Enter your business details to see what each option would cost you. Prices are live from our database and shown in Australian dollars.
How we chose. We priced every HR platform we list on its entry HR plan at 3, 10, 30 and 100 staff, through the same cost engine as the HR software comparison. The picks are drawn from the providers that publish a price we can cost, listed in order of their estimated cost at 10 staff when we wrote this guide; the table above re-ranks live at your own headcount. Affiliate status never changes the order.
Most founders start thinking about HR software at one of two wrong moments. The first is before the first hire, when the only system the law expects is payroll. The second is around the twentieth, when contracts sit in three inboxes, leave is tracked in a spreadsheet nobody trusts and the person who knew where everything was has just resigned. This guide is for the time between: what a startup has to do for its people in Australia, what HR software costs from 3 staff to 100, and how to pick a tool you will not have to replace in a year. If your business is past the startup stage, our guide to HR software for small business is the better read.
Do you need HR software before your first hire?
No. Your first hire needs payroll that reports to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll, a written offer and contract, and the statements Fair Work requires. HR software is optional at that stage.
Here is what the law asks of an Australian employer from the first employee, whatever software you use:
| Obligation | When | Source |
|---|
| Give the Fair Work Information Statement | Before, or as soon as possible after, the employee starts | Fair Work Ombudsman |
| Give the Casual Employment Information Statement | When a casual starts. Then after 12 months if you have fewer than 15 employees, or after 6 months, 12 months and every 12 months after that if you have 15 or more | Fair Work Ombudsman |
| Give the Fixed Term Contract Information Statement | When the employee enters a new fixed term contract | Fair Work Ombudsman |
| Collect a tax file number declaration | When the employee starts. With STP software you keep it on file rather than send it to the ATO | ATO |
| Offer a choice of super fund | Give each new employee the standard choice form within 28 days of their start date. Once they return it, pay into their chosen fund within 2 months; if they have not chosen when their first contribution is due, pay their stapled fund (or your default fund if the ATO says there is none) | ATO |
| Issue a pay slip | Within 1 working day of every payday | Fair Work Ombudsman |
| Keep time and wages records | For 7 years | Fair Work Ombudsman |
| Report pay to the ATO | Each payday, through STP-enabled software | ATO |
| Pay super | Received by the fund within 7 business days of each payday (20 business days for a new employee's first contribution), since 1 July 2026 | ATO |
Most of those lines are payroll jobs, which is why payroll comes first. If you have not chosen one yet, our payroll software guide for small business ranks the options on cost per employee. The three information statements are pages on the Fair Work Ombudsman's site, and you can meet the duty by emailing a link to them.
What changes is volume. Each new hire means an offer, a contract, the right statements, a tax file number declaration, a super choice form, bank details, a first-day plan and a leave balance that has to be right from week one. Somewhere between a handful of staff and a team that hires every month, doing that by email stops being cheap, because it costs founder hours and it is where mistakes creep in. That is the point HR software is for.
HR software pricing comparison: what an affordable HRIS costs a startup at 3, 10, 30 and 100 staff
At 3 staff a monthly minimum can be the whole bill. By 100 staff the per-employee rate does most of the work, except where a flat fee covers a block of users. The table prices every HR platform we list at four team sizes, through the same cost engine as the comparison above.
| Provider | 3 employees | 10 employees | 30 employees | 100 employees |
|---|
| Connecteam | $0 | $0 | $40.42 min | $89.42 |
| Deel | $20.91 | $69.70 | $209.10 | $697 |
| Employment Hero | $100 min | $100 min | $300 | $1,000 |
| BambooHR | $348.43 min | $348.43 min | $428.70 | $1,429 |
| ELMO Software | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote |
| HiBob | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote |
| Multiplier | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote |
| Oyster HR | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote |
| Papaya Global | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote |
| Payoneer Workforce Management | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote |
| Rippling | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote |
| Sage HR | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote | Get quote |
Estimated monthly cost in Australian dollars on each provider's entry HR plan, at the price each provider publishes; we do not add or remove GST. Prices published in US dollars are converted at 1.3937 USD to AUD, captured 31 May 2026. Plans and pricing checked October 2026. "min" means the provider's monthly minimum is the whole bill at that size. Get quote means the provider does not publish a price we can cost.
The providers that publish a price use three pricing shapes, and the shape matters more to a growing team than any single figure:
- Free, then flat, then per user. Connecteam's free plan: Yes (up to 10 employees). Nothing changes until that cap. Then one flat $40/mo (Basic) holds until you pass 30 users, and each user after that adds $0.70/user/mo above 30.
- Per head from the first employee. Deel's HR plan is $7/emp/mo and nothing else: no base fee, no minimum. The bill grows in a straight line with every hire.
- Per head above a monthly minimum. Employment Hero charges $10/emp/mo (HR Essentials) with a minimum of $100/mo, and BambooHR $14/emp/mo (Core) with a minimum of $348/mo. Until the per-employee charge passes the minimum, a team of three pays the same as a bigger one.
HR software providers a startup under 100 employees can price
Of the 12 HR platforms we list, the cost table can price BambooHR, Connecteam, Deel and Employment Hero. The rest price on request: ELMO Software, HiBob, Multiplier, Oyster HR, Papaya Global, Payoneer Workforce Management, Rippling and Sage HR.
Some of those are full HR systems sold through a sales call, and others are Employer of Record services with no standalone HR plan; the Pricing model row in our full HR software comparison says which. A quote is not a bad sign, but you cannot compare the price before you talk to sales, so a startup that wants to know its bill this week will start with the ones above.
HR software features a startup needs at 30 staff but not at 3
Applicant tracking and performance reviews. A team of three hires by email and gives feedback over coffee; a team of thirty is often running several open roles at once and needs a review cycle people can see. On several of these tools those features sit above the entry plan, so the cost table above does not include them.
| Provider | Applicant tracking | Performance reviews |
|---|
| Connecteam | No | Limited |
| Deel | Add-on | Yes (Advanced+) |
| Employment Hero | Yes (Engage+) | Yes (Engage+) |
| BambooHR | Yes (all plans) | Yes (Pro+) |
A plan name in brackets with a plus sign means the feature starts on that plan, not on the entry plan the cost table prices. If you expect to hire steadily over the next year, price the plan that includes applicant tracking now, because on a per-employee plan, moving up later raises the rate for everyone on the team, not just the new hires.
Should HR and payroll be the same system?
Only if you have not already chosen payroll. Deel and Employment Hero each sell their own payroll alongside their HR plan, so one record can hold the contract and the pay. Connecteam and BambooHR connect to a payroll tool you choose, which suits a startup already paying staff through Xero.
| Provider | Payroll | STP Phase 2 | Fair Work and awards |
|---|
| Connecteam | Xero, MYOB, QBO | No (via integration) | Not stated |
| Deel | Native | Yes | Yes (global) |
| Employment Hero | Native | Yes | Yes (AU-built) |
| BambooHR | Third-party | No (via integration) | Limited |
"Via integration" means the payroll tool you connect lodges STP, not the HR tool. That works well, but it means two logins and two places an employee's details can disagree.
The Fair Work column matters for any business employing people under a Modern Award, and that is more startups than founders expect. Award coverage follows the work, not the pay: the Professional Employees Award covers degree-qualified engineers, scientists and IT staff, and the Clerks Award covers people who mainly do clerical and administrative work. Paying well above the award rate does not by itself take someone out of it; it makes the calculation simpler, and it does not make it go away. If your team works shifts in hospitality, retail, healthcare or a trade, our guide to payroll software for award interpretation compares how deeply each tool handles penalty rates and allowances.
Switching HR software later
Easier than most founders fear, as long as you own your records and are not locked into a contract. Check the contract terms first:
| Provider | Contract required |
|---|
| Connecteam | No |
| Deel | No |
| Employment Hero | No |
| BambooHR | No |
| ELMO Software | Annual |
| HiBob | Annual |
Without a contract, the real cost of switching is data: every employee file, signed contract, leave balance and review history has to come out of one system and into the next. Two habits make that easier:
- Keep signed documents as files you own, not only inside the HR tool. A contract signed in one system is still a PDF you can download and keep.
- Export before you cancel. Your duty to keep time and wages records for seven years does not end when the subscription does, so download everything first.
What if your first hire is overseas?
Then you need an Employer of Record, a company that legally employs your hire in their country so you do not have to set up an entity there. Deel's Employer of Record, on the same account as its HR plan, is $835/emp/mo. It is a different purchase from HR software, priced per person and much higher than an HR seat, so it does not show in the cost table above.
Our guide to HR software for remote teams compares the Employer of Record providers, and the payroll guide for global teams covers paying people in several countries from Australia.
A startup HR software setup, stage by stage
- Before the first hire. Choose STP payroll, collect each employee's super fund choice (or, if they do not choose, request their stapled fund from the ATO), and write a standard offer letter and employment contract. Bookmark the Fair Work Ombudsman's pages for the information statements rather than saving PDFs: the Ombudsman updates them, and you must give the version in place at the time.
- The first few staff. Payroll plus a shared folder works. Keep a checklist for every new starter so the statements, tax file number declaration and super choice form are never missed.
- Hiring every month or two. This is the point to add HR software: onboarding packs, e-signed contracts, leave requests in an app and one record per person. Use the table above at the headcount you expect in a year, not the one you have today.
- At 15 employees. You stop being a small business employer under the Fair Work Act (employees of associated entities count, and casuals only if they are engaged on a regular and systematic basis). Casuals then get the Casual Employment Information Statement after 6 months as well as 12, the unfair dismissal minimum employment period drops from 12 months to 6, and the small business exemption from redundancy pay no longer applies.
- A team that is still growing fast. Check which plan includes applicant tracking and performance reviews, and decide whether you want payroll in the same system before the second migration gets expensive.
- Someone in another country. Add an Employer of Record for that person rather than changing your whole HR stack.