CharlieHR vs Zoho People
We give CharlieHR and Zoho People the same GPA: 2.4 out of 4.0. They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
CharlieHR
HR software for UK small businesses, priced by team-size bracket
Zoho People
Low-cost HR records, attendance, shifts and reviews from Zoho
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACharlieHRFair | 2.4GPAZoho PeopleFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CTen people fall in the 5 to 14 bracket at £47 a month, in pounds before VAT. That buys records, onboarding, time off, reviews, surveys and perks. It sits between this category's cheaper quarter and its middle, and HR advice with Charlie Grow starts at £200 a month on top. | CWorkforce is $5 a user a month on yearly billing, the cheapest plan with time off, so a ten-person company pays $50. It adds attendance and timesheets too. That's under this category's middle; Essential HR is $3 but leaves time off out. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 7-day trial with no card. A week is short, and the add-ons aren't in it. | CFree for up to 3 users, with records, time off and documents. Fine for a look around, but a ten-person team is well past it. There's also a 30-day trial. |
| Features | BRecords and documents with e-signatures, self-service onboarding, time off with Slack showing who's out, scheduled reviews, engagement surveys and perks. The whole job for a small team, with payroll left to Xero or PayCaptain. | BRecords, onboarding, documents, an HR help desk, time off, attendance by kiosk or biometric device, shift rosters, timesheets, goals, appraisals and courses. The whole job, though payroll and hiring are separate Zoho apps. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. New hires fill in their own details, but you'll still set up leave types and review cycles. | CNo App Store rating on record, and with features split between Workforce and Talent, you'll need to think before you pick a plan. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, linked to Xero, PayCaptain, Workable, Teamtailor, Spendesk, Hofy, Ravio and Pave. No phone or desktop app on record. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, QuickBooks, Slack and Zoho's own apps. No desktop app. |
| Best for | a UK small business's first HR system | low-cost HR for small businesses |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: CharlieHR and Zoho People. How we grade
Where they differ
- CharlieHR starts at £21 per month for up to 4 team members (pounds, excluding VAT). Zoho People starts at $3 per user / month, billed annually ($4 billed monthly).
- Zoho People has a free plan. CharlieHR does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Zoho People lists iOS and Android apps.
- CharlieHR also covers surveys and applicant tracking.
- Zoho People also covers reports, shift scheduling and time clock.
At a glance
| CharlieHR | Zoho People | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | £21 per month for up to 4 team members (pounds, excluding VAT) | $3 per user / month, billed annually ($4 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | Free for up to 3 users: employee database, time off and vacation planning, and document management. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial, no credit card required (add-ons not included) | 30-day free trial |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Charlie OS Limited | Zoho Corporation |
| Price read from | charliehr.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
CharlieHR
- UK small businesses hiring their first HR system
- Founders who want HR advice alongside the software
- Teams that want a fixed monthly price for their size bracket
Zoho People
- Small businesses that want HR at a low price per user
- Companies already using Zoho apps such as Recruit, Expense or Payroll
- Employers that track attendance with kiosks or biometric devices
Worth knowing
CharlieHR
- Made for UK businesses: prices are in pounds and exclude 20% UK VAT, and no other countries are named.
- Charlie Recruit costs £55 to £150 a month extra and cannot be bought on its own; Charlie Grow starts at £200 a month for up to 4 people.
- It does not run payroll; it stores payroll details and links to tools such as Xero and PayCaptain.
- No app-store app is listed on its site; Charlie is used in a browser.
Zoho People
- The free plan stops at 3 users in the US (5 elsewhere) and covers only records, time off and documents.
- Payroll and recruiting are separate Zoho products; the People Plus bundle with Recruit, Expense, Sign and others is $9 per user a month billed annually.
- Workforce and Talent each cover half the toolset: getting both attendance and performance reviews means Enterprise.
- Companies with more than 500 users are asked to request a quote.
Key features
CharlieHR
- Employee records and documents
- Stores contracts, policies, tax codes and other records on each profile, sends contracts for e-signature and files them once signed.
- Onboarding
- New hires submit their own details through a self-service onboarding flow, with checklists to track tasks and contracts sent for e-signature.
- Time-off management
- Leave requests go to the right manager, public holidays sync to the calendar, custom leave types fit company policy, and Slack shows who is off.
- Performance reviews and engagement
- Run structured reviews and appraisals on a schedule, and send engagement surveys to the team.
- Charlie Recruit
- An add-on applicant tracker with interview scheduling, e-signed contracts, best-fit analysis, blind hiring and a custom careers site.
- Charlie Grow
- An add-on with a dedicated HR adviser, the AskCharlie AI assistant, urgent support and help with compliance and policies.
Zoho People
- Employee records and documents
- A central employee database with self-service profiles, multi-entity management, onboarding and offboarding flows, exit interviews and document storage.
- Attendance and time off
- Staff check in on the web, the mobile app, a face-recognition kiosk or a biometric device, with IP and location limits, leave policies and accruals.
- Shift rosters and timesheets
- Create shifts, rotate them automatically, take shift-change requests, and log time against jobs and clients for approval.
- Goals, appraisals and training
- The Talent plan adds OKRs, appraisals with feedback, and a learning management system for courses.
- Zia AI
- Zoho's assistant answers employees' questions, carries out HR tasks and analyzes people data.
- HR help desk and surveys
- Employees raise cases with HR in a help desk, and HR runs eNPS, pulse and engagement surveys.
Plans
CharlieHR
1-4 team members£21
per month for up to 4 team members
Core Charlie: records and documents, onboarding, time off, performance reviews, engagement surveys and perks.
5-14 team members£47
per month for up to 14 team members
Core Charlie for teams of 5 to 14; the page lists 5-9 and 10-14 as separate brackets at the same price.
15-29 team members£108
per month for up to 29 team members
Core Charlie for teams of 15 to 29.
30-49 team members£185
per month for up to 49 team members
Core Charlie for teams of 30 to 49.
50-99 team members£323
per month for up to 99 team members
Core Charlie for teams of 50 to 99.
100+ team members£431
per month for up to 149 team members
Core Charlie for 100 to 149 people; then £539 for 150-199, £646 for 200-249 and £754 a month for 250 or more.
Zoho People
Free$0
Up to 3 users, with the employee database, time off and documents.
Essential HR$3
per user / month, billed annually ($4 billed monthly)
AI agent, onboarding and offboarding, documents, benefits and compensation planning, engagement surveys, HR help desk and reports.
Workforce$5
per user / month, billed annually ($6 billed monthly)
Essential HR plus time off, attendance for full-time staff and timesheets with overtime rules.
Talent$5
per user / month, billed annually ($6 billed monthly)
Essential HR plus OKRs, performance evaluations and a learning management system.
Enterprise$8
per user / month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)
Essential HR, Workforce and Talent together, plus a sandbox and premium support.
Ways to pay less
CharlieHR
No public discounts listed.
Zoho People
- Annual discount
Over 20% off with yearly billing
Zoho says yearly billing saves more than 20%: Essential HR is $3 a user a month billed yearly against $4 monthly.
