How much does HR software cost in the UK?
The per-person rate is the number vendors advertise. Seat minimums, setup fees and tier creep are the numbers that decide your budget.
UK HR software for small businesses typically runs £3-£12 per employee per month, or a flat fee from around £100 a month for small teams. The per-person figure is the one vendors advertise; the number that actually decides your budget is the total, because seat minimums, setup fees, module add-ons and annual-only contracts move it far more than the headline rate does.
What are the pricing models?
| Model | How it works | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Per employee per month | a rate multiplied by headcount | seat minimums - "£4/person" with a 25-seat floor is £100 whether you have 8 people or 25 |
| Flat fee with people included | a base price covering a band of staff | what the per-person rate becomes above the band |
| Tiered by module | core HR cheap, everything else extra | the feature you actually came for sitting two tiers up |
| Quote only | no public pricing | time spent in sales calls before you learn the number |
What should a 25-person company expect to pay?
Between about £100 and £300 a month, depending on how much sits in the base product. That spread is wide because it isn't really one product category: a leave-booking tool and a full people platform with performance, engagement and hiring are both sold as "HR software".
Rather than leave that as a range you have to take on trust, here is what each vendor published on 21 September 2026, priced for a company of exactly 25 people. Every figure comes from the vendor's own pricing page, and each row links to the page where we show the working.
| Vendor | Published price at 25 people | Per person |
|---|---|---|
| Breathe (Regular, 21-50) | £99 | £3.96 |
| CharlieHR (15-29 band) | £108 | £4.32 |
| CoDash (Core, 20 included) | £111.50 | £4.46 |
| BambooHR | Flat rate from $250, published in USD | from $10 |
| HiBob | Not published | Not published |
Two things show up there that a range hides. The UK-published prices cluster tightly - £99 to £112 for core HR at this size - which is why the advertised per-person rate matters less than people expect once you price your actual headcount. And the climb towards £300 is almost entirely add-ons rather than the platform: Breathe's Business Essentials bundle (health and safety, learning, expenses, recruitment) starts at another £38 a month and its rota and attendance module at another £11, while CharlieHR's recruitment add-on is £85 at this headcount. Advisory retainers sit well above that again - CharlieHR's Charlie Grow is £407 a month in the 15-29 band, more than three times the platform it attaches to.
For context, our own pricing is public: Core is £99/month including your first 20 people, then £2.50 per employee, with every module included; Pro adds IT controls at £199 then £4. No setup fees, prices ex-VAT. The pricing page has the calculator.
What the sticker price leaves out
- Setup and implementation fees - common in the mid-market, sometimes a four-figure one-off.
- Seat minimums - the single biggest distorter for teams under 20.
- Module add-ons - performance, ATS, engagement surveys often priced separately.
- Annual-only contracts - fine if you're sure, expensive if you're not.
- Data migration and support tiers - occasionally billed, occasionally just slow unless you pay.
HR packages and fees: what's usually inside one
"HR package" usually means a bundle of core record-keeping plus leave management, with everything else - performance, hiring, engagement - sold as tiers or add-ons. The fees around the package are where quotes diverge: implementation or setup fees (anything from nothing to four figures), training fees, data-migration fees, per-payslip or per-export charges on the payroll side, and support tiers where the useful response times cost extra. None of these appear in the advertised per-person rate, which is why two "£5 per person" packages can differ by thousands in year one. Ask for the package contents and every fee in one written quote - our requirements checklist has the exact wording.
How do you compare fairly?
- Price your actual headcount, including the minimum if there is one - not the advertised per-person rate.
- List the features you'll use in month one and check which tier each sits in. Tier creep is where budgets break.
- Add the one-offs - setup, migration, training - and spread them over 12 months to get a real monthly figure.
- Check the exit. Can you export your people data, and in what format? A platform you can't leave is a price rise waiting to happen.
- Model growth. What does it cost at 40 people? Some pricing gets cheaper per head, some doesn't.
Is HR software worth it for a small team?
The honest test is what it replaces. If leave lives in a spreadsheet three people edit, someone spends a few hours a month reconciling it, and every entitlement question gets answered by hand, then the software pays for itself before you count anything else - our spreadsheets comparison works through where the line falls. If you're five people and everyone knows everyone's holiday, it probably doesn't - yet.
Vendor pricing changes, so always confirm on the vendor's own site before deciding. Our honest comparisons cover where each major UK platform is strong. And cost is only half the decision - how to choose HR software covers the rest: the requirements checklist and the questions to ask before you sign.
Frequently asked questions
How much does HR software cost per employee in the UK?
Typically £3 to £12 per employee per month, or a flat fee from around £100 a month for small teams. At 25 people, the UK vendors we checked on 21 September 2026 all worked out between £3.96 and £4.46 a head, so the top of that range belongs to the per-seat platforms selling into larger companies. The total matters more than the per-person rate because seat minimums, setup fees and module add-ons can change it substantially.
What should a 25-person company pay for HR software?
Between about £100 and £300 a month. On the vendors' own published prices on 21 September 2026, a company of 25 pays £99 at Breathe, £108 at CharlieHR and £111.50 on CoDash Core, while BambooHR publishes a flat rate from $250 and HiBob publishes no figures at all. The climb towards £300 is add-on modules - recruitment, learning, rota - rather than the core platform.
What hidden costs come with HR software?
Setup and implementation fees, seat minimums that charge for staff you do not have, module add-ons for performance or hiring, annual-only contracts, and charges for data migration or higher support tiers.
Is HR software worth it for a small business?
It depends what it replaces. If leave tracking, entitlement calculations and absence records are consuming hours of admin each month, it usually pays for itself. For a team of five where everyone knows everyone's holiday, it may not yet.
Keep reading: All 79 HR guides · 45 free templates · 27 calculators · Sector guides: agencies, software, consultancies, accountancy, architecture and engineering, marketing and PR, media, property · What shipped recently · Vendor prices we checked: Breathe, CharlieHR, HiBob, BambooHR
Pricing you can read without a sales call
CoDash publishes every price: from £99/month including your first 20 people, then a flat £2.50 per employee with every module included.