The most searched question about HR software in the UAE is also the hardest to get a straight answer to. Ask three vendors what HR software costs and you will get a per-employee rate from one, a company-wide band from another and “book a demo” from the third. This guide puts real 2026 numbers on the page: the pricing models you will meet, what moves the price up or down, HRX360's own published rates, worked examples for teams of 15, 40 and 120, and the hidden costs that turn a cheap quote into an expensive year.
If you are still deciding what you need before you price it, read how to choose HR and payroll software in the UAE first and come back here with your shortlist.
How much does HR software cost in the UAE?
For a UAE SME, published HR software cost starts at about AED 6 per employee per month for core HR (records, leave, attendance, documents and an employee app) and about AED 14 per employee per month when full payroll, WPS and gratuity are included, both on annual billing with a minimum headcount. Monthly billing costs more per employee, and many vendors publish no price at all.
Those two numbers are HRX360's own published prices, and we use them throughout this guide because they are the only figures we can show you in full. Where other vendors publish a price, compare it on the same basis: per employee, per month, annual billing, before VAT, with the payroll question answered.
How do UAE HR software vendors price their plans?
Three models cover almost every quote in the UAE market: a rate per employee per month, a flat company fee for a band of employees, and quote-only pricing with no published rate. Per-employee pricing is the easiest to budget and compare; banded pricing is cheap until you cross a band; quote-only pricing cannot be compared without a demo.
| Model | How it works | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Per employee per month | A rate per active employee, usually with a minimum headcount and a lower rate on annual billing | Easy to budget as you grow; check the minimum and the annual commitment |
| Per company per month | A flat fee for a band of employees, with a jump to the next band | Cheap for a full band, expensive the month you cross it |
| Quote only | No published price; a sales call and a proposal | You cannot compare without a demo, and the price can depend on the negotiation |
A per-employee rate is also the only model that scales the way a growing company does: when you hire five people, your bill goes up by five employees, not by a band.
What drives the price of HR software up or down?
Four things set the price: whether payroll is included (the biggest step, because WPS, payslips and gratuity carry the compliance work), the billing term (annual rates are lower than monthly), the minimum headcount you are billed for, and add-ons such as hiring, performance reviews or extra AI allowances. Headcount itself only multiplies the rate.
Payroll in or out. Core HR plans hold no pay data. Adding the payroll engine, WPS and SIF files, payslips, gratuity and end-of-service provisioning is where the per-employee rate roughly doubles, and it is the part that saves the most time every month.
Annual or monthly billing. Annual billing is the default at most vendors and carries the lowest rate; monthly billing buys flexibility at a higher rate and often a higher minimum headcount.
Minimum headcount. A plan priced per employee is usually billed for a minimum number of employees. A six-person company on a 10-employee minimum pays for ten.
Add-ons and allowances. Hiring tools, performance reviews, AI features and extra support are either included with allowances or sold as add-ons. The allowance matters more than the headline.
What does HRX360 cost per employee?
HRX360 publishes its prices: Standard at AED 6 per employee per month and Professional at AED 14 per employee per month on annual billing (AED 8 and AED 17 on monthly billing), with Enterprise quoted as a custom proposal. Annual plans are billed for a minimum of 10 employees, monthly billing from 25. There are no setup fees, and prices exclude 5% VAT.
| Plan | Annual billing | Monthly billing | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | AED 6 | AED 8 | Employee records, documents and expiry alerts, leave, attendance (biometric devices and mobile clock-in), the employee app, HR requests and letters, announcements and company files, core reports, Ask HRX360 guide. No pay data. |
| Professional | AED 14 | AED 17 | Everything in Standard plus the UAE payroll engine, WPS and SIF files, payslips, gratuity and end-of-service provisioning, salary advances, Salary Review, benefits and insurance, assets, audit log, hiring (2 open jobs, 100 AI evaluations a month) and onboarding. |
| Enterprise | Custom proposal | Custom proposal | Everything in Professional plus the Projects and Timesheet add-on, performance reviews, 5 open jobs and 500 AI evaluations a month, and a named support contact with defined response targets. |
Rates are per employee per month and exclude VAT. The employee app is on every plan, so staff apply for leave, clock in and open their documents from day one; payslips and salary advances appear in it on Professional. Volume discounts are available on annual plans for larger teams, and the Hiring add-on (3 more open jobs and 400 more AI evaluations a month) is AED 150 per company per month. The full plan comparison is on the pricing page.
What would it cost for 15, 40 or 120 employees?
Multiply the headcount by the per-employee rate, respecting the minimum: 15 staff on core HR is AED 90 a month (AED 1,080 a year), 40 staff with full payroll is AED 560 a month (AED 6,720 a year) on annual billing, and 120 staff with payroll is AED 1,680 a month (AED 20,160 a year) before any volume discount. Add 5% VAT to each figure.
Worked examples at HRX360's published rates (AED, excluding VAT):
| Team | Calculation | Per month | Per year | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 staff, core HR, annual | Billed for the 10-employee minimum × AED 6 | 60 | 720 | Smallest annual subscription on Standard |
| 15 staff, core HR, annual | 15 × AED 6 | 90 | 1,080 | Startup running leave, attendance and documents |
| 15 staff, with payroll, annual | 15 × AED 14 | 210 | 2,520 | Same team once WPS payroll moves in-house |
| 40 staff, with payroll, annual | 40 × AED 14 | 560 | 6,720 | Typical SME on Professional |
| 40 staff, with payroll, monthly billing | 40 × AED 17 | 680 | 8,160 | AED 1,440 a year more for the flexibility |
| 120 staff, with payroll, annual | 120 × AED 14 | 1,680 | 20,160 | Before any volume discount on annual plans |
Two things the table shows that quotes often hide. The minimum: eight staff on an annual plan are billed as ten. The billing term: the same 40-person payroll costs AED 1,440 a year more on monthly billing than on annual, which is the price of being able to stop at a month's notice. Decide which you value before you compare rates.
What hidden costs should I ask about?
The quoted per-employee rate is rarely the whole bill. Ask every vendor, in writing, about implementation and training fees, data migration, whether payroll and WPS are in the plan, charges for admin and manager seats, add-on allowances, the support tier, hardware, the minimum term and renewal uplift, and whether the quote includes VAT.
| Cost | How it usually appears | Ask |
|---|---|---|
| Implementation or onboarding fee | One-off, sometimes per module | Is implementation included? What exactly does it cover? |
| Training | Per session or per user | Is training included, and is there self-paced material? |
| Data migration | Per record or per day | Can we import our own spreadsheets ourselves? |
| Payroll or WPS as a module | Extra per employee or per payslip | Is WPS/SIF generation in the quoted plan? |
| Admin or manager seats | Per user per month | Are HR, finance and managers extra, or only employees counted? |
| Hiring, performance, AI features | Add-on per month | What are the allowances, and what does more cost? |
| Support tier | Percentage of licence | What response time comes with the standard plan? |
| Hardware | Per device | Which biometric devices work, and are they bought separately? |
| Minimum term and renewal | Annual uplift | What is the minimum commitment and the renewal increase? |
| VAT | 5% | Is the quote inclusive or exclusive of VAT? |
On HRX360 the answers are: implementation and training are included on every plan (company, leave, attendance and payroll configuration, employee imports from templates, the in-app Learning Center, and a first payroll walkthrough on payroll plans); you can import your own spreadsheets by matching columns; WPS and SIF files are in Professional; only employees are counted, not admin seats; hiring and AI data questions come with allowances per plan; devices such as ZKTeco and Hikvision are bought separately and connect to attendance; and VAT is added at 5%. Custom integrations, extensive data migration and onsite services are quoted separately.
How do I compare HR software quotes fairly?
Convert every quote to one number: the all-in cost per employee per month for your headcount over the first year. Add the subscription, any implementation and training fees, add-ons you will actually use and VAT, divide by your headcount and by twelve. Then compare what each number buys, starting with whether payroll and WPS are included.
Same headcount, same term. Price every vendor for your real headcount on annual billing, and separately on monthly if you need the flexibility.
Payroll answered first. A core HR price next to a payroll price is not a comparison. Ask where WPS and SIF files, payslips and gratuity sit in each plan.
Year-one total, not month-one rate. Implementation and training fees belong in the comparison even if they are one-off.
Allowances, not feature names. Two vendors can both say "hiring included" and mean one open job or five.
Exit terms. Minimum term, renewal uplift and what happens to your data if you leave.
If you are switching from another system part-way through the year, the migration itself has a cost in time rather than money; the steps are in migrating payroll mid-year without breaking WPS. For the full picture of what HR software built for the UAE should include at each price, the SME page maps modules to plans.
The price is on the page, not behind a demo
HRX360 is AED 6 per employee per month for core HR and AED 14 with full UAE payroll, WPS and gratuity, billed annually, with no setup fees. Compare the plans, then see it running on a UAE-configured account in a 30-minute demo.
Frequently asked questions
How much does HR software cost in the UAE?
Published per-employee pricing in the UAE starts at AED 6 per employee per month for core HR (records, leave, attendance, documents and the employee app) and AED 14 per employee per month for HR with full payroll, WPS and gratuity, both billed annually. Many vendors do not publish prices and quote per company instead.
What is the cheapest way to start with HR software?
Start on a core HR plan without payroll and add payroll later. On HRX360 that is the Standard plan at AED 6 per employee per month on an annual plan, with a 10-employee minimum, so the smallest annual subscription is AED 60 per month before VAT.
Are there setup or implementation fees?
With HRX360 there are none: standard online implementation and training are included on every plan. Some vendors charge a one-off implementation or onboarding fee, so ask for it in writing before comparing per-employee rates.
Is payroll included in the AED 6 plan?
No. The AED 6 Standard plan holds no pay data at all. Payroll, WPS and SIF files, payslips, gratuity and end-of-service provisioning, salary advances and the Salary Review check are on the Professional plan at AED 14 per employee per month, billed annually.
Is VAT included in the price?
Quoted prices in the UAE are normally exclusive of VAT, and HRX360 prices are too. Add 5% UAE VAT to any quote before you compare it with your budget.
Do I need to buy biometric devices?
Only if you want device-based attendance. Devices are bought separately from the device vendor. HRX360 works with ZKTeco and Hikvision devices and syncs their punches automatically, and the employee app offers mobile clock-in with location and photo at punch for teams without a device.