How long does it take to switch from Oyster to Teamed?

Usually four to six weeks. The operational plan takes the time, not the paperwork: notice-period alignment, payroll-calendar sync, benefits continuity, employee comms, and a phased per-country cutover. Teamed maps it from your Oyster MSA.

Will my employees miss a pay run or lose benefits during the switch?

No, when sequenced properly. The switch date is set off the payroll calendar inside the notice window, benefits enrolments are held so cover does not lapse, and the new payslip is explained before the first cycle.

Why do teams leave Oyster?

Three common reasons: an undisclosed currency-conversion fee plus a refundable deposit on top of the $699 headline; white-glove HR advisory metered at $300 per hour; and no path from EOR to your own entity. Teamed shows FX at zero markup, includes experts on every plan, and offers crossover modelling plus GEMO.

Does Oyster charge a deposit and an FX fee?

Yes. Oyster requires a refundable deposit and charges a currency-conversion fee on currency mismatch, with neither amount nor rate published. Teamed also takes a one-month-salary deposit but absorbs FX at zero markup and shows the rate against mid-market.

Can I switch mid-contract, and what about the Oyster notice period?

Usually yes. Most EOR contracts are month-to-month or 30 to 90-day notice. Read the Oyster MSA for your exact notice period and any minimum term first; Teamed maps that window into the cutover so you are not double-billed.

Is Teamed better than Oyster on support and compliance?

Compliance is close to a draw; both run in-house legal teams with local experts. On support, both are human, but Oyster meters complex HR advisory at $300 per hour whereas Teamed includes experts on every plan, rated 4.8 on G2 vs Oyster's 4.4.

Oyster vs Teamed

Switching from Oyster to Teamed

You have decided to leave Oyster, so this is a migration plan, not a feature debate. Most switches take four to six weeks, and the operational sequence is what takes the time, not the paperwork. Teamed reads your current Oyster MSA, aligns the notice period, syncs the payroll calendar, holds benefits continuity, runs the employee communications and phases the cutover one country or cohort at a time so nobody misses a pay run. Teams usually move for three reasons: Oyster requires a refundable deposit for every EOR engagement, it charges a currency-conversion fee whose rate it does not publish, and its white-glove HR advisory is billed by the hour. If those are not your reasons, we say plainly below when staying on Oyster is the better call.

Map my cutover from Oyster Bring your Oyster invoice

Trusted by 1,000+ growing teams

4 to 6 weeks
Typical Oyster to Teamed cutover. Phased per country or cohort so no employee misses a pay run.: $599
Teamed flat at $599 vs Oyster published at $699. FX absorbed at zero markup on the Teamed fee.: 57
Teamed-owned entities inside a 180+ country footprint, plus a real HR or legal expert on every plan.

Last reviewed 18 June 2026By Tom Price-Daniel, Co-founder, Teamed

How do I switch my team from Oyster to Teamed without a gap in pay or coverage?

At a glance

Oyster

Rated 4.4 on G2

Best for: teams happy with a fast, automated, largely self-serve onboarding and a published flat price, who have checked the refundable deposit and the currency-conversion fee and are comfortable with both.

Teamed

Rated 4.8 on G2

Best for: teams leaving Oyster who want a readable invoice with FX shown at zero markup, a real HR or legal expert on every plan without an hourly meter, and a path to their own managed entity when they scale.

Shared by both: 180+ country reach · human, expert-led support model · contractor + EOR on one system

Where it matters	Who leads	Why
Cutover speed and how the switch actually runs	Teamed	Teamed maps a phased four-to-six-week cutover from your Oyster MSA, one country or cohort at a time, so the overlap is contained and pay never gaps.
Invoice readability, deposit and currency-conversion fee	Teamed	Oyster requires a refundable deposit for every EOR engagement and charges a currency-conversion fee whose rate it does not publish. Teamed shows the FX rate against mid-market at zero markup. Teamed also takes a one-month-salary deposit, standard for the model.
Human support without an hourly advisory meter	Teamed	Oyster includes essentials and runs a 24h response SLA, but its white-glove HR advisory is a separate add-on at $300 per hour. Teamed includes real HR and legal experts on every plan.
Coverage and owned-vs-partner in your markets	Draw	Both reach 180+ countries through a mix of owned entities and vetted partners. Teamed publishes 57 owned entities; Oyster discloses a hybrid model but no owned count. Ask per country.
Compliance and legal depth	Draw	Both run in-house legal teams working with local experts. The difference is the access model and who handles a contested case, not the underlying capability.
Benefits and employee experience through the move	Draw	Both arrange competitive local benefits. Through a switch what matters is continuity, which the cutover plan protects on either side. Check the detail in your countries.
Platform polish and self-serve onboarding	Oyster	Oyster has a polished, guided self-serve flow and can onboard in as fast as 48 hours. If automated onboarding is your priority, that is a genuine Oyster strength.
Path to your own managed entity	Teamed	Teamed models the crossover and can set up and keep managing your own entity via GEMO. Oyster positions EOR as the alternative to an entity and does not publish crossover modelling.

Oyster on G2

Who Oyster is for

This page is for a team that has already decided to leave Oyster and wants the cleanest possible migration. If you want a readable invoice with FX shown at zero markup, a real HR or legal expert on every plan rather than an hourly advisory meter, and a path to your own managed entity when you scale, Teamed is built for you. The plan below is the operational sequence, not a sales pitch.

Not the right fit if

Not sure you should be leaving Oyster at all?. Read the honest "stay where you are" test below. If a fast automated onboarding and a published flat price suit you, and you have checked the deposit and the currency-conversion fee, staying on Oyster may be the right call.

Find your pick in 20 seconds

If you are…	Start with	Why
Happy with automated self-serve onboarding and a flat published price	Stay on Oyster	Polished guided onboarding in as fast as 48 hours, once you have checked the deposit and currency-conversion fee.
Leaving because the invoice and FX are not readable	Teamed	FX shown against the mid-market reference at zero markup on the fee, on every invoice.
Leaving because complex HR advice keeps hitting an hourly meter	Teamed	Real HR and legal experts included on every plan, not a separate $300-per-hour line.
Leaving because you want a route from EOR to your own entity	Teamed	Proactive crossover modelling and GEMO sets up and keeps managing your own entity in 90+ countries.

What is switching your EOR from Oyster to Teamed?

An Employer of Record (EOR) legally employs your people in a country through its own entity or a vetted local partner. It issues the contract, runs payroll, remits income tax and statutory contributions, and carries the obligations of the local employer while you direct the day-to-day work. Switching EOR means moving that legal-employer relationship from one provider to another without breaking your employees' pay, benefits or continuity of service.

Teams usually leave Oyster for one of three reasons. The first is cost readability: Oyster publishes a flat USD 699 per employee per month, but it also requires a refundable deposit for every EOR engagement and charges a currency-conversion fee whose rate it never publishes, so the all-in number is harder to forecast. The second is the support model: essentials are included and Oyster runs a 24-hour response SLA, but its white-glove HR advisory is billed separately at USD 300 per hour, so complex cases can meter. The third is the path beyond EOR: Oyster positions EOR as the alternative to setting up your own entity and does not sell crossover modelling or a managed entity service.

The switch itself is an operational project, not a form. The order of work is what protects your people: read the current Oyster MSA for notice period and exit terms, align the cutover to the next clean payroll cycle, hold benefits continuity, communicate with employees early, secure the data you can export, and phase the move one country or cohort at a time. Done that way, most switches complete in four to six weeks with no gap in pay or coverage. Teamed takes a one-month-salary deposit of its own, standard for the EOR model, so the move is about FX honesty, included expertise and the entity path, not the absence of a deposit.

Why teams leave Oyster, and what changes on the invoice

Oyster publishes a clean flat USD 699 per employee per month, which is one of its genuine strengths. The reasons teams still leave usually sit just off that headline. Oyster requires a refundable deposit for every EOR engagement, with no amount or formula published, and it charges a currency-conversion fee that applies whenever you pay in a currency different from the contract currency, with no rate disclosed. Teamed is $599 flat, shows the applied FX rate against the mid-market reference at zero markup on the fee, and takes a one-month-salary deposit of its own, standard for the model. So the change you feel after a switch is readability, not the disappearance of a deposit.

Detail	Oyster	Teamed
Headline EOR fee	Flat USD 699 per employee per month, annual discounts available but no annual figure published.	$599 USD or £479 GBP per employee per month, flat.
Deposit to start	Refundable deposit required for every EOR engagement, with no amount or formula published.	A refundable deposit equal to one month of salary, standard for the EOR model.
FX on salary conversions	A currency-conversion fee applies on currency mismatch; the rate, percentage or spread is not published.	Zero markup. The applied rate is shown against the mid-market reference on every invoice.

What gets clearer after the switch

Industry analysis puts undisclosed EOR FX at about 1.5 to 3% of salary. On a $190,000 salary that is roughly $2,850 to $5,700 per year per employee you cannot see as a line item. Teamed shows the rate against mid-market and absorbs it at zero markup on the fee, so that variable leaves your forecast. The deposit does not disappear, on either side, so plan for it.

Human support without an hourly advisory meter

Oyster runs a genuinely human support model. It includes setup, onboarding, HR-expert access and termination processing in the subscription, gives a dedicated Hiring Success Manager for onboarding, and publishes a 24-hour response and sub-72-hour resolution SLA. The friction teams report is that its white-glove HR advisory, People Partner Services, is billed separately at $300 per hour, so a complex, project-based question can start a meter. Teamed includes real HR and legal experts on every plan with no AI bot wall and no hourly advisory line, and is rated 4.8 on G2 for service.

Detail	Oyster	Teamed
Standard support	Essentials included, dedicated Hiring Success Manager for onboarding, 24h response and sub-72h resolution SLA.	Real HR and legal experts on every plan, no AI bot wall, a real escalation contact who knows your account.
Complex HR advisory	White-glove HR advisory (People Partner Services) billed separately at $300 per hour.	Included on every plan. No separate hourly advisory line for complex cases.
Service rating	Rated 4.4 on G2.	Rated 4.8 on G2 for service.

The honest read

Oyster's base support is a real human model, not a chatbot wall, and that is fair to say. The difference a switcher feels is the meter: on Oyster, complex project-based HR advisory is an explicit $300-per-hour add-on, whereas Teamed keeps that expertise inside the relationship on every plan.

The cutover sequence, step by step

A switch fails when the order of work is wrong, not when the paperwork is hard. The sequence protects your people. First, read the current Oyster MSA for notice period, minimum term and exit terms. Second, align the cutover to the next clean payroll cycle so no employee straddles two payrolls in one month. Third, hold benefits continuity so cover never lapses. Fourth, communicate with employees early and plainly. Fifth, secure the data you can export from Oyster. Sixth, phase the move one country or cohort at a time. Teamed maps all six against your calendar before anything executes, with maker-checker sign-off on each step.

Detail	Oyster	Teamed
Who builds the plan	You manage your own offboarding timeline from the Oyster side.	Teamed builds the cutover plan from your Oyster MSA and maps every deadline.
How the move is staged	Engagements close per the Oyster contract terms.	Phased per country or per employee cohort, so the Oyster overlap period stays short and controlled.
Controls before anything moves	Self-serve actions in the Oyster platform.	Maker-checker approval: you sign off each contract, change and final step before it executes.

The one date that matters most

Pick the switch date off the payroll calendar, not the contract date. Cutting over the day after a clean pay run, inside the notice window, is what keeps an employee from straddling two payrolls in a single month. Teamed builds the plan backwards from that date.

Notice periods, exit terms and data portability

Most EOR contracts are month-to-month or carry a 30 to 90-day notice period, so the gating constraint on your switch date is usually the notice you owe Oyster, not Teamed onboarding. Read the Oyster MSA for the notice period, any minimum term, and the terms for exporting employee and payroll data. Teamed maps the notice window into the cutover calendar so you are not double-billed, and brings your people across without a re-onboarding burden. Confirm what you can export from Oyster, in what format, before you set the date.

Detail	Oyster	Teamed
Notice period	Set out in your Oyster MSA; most EOR contracts run month-to-month or 30 to 90 days. Read your specific terms.	Teamed maps the Oyster notice window into the cutover plan to avoid a double-billing overlap.
Exit and minimum-term	Check the Oyster MSA for any minimum term or early-exit conditions before you commit a date.	Teamed walks the MSA terms through with you and your counsel before the plan is agreed.
Data portability	Export the employee and payroll records you are entitled to from the Oyster platform.	Teamed brings records across into new compliant contracts with no re-onboarding overhead.

Read before you book a date

The single most common cause of a double-billing month is setting a Teamed start date before the Oyster notice period is mapped. Read the MSA first, count the notice window, then book the cutover. Teamed does this with you so the two timelines line up.

Coverage and owned-vs-partner in your markets

This is a genuine draw. Both reach 180+ countries through a mix of owned entities and vetted local partners. Oyster discloses a hybrid owned-or-partner model but does not publish an owned-entity count; its EOR-specific figure is 120+ countries. Teamed publishes 57 owned entities (including Germany, France, Spain, the UK and the US) inside its 180+ footprint, with vetted partners covering the rest. Through a switch, what matters is your specific countries: in each one, are you employed through an owned entity or a partner, and does that change when you move?

Detail	Oyster	Teamed
Country reach	180+ countries all-products, 120+ for EOR specifically.	180+ countries, of which 57 are Teamed-owned entities and the rest vetted partners.
Owned entities	Hybrid owned-or-partner model disclosed; no owned-entity count published.	57 owned entities published, including Germany, France, Spain, the UK and the US.
How to weigh it	Ask Oyster per country whether you are on an owned entity or a partner.	Ask Teamed per country too; the mix differs market to market on both sides.

Why a draw

Both are broad, and both run a mix of owned entities and partners. The deciding question is not the headline count, it is per country: owned entity or partner in your specific markets, and who handles a contested case there. Ask it of both providers.

Benefits continuity and the employee experience through the move

The EOR is your people's legal employer, so a switch touches their contracts, payslips and benefits directly. Both Oyster and Teamed arrange competitive statutory and supplementary benefits per country, so on the substance this is a draw. What protects the employee through a move is continuity: enrolments held without a lapse, the new payslip explained before the first cycle, and a real person to ask. The cutover plan is where that continuity is won or lost, which is why benefits sit explicitly in the sequence above.

Detail	Oyster	Teamed
Local benefits	Competitive statutory plus supplementary benefits, arranged per country.	Competitive statutory plus supplementary benefits, arranged per country.
Continuity through the switch	Enrolments end with the Oyster engagement per its terms.	Benefits continuity is built into the cutover plan so cover does not lapse.
Employee experience	A polished self-serve portal and a 24h response SLA.	A clean payslip with FX shown, and a real person to call.

What the employee should never notice

A well-run switch is invisible to your people: pay arrives on the usual day, benefits never lapse, and the new payslip is explained before the first cycle. If an employee has to chase a missing payment or a dropped enrolment, the plan failed. That is why continuity sits inside the sequence, not after it.

The path to your own managed entity, when you scale

This is a structural difference, not a tie. Oyster positions EOR as the alternative to setting up your own entity and publishes education content on EOR-or-entity, but it does not sell entity setup or proactive crossover modelling as a product. Teamed treats EOR as a stage, models the crossover point per country where your own entity becomes cheaper than per-seat fees, and sets up and keeps managing your own entity via Global Entity & Employment Operations (GEMO) in 90+ countries on the same system with no re-onboarding. Because Teamed earns either way, on EOR or by running your entity, the advice is not tied to keeping you on EOR.

Detail	Oyster	Teamed
Crossover modelling	Not a published product; EOR is positioned as the alternative to an entity.	Proactive, per-country modelling of the month your own entity becomes the better structure.
Your own entity	No entity-establishment service; entity setup referenced only via a third-party partner.	GEMO sets up your own entity in 90+ countries and can keep managing it, no re-onboarding.
Whose interest the advice serves	A pure-EOR income model has an incentive to keep you on EOR.	Teamed earns on EOR or by running your entity, so the advice is not tied to keeping you on EOR.

Why it matters when you switch

If part of the reason you are leaving is that you can see your own entity on the horizon, switch to a provider that will help you get there rather than keep you on EOR. Teamed models the crossover per country and, via GEMO, can set up and run the entity for you when the maths flips.

Why the comparison matters

Behind every line item is a real person, in a real place.

The fee, the FX and the support model are not abstractions. They decide whether the person you hired in Barcelona or Rome is paid right, on time, by someone who knows their employment law. That is the comparison worth running.

What each stakeholder evaluates

Criterion	Legal	Finance	People Ops	Security
Cost readability after the switch	Ask both providers for the FX policy and the deposit terms in writing. Oyster requires a refundable deposit and charges a currency-conversion fee whose rate it does not publish. Teamed shows the applied rate against the mid-market reference at zero markup and takes a one-month-salary deposit of its own.	Model the all-in cost, not the headline. Oyster is $699 flat plus a deposit and a currency-conversion fee on mismatch; Teamed is $599 flat with FX absorbed at zero markup plus a one-month-salary deposit. The unbundling calculator shows the FX residual on your current Oyster invoice.	An itemised FX line on every salary invoice means no surprise reconciliation at year-end, and your people see a clean record of what they were paid and why.	A timestamped applied rate shown against a public mid-market reference is an auditable record. An undisclosed conversion fee is not.
Support when a complex case lands mid-switch	A contested termination or a tax-authority question during a cutover needs a real employment-law expert without a billing gate. On Oyster, white-glove HR advisory is $300 per hour; on Teamed, real HR and legal experts are included on every plan.	Factor the advisory meter into the switch budget. If your move involves several complex cases, Oyster's $300-per-hour People Partner Services can add up, whereas Teamed includes that expertise on every plan.	You want a real person to call when an employee is anxious about the move, not a meter starting. Teamed is rated 4.8 on G2 for service; Oyster runs a 24h response SLA.	A real escalation contact who knows your account beats a ticket queue for handling a sensitive case during a cutover. Know who you call before you set the date.
The cutover plan and data portability	Read the Oyster MSA for notice period, minimum term and data-export terms before booking a date. Teamed maps that into the cutover calendar and walks the terms through with you and your counsel.	A mistimed switch creates a double-billing month. Aligning the Teamed start date to the Oyster notice window and the next clean payroll cycle avoids paying two providers for the same employee.	Phasing the move one country or cohort at a time keeps the overlap short and means employees are communicated to in manageable waves, not all at once.	Confirm what employee and payroll data you can export from Oyster, in what format, before the cutover. Teamed brings it across into new compliant contracts with maker-checker control.

How switching from Oyster to Teamed works

Teams leave Oyster for readability, included expertise or a path to their own entity, and the switch itself is an operational project rather than a form. Most complete in four to six weeks. The order of work is what protects your people, so Teamed runs phased cutovers, one country or cohort at a time, and times every step to your payroll calendar and your Oyster notice period.

Step 1
Read the Oyster MSA and bring your invoice
Teamed reads your current Oyster MSA for notice period, minimum term, exit and data-portability terms, and unbundles your latest invoice line by line: gross salary, statutory at cost, platform fee, the deposit, and any currency-conversion residual. You see exactly what the switch changes and where the numbers land.
Step 2
Map the cutover to the payroll calendar
Teamed builds the plan per country or per employee cohort and aligns the switch date to the next clean payroll cycle and the Oyster notice window, so no employee straddles two payrolls and you avoid a double-billing month. Benefits continuity and employee communications are scheduled in. Nothing moves until the plan is agreed.
Step 3
Issue new contracts and brief employees
New compliant employment contracts issue under Teamed, with benefits enrolments held so cover never lapses. Employees receive their new payslip structure before the first pay cycle, with FX shown against the mid-market reference. Records come across with no re-onboarding overhead, under maker-checker sign-off.
Step 4
Close the Oyster engagement on the notice window
Teamed manages the Oyster offboarding timeline against the notice period in your MSA, confirms the deposit-return process, and keeps the overlap short so you are not double-billed. The final cutover step executes only after you sign it off.

Dyke Yaxley · UK chartered accountancy

100% audit capacity added. Zero entity setup.

Audit capacity in 2024: +100%
Compliance issues across the engagement: 0
South Africa hires, both retained: 2
Entity setup required: None

Challenge

Dyke Yaxley, a UK chartered accountancy with over a century of history, was turning down audit work in 2024. Local UK talent supply for qualified auditors had not kept pace with client demand. Cross-border hiring felt too legally complex for a firm whose brand sits on compliance discipline.

Approach

Dyke Yaxley partnered with Teamed to hire two qualified audit professionals in South Africa via EOR. Teamed handled the South African employment-law side end-to-end: compliant contract, local payroll, statutory tax obligations, and onboarding logistics. No entity setup, no South African legal counsel on retainer, no permanent-establishment exposure.

Result

Both hires exceeded expectations on technical work, client satisfaction, and cultural fit. Audit capacity doubled in 2024. Zero compliance issues across the engagement. The firm went from declining new audit work to confidently taking on additional clients.

Read the full case study →

Interactive tool

Unbundle your current Oyster invoice

Paste your headcount and salary mix. The unbundling calculator shows the deposit, the currency-conversion residual and the all-in cost on your current Oyster invoice, and what the same team looks like with FX absorbed at zero markup. Most teams find $2,000 to $5,000 per employee per year they weren't tracking.

Open the unbundling calculator

Decision checklist

Switch to Teamed if your main reason for leaving is FX and invoice readability. Teamed shows the applied rate against the mid-market reference and absorbs FX at zero markup on the fee; Oyster charges a currency-conversion fee whose rate it does not publish.
Switch to Teamed if complex HR advice keeps hitting an hourly meter. Real HR and legal experts are included on every Teamed plan, with no separate $300-per-hour advisory line.
Switch to Teamed if you want a route from EOR to your own entity. Teamed models the crossover per country and, via GEMO, sets up and keeps managing your own entity in 90+ countries with no re-onboarding.
Whichever you choose, read your Oyster MSA for the notice period and exit terms first, and align the switch date to the next clean payroll cycle so no employee gaps.
Stay on Oyster if a fast, automated, largely self-serve onboarding and a published flat price suit you, and you have checked the refundable deposit and the currency-conversion fee and are comfortable with both.

Email this to legal

Honest take

When staying on Oyster is the better call

Stay on Oyster if a polished, automated, largely self-serve onboarding is your priority. Oyster runs a guided hiring flow and can onboard a team member in as fast as 48 hours, which is a genuine strength.
Stay on Oyster if a single published flat price of $699 is the structure your finance team prefers, and you have already checked the refundable deposit and the currency-conversion fee and are comfortable with both.
Stay on Oyster if its B Corp certification and large G2 review base matter to your procurement process and the support you get today is working for your team.

We would rather route you honestly than win a switch that is wrong for both sides. Oyster runs a real human support model with a published SLA and a clean self-serve product; if a fast automated onboarding and a flat published price suit you, and the deposit and currency-conversion fee are fine for you, there may be no reason to move. Teamed wins for teams that want FX shown at zero markup, included expertise without an hourly meter, and a path to their own managed entity.

Questions to ask any EOR before you sign

1What is in my current Oyster MSA on notice period, minimum term, exit terms and data portability? Read it line by line before you set a switch date.
2When does each employee next get paid on Oyster, and how does that line up with the first Teamed pay run so nobody gaps?
3Which statutory and supplementary benefits are in force per country today, and how do we hold continuity through the cutover?
4What deposit does each provider require, and is it refundable? Oyster requires a refundable deposit; Teamed takes a one-month-salary deposit standard for the model.
5Will you show me the FX rate on every salary conversion in writing, against the mid-market reference?
6Is complex HR and legal advice included on my plan, or billed separately by the hour?
7In each country I hire in, am I employed through your own entity or a vetted local partner, and who handles a contested termination?
8Can you phase the switch one country or cohort at a time so the Oyster overlap period is short and controlled?
9When my own entity becomes the better structure, will you flag it, set it up and keep managing it without re-onboarding my people?
10What employee data can I export from Oyster, in what format, and how do you bring it across without a re-onboarding burden?

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to switch from Oyster to Teamed?
Most switches complete in four to six weeks. The time goes on the operational plan rather than the paperwork: reading the Oyster MSA for the notice period, aligning the cutover to the next clean payroll cycle, holding benefits continuity, communicating with employees, and phasing the move one country or cohort at a time. Teamed builds that plan backwards from the payroll date so no employee straddles two payrolls and you avoid a double-billing month.
Will my employees miss a pay run or lose benefits during the switch?
Not when the cutover is sequenced properly. The switch date is picked off the payroll calendar, inside the Oyster notice window, so the cutover lands the day after a clean pay run and nobody straddles two payrolls in one month. Benefits enrolments are held through the move so cover does not lapse, and employees receive their new payslip structure before the first Teamed cycle. A well-run switch is invisible to your people.
Why do teams leave Oyster?
Usually for one of three reasons. Cost readability: Oyster publishes a flat $699 per employee per month, but it also requires a refundable deposit for every EOR engagement and charges a currency-conversion fee whose rate it does not publish. The support model: essentials are included and Oyster runs a 24-hour response SLA, but its white-glove HR advisory is billed separately at $300 per hour. And the path beyond EOR: Oyster positions EOR as the alternative to an entity and does not sell crossover modelling or a managed entity service. Teamed addresses all three, while taking a one-month-salary deposit of its own, standard for the model.
Does Oyster charge a deposit and an FX fee?
Yes. Oyster's own pricing page states it requires a refundable deposit for EOR Team Members to start an engagement, with no amount or formula published, and that it charges a currency-conversion fee that applies when you pay in a currency different from the contract currency, with no rate published. Setup, onboarding, HR-expert access and termination processing are included in the subscription. Teamed also takes a refundable deposit equal to one month of salary, standard for the EOR model, but absorbs FX at zero markup and shows the applied rate against the mid-market reference on every invoice.
Can I switch mid-contract, and what about the Oyster notice period?
Most EOR contracts are month-to-month or carry a 30 to 90-day notice period, so the gating constraint is usually the notice you owe Oyster rather than Teamed onboarding. Read your Oyster MSA for the exact notice period and any minimum term before you set a switch date. Teamed maps that notice window into the cutover calendar so the overlap is short and you are not double-billed, and confirms the deposit-return process on the Oyster side.
Is Teamed better than Oyster on support and compliance?
On compliance it is close to a draw: both run in-house legal teams working with local experts, and the difference is the access model and who handles a contested case, not the underlying capability. On support, both run a real human model, but the meaningful difference for a switcher is the meter. Oyster includes essentials and runs a 24-hour response SLA, yet bills its white-glove HR advisory at $300 per hour. Teamed includes real HR and legal experts on every plan with no hourly advisory line, and is rated 4.8 on G2 for service against Oyster's 4.4.

Common questions

What is the cleanest way to migrate my team from Oyster to a new EOR?
Treat it as an operational project, not a form. Read the current Oyster MSA for the notice period, minimum term and data-export terms. Align the switch date to the next clean payroll cycle inside the notice window so no employee straddles two payrolls. Hold benefits enrolments so cover does not lapse, communicate with employees early, and phase the move one country or cohort at a time to keep the overlap short. Teamed runs this sequence for you: it reads the MSA, unbundles the invoice, builds a per-country cutover calendar, issues new compliant contracts with FX shown against mid-market, and closes the Oyster engagement on the notice window so you are not double-billed. Most switches complete in four to six weeks.
Should I leave Oyster, or is staying the better call?
Leave Oyster if your reasons are cost readability, metered HR advisory, or the lack of a path to your own entity. Oyster requires a refundable deposit and charges a currency-conversion fee whose rate it does not publish, bills white-glove HR advisory at $300 per hour, and does not sell crossover modelling or a managed entity service. Teamed addresses all three: FX shown at zero markup on the fee, real HR and legal experts on every plan, and GEMO to set up and run your own entity in 90+ countries. Stay on Oyster if a fast, automated self-serve onboarding and a flat published price suit you, and you have checked the deposit and the currency-conversion fee and are comfortable with both. Both run a real human support model, so this is about which structure fits, not whether Oyster is a poor provider.

For the buying committee

Share with your team

Send this page to legal, finance, or HR for review. They will see the same statutory data and source citations you did.

Before you switch, get the cutover plan and the like-for-like numbers.

Share your current Oyster invoice and MSA. A real HR or legal expert sends back a line-by-line cost breakdown with FX shown against mid-market, plus a draft cutover calendar timed to your notice period. No demo, no commitment.

The honest path

Want the Teamed comparison run on your numbers?

Tell us your headcount and where you're hiring. A real HR or legal expert sends back a like-for-like breakdown with the FX shown against mid-market. No demo, no deck.

Map my cutover from Oyster