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For a UK small business, HR software commonly costs about £3–£11 per employee per month on per-employee plans. Small-team or business-priced products start at roughly £21–£24 per month. For 10 employees, published starting prices currently span about £24–£50 per month before VAT and optional modules.
Your actual bill depends on the pricing unit, employee band, HR modules, VAT and whether payroll is separate. A low headline rate can increase substantially when you add recruitment, timesheets, scheduling, expenses or payroll.
What sets the price of UK HR software?
HR suppliers generally use one of three charging methods. The method matters as much as the headline number because the same 10-person team can receive very different quotes from a per-user plan and a fixed small-business plan.
Per-employee pricing
You pay a monthly amount for each person in the system. A £5 rate therefore costs £50 for 10 employees before VAT or add-ons. This model scales gradually as you hire, but every new employee increases the recurring bill. PeopleHR explicitly describes its model as paying per employee per month.
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Business or employee-band pricing
A supplier may charge one amount for a headcount range, such as one price for 5–14 employees. The bill does not change when you move from five to six people, but it can jump when you cross the next threshold. This can be cheaper for a growing team than a strict per-user plan, but more expensive if you are near the bottom of a band.
Modules and payroll
Core employee records, leave and document tools may be included in a base plan while performance management, timesheets, shift scheduling, expenses or recruitment cost extra. Payroll is often a separate subscription or integration rather than part of HR software, so price it as a second line in your budget.
Published UK prices to benchmark
The following are publicly listed prices on UK vendor pages in 2026. They are list-price benchmarks, not an independent market average. Setup fees, negotiated discounts and feature limits can change the final quotation.
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| Product | Pricing basis | Published price | Important conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| PeopleHR | Per employee per month | Starter £4; Core £6.25; Pro £9.25; Elite+ £11 | Fixed monthly pricing is offered for teams of up to 10; no long-term contracts; free 14-day trial. |
| Sage HR | Per employee per month | Starts at £5 | Performance, timesheets and shift scheduling each add £2.50 per employee monthly; expenses adds £1.25; recruitment adds £184.45 monthly. |
| Breathe | Total employee count for the business | From £24 per business per month | Add-ons change the total; cancellation is available at any time without cancellation fees. |
| CharlieHR | Employee bands | £21 for 1–4; £47 for 5–14; £108 for 15–29; £185 for 30–49 employees per month | Prices exclude UK VAT, which CharlieHR states is charged at +20%. |
| BrightHR | Employee number | From £3 per person | Offers HR-only, health-and-safety-only or combined packages; the starting price depends on business size. |
| Sage Payroll | Payroll subscription | From £1.20 per month, excluding 20% VAT | Every plan includes five employees; additional employees are charged separately. |
What would HR software cost for 10 employees?
Ten employees is a useful comparison point because it sits at the upper end of some small-team deals and the lower end of several employee bands. These calculations use the published starting prices and show how modules alter the monthly figure.
| Option | Monthly calculation for 10 employees | Monthly total before VAT |
|---|---|---|
| PeopleHR Starter | 10 × £4 | £40 |
| PeopleHR Core | 10 × £6.25 | £62.50 |
| PeopleHR Pro | 10 × £9.25 | £92.50 |
| PeopleHR Elite+ | 10 × £11 | £110 |
| Sage HR base | 10 × £5 | £50 |
| Sage HR plus Performance | 10 × (£5 + £2.50) | £75 |
| Sage HR plus all four listed per-employee add-ons | 10 × (£5 + £2.50 + £2.50 + £2.50 + £1.25) | £137.50 |
| Sage HR with Recruitment added to the base | £50 base + £184.45 recruitment module | £234.45 |
| Breathe starting plan | Business price for the relevant employee count | From £24 |
| CharlieHR 5–14 band | Band price | £47 |
| BrightHR starting price | 10 × £3 starting rate | From £30 |
On these published starting points, Breathe is the lowest business-level entry price for a 10-person company, while BrightHR, PeopleHR Starter, CharlieHR and Sage HR occupy progressively higher starting points. That does not make one universally cheapest: a plan with fewer included functions can cost more after you add the tools your business actually needs.
VAT: compare like-for-like totals
Displayed software prices are not consistently presented in the same VAT format. CharlieHR says its prices exclude UK VAT and adds 20%. Its £47 price for the 5–14 employee band therefore becomes £56.40 when VAT is charged. Sage Payroll also states that its £1.20 starting price excludes 20% VAT. The other listed pages do not establish a single VAT treatment in the figures above, so confirm whether VAT will be added to your quotation and whether your business can reclaim it.
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When comparing suppliers, put every quote on one basis: either monthly price before VAT or monthly cash outlay including VAT. Record whether a promotional, introductory or one-time allowance is being used, because it should not be treated as a permanent rate.
Does HR software include payroll?
Do not assume it does. HR software normally manages people data and processes such as leave, documents or performance, while payroll calculates pay, deductions and submissions. Some providers connect to payroll products; others sell payroll as a separate module or through an integration.
The published Sage benchmark illustrates the distinction: Sage Payroll starts at £1.20 per month excluding VAT, includes five employees, and charges for additional employees. The published starting figure is not a complete 10-person payroll total because the additional-employee rate must be added. Ask for the payroll price for your exact headcount, pay frequency and required filings rather than adding the £1.20 headline figure to an HR quote.
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How to calculate your real monthly budget
- Count the people you will actually manage. Include employees, workers or contractors who need accounts, and note whether leavers remain in the system for reporting. Ask how the supplier defines a billable employee.
- Identify the pricing unit. Write down whether the quote is per employee, per active user, per business or per headcount band. Check what happens when you cross the next threshold.
- Select only the modules you need. List requirements such as core records, absence, performance, timesheets, rota scheduling, expenses, recruitment and health and safety. Add each module to the base price instead of comparing base plans alone.
- Price payroll separately. Confirm whether payroll is included, integrated or sold as another subscription. Obtain the cost for your number of employees and pay runs.
- Add VAT correctly. Label every figure as VAT-inclusive or VAT-exclusive. If your business cannot reclaim VAT, budget for the gross amount.
- Annualise the recurring bill. Multiply the final monthly total by 12, then add any implementation, migration, training or support charges stated in the proposal. Keep one-off costs separate from the recurring subscription.
- Model growth. Calculate the bill at today’s headcount and at the headcount you expect within 12 months. A banded plan may remain flat until a threshold, while a per-employee plan rises with each hire.
What to check beyond the headline price
Included functionality
Ask for a written list of what the base tier includes. “HR software” can mean a simple employee directory and leave calendar or a broader suite with performance, recruitment and scheduling. Check limits on storage, document templates, approval workflows, reports and administrator accounts.
Headcount rules
Clarify whether part-time staff count as full employees, whether inactive or archived users are billed, and when a change in headcount takes effect. For a banded plan, request the price at the next two thresholds so that a planned hire does not create an unexpected jump.
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Contract and cancellation terms
Flexibility has a direct financial value for a small employer. PeopleHR advertises no long-term contracts and a 14-day free trial. Breathe says cancellation is possible at any time without cancellation fees. Obtain the notice period, renewal terms and refund policy for any other supplier before signing.
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Payroll, accounting and compliance connections
Check whether the system connects to the payroll and accounting tools you already use, and whether the connection is included or paid. Confirm the UK-specific processes you require, such as holiday records, statutory documentation and payroll data hand-off. An inexpensive standalone system can become costly if staff must re-enter data or maintain duplicate records.
Support and implementation
Ask who configures the system, imports employee data and trains managers. Confirm support hours, response targets and whether help is included in the subscription. A free trial is most useful when you test a real workflow—such as joining an employee, approving leave and exporting payroll data—rather than merely browsing the dashboard.
Which option is cheapest for a 10-person business?
Using the published entry prices alone, the lowest figure is Breathe’s business-level starting price of £24 per month. BrightHR’s starting calculation is £30 for 10 people, PeopleHR Starter is £40, CharlieHR’s 5–14 band is £47, and Sage HR starts at £50. Those figures are not an apples-to-apples feature comparison, and VAT or add-ons can change the order.
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Is there a UK market average?
There is no authoritative cross-vendor UK average or independent total-cost-of-ownership figure established for this market. The prices above are current vendor list-price benchmarks and should be used to frame questions and budgets, not presented as a universal average. Request a quote using the same headcount, modules, VAT basis and contract length from every supplier you shortlist.
Quick Recap
A practical buying checklist
- Write the exact employee count today and the expected count in 12 months.
- Mark each quote as per employee, per business or per headcount band.
- List included HR functions and price every required add-on.
- Get a separate payroll figure for your actual employee count.
- Confirm VAT treatment and compare net or gross totals consistently.
- Check trial length, cancellation notice and minimum commitment.
- Test UK payroll, accounting and compliance integrations with sample data.
- Ask about migration, training, support and any one-time charges.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
