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Core HR software / Product assessment

Sense HR EliteCore HR software, costs and alternatives

People Ops Buyer research desk · UK · 75-person employer · GBP · Updated

Choose Sense HR Elite if your UK team needs custom fields, screens, reports, payroll connections or detailed access roles. Assign someone to maintain those settings. If you only need standard records and leave, compare a simpler product.

Best fit
Custom employee fields and screens, Report Writer, payroll connections and access roles
Cost scope · GBP
Elite: £6/employee/month paid annually or £7.20 billed monthly; VAT extra.
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Assessment for UK · 75-person employer · GBP.

In this assessment
  1. When to choose Sense HR Elite
  2. What belongs in your quote
  3. Three things to settle before buying

When to choose Sense HR Elite

Sense’s published matrix puts custom fields and screens, Report Writer, payroll integrations and granular access roles in Elite. Shortlist Elite if you need those custom fields, reports or access controls.

At 75 employees, its £7.20 monthly-billed rate calculates to £540 a month before VAT. The annual-paid rate is £6 per employee per month: £450 monthly equivalent, or £5,400 for 12 months. Compare payment commitments as well as rates.

The low Team headline is a different configuration. The page’s matrix and FAQ disagree about some Team inclusions and where Workflow Designer belongs. Do not buy an ambiguous feature: name the required edition and behaviour in the written scope. Our shortlist case relies on the consistent Elite entries above, not on the disputed claims.

Reject Elite for this purchase if nobody will maintain its configuration, or if standard records and leave are all you need. Price any custom work and training separately before comparing the final total.

What belongs in your quote

Elite: £6/employee/month paid annually or £7.20 billed monthly; VAT extra.

Include the required modules, add-ons and any separately charged setup in the total.

Compare the full shortlist and its cost assumptions

Three things to settle before buying

  1. Demonstrate a starter, a leave correction and the handoff to retained payroll in the quoted edition.
  2. Price today’s workforce and the next likely headcount band, with necessary add-ons.
  3. Specify the data import, policy setup, training and responsibility for corrections.

Which alternatives belong on your shortlist?

  • Breathe

    Employee records, leave, documents and routine HR reports for a fixed headcount band

    Trade-off: compare the total after required add-ons and your next headcount band

  • Charlie

    Employee records, onboarding, leave and regular performance reviews

    Trade-off: at 75 people, core costs £148 more per month than Breathe, before VAT; compare the onboarding and review features you need.

  • PeopleHR

    Onboarding and e-signatures in Core; performance reviews and timesheets in Pro

    Trade-off: performance reviews, custom reports and single sign-on are available in different editions; confirm the features in your quote

See the full shortlist and ranking method

Sources and research scope

English-language UK buying research checked 1 October 2026. These are editorial recommendations. Public scope and pricing were researched; product reliability, implementation effort and support performance were not tested. No commercial partner supplied this ranking. Recommendations are desk research, not hands-on testing. Pricing/plan pages revisited 5 October 2026 for this UK HR software release; original source qualifications remain.

  1. Sense HR editions and pricingElite rates and matrix. FAQ/matrix conflict affects some other inclusions; no assumed resolution.