Malt
Malt is a comprehensive freelancer marketplace and management platform that connects businesses with independent consultants, developers, and creative professionals to streamline project sourcing, administrative tasks, and secure payments.
Oyster
Oyster is a global employment platform that helps you hire, pay, and care for talented team members in over 180 countries without setting up local entities.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Malt | Oyster |
|---|---|---|
| Website | malt.com | oysterhr.com |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting Price | Free | Free |
| FREE Trial | ✘ No free trial | ✘ No free trial |
| Free Plan | ✓ Has free plan | ✓ Has free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2013 | 2020 |
| Headquarters | Paris, France | London, United Kingdom |
Overview
Malt
Malt is a centralized platform designed to help you find, hire, and manage independent talent for your business projects. Instead of juggling multiple job boards and manual invoices, you get access to a curated community of over 700,000 freelancers across Europe. You can search for specific skills, view detailed consultant profiles, and initiate projects directly through a secure interface that handles the administrative heavy lifting for you.
The platform simplifies the entire lifecycle of working with external talent by automating contracts, insurance, and payments. Whether you are a small startup looking for a part-time designer or a large enterprise managing hundreds of independent consultants, you can track all your external spend and project progress in one dashboard. It eliminates the compliance risks often associated with freelancing by providing standardized legal frameworks and automated tax documentation.
Oyster
Oyster simplifies the complexity of building a distributed team by acting as the employer of record for your international hires. You can onboard full-time employees or contractors in minutes, ensuring every contract complies with local labor laws and tax regulations. The platform handles the heavy lifting of global payroll, localized benefits, and tax filings so you can focus on growing your business instead of navigating foreign bureaucracy.
You can manage your entire global workforce from a single dashboard, providing a consistent experience for every team member regardless of their location. Whether you are a small startup hiring your first international developer or a mid-market company expanding into new regions, the platform provides the infrastructure needed to scale globally. It eliminates the need for expensive legal fees and the months of work typically required to establish international entities.
Overview
Malt Features
- Direct Talent Search Find the perfect expert by filtering through 700,000+ profiles based on skills, experience, and real-time availability.
- Malt Strategy Access a curated network of high-level independent consultants specifically vetted for complex digital transformation and management projects.
- Automated Contracting Generate legally compliant contracts automatically for every project to protect your business and ensure clear deliverables.
- Centralized Payments Pay all your freelancers through one system with consolidated invoicing to simplify your accounting and tax reporting.
- Project Management Tools Communicate with your freelancers, share documents, and track project milestones directly within the secure platform workspace.
- Professional Insurance Protect your projects with built-in professional liability insurance provided through Malt's partnership with Hiscox for every mission.
Oyster Features
- Global Onboarding. Onboard new hires in minutes with localized employment contracts that automatically follow the specific labor laws of their home country.
- Automated Payroll. Pay your entire international team in their local currencies with a single monthly invoice, eliminating manual wire transfers and exchange headaches.
- Localized Benefits. Offer competitive, country-specific benefits packages including health insurance and pension plans to attract and retain top global talent.
- Contractor Management. Manage your global contractors alongside full-time employees, ensuring correct classification and providing streamlined invoicing and payment workflows.
- Compliance Monitoring. Stay protected with continuous monitoring of changing local regulations, ensuring your team remains compliant with evolving global employment standards.
- Intellectual Property Protection. Secure your company's assets with ironclad IP assignment clauses built into every contract, regardless of where your team members live.
Pricing Comparison
Malt Pricing
- Free account creation
- Access to 700,000+ profiles
- Direct messaging with talent
- Standardized legal contracts
- Secure payment processing
- Professional liability insurance
- Everything in Community, plus:
- Centralized dashboard for teams
- Advanced spend reporting
- Custom onboarding workflows
- Dedicated account management
- Consolidated monthly invoicing
Oyster Pricing
- Hire in 180+ countries
- Automated contract generation
- Simple invoice management
- Local currency payments
- IP protection
- 24/7 help center access
- Everything in Contractor, plus:
- Full Employer of Record services
- Localized benefits administration
- Dedicated onboarding specialist
- Automated tax filings
- Compliance guarantee
Pros & Cons
Malt
Pros
- High-quality talent pool with verified reviews
- Streamlined administrative and payment processes
- Excellent customer support for project mediation
- Intuitive interface makes searching very simple
- Automatic insurance coverage provides peace of mind
Cons
- Service fees can be high for clients
- Primarily focused on the European market
- Limited features for very small budgets
- Search filters can sometimes be too broad
Oyster
Pros
- Extremely fast onboarding process for international hires
- Intuitive user interface simplifies complex HR tasks
- Excellent customer support during the hiring process
- Transparent flat-fee pricing for full-time employees
- Strong focus on employee experience and localized benefits
Cons
- Higher price point compared to some competitors
- Limited customization for specific internal HR workflows
- Occasional delays in localized support for niche regions