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Pricing guide, HR Software and HRIS
What HRIS, payroll-first and enterprise HCM platforms cost, why base fees distort small teams, and which add-ons arrive after you choose.
The short answer
HR software costs about USD 6 to USD 25 per employee per month plus a USD 35 to USD 180 base platform fee, with enterprise HCM quoted at roughly USD 34 to USD 150 per employee. A 50-employee company pays USD 4,188 a year on Gusto Simple or USD 6,000 on BambooHR Core, before payroll add-ons.
Written by Procurement VMS Editorial Team · Reviewed by Michael, Procurement Advisor Expert · Price data dated · 11 minute read
HR software bills on two numbers at once, and buyers almost always quote only the first. There is a per-employee rate, and there is a monthly base platform fee that applies whatever your headcount. At small headcounts the base fee is a large share of the bill.
This guide compares published SMB prices from Gusto, BambooHR and Rippling with reported enterprise figures for Workday, and shows what each model leaves out. Several of these figures come from competitor guides, so verify them against vendor pages before you commit. For a single vendor, see our guides on Gusto, Rippling and BambooHR.
Prices below were recorded on 17 October 2026. The headline figure is the lowest price you can get for that plan. Check the official page before you buy, because vendors change prices without notice.
USD6 to USD 22 per person plus a USD 49 to USD 180 base fee
per employee per month
Best for: Companies under about 100 employees that need payroll, benefits and basic HR
USD10 to USD 25 per employee per month
per employee per month
Best for: 20 to 500 employees that want an HR system of record
From USD 8 per employee plus a USD 35 base fee
per employee per month
Best for: Companies that want HR, IT provisioning and spend on one platform
About USD 34 to USD 150 per employee per month, quote only
per employee per month, billed yearly
Billed monthly: N/A
Best for: Organisations above about 1,000 employees with multi-country payroll and finance integration
How billing works
There is a per-employee rate, and a monthly base platform fee that applies whatever your headcount: Gusto charges USD 49 to USD 180 depending on plan, and Rippling adds about USD 35. At small headcounts the base fee is a large share of the bill, which is why BambooHR replaces per-employee pricing with a flat rate starting at USD 250 a month for organizations of 25 or fewer. An HRIS price is also not a payroll price. On BambooHR, payroll, benefits administration, time and attendance, managed payroll, employer of record and HR consulting are quote-based add-ons outside the USD 10 to USD 25 base plan. Enterprise HCM publishes nothing: CostBench reports Workday contracts auto-renew, typically run three years, generally cannot be downgraded mid-term and carry roughly 5% to 7% annual uplift.
The tier trap
On BambooHR, payroll, benefits administration and time tracking are quote-based add-ons that sit outside the USD 10 to USD 25 per employee base plan. The HRIS list price is therefore never the whole bill for a company that also runs payroll, and the add-on quote arrives after you have chosen the platform.
Read this first. This is a category guide and not a single-vendor page. No official vendor pricing page was read for this guide. Gusto prices (USD 49 plus USD 6, USD 80 plus USD 12, USD 180 plus USD 22) come from CostBench, verified 13 October 2026. The BambooHR and Rippling figures come from guides published by Gusto, a direct competitor, so re-verify them on bamboohr.com, rippling.com and gusto.com. The Rippling guide flags that its sources conflict (USD 35 against USD 40 base fee) and that module prices come from different pages and should not simply be added together. Workday figures carry CostBench's own 50% confidence rating and conflicting implementation estimates (15% to 25% of license in one section, 50% to 100% in another). CostBench notes Workday renamed its plans in March 2026, so plan names are not used. The calculator prices BambooHR per employee for 26 or more employees and excludes base fees and add-ons.
Move the slider to see what each plan costs at your size. The figures use the list prices on this page and leave out tax, add-ons and any discount you negotiate.
Fifty employees shows how a base fee, a per-employee rate and a missing payroll price change the comparison.
| Scenario | Cost per year | Against the headline |
|---|---|---|
| Gusto Simple, 50 employees, USD 49 base plus USD 6 per person | USD4,188 | Headline price |
| BambooHR Core at USD 10 per employee, 50 employees, payroll quoted separately | USD6,000 | +USD 1,812 |
| BambooHR Pro at USD 17 per employee, 50 employees | USD10,200 | +USD 6,012 |
Compare the plans side by side. Where a cell says Check page, the vendor's pricing page was not specific enough for us to fill it in.
| Capability | SMB payroll-first | SMB HRIS | Modular HR and IT | Enterprise HCM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Run US payroll and file taxes | Check page | Add-on | Check page | Check page |
| Employee system of record and org chart | Limited | Check page | Check page | Check page |
| Benefits administration | Check page | Add-on | USD 5 per employee | Check page |
| Time and attendance | Limited | Add-on | USD 2 per employee | Check page |
| Device and app provisioning | Check page | Check page | Check page | Limited |
| Multi-country payroll | Check page | Employer of record add-on | Check page | Check page |
| Workforce planning and financials | Check page | Check page | Limited | Check page |
| Published list price | Check page | Check page | Partly | Check page |
Pick one if you are under about 100 employees and need payroll, benefits and basic HR.
Pick one if you have 20 to 500 employees and want an HR system of record.
Pick one if you want HR, IT provisioning and spend on one platform.
Pick one if you are above about 1,000 employees with multi-country payroll and finance integration.
Our view
For most companies under 500 employees, the choice is between a payroll-first platform and an HRIS plus a separate payroll provider. Compare total cost with payroll and benefits included, not headline per-employee rates. Enterprise HCM only makes sense when multi-country payroll and finance integration are real requirements.
You may be overpaying if
You pay a per-employee rate for leavers and duplicate records, you bought an HRIS and then found payroll sits outside the price, or you run a modular platform for one module.
BambooHR's USD 10 to USD 25 base plan excludes payroll, benefits and time tracking. Ask for all three quoted alongside the base plan, then compare the total against Gusto or Rippling.
Per-employee pricing is only as accurate as the list it bills from. Leavers, duplicate records and contractors on the wrong line item all carry a rate they should not.
BambooHR publishes 15% off for registered nonprofits and 15% for bundling payroll and benefits administration with a base plan for eligible US employees, plus automatic volume discounts it does not disclose.
CostBench reports about 5% to 7% annual uplift on Workday and contracts that typically run three years. Capping the uplift is worth more across the term than a larger year-one discount.
Rippling prices benefits administration at USD 5 and time and attendance at USD 2 per employee per month. Each module should map to a process someone owns.
Extended-term BambooHR contracts renew for 12 months unless notice is given at least 60 days before expiration.
What other buyers report
CostBench, citing Vendr data, reports a median Workday contract of about USD 49,795 a year across 357 purchases, with a range of roughly USD 19,070 to USD 553,733 and buyers averaging about a 15% negotiated discount (page verified 13 October 2026). Source
Renewal email you can copy
Fill in the brackets and send it about 90 days before the renewal date. It works best next to your renewal tracker.
Subject: HR software renewal on [renewal date] Hi [account manager], Our HR software [plan] subscription renews on [renewal date]. Over the last 90 days, [active employees] of the [paid employees] we pay for used it. We would like to renew with [target employees] on a [term] term. Before we sign, please send: 1. The current list price and the price you are offering us, line by line. 2. The cap on any price increase at the next renewal. 3. The notice period if we want to cut employees or move to another plan. We are comparing this against [alternative] and plan to decide by [decision date]. If you can offer [target discount] percent off list, or a lower price for a longer term, we are ready to talk this week. Thank you, [name] [company]
Free PDF and Excel
A one page summary of every plan, plus an Excel model that adds up your own seat count.
If this vendor does not fit, these are the closest options and what they charge.
| Alternative | Starting price | Pick it when |
|---|---|---|
| BambooHR | USD10 per employee per month (Core, 26 or more employees) | You want an HR system of record and already have a payroll provider Read our BambooHR pricing guide |
| Gusto | USD49 per month base plus USD 6 per person (Simple) | Payroll is the main job and headcount is under about 100 Read our Gusto pricing guide |
| Rippling | From USD 8 per employee per month plus a USD 35 base fee | You want HR, IT provisioning and device management on one platform Read our Rippling pricing guide |
HR platforms are bought once and renewed by default. Headcount, add-ons and the notice window decide the next invoice.
Bottom line. Get payroll, benefits and time tracking quoted alongside the base plan before you pick a platform, reconcile headcount to the payroll register, and calendar the notice window. Cap the uplift on any multi-year deal.
Expect about USD 6 to USD 25 per employee per month at SMB scale, plus a base platform fee. Gusto Simple is USD 6 per person on a USD 49 base, BambooHR Core is USD 10 per employee, Pro USD 17 and Elite USD 25, and Rippling starts around USD 8 plus a USD 35 base fee.
None of the established HRIS or payroll platforms covered here publish a free tier, and they sell through demos and not self-serve trials. Free options exist at the very small end but generally stop at employee records, without payroll, benefits administration or compliance filing.
Workday publishes no list price. CostBench, citing Vendr data, reports a median contract of about USD 49,795 a year across 357 purchases, ranging from roughly USD 19,070 to USD 553,733. Third-party benchmarks put core HCM at about USD 34 to USD 42 per employee per month at scale.
Yes. BambooHR publishes 15% off for registered nonprofits and 15% for bundling payroll and benefits, plus undisclosed automatic volume discounts. CostBench reports Workday buyers average about a 15% discount, and that multi-year terms and quarter-end timing improve the offer.
Often not. On BambooHR, payroll, benefits administration and time and attendance are quote-based add-ons outside the USD 10 to USD 25 base plan. Payroll-first platforms such as Gusto include it, which is why comparing headline per-employee rates across the two models is misleading.
Gusto Simple is the cheapest published per-person rate at USD 6, though the USD 49 monthly base fee means a very small team pays more per head. Rippling starts around USD 8 per employee plus a USD 35 base fee, and BambooHR Core is USD 10 per employee for 26 or more employees.
We start from the vendor pricing page and note the date. Where a figure comes from a third party instead, we say so on the page. Procurement VMS is a ratings and comparison site, not a software vendor, and nobody paid for a place in this guide. Spot a number that has changed? Tell us on the contact page and we will check it.
You get a one page PDF and an Excel model with your seat count, the plans above and a renewal checklist.
Choosing software instead of renewing? See the ranked procurement software list.
