Which one is cheaper?

Zoho People is the cheaper option, starting at $1/mo vs $5/mo for CharlieHR.

Can I use either one for free?

Zoho People has a free plan. CharlieHR doesn't — though they do offer a free trial.

Different approach here. CharlieHR uses flat-rate pricing, while Zoho People goes with per-seat. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.

Which one is a better deal?

Depends on what you need. CharlieHR: At £20/month for up to 4 people (post-promo), Charlie is positioning as an affordable HR foundation for UK SMBs — cheaper than Rippling or BambooHR at small scale, but the promo is doing a lot of heavy lifting to make that first impression land. They're clearly going after the 'first proper HR tool' buyer, not teams already running sophisticated people ops. Zoho People: This is aggressive low-cost positioning — Zoho is undercutting BambooHR, Rippling, and Gusto by a wide margin, betting that price-sensitive SMBs and Zoho-ecosystem users will trade some polish for a fraction of the cost.

CharlieHR vs Zoho People Pricing (2026)

How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.

	CharlieHR	Zoho People
Starts at	$5/mo	$1/mo
Number of plans	1	5
Free plan	—
Free trial
Pricing model	flat-rate	per-seat

CharlieHR

Official page

Charlie

$5/mo

Onboarding
Time off
Performance reviews
Employee engagement
Perks & benefits
Docs & employee data

Zoho People

Official page

FREE

$0/mo

Employee database management
Time-off management (Leave)
Time off and vacation planning
Document management

ESSENTIAL HR

$1/mo

Onboarding and offboarding
Employee database management
Document management
Time-off management (Leave)
HR reports
Zia AI bot

PROFESSIONAL

Popular

$2/mo

Attendance management
Timesheets
Roster management

PREMIUM

$3/mo

Performance management
Compensation management
Employee engagement
Advanced HR analytics

ENTERPRISE

$4/mo

HR help desk
Learning management system
Sandbox

CharlieHR vs Zoho People FAQ

Which one is cheaper?: Zoho People is the cheaper option, starting at $1/mo vs $5/mo for CharlieHR.
Can I use either one for free?: Zoho People has a free plan. CharlieHR doesn't — though they do offer a free trial.
How do they charge?: Different approach here. CharlieHR uses flat-rate pricing, while Zoho People goes with per-seat. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
Which one is a better deal?: Depends on what you need. CharlieHR: At £20/month for up to 4 people (post-promo), Charlie is positioning as an affordable HR foundation for UK SMBs — cheaper than Rippling or BambooHR at small scale, but the promo is doing a lot of heavy lifting to make that first impression land. They're clearly going after the 'first proper HR tool' buyer, not teams already running sophisticated people ops. Zoho People: This is aggressive low-cost positioning — Zoho is undercutting BambooHR, Rippling, and Gusto by a wide margin, betting that price-sensitive SMBs and Zoho-ecosystem users will trade some polish for a fraction of the cost.

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