Small business▼−12Since September 2026: 12% → 0%, −12 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
0%from 12% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 1 pointRank 4 → 11 of 48
5 categories · RankedOyster
100Judge labels
0First choices
20Negative labels
14 / 14Models named it
5Categories
October 2026 Edition. Every number here is derived from the raw labels under vendor table v2026-10.7, every buyer segment counted.
Best standing
0% in Global payroll for mid-market buyers
Rank 12 of 61 in the mid-market standingaccepted challenger
0 of 14 models made it the first choice on the direct prompt; 21% of its 33 labels there were negative.
What the models named instead of Oyster →By buyer segmentRead the same way at every buyer size.
Small business11 of 55
0%35 labels
accepted challenger
Mid-market12 of 61
0%33 labels
accepted challenger
Enterprise26 of 47
0%18 labels
criticized challenger
In global payroll · each standing computed within its segment · bars are 0 to 100 · the accent bar is the product's own best reading
Standing by category
Every category where a model named Oyster for a mid-market B2B company. Share is first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts; rank is within every product named in that category.
| Category | Function | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Quadrant | Since September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global payroll and employer of record | Core HR and payroll | 0% | 12 of 61 | 21% | 33 | accepted challenger | ▼−13Since September 2026: 13% → 0%, −13 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| Contingent workforce management | Workforce planning and analytics | 0% | 29 of 121 | 0% | 2 | under 10 labels · led by VectorVMS at 16% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| Employee onboarding | Onboarding and employee experience | 0% | 32 of 87 | 0% | 2 | under 10 labels · led by Rippling at 25% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| HR compliance and policy management | Core HR and payroll | 0% | 40 of 97 | 0% | 2 | under 10 labels · led by Rippling at 19% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| PEO providers | Core HR and payroll | 0% | 19 of 53 | 0% | 2 | under 10 labels · led by Justworks at 24% |
Movement
Since September 2026, Oyster held within the floor in all five categories: no change cleared 13 points.
Best category · Global payroll · by segment
Mid-market▼−13Since September 2026: 13% → 0%, −13 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
0%from 13% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 0 pointsRank 3 → 12 of 53
Enterprise=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
0%from 0% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 13 pointsRank 38 → 25 of 45
All categories · Mid-market
| Category | September 2026 | Now | Change | Reading | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global payroll | 13% | 0% | ▼−13Since September 2026: 13% → 0%, −13 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 3 → 12 of 61 |
| Contingent workforce man | 0% | 0% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 35 → 29 of 121 |
| Employee onboarding | 0% | 0% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 62 → 32 of 87 |
| HR compliance | 0% | 0% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 46 → 40 of 97 |
| PEOs | 0% | 0% | newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now. | New this edition | Rank 19 of 53, unchanged |
Shares here are read over the models both editions asked, so they can differ by a point or two from the standing above, which counts every model in this edition.
The floor is 13 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise, and both are shown. Movement is read over the twelve models both editions asked; GPT-6 Luna, Muse Glimmer 30B joined this edition and are in the standing but not yet in the comparison. How the floor is measured · The editions
By model
How each model treated Oyster across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.ShowHide
By model
How each model treated Oyster across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.
ShowHide| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Negative | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Grok 4.1 Fast | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
By framing
Which of the six questions produced the naming. By model says how often; this says asked what. The first-choice count on the right carries the marks of the models that produced it.
FramingLabels by classFirst choices
Direct15 labelsNone
Paraphrase4 labelsNone
Comparative37 labels2not counted in share
Budget-constrained10 labelsNone
Scale-constrained8 labelsNone
Negative26 labels1not counted in share
First choiceAlternativeMentionNegative100 labels in all, every segment counted; 0 of the 3 first choices count toward share, since the comparative and negative framings do not. The bar is one segment per label class, to scale within the framing.
What the models said for it
Verbatim evidence the judge attached to positive labels.
“global platforms like Deel allow you to seamlessly manage U.S. co-employment alongside international Employer of Record (EOR) setups” Gemini 3.5 Flash · PEOs · comparative prompt · alternative
“Oyster HR is often preferred when the priority is a user-friendly platform, strong employee experience and clear pricing” Muse Glimmer 30B · Global payroll · direct prompt · alternative
“Oyster: An EOR platform with compliance-aligned contracts and responsive support for startups and mid-market companies” Claude Haiku 4.5 · Global payroll · comparative prompt · alternative
“Oyster is a credible option, especially if you value a cleaner employment/compliance workflow” GPT-5.4 mini · Global payroll · direct prompt · alternative
And against it
Verbatim evidence attached to negative labels. A warning on a product with few labels is a warning; on a product with many, it is one voice among them.
“Common complaints: limited customization for benefits beyond statutory minimums, and the platform is less feature-rich than Deel for complex multi-country setups.” Muse Glimmer 30B · Global payroll · negative prompt · soft negative
“payment delays, platform performance issues, and support challenges, especially in partner-covered countries” Claude Haiku 4.5 · Global payroll · negative prompt · soft negative
“concerns about compliance accuracy in certain countries and occasional delays in onboarding” Mistral Small · Global payroll · negative prompt · soft negative
“Be skeptical of Oyster ... Multiple structural limitations to understand before signing” Kimi K2 · Global payroll · negative prompt · soft negative
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Oyster, over the 100 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Oyster was named but was not.ShowHide
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Oyster, over the 100 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Oyster was named but was not.
ShowHideProductSame answerTook the first choice insteadHead to head
A head-to-head page exists where both products are among a category's top eight. The other rows are the same fact without a page behind them, so they link to the product instead.
What carried it into the answer
The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Oyster. A fact about retrieval, not a lever on the model.
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list, five of the fourteen in this edition, so these counts come from 95 of the 100 answers that named Oyster and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
deel.com38
peoplemanagingpeople.com38
remote.com37
teamed.global32
rippling.com27
g2.com26
remotepeople.com26
hr.software25
oysterhr.comYour site23
selectsoftwarereviews.com22
271 of the 294 domain citations in answers naming Oyster came from somebody else's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
Search and answers
oysterhr.com ranks 5 on Google for the category's searches. In the answers, Oyster takes 0% of first choices and Deel takes 30%.ShowHide
Search and answers
oysterhr.com ranks 5 on Google for the category's searches. In the answers, Oyster takes 0% of first choices and Deel takes 30%.
ShowHideIn search
Google, US estimatesPosition for “employer of record”
–
not in the top ten
Position for “best employer of record”
–
not in the top ten
- Searches for its name, Google
- 301,000 a month (“oyster”)
- AI search demand for its name, est.
- 109,205 a month
- Organic visits to its site
- about 379,211 a month
- Searches its site ranks for
- 44,801 · 1,809 in the top three
- Sites linking to it
- 4,410
- Paid Google search
- 25 searches its ads show for, about 647 clicks and $14,169 a month (estimate)
In answers
This editionShare of first choices
0%
rank 12 of 61 in global payroll
Segment leader
30%
Deel
- First choices
- 0 across its categories
- Named in
- 100 answers
- Its own site cited
- in 95 of the answers that named it
Search figures are US estimates from DataForSEO, read September 28, 2026; AI search demand is its modeled, directional estimate, not a count of queries to any assistant. The answers are this edition's. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
What it publishes
ShowHide
What it publishes
ShowHideAddresses on oysterhr.com
1,859
subdomains included
Content
350
counted in the table below
Documentation
1
Product · Integration
32 · 95
| Kind | Pages | Last 90 days | 2025-10 to 2026-09 | Latest | Categories named |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glossary or explainer | 175 | 0 | 2026-03-25 | ||
| Conference or event | 57 | undated | |||
| Comparison | 37 | 0 | 2026-06-24 | ||
| Podcast or video | 23 | 0 | 2025-04-16 | ||
| Case study | 21 | undated | |||
| Blog | 15 | 5 | 2026-08-04 | ||
| Report or ebook | 10 | 2 | 2026-07-21 | ||
| Template or tool | 7 | 0 | 2025-12-17 | ||
| Webinar or virtual event | 5 | undated |
Most recent
- 2026-08-04Employer of record eor migration guide blog
- 2026-07-212026 employer of record buyers guide blog
- 2026-07-21Annual impact report 2023 blog
- 2026-07-21Find hire global talent guide ebook report or ebook
- 2026-07-21Global hiring trends report ebook report or ebook
- 2026-07-21Oyster x vistra the hybrid advantage blog
How it is countedHide how it is counted
Every page oysterhr.com exposes, subdomains included. Kind is read from the address and title. The last 90 days, the latest date and the twelve months count pages by when they were published, from the site's feeds, a date in the address, or the page's own publication date, read from up to a hundred of its most recently changed pages; a page that says only when it last changed is counted in its kind but not in when, so the recent counts are a floor, and a kind none of whose pages gives a publication date reads undated. An event counts as online when its address or title says so (webinar, on demand, virtual or online summit); a conference, summit, trade show, expo or roadshow that does not say so is counted as a conference or event, which on a vendor's site is mostly in person. Read September 29, 2026.
Names read as Oyster
What the judge wrote, as written, with how often. The vendor table decides that these count as Oyster; a claim can dispute any of them.
Oyster HR 13OysterHR 2
Follow Oyster
An email the morning each edition publishes: where this product moved, where it held, and by how much against the noise floor. One address, confirmed by a click; a stop link in every email.
Already following? Everything you follow, with a stop for each.
The company
Oyster is its own company.ShowHide
The company
Oyster is its own company.
ShowHideIn its own words
Stated by the vendor, not checked- Positioning
- A global employment platform / employer of record that helps companies hire, pay, and provide benefits to global talent.
- For
- companies
- Price stated
- Employer of Record: USD 699 per employee/month; Global Contractors: USD 29 per contractor/month; People Services: USD 300 per hour oysterhr.com
- Starting price
- 29 oysterhr.com
- Free plan or trial
- Yes, it’s totally free to create an Oyster account; Free for 30 days oysterhr.com/pricing
- Certifications
- certified B CorpCertified CorporationSOC 1 Type 2SOC 2 Type 2Certified B-corpGDPRSOC2 compliant
- Customers named
- JunoLaminar ProjectsGiveDirectlyChili PiperKinstaLokaliseZabal MediaMuse Group
- Not stated on the pages read
- Integrations, hosting
What Oyster's own pages state, read September 28, 2026: oysterhr.com, oysterhr.com/pricing, trust.oysterhr.com, oysterhr.com/product/employer-of-record, oysterhr.com/case-studies. A claimed page can correct any of them.
Is this your product?
Claim this page
Claiming is free and changes nothing in the data. A claimed page shows a verified contact who is told when each edition publishes and when Oyster's standing changes by more than the noise floor; the right to propose corrections to the vendor table, meaning names the judge wrote that should or should not read as Oyster, applied by version and listed in the change log; and a one-line description supplied by the vendor and marked as such.
What a new claim receivesHide what a new claim receives
A new claim receives the current edition's vendor brief for Oyster by email, built from the raw record of the edition. It shows:
- where Oyster is named, by buyer and by framing, and which cells hold its first choices;
- the claims the models make when they name it, ranked, with the strongest and the weakest quoted;
- its vocabulary against the segment leader's, and the pages the models cited;
- who was chosen in the answers that did not name Oyster, and every reason the record gives;
- a battlecard for each top rival: the head-to-head split, why they win, and the reservation quoted against them;
- one page of published figures cleared to show a buyer.