Research
HR Software Pricing Index
What HR software costs at list price, category by category: the median published starting price per employee and the share of vendors that publish a price at all, computed from verified price facts and free to reuse.
Key findings
- Employer of Record (EOR) has the highest median published starting price per employee: $599 a month (11 products).
- Employee Scheduling has the lowest: $2.75 per employee a month (7 products).
- Contractor Management & Payments is the most transparent category: 91% of the 11 products we track publish a price.
- Across 62 published per-employee starting prices, the median is $8 a month.
Median starting price per employee, by category
Median of the lowest published per-employee monthly price of each product, in categories with 4 or more such prices; n = number of prices.
Employer of Record (EOR) costs the most per head; a per-employee price is not a total cost, so check base fees too.
Use this chart (CC BY 4.0)
Share of products that publish a price, by category
Products whose vendor publishes a full or partial price list, out of the products we track in each category (5 or more).
Price transparency varies widely: Contractor Management & Payments leads at 91%.
Use this chart (CC BY 4.0)
Method
The index is computed from the facts behind every product page on LeadChange: published list prices checked against each vendor's own pricing page, with the date of the last check. Nothing is estimated, surveyed or bought.
- Products: every product with a published page in the category. A product listed in several categories counts in each, with the price that applies there.
- Starting price per employee: the lowest published monthly per-employee price of the product in that category (the entry plan). Base fees are reported separately, because a per-employee price alone is not a total cost.
- Published price: the vendor publishes a full or partial price list. Quote-only vendors are counted but have no price.
- Medians, not averages: one very expensive or very cheap product does not move the result.
- Categories: shown when they have at least five products; the per-employee chart needs at least four published per-employee prices, and shows how many (n).
- Currency: U.S. dollars, as published for U.S. buyers. Prices in other currencies are left out, never converted.
How to read it
A median starting price tells you where entry plans sit in a category, not what your company will pay. Total cost depends on headcount, base fees, add-ons, implementation and the plan tier you need. Each category's cost guide breaks that down plan by plan.
Reuse
The data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Cite LeadChange Group and link to this page. The figures update when the underlying prices change; the download always holds the current values.
Download the data
Cite as
LeadChange Research Team, “HR Software Pricing Index”, LeadChange Group, Oct 8, 2026, https://leadchangegroup.com/research/hr-software-pricing-index/
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
category | Software category (LeadChange taxonomy) |
products_tracked | Published product pages in the category |
products_with_published_price | Products whose vendor publishes a full or partial price list |
per_employee_prices | Products with a published per-employee monthly starting price in the category |
median_per_employee_usd | Median of those per-employee prices, USD per month |
min_per_employee_usd | Lowest of those prices, USD per month |
max_per_employee_usd | Highest of those prices, USD per month |
median_base_fee_usd | Median published monthly base fee, USD (products with one) |
Cost guides
- 401(k) Providers pricing
What 401(k) providers cost, plan by plan.
- ACA Compliance pricing
What ACA compliance costs, plan by plan.
- Applicant Tracking Systems pricing
What applicant tracking systems cost, plan by plan.
- Background Check Services pricing
What background check services cost, plan by plan.
- Benefits Administration pricing
What benefits administration costs, plan by plan.
- Call Center Workforce Management pricing
What call center workforce management costs, plan by plan.
- Candidate Sourcing Tools pricing
What candidate sourcing tools cost, plan by plan.
- Certified Payroll pricing
What certified payroll costs, plan by plan.