Cost of HR services
Not all HR services are bought monthly. A contract reviewed, a handbook written, an investigation run, a redundancy handled properly: these are projects, and for many small employers buying them as projects is cheaper than a subscription that bundles advice they use twice a year. This page covers that route, which the subscription market does not advertise.
- median advertised base subscription, per month
- $39
- providers with a price they will print
- 2
- states with measured demand and evidenced cover
- 5
Figures on this page come from the price record on this site: 2 providers checked against their own published pages, median advertised base subscription $39 a month among those that publish one.
- 2 provider pages checkedevery figure matched verbatim to the provider's own page
- Quoted and dated, never estimatedlast verification pass 2026-09-09
- 5 states with evidenced coverevidenced by the provider's own live state page
Advertised prices, checked
| Provider | Base price | Per worker | What it covers | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ExtensisHR | |||||
| FrankCrum | |||||
| Gusto | |||||
| Insperity | |||||
| Justworks | |||||
| OnPay | |||||
| Patriot Software | |||||
| Paychex | |||||
| Rippling | |||||
| SurePayroll | |||||
| TriNet | |||||
| VensureHR |
Deciding between a subscription and project work
- Count last year's actual events. How many times did you genuinely need employment advice? Most small employers answer between zero and three, and the answer decides this.
- Price the projects you would have bought. A handbook, a contract template set, an investigation. Employment solicitors and HR consultants quote these as fixed fees and will tell you the figure without a discovery call.
- Price the subscription against that. Twelve months of an advice tier against two or three fixed-fee projects. Below about three events a year the project route usually wins on cost.
- Then weigh the thing cost does not capture. A subscription means you ring somebody early instead of putting it off. For some owners that behavioural difference is worth the premium on its own.
Where project work is clearly better
One-off documents are the obvious case: a handbook or a contract set is written once and lasts years, and paying monthly for the capability to have it written is poor value if you only need it once. The same applies to a single difficult situation handled properly, where you want a specialist rather than whoever is on the line.
Project pricing is also comparable in a way subscription pricing is not, because you can obtain fixed quotes for a defined piece of work from several people in a week.
Where the subscription earns its keep
Where events are frequent enough that project fees exceed the subscription, obviously, but also where the value is in asking early. Owners who pay per call tend to delay, and employment problems get more expensive with delay rather than less. That is the honest argument for a retained arrangement and it is behavioural rather than financial.
It also earns its keep where the administration is bundled with it, because then you are buying a service and getting the advice included rather than the other way round.
Common questions
- How much do HR services cost as projects?
- Employment solicitors and HR consultants quote fixed fees for defined work such as a handbook, a contract set or an investigation, and will usually give you the figure without a discovery call.
- Is a subscription or project work cheaper?
- Below about three advice events a year the project route usually wins on cost. Above that the subscription does, and it also wins where the value is in asking early rather than delaying.
- What does a subscription buy that projects do not?
- The behaviour. Owners who pay per call tend to put off ringing, and employment problems get more expensive with delay.
Get quotes for your payroll
Coverage by state
Cite or embed this figure
The advertised base monthly subscription for a US payroll service in the US payroll and PEO market was $39 in September 2026, across 2 checked provider pricing pages recorded in Payroll Services Quotes Price Record.
Cite as: "Payroll Services Quotes Price Record", updated 2026-09-09, https://payrollservicesquotes.com/cost-of-hr-services/.