HR
What does HR software cost? Prices per employee and worked examples
What does HR software cost? Checked prices per employee, minimums and payroll, with worked examples for 5 and 50 employees.
HR software is almost always charged per employee, including people who only request leave. We list the prices of four HR packages, show what payroll costs on top and work out a company with 5 and with 50 employees.
What does HR software cost, in short?
On 1 October 2026 we went through the pricing pages of four HR packages from our comparison. Three of them charge per employee per month. Their eight HR plans cost €3 to €9,75 per employee per month; half cost less than €7. The fourth package charges per payslip, because it combines HR and payroll.
With five employees you therefore pay a few tens of euros a month for HR software, and with fifty employees a few hundred euros. The number of employees weighs so heavily because HR software is almost always charged per employee, not per user of the system. Colleagues who only request leave count too. All amounts exclude VAT unless we say otherwise.
Prices of four HR packages side by side
We only include prices that the supplier publishes itself. Large suppliers such as AFAS HRM give a price indication on request, so they are not in the table.
| Package | Plans and price | Conditions | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buddee | HRM Basics €3, Essentials €4,50, Advanced €7 per employee per month | Minimum 5 employees; payroll processing €8,50, €10,50 or €13,50 per payslip; a quote from 75 employees | pricing page |
| Humanwave | HR Start €4,25, HR Professional €6,75, HR Premium €9,75 per employee with an active contract per month | Outsourced payroll from €20,50 per employee per month, with a minimum of €130 | pricing page |
| HoorayHR | Core €7,50, Plus €9,25 per user per month | Minimum 10 users; add-ons: time tracking €1,50, multiple entities €1, expense claims €0,50 per user per month | pricing page |
| Employes | Salaris €7 per payslip + €29,95 per month; Salaris & HR €9 per payslip + €39,95 per month | Payroll you run yourself, with HR features in the second plan | pricing page |
Buddee and HoorayHR do not say whether their prices include or exclude VAT. Prices excluding VAT are usual for business software, but check before you budget. HoorayHR's Plus plan is announced as coming soon.
What the price of HR software depends on
- Number of employees: the price scales with your workforce. Ask who counts: only employees with an active contract, as with Humanwave, or also on-call staff and people who have left.
- Minimum: Buddee charges for at least five employees, HoorayHR for at least ten users. For a small company the minimum is often the real price.
- Features: a basic plan usually covers personnel files, leave and absence. Appraisals, recruitment, workflows and an API are in more expensive plans.
- Payroll: payslips almost always cost extra, per payslip per period. At Buddee the difference between simple and complex payroll with a collective labour agreement (cao) runs from €8,50 to €13,50 per payslip.
- Add-ons: time tracking, expense claims and multiple legal entities can cost extra per employee.
Costs you easily forget
- Set-up: someone has to configure leave rules, roles, approvals and document templates. Plan internal time for it.
- Moving data: personnel files and leave balances from Excel or an old system have to be correct before you start. Read how to approach this in leave tracking in Excel or HR software.
- Integrations: an integration with your payroll package, scheduling or accounting prevents double work. Check whether it is included in the plan.
- Growth: if the supplier works with a quote above a certain number of employees, as Buddee does from 75, you do not know what you will pay as you grow. Ask in advance.
Worked example: a company with 5 and with 50 employees
We work with two fictional companies in which all employees are in the HR system. We take the prices from the table. The first four rows are HR only; the last two also include payroll with one payslip per employee per month.
| Package and plan | 5 employees per month | 50 employees per month |
|---|---|---|
| Buddee HRM Essentials (€4,50) | €22,50 | €225 |
| Humanwave HR Professional (€6,75) | €33,75 | €337,50 |
| Buddee HRM Advanced (€7) | €35 | €350 |
| HoorayHR Core (€7,50, minimum 10 users) | €75 | €375 |
| Buddee HRM Essentials + Payroll Easy (€4,50 + €8,50) | €65 | €650 |
| Employes Salaris & HR (€9 per payslip + €39,95) | €84,95 | €489,95 |
For HR only, the small company in this example pays €270 to €900 a year. With HoorayHR it pays for ten users, although it has five. The larger company pays €2.700 to €4.500 a year. With payroll included it comes to €780 to €1.020 a year for the small company and €5.880 to €7.800 for the larger one. A collective labour agreement, shift work or many changes make the payslip more expensive.
Price on request? How to compare quotes
Larger HR and payroll packages in particular work with quotes. Ask every supplier for the same items:
- who counts for the price: employees, users or payslips;
- which modules are included, such as leave, absence, appraisals and recruitment;
- the price per payslip with and without a collective labour agreement;
- the cost of set-up, training and moving personnel files;
- the price as you grow, and from which number of employees a different tier applies;
- the notice period and how you export personnel data.
You can compare all packages in the HR software category. Not sure whether to run payroll yourself? Read doing payroll yourself or outsourcing it.
Frequently asked questions about the cost of HR software
What does HR software cost per employee?
With the three HR packages that charge per employee and that we checked on 1 October 2026, HR software costs €3 to €9,75 per employee per month. Half of the plans cost less than €7.
Is payroll included in HR software?
Usually not. Payslips cost extra, at Buddee €8,50 to €13,50 per payslip. Employes combines payroll and HR for €9 per payslip plus €39,95 per month.
What does HR software cost for a small company?
With five employees you pay €22,50 to €75 per month for HR only in our worked example. Watch the minimum: with HoorayHR you pay for at least ten users.
How often are these prices checked?
We check the prices in this guide every quarter on the suppliers' pricing pages. The dates of the last and the next check are shown at the top of the article.
