Human resource management is a core need for any business with employees on its payroll, large or small. As a result, any manager will likely find themselves looking for the right HR software to do the job. With today’s uncertain economy pushing more industries to downsize, knowing the cost and value of your HR software is more important than ever.
While some HR software comes with free plans, these are unlikely to cover functionality such as payroll. If your business opts for a monthly subscription, it’ll likely start at a base monthly charge of $30 to $50, plus another $5 to $10 per employee, per month. In addition, if you need more advanced features or integrations, you might need to pay even more.
This guide will cover the factors that determine how much the best HR software will cost your company, plus the extra fees that your budget will need to have room for. Read on for all you need to know about the latest HR software prices.
Popular HR Software Prices
- Deel: Free, or paid plans from $49 per employee, per month (around $5,880 a year for ten users)
- Paychex: Starts at $39 per month plus $5 per employee (around $1,068 a year for ten users)
- Paycor: Starts at $99 per month plus $6 per employee (around $1,908 a year for ten users)
- Rippling: Starts at $35 per month plus $8 per employee (around $1,380 a year for ten users)
- monday.com: Starts with a free plan, rising to $19 per month (around $2,280 a year for ten seats)
How Do HR Software Pricing Models Work?
Like many other types of business software, HR software can be purchased in two different forms: You can choose to pay a one-time fee to install on-premise software, or you can opt for a smaller but ongoing monthly subscription in order to access cloud-based software.
Here, we’ll explain and compare the value of each of these options.
One-time/perpetual licenses
Large companies should consider buying a perpetual license for HR software for a large upfront one-time fee. This option allows the business to host and maintain the software on their own servers, with no internet connection to a third-party service required to keep all HR services operating smoothly.
You’ll pay for the license itself, but it will need to be customized to integrate fully with your existing software, and the installation fee may be another cost as well. All told the one-time cost for a perpetual license is typically between $80 and $250 per employee, with costs dropping for larger numbers of employees.
Even with an on-premise license, you’ll still have to pay for two additional ongoing costs: Maintenance and support, although in some cases these costs can be absorbed as part of your salaried team’s duties.
SaaS subscriptions
Smaller companies are likely better off with a SaaS (or Software as a service) subscription than with a perpetual license. With SaaS, your business will pay a monthly fee in order to access online HR software that is hosted and maintained by a third-party provider.
SaaS is a more cost-effective option since there is no huge upfront cost and all support needs are bundled into the fee. However, it will get more expensive as your business hires more employees, and your business will lose all access to the software should you stop paying the monthly subscription fee.
Some providers offer basic HR packages for free, but competitive prices for a robust HR SaaS start at a base fee of around $30 to $50 per month, plus another $5 to $10 per employee, per month. Packages with extra features or integrations can cost two or three times this amount.
Tiered subscriptions
Many SaaS companies will offer a modified version of the typical per-user-per-month subscription: They’ll create tiers, so companies that pay a lower subscription price will access fewer features and functions. As a company grows, it will have to option to upgrade to a higher tier, paying more to gain more functionality.
Sometimes a company will offer a different form of tiers: They’ll offer the same HR platform, but charge a lower per-user amount as the number of users increases. This way, larger companies will save money. Either way, your approach is the same: Weigh your future growth plans against what you need now and pay accordingly.
Freemium plans
Some HR platforms will offer a completely free option, aimed at delivering a barebones experience that coaxes companies in, before pushing them towards a paid subscription that offers the core functionality that a full-fledged company needs.
Getting a free plan can be an option for a bootstrapping startup that must cover the HR minimum, but it can also be a snare. You’ll want to make sure the platform’s paid options are a decent deal before you lock in your dependency on the platform itself since you’ll likely need to upgrade.
Custom enterprise pricing
Finally, many subscription-based platforms will offer a custom package. These are often module-based since HR software is often bundled with other services — most commonly payroll and applicant tracking systems. These options are good ways for large companies to negotiate for exactly what they need.
Check out our guide to HR KPIs to learn more about the specific areas to cover when figuring out your custom package.
Pricing Examples: How Much Could HR Cost a Business Like Yours?
With so many variables to consider, calculating the price of HR for your business can be tricky. The size of your company makes a big difference, however, as does whether or not you choose to leverage a third-party organization, such as an employer of record (EOR) or professional employer organization (PEO).
Here are some examples to make the costs a bit clearer.
Startups and small businesses
A small startup with five employees should be able to make do with a simple yet effective HR solution like monday.com. They can expect to spend $45 on HR software per month, or $540 per year. This will cover all the basics, but won’t include access to advanced features like automation.
Mid-size businesses
A small business with 30 employees will require sophisticated HR features like custom automation and onboarding support. For that, they would expect to pay around $275 per month, or $3300 per year if they chose a provider like Rippling.
This would factor in the base price of $35 per month for Rippling’s payroll package, and the additional $8 per employee.
Large businesses
Finally, large businesses looking for enterprise-scale solutions should expect to pay much more — as your company starts to close in on one hundred (or more) employees, manual processes will become too time-consuming. Even the pricier HR platforms will save you hundreds or thousands of dollars.
HR software providers don’t normally list the price of custom packages on their websites, but based on figures that are out there you should expect to be paying anywhere upwards of $3,000-$8,000 per month for 100 workers – and this figure could increase if you require add-ons like time-tracking and performance management software.
The Factors That Influence HR Software Prices
Costs vary from brand to brand, but the total cost of your HR software package will depend on a number of predictable elements as well. You can start your cost estimation by checking this list of factors:
- Number of admin users: Small businesses will likely just need a single admin account in order to manage all employees. In most cases, adding multiple administrators will mean moving up to a more expensive plan.
- Number of employees: Virtually all SaaS HR software charges a per-employee fee, so you can expect your costs to increase steadily as the number of employees working at your business grows.
- Features and functionality: How many HR processes will your software need to cover? Recruitment, payroll, training, and onboarding are commonly included on the least expensive plans, while pricier plans may add functionality including applicant tracking, shift scheduling, performance management, EOR services, and more.
- Sophistication: Smaller businesses may be content with a just-the-basics HR system while growing operations could benefit from complex features aided by tools such as AI workflows or advanced analytics.
- Ready-made software integrations: Your business may need HR software that integrates with related business software such as employee expensing, recruitment, or time tracking. You might also find it easier to use HR software that can integrate with your accounting software, to keep things like taxes, bonuses, and payroll accounted for on one platform. Often, the HR software that comes ready to integrate with a wider range of software is more expensive.
- User support level: What tier of software support will you want? While basic ticket resolution might be enough, in-depth technical support or expert service support is always worth aiming for – though it will inevitably cost more.
Keep in mind how rapidly you anticipate your operation to scale up. In the future, you might find you have the funds on hand to shift to an on-premise solution.
Check out our HR software guide for more information
HRMS vs. HRIS Software Pricing
You might run into two acronyms while researching HR software: HRMS and HRIS. To be honest, these terms are a little outdated and you’re unlikely to see the actual software brands refer to themselves with either. Still, here’s a quick explanation of what each term means.
HRIS stands for Human Resources Information System, and it refers to software designed to cover the basics of storing employee data. Reliable databases are a key part of HR services, and an HRIS provides the raw data needed to complete tasks like payroll, benefits, training, and scheduling. However, it won’t guide managers through those processes. For that, you’ll need the more advanced HRMS.
HRMS stands for Human Resource Management System, and it refers to software that manages all the core HR processes, and not just the data needed for those processes. This is likely the type of software your business is looking for since it’s a one-stop shop for most human resource needs.
Rather than get bogged down in this terminology, however, we’d recommend simply looking for top HR software brands and double-checking them to ensure that they offer all the features you need at a price that works for you.
How Much Does Popular HR Software Cost?
Our top pick for the best HR software is Rippling, which starts at $35 per month, plus $8 per employee, per month. This gives you a service with great data security, granular payment controls, and the ability to scale up to cover international HR needs, thanks to an EOR expansion. Plus, with an open API and lots of third-party integrations, Rippling is highly customizable to unique business needs, though it lacks integrations with the big-name human capital management platforms SAP and Oracle.
| Starting price | Best for | Key Features | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FEATURED PROVIDER  | BEST OVERALL  |  |  |  |  |
| $39/month (+ $5/employee) | |||||
| Not yet assessed | Best Overall HR Software | Best HR Software For Beginners | Best Value HR Software | Best For Growing Businesses | Best for employee management |
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| Try GoCo | Try Rippling | Try monday.com | Try Deel | Try Paycor | Try Paychex |
Can You Get HR Software for Free?
Some HR platforms offer a freemium option that might be able to deliver basic HR software for your small business. The two top options to consider are monday.com or Deel, both of which come with limited free plans.
However, costs tend to be high in the world of HR platforms, so freemium options will always lack a few fairly core functions. For example, monday.com is really a project management platform rather than a traditional HR software: It’s great at onboarding and recruitment, but can’t handle payroll or benefits administration.
Deel, meanwhile, handles expenses, time off, bonuses, and reports for teams of up to 200 people on its free plan, but charges an undisclosed amount for a plan that covers onboarding, payroll, and benefits.
For more on these HR solutions and others, check out our full guide to the best HR software or skim the table below.
Hidden HR Software Costs
Paying for your monthly subscription is just the start. You’ll also need to find room in your budget for a range of additional charges, with these four being the most common:
- Data migration: The vendor that you pick will likely be able to migrate your historical employee and payroll data for you, but many services charge an extra fee for this chore. Typical ranges are between $200-$500, depending on the amount of data, though some HR services include it for free.
- Training: Your managers and employees will need to learn how to use the new HR software. Your provider will probably offer free online resources to help, but a dedicated virtual training session might cost $100-$200 for a few hours.
- Maintenance: Your managers will need to verify and modify employee data to ensure it remains correct as employees’ salaries, mailing addresses, and other data will change over time. This is tough to quantify as a dollar amount, since it will be part of managers’ duties.
- Technical support: Nearly any SaaS HR system will bundle some form of tech support into the plan you use, but an on-premises system will require in-house or on-demand IT support that can easily cost four figures per month.
Next Steps: Which Software Is Best for You?
The right HR software for your business is the one that offers all the features you need, can scale up with your operation, and comes at a price that fits your budget.
In the end, you’ll likely pay between $30 to $50 per month, plus an additional $5 to $10 per employee, per month, with the potential for additional costs kicking in for ongoing support, maintenance, and more.
To get started on the process of picking an HR software, comb through the top brand names in order to verify that they offer all the functions and integrations you need. Then, sign up for a free demo or trial in order to get familiar with the interface. Prices and custom quotes from a few of the best HR software options are available below.
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