Cost of outsourced HR services
Outsourced HR services are sold in tiers, and the tiers are where most buyers overspend. The gap between the cheapest arrangement that solves your problem and the one you are shown is usually two tiers, because the demo starts at the top. This page works up from the bottom instead.
- 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 |
Buying the lowest tier that solves it
- Tier one: payroll and filings. The pay run, tax deposits and returns. Published prices exist at this tier, which makes it the only one you can price without talking to anyone.
- Tier two: administration. Adds starters, leavers, records, registrations and benefits administration against your own plans. Priced per employee on top of tier one.
- Tier three: documents and advice. Adds contracts, handbooks, policy maintenance and an advice line. This is where the response-time commitment matters and where the fee jumps.
- Tier four: co-employment. A different arrangement rather than a bigger one, and it should be priced against your current benefits and workers' compensation costs rather than against tier three.
Where buyers over-buy
The commonest overspend is buying tier three for the advice line and never ringing it. Ask yourself honestly how many employment questions you had last year that you could not answer, and whether the number justifies a monthly fee rather than an hourly call to an employment solicitor when something actually happens.
The second commonest is buying tier four for benefits without modelling the employee contribution schedule, and discovering the staff will not join the plan. That converts a benefits purchase into an expensive administration purchase.
What each tier should cost relative to the last
Tier two typically adds a modest per-employee amount to tier one. Tier three is the significant step because it adds people rather than processing. Tier four is not a step at all but a different structure, with the administrative fee joined by pass-through benefit, workers' compensation and state unemployment costs.
If a provider's tier three and tier four quotes are close, ask what is missing from the tier four one, because a genuine co-employment arrangement carries costs a service arrangement does not.
Common questions
- What do outsourced HR services cost by tier?
- Payroll and filings is the only tier with published prices; administration adds a per-employee amount, documents and advice is the significant step because it adds people, and co-employment is a different structure with pass-through costs.
- Which tier do most businesses need?
- Lower than they buy. Most buyers who choose the advice tier never use the advice line, and an hourly call to an employment solicitor when something happens is often cheaper than a monthly fee.
- Why are tier three and tier four quotes sometimes similar?
- They should not be, because co-employment carries pass-through benefit, workers' compensation and state unemployment costs a service arrangement does not. If they are close, ask what has been left out.
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-outsourced-hr-services/.