Payroll + HR · United Kingdom
Employment Hero pricing: what it actually costs per employee at 5, 10, 25 and 50
At 10 employees, the cheapest plan Employment Hero publishes is HR Essentials + Core Payroll: £70 a month — £7.00 per employee per month, base fee included.
- Price statusPublished list price
- Prices read onchecked 2026-09-07
- Last recorded changenone recorded since we started checking
Cheaper at this headcount: Breathe at £24 a month on its Micro plan.
On its cheapest published plan, Employment Hero costs £70 a month for 10 employees, which is £7.00 per employee per month.
What the vendor publishes
| Plan | Base / month | Per employee / month | Eligibility as published | What the vendor states |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HR Essentials | £0 | £4 | From 10 employees | "£4/month" per user, minimum 10 users. "Billing is based on the higher of the two: the number of Users specified in your customer agreement, or the number of active Users." |
| HR Engage | £0 | £7 | From 10 employees | "£7/month" per user, minimum 10 users. Same billing-basis condition as HR Essentials. |
| Core Payroll (add-on) | — | £3 | Only on top of a HR Essentials or HR Engage plan | "£3/employee", minimum £20/month per account. |
| Managed Payroll (add-on) | — | £12 | Only on top of a HR Essentials or HR Engage plan | "£12/employee", minimum £120/month per account. |
Hr elite / unlimited plan pricing ("speak to sales"): not stated in the vendor's published documentation (checked 2026-09-07).
What has to be bought together
Employment Hero does not sell payroll on its own, so a payroll price only exists in combination with one of its plans. The combinations below are what we rank and calculate with; the add-on on its own is not a price anyone can pay.
| Combination | Base / month | Per employee / month | Eligibility as published |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR Essentials + Core Payroll | £0 | £7 | From 10 employees. Combined figure: HR Essentials at £0/month plus £4 per person and Core Payroll (add-on) at £0/month plus £3 per person. The vendor sells the payroll product only as an add-on, so the plan fee is charged as well. |
| HR Engage + Core Payroll | £0 | £10 | From 10 employees. Combined figure: HR Engage at £0/month plus £7 per person and Core Payroll (add-on) at £0/month plus £3 per person. The vendor sells the payroll product only as an add-on, so the plan fee is charged as well. |
| HR Essentials + Managed Payroll | £0 | £16 | From 10 employees. Combined figure: HR Essentials at £0/month plus £4 per person and Managed Payroll (add-on) at £0/month plus £12 per person. The vendor sells the payroll product only as an add-on, so the plan fee is charged as well. |
| HR Engage + Managed Payroll | £0 | £19 | From 10 employees. Combined figure: HR Engage at £0/month plus £7 per person and Managed Payroll (add-on) at £0/month plus £12 per person. The vendor sells the payroll product only as an add-on, so the plan fee is charged as well. |
What that works out at per employee
Vendors quote a per-employee fee and a base fee separately. What you actually pay per employee is both of them divided by your headcount, so the smaller your team, the further the real figure sits above the advertised one. This table is Employment Hero's published prices put through that division.
| Plan | 1 | 5 | 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 | 250 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HR Essentials + Core Payroll | n/a | n/a | £7.00 | £7.00 | £7.00 | £7.00 | £7.00 |
| HR Engage + Core Payroll | n/a | n/a | £10.00 | £10.00 | £10.00 | £10.00 | £10.00 |
| HR Essentials + Managed Payroll | n/a | n/a | £16.00 | £16.00 | £16.00 | £16.00 | £16.00 |
| HR Engage + Managed Payroll | n/a | n/a | £19.00 | £19.00 | £19.00 | £19.00 | £19.00 |
Columns are employee counts. Scroll sideways on a phone.
No other adjustment is applied. We do not add estimated tax-filing fees, discounts, or promotional pricing. The full method is at Method.
Who this suits, and who it does not
- If price is the only thing you are deciding on, Breathe is cheaper at 10 employees (£24 against £70) — see its figures.
- If you are not ready to decide, wait. Published prices change without notice and the figures here are only as current as 2026-09-07. Confirm on the vendor's own page before you sign.
Where each figure comes from
Every figure above is either a number Employment Hero publishes or a gap it leaves. Field by field: what we hold, which of the vendor's own pages it was read from, the day it was read, and the vendor's wording where we have it. Nothing in this table comes from a third party, and no blank is filled with an estimate.
Show the source of every figure on this page (16 fields)
| Plan | Field | What we hold | Read from | Read on | The vendor's wording |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HR Essentials | Monthly base fee | £0 | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| HR Essentials | Per-employee fee | £4 | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| HR Essentials | Eligibility | From 10 employees | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| HR Essentials | Conditions on the price | — | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | "£4/month" per user, minimum 10 users. "Billing is based on the higher of the two: the number of Users specified in your customer agreement, or the number of active Users." |
| HR Engage | Monthly base fee | £0 | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| HR Engage | Per-employee fee | £7 | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| HR Engage | Eligibility | From 10 employees | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| HR Engage | Conditions on the price | — | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | "£7/month" per user, minimum 10 users. Same billing-basis condition as HR Essentials. |
| Core Payroll (add-on) | Monthly base fee | Not published on the vendor's page | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Core Payroll (add-on) | Per-employee fee | £3 | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Core Payroll (add-on) | Eligibility | Only on top of a HR Essentials or HR Engage plan | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Core Payroll (add-on) | Conditions on the price | — | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | "£3/employee", minimum £20/month per account. |
| Managed Payroll (add-on) | Monthly base fee | Not published on the vendor's page | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Managed Payroll (add-on) | Per-employee fee | £12 | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Managed Payroll (add-on) | Eligibility | Only on top of a HR Essentials or HR Engage plan | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Managed Payroll (add-on) | Conditions on the price | — | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | "£12/employee", minimum £120/month per account. |
The same record, for every vendor, is the sources column of plans.csv on the data page.
Where to check this yourself
Go to Employment Hero and open its pricing page. Everything above comes from https://employmenthero.com/uk/pricing/, read on 2026-09-07.
Related
- Employment Hero compared with Breathe
- Employment Hero compared with Onfolk
- Employment Hero compared with CharlieHR
- Alternatives to Employment Hero
- Put your own headcount against Employment Hero in the calculator
- What payroll software costs, and where the money goes
Written by Kaz, independent publisher.
Page last updated: 2026-10-03. Sources: vendor pricing pages only. Figures checked between 2026-08-20 and 2026-10-03. I have not used these products. Nothing here is a personal test result.
Ranking method and formulas: Method. Listing position on this site is not for sale.
Corrections: contact form.