How we compare HR software
We list 12 HR platforms sold to Australian businesses. Only 4 providers publish a rate card we can cost from; the other 8 providers show Get quote, and we do not estimate what they would charge. Every published figure comes from the vendor's own pricing page.
Enter your headcount and the calculator costs each vendor's published plan at that size: a per-employee rate, a flat fee for a block of users, or a monthly minimum that holds until your team is large enough to pass it. Enter a number in Staff overseas and the table narrows to the providers that employ people abroad themselves, each costed on its published Employer of Record price per person. Commission does not change the order.
HR software, HRIS and HRMS: which one you are buying
Vendors use these terms loosely. HR software is the umbrella term. An HRIS, a human resources information system, is the system of record: employee details, contracts, leave balances, documents and onboarding. An HRMS usually means an HRIS plus an operational layer, most often time and attendance and sometimes payroll. HCM, human capital management, is the enterprise term and adds talent, performance and workforce planning.
A small Australian business is almost always shopping for an HRIS. The extra letters mostly signal how much of the employment lifecycle the vendor wants to sell you, and a platform marketing itself as HCM is usually priced for a company with an HR department. None of it changes what the software does on a bad day, which is find a contract, calculate a leave balance and prove you onboarded someone correctly.
HRIS or Employer of Record: different products sold as HR software
An HRIS runs the employment lifecycle for people you employ on your own ABN. An Employer of Record, or EOR, legally employs someone on your behalf in a country where you have no entity. You are renting a legal employer and its compliance liability, not licensing software, and the price per person is much larger than an HRIS seat for that reason.
| Provider | Employer of Record /mo |
|---|---|
| Deel | $835/emp/mo |
| Multiplier | from $695/emp/mo |
| Oyster HR | $974/emp/mo |
| Papaya Global | from $695/emp/mo |
| Payoneer Workforce Management | from $277/emp/mo |
| Rippling | Quote |
Several of these providers publish no standalone HR plan at all, which is why their per-employee fee reads Quote. If everyone you employ is in Australia on your own ABN, they are not competing for your business, and comparing their per-person figure against an HRIS is comparing a payroll liability with a subscription. Settle which product you need before you read a single price.
Fair Work, Modern Awards and STP in HR software
Australian employment compliance does not show in the price, and it is where these platforms differ most. Modern Award interpretation, penalty rates and allowances are the features to check. A platform can be excellent at everything else and still leave award interpretation to you, which for hospitality, retail, care and construction is the actual work.
| Provider | AU Fair Work compliance | STP Phase 2 |
|---|---|---|
| BambooHR | Limited | No (via integration) |
| Connecteam | Not stated | No (via integration) |
| Deel | Yes (global) | Yes |
| ELMO Software | Yes (AU-built) | Yes |
| Employment Hero | Yes (AU-built) | Yes |
| HiBob | Limited | No (via integration) |
| Multiplier | Via EOR | Not stated |
| Oyster HR | Via EOR | Not stated |
| Papaya Global | Limited | Not stated |
| Payoneer Workforce Management | Not stated | Via EOR |
| Rippling | Yes | Yes |
| Sage HR | Limited | Yes |
Read the wording rather than the first word. "Via EOR" means the provider carries compliance because it is the legal employer, not because the software interprets awards. "Via integration" under STP means the HR platform has no payroll of its own and the filing is done by the payroll system you connect to it. If your staff are award-covered, treat this table as a filter rather than a preference: a platform without award interpretation is cheaper on the page and dearer in practice, because the interpretation still has to happen somewhere.
Per employee, monthly minimum or per hub: how HR software is priced
The vendors that publish a price use three shapes, and mixing them is how a small-team estimate goes wrong.
| Provider | Per-employee fee /mo | Minimum cost /mo |
|---|---|---|
| BambooHR | $14/emp/mo (Core) | $348/mo |
| Connecteam | $0.70/user/mo above 30 | $40/mo (Basic hub fee) |
| Deel | $7/emp/mo | None |
| Employment Hero | $10/emp/mo (HR Essentials) | $100/mo |
Per employee with no minimum. Deel charges per person from the first employee, with a base fee of $0, so its cost stays linear all the way down to one person.
Per employee with a monthly minimum. Employment Hero and BambooHR both publish a per-head rate and a monthly floor. The floor is not an addition: below a certain headcount you pay the minimum whatever the rate says, so platforms with different per-head rates can cost a small team exactly the same. Enter your real headcount rather than reading the rate.
Per hub. Connecteam sells separate hubs. The HR hub is a flat $40/mo (Basic) covering a block of users, then $0.70/user/mo above 30, and it also lists a free plan: Yes (up to 10 employees). Time tracking sits in a different hub on a separate subscription, so check which hub holds the features you want before costing it.
Deel, BambooHR and Connecteam publish their prices in US dollars. The figures here are converted to Australian dollars at a fixed rate, so your bill moves with the exchange rate even when the vendor changes nothing.
Where HR software buyers go wrong
Comparing an Employer of Record price with an HRIS price. Different products with a large and legitimate gap.
Reading a per-employee rate at a headcount below the minimum. Below the floor, the rate is not what you pay.
Assuming a global platform interprets Australian awards. Read the compliance table, including the brackets.
Paying for payroll twice. Native payroll in an HR platform is only a saving if you move your payroll to it.
Forgetting that a US-priced platform is an exchange-rate exposure. It changes your cost in Australian dollars without the vendor changing its price.