Is Airbase or Oyster better?

Neither clearly leads. Airbase starts at $29/month and Oyster at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Airbase or Oyster?

Oyster has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Airbase and Free for Oyster.

Does Airbase or Oyster run on more platforms?

Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

Can I use Oyster for free?

Yes. Oyster has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Airbase starts at $29/month.

What is Airbase best used for?

Airbase is most often used for spend management, expense reporting, vendor payments. Of those, spend management and expense reporting are not what Oyster is typically brought in for.

What can Airbase do that Oyster cannot?

Airbase covers Corporate cards, Bill payments, Expense management, Procurement. Oyster covers Global Employment, Payroll, Benefits, Compliance. Both handle NetSuite, QuickBooks, Slack, Web support.

Accounting & Finance · head to head

Airbase vs Oyster

Airbase

Accounting & Finance

The first all-in-one spend management platform

From: $29/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Oyster

Payroll & Benefits

Hire globally, compliantly

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Oyster has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Airbase airbase was acquired by Paylocity; its pricing page now redirects to paylocity.com/pricing and the product is marketed as 'Airbase, a Paylocity Company' within Paylocity's HCM platform rather than as a standalone product.; Oyster employer of Record is $699 per employee per month, with the discount tied to annual billing
They diverge on capability: Airbase covers Corporate cards, Oyster covers Global Employment.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbase and Oyster actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbase and Oyster differ
Attribute	Airbase	Oyster
Starting price	$29/month	Free
Free tier	No	Yes
Category	Accounting & Finance	Payroll & Benefits
Founded	2017	2020

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Airbase

Corporate cards
Bill payments
Expense management
Procurement
Approvals
Sage Intacct
Xero
SOC 2 Type II

Only in Oyster

Global Employment
Payroll
Benefits
Compliance
Contractor Management
Time Off
Expenses
BambooHR

Both cover

NetSuite
QuickBooks
Slack
Web support
Ios support
Android support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Airbase

Spend managementnot Oyster
Expense reportingnot Oyster
Vendor paymentsnot Oyster

Oyster

Hiring employees abroad without setting up a local legal entitynot Airbase
Onboarding and paying international contractorsnot Airbase
Getting country specific employment compliance advice for distributed teamsnot Airbase

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Airbase

Airbase was acquired by Paylocity; its pricing page now redirects to paylocity.com/pricing and the product is marketed as 'Airbase, a Paylocity Company' within Paylocity's HCM platform rather than as a standalone product.

Oyster

Employer of Record is $699 per employee per month, with the discount tied to annual billing
A refundable deposit is required before an EOR engagement starts
Contractor management is free for 30 days then $29 per contractor per month
HR advisory through People Partner Services is billed at $300 per hour on top of the subscription
A currency conversion fee applies when you pay Oyster in a currency other than the contract currency
Payments are accepted only by direct debit or wire in USD, EUR, GBP or CAD

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbase

$29/month

StandardFree
- Corporate cards
- Expense reports
- Bill pay
Premium$10/month
- Advanced approvals
- NetSuite sync
- Procurement
Enterprise$undefined/month
- Custom workflows
- API access
- Dedicated support

Oyster

Free

Contractor$29/month
- Contractor Payments
- Compliant Contracts
- Invoicing
Employee$599/month
- Global Employment
- Payroll
- Benefits

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbase if

You need corporate cards.
You work on Web, Ios, Android.
You also want bill payments.

Airbase review

Choose Oyster if

You need global employment.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Ios, Android.
You also want payroll.

Oyster review

Questions people ask

Is Airbase or Oyster better?: Neither clearly leads. Airbase starts at $29/month and Oyster at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbase or Oyster?: Oyster has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Airbase and Free for Oyster.
Does Airbase or Oyster run on more platforms?: Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Oyster for free?: Yes. Oyster has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Airbase starts at $29/month.
What is Airbase best used for?: Airbase is most often used for spend management, expense reporting, vendor payments. Of those, spend management and expense reporting are not what Oyster is typically brought in for.
What can Airbase do that Oyster cannot?: Airbase covers Corporate cards, Bill payments, Expense management, Procurement. Oyster covers Global Employment, Payroll, Benefits, Compliance. Both handle NetSuite, QuickBooks, Slack, Web support.

Airbase vs Oyster

Airbase

Oyster

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Airbase

Only in Oyster

Both cover

What people use each for

Airbase

Oyster

Where each one falls short

Airbase

Oyster

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbase

Oyster

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbase if

Choose Oyster if

Questions people ask

Related pages

More on Airbase

More on Oyster

Keep looking

Other head to heads