True cost · HR, payroll, and hiring software
PeopleHR true cost: the 36-month total
PeopleHR costs $1,080 over 36 months on Starter at 10 employees, billed annually, before 5 cost lines that sit outside the plan price.
What PeopleHR costs over 36 months
Every figure below is PeopleHR's own published rate, annualised and multiplied out over 36 months at 10 employees. Where PeopleHR publishes no rate, the row says so instead of guessing.
The same plan at four team sizes
PeopleHR charges per employee, so the 36-month figure scales linearly with headcount. These are Starter totals, on annual billing, with no fees added.
Renewal sensitivity: three scenarios, not a forecast
Nobody knows what PeopleHR charges in 2029. The table below is arithmetic on a rate you choose, not a prediction: it compounds the year-one total forward at 0%, 5% and 10% so you can see how much of the 36-month figure is exposed to a renewal you have not negotiated yet.
Scenario arithmetic on PeopleHR's own published year-one figure. Uplift rates are illustrative inputs, not observed or predicted rates.
What sits outside the PeopleHR list price
5 lines, sorted by when in the contract lifecycle they land. Lines marked as derived are arithmetic on PeopleHR's own tier table rather than vendor prose.
Each line, what triggers it, and how to avoid it
Paid add-on or module
Stated on the pricing page: Payroll SaaS add-on from £3/employee/month
What triggers it. Triggered by needing the capability, and then charged every cycle afterwards. Add-ons attach to the Starter subscription permanently, so this is a recurring line the $1,080 figure does not contain.
How to avoid it. Build the shortlist at like-for-like scope. Price PeopleHR with the add-ons you actually need against rivals with theirs, or the $1,080 comparison is measuring different products.
Paid add-on or module
Stated on the pricing page: Managed payroll services from £5/employee/month
What triggers it. A separately-priced module. It stacks on top of the plan rate for as long as you keep it, and on a per-unit add-on it also scales with the 10 employees basis.
How to avoid it. Bundle the add-ons into the initial negotiation. They are discounted far more readily at first signature than when added in year two as a mid-term upsell.
Paid add-on or module
Stated on the pricing page: Optional talent and learning modules billed separately
What triggers it. A separately-priced module. It stacks on top of the plan rate for as long as you keep it, and on a per-unit add-on it also scales with the 10 employees basis.
How to avoid it. Bundle the add-ons into the initial negotiation. They are discounted far more readily at first signature than when added in year two as a mid-term upsell.
Feature gated to a higher tier
Derived from the published tiers: Moving from Starter to Elite Plus costs a further $2,340 over 36 months at 10 employees, which is 3.2x the entry total.
What triggers it. Triggered by needing one feature, not by growing. This is the mechanism that moves teams off Starter: a single requirement that only exists further up the ladder, at a rate that applies to every unit you buy.
How to avoid it. List every gated capability you will plausibly need in three years, then price PeopleHR at that tier from the start. Comparing entry tiers you will not stay on is how a $1,080 plan becomes a much larger invoice.
Seat expansion
Derived from the published tiers: Five more employees on Starter add $540 across 36 months, on top of the $1,080 above.
What triggers it. Triggered by hiring. Every figure above is priced at 10 employees; this line is what each unit past that costs, and it compounds for the remainder of the term rather than the remainder of the month.
How to avoid it. Get expansion pricing fixed in the order form for the full term. Without it, seats added in month 20 are quoted at list.
How that compares across hr, payroll, and hiring software
The median hr, payroll, and hiring software tool we track charges $75 a month at its cheapest paid tier. Re-expressed on the same basis as the figure above, 10 employees for 36 months, that median works out at $27,000.
PeopleHR lands $25,920 below that figure, 96.0%, measured across 34 tracked tools. A gap either way is a question, not a verdict: cheaper often means fewer included seats or a thinner support tier, and the fee lines below are where that difference usually reappears.
What changes at enterprise scale
Everything above prices the self-serve ladder. Enterprise sits off that ladder, which means the $1,080 figure is a floor for a large deployment rather than an estimate of one.
Annual payment options provide discount versus monthly billing; bundle plans combine HR and payroll.
Frequently asked questions
How much does PeopleHR cost over three years?
$1,080 on Starter at 10 employees, billed annually, which is $30 a month held flat for 36 months. That figure covers the subscription only.
Does paying PeopleHR annually save money?
PeopleHR publishes the same effective rate either way on Starter, so there is no prepay discount to capture. Keep the monthly option unless the vendor offers something for the commitment.
What does PeopleHR charge for outside the plan price?
5 lines: paid add-on or module, paid add-on or module, paid add-on or module, feature gated to a higher tier and 1 more. Each one is broken down above with what triggers it and how to avoid it.
Could PeopleHR cost more at renewal?
Possibly, and nothing on this page predicts it. If the rate held flat the three-year total would be $1,080; at a hypothetical 10% a year it would be $1,191.60. Cap the uplift in the contract and the question stops mattering.
What does PeopleHR cost for a team of 25?
$2,700 over 36 months on Starter, billed annually. PeopleHR charges per employee, so that scales directly with headcount.
Price PeopleHR on your own numbers
This page holds the term axis. The pricing breakdown holds the seat axis: every tier, the per-seat calculator, and the same fee list against the monthly figure.
Sources and method
- List rates and fee disclosures: PeopleHR official pricing page, verified 17 May 2026.
- 36-month totals: the published annual-equivalent rate multiplied by 36, at 10 employees. No inflation, no discount, no fee estimates included.
- Renewal rows: scenario arithmetic on rates stated in the table. They are inputs, not observations.
- Category median: the cheapest paid monthly tier of every tool we track in the same category, re-expressed over 36 months.