Keep a UK HR core at £0
Employee records, leave, documents and routine admin for up to 10 people.
Buzz HR · HollyHRFree HR software guide
Best free HR software for UK teams.
Compare six permanent £0 routes for people records and workforce operations. See who each one suits, what the free plan includes and the first boundary to check.
Which free HR software should you consider?
For a hosted HR core, compare Buzz HR, HollyHR, InkyHR and Zoho People. Buzz HR and HollyHR publish free allowances up to 10 people, while InkyHR publishes five and Zoho's current official page shows both five and three. The included work and the step after the cap are different in every case.
Connecteam is a different type of choice for scheduling, time tracking and frontline operations. OrangeHRM Starter offers hosted and self-managed routes. A trial of paid software can help you evaluate a product, but it is not a permanent free plan.
Start with the job
Start with what you need the software to do.
A shorter list is easier to test properly.
Cover up to five users
A hosted HR core for up to five people, with different features and paid steps.
InkyHR · Zoho PeopleRun frontline operations
Scheduling, time, forms and communication alongside people-management tools.
ConnecteamChoose cloud or self-hosting
Use a hosted Starter service or take responsibility for your own infrastructure.
OrangeHRM StarterWhat £0 means
Three boundaries decide whether free will work.
Write these down before importing real employee records.
The published allowance may count users, active employees, or active and archived people together.
Records and leave are a different job from scheduling, time tracking and workforce communication.
The next user may trigger a paid plan, while self-hosting moves cost into infrastructure and maintenance.
Six permanent £0 routes
Compare the boundary, not only the headline.
Each option stays free in a different way. Test the plan with your own headcount and workflows.
Buzz HR
Free Forever covers up to 10 users. Growth is £2 per user each month, before VAT.
Worth a closer look when
A UK employer that wants employee records, documents, absence, reporting and self-service for up to 10 users.
Check before you choose
Confirm that the current Free features cover your ordinary week. The pricing page still labels the mobile app as coming soon.
Direct signup is available for the permanent Free plan. The Free plan has no trial clock. Paid subscriptions are monthly rolling.
HollyHR
Free covers up to 10 active employees counted for billing. Standard costs £2 per active employee counted for billing per month or £20 per active employee counted for billing each year, before tax.
Worth a closer look when
A UK employer with up to 10 active employees that wants people records, leave, sickness, documents, onboarding and open developer access.
Check before you choose
Choose another route when native mobile apps, payroll, recruitment, rotas, performance or a longer customer history matter now.
Start Free without a card, a sales call or a trial clock. Billing follows current active employment. Profiles mapped as volunteers under the organisation's published engagement policy are excluded. Standard is available monthly or yearly and can be cancelled at the period end.
InkyHR
The first five users are free. The page also states £1 per employee each month, but does not show the six-user total.
Worth a closer look when
An employer with no more than five users that wants a simple hosted HR core and mobile access without a trial clock.
Check before you choose
Ask for the exact six-user total. The page says the first five are free and also states £1 per employee each month, but does not show whether user six makes the total £1 or £6.
Direct signup is available without payment details or a trial clock. Monthly per-employee billing begins when the free allowance is exceeded.
Zoho People
Zoho's official comparison page currently shows both five-user and three-user Free allowances. Confirm the allowance shown for your account and locale.
Worth a closer look when
A team within Zoho's published Free allowance that wants employee records, organisation files, time off and mobile apps.
Check before you choose
Confirm the Free allowance shown for your account and locale. The current official comparison page contains both five-user and three-user versions.
A permanent Free edition has a direct Get Started route alongside trials of paid editions. Classic support is available to Free users. The Free allowance varies within the current official page.
Connecteam
The Small Business Plan is free for up to 10 users, counting active and archived users together.
Worth a closer look when
A frontline team of up to 10 users that needs scheduling, time tracking, forms, communication and HR and Skills tools.
Check before you choose
Count active and archived users together, and confirm that one Time Clock and one Job Schedule are enough for your operation.
Eligible 1-to-10-person companies are placed on the Small Business Plan at signup. The plan has no expiry. Eligibility also requires no more than one Time Clock and one Job Schedule.
OrangeHRM Starter
OrangeHRM advertises free cloud and open-source Starter routes. Its public page does not state the cloud user capacity.
Worth a closer look when
A team that wants a broad Starter product and can choose between a hosted cloud route and a self-managed open-source installation.
Check before you choose
Ask OrangeHRM for the cloud user capacity, support entitlement and data residency. For self-hosting, assign ownership for security, backups and upgrades.
Choose a hosted cloud account or register to download the self-hosted edition. Cloud support entitlement and data residency are not stated on the public Starter page. Self-hosting makes infrastructure and maintenance your responsibility.
Before you choose
Five checks worth more than a long feature list.
Use the same people, workflows and questions with every supplier.
Count everyone the provider counts
Include administrators, employees, archived users and any other profile type named in the plan rules.
Run an ordinary week
Add a person, book leave, record sickness and find a document using representative data.
Test roles and private records
Sign in as an employee, manager and administrator, then check what each role can see and change.
Cross the free boundary
Model the next user, any required module, tax and the commitment attached to the paid step.
Take a useful copy out
Export people, leave, sickness and documents before relying on the product as your main record.
Next steps
Compare prices, products and migration.
Use the pages that answer the next part of your decision.
Official sources
Where the provider facts came from.
Published by HollyHR. Provider facts updated 29 August 2026. Open the live provider page before you rely on a price, package or term.
Questions
Choosing free HR software.
What counts as free HR software?
A permanent free plan keeps useful HR or workforce-management work available at £0 without a trial deadline. A 7-day, 14-day or 30-day evaluation is a trial, even when no card is required.
Which free HR software options cover up to 10 people?
Buzz HR publishes a Free plan for up to 10 users. HollyHR Free covers up to 10 active employees. Connecteam's Small Business Plan covers up to 10 users, counting active and archived users together, but it is primarily a workforce-operations platform rather than a conventional HR core.
Is Zoho People free for three or five users?
Zoho's current official plan-comparison page contains both a five-user Free allowance and a three-user Free allowance in different edition sections. Confirm the allowance shown when you create the account and select your locale.
What does InkyHR cost when a sixth user is added?
InkyHR says the first five users are free and advertises £1 per employee each month. Its public pricing page does not show whether a six-user account totals £1 or £6, so ask for that total before relying on the paid step.
Is OrangeHRM Starter completely free?
OrangeHRM advertises free cloud and open-source Starter routes. The public Starter page does not state the cloud user capacity, support entitlement or data residency. A self-hosted installation has no licence fee, but your organisation owns hosting, security, backups and upgrades.
Are Breathe, CharlieHR and Sage HR free HR software?
Their current public offers are paid products with time-limited trials, not permanent £0 HR plans. Trials can still be useful when you want to test a paid product before subscribing.
Start free with up to 10 active employees.
Bring your team over from a spreadsheet. There is no card, no sales call and no lock-in. For up to 10 active employees, everyday HR is free.
Import your people data. Export your organisation's people records and uploaded files.