per month

Contractor: $39 per contractor per month

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2. Deel

Deel is a global EOR helping businesses onboard independent contractors and full-time employees in 150+ countries. 

Key Features

• Global payroll: Runs payroll services in 100+ countries compliant with local laws. 
• Immigration and VISA support: Provides immigration and VISA support in 25+ countries.
• Localised benefits: Help you offer the right benefits package as per each market.
• Talent management: Use the platform to manage leaves, bonus and benefits. 
• 24*7 chat support: Offers 24/7 in-app chat to address all queries. 
• Misclassification support: Protects you from contractor misclassification risks at additional cost. 

Limitations

• Deel is expensive for startups eyeing fast growth. 
• They are also not fully transparent with their pricing. Services like global payroll and VISA support are available on request at a custom pricing. 

Pricing (as of July 2023)

• Employee: Starting at $599 per month per employee
• Contractor: Starting at $49 per month per contractor
• Global payroll: Price quote available on request

3. Remote 

Remote, another Oyster HR competitor, helps you manage international payroll, benefits and compliance in 50+ countries. 

Key Features

• Owned entities: Only operates in the countries where they have local entities. It gives them better control over processes, data and costs.
• Faster onboarding: Employees and contractors can complete the onboarding quickly through a self-serve platform.
• Localised benefits: Helps you offer the benefits as per the local laws and job market expectations. 
• International payroll: Can process payroll in 50+ countries in compliance with local laws.
• Intellectual property (IP) protection: Strict documentation for the safety of your IP.
• Customer support: Provides 24*7 email and chat support for handling any queries.
• Talent management: Equips you with a centralised system for tasks like time tracking, expense reporting, reimbursement claims and tax filing.  
• Consulting services: Offers consultation calls on talent acquisition strategy, remote workforce management and global employment. 

Limitations

• Pricing is not transparent for global payroll and Enterprise plan.
• Prioritised customer support and consulting services in the Enterprise plan only.

Pricing (as of July 2023)

• Employee: Starts at $599 per month per employee
• Contractor: Starts at $29 per contractor per month
• Global payroll: Price quote available on request
• Enterprise plan: Price quote available on request

4. Globalization Partners

Globalization Partners helps companies build highly skilled global teams by hiring talent in 180+ countries.

Key features

• Background checks: Can conduct background screening of candidates as per local law. 
• Customised contracts: Helps you create legally compliant contracts in a few clicks.
• Bulk onboarding: Easily upload and track all employee documents for onboarding in the portal. There is also a bulk onboarding feature to handle bulk onboarding of employees or bulk conversion of contractors to full-time employees.
• Localised benefits: Helps you offer benefits as per the country's norms.
• Talent management: Further offer features for payroll management, benefits analysis, time tracking and expense management. 
• Employee HR support: In-region HR Specialists are available to handle any employee queries.

 Limitations:

• Not transparent about pricing.
• Works with a mix of owned entities and third-party vendors. 

Pricing

• Price quote available on request

5. Papaya Global

Papaya Global is a professional employer organisation (PEO) platform for hiring, onboarding and managing employees in more than 160 countries.

Key features

• Automated onboarding: Country-specific onboarding workflows available for faster onboarding. 
• All-purpose Human Resources Information System (HRIS): Provides a centralised system to track leaves, expenses, build reports and manage payroll.  
• Advanced reporting: Can build value-adding reports like time off analysis, retention metrics, payroll costs breakdown and more. 
• Integrations: Can be integrated with your existing HR, payroll and business systems like BambooHR, WorkDay, Hibob, Oracle, Expensify, SAP SuccessFactors and NetSuite.

Limitations

• Does not have local entities in operating countries. Fully dependent on third-party vendors. 

Pricing (as of July 2023)

• Employee: Starting from $650 per month per employee
• Contractor: Starting from $2 per month per contractor
• Supplemental benefits packages: Starting from $190 per month per employee

Which Oyster HR Alternative Is the Best for Your India Team?

There is a common thread of issues between Oyster HR and alternatives of Oyster: third-party vendors and hidden fees. Rapid saves you from these hassles. 

✅It has a fully-established legal entity in India. With over 25 years of experience, you get a trusted solution with local expertise and excellent customer service.

✅It is fully transparent with its pricing and also offers discounted packages for startups.

Bonus: Rapid also exempts all non-salary payments like office rentals and IT equipment from GST calculations. It further adds cost savings by 18%.

Schedule a demo call today to scale your business in India.

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