{"head":{"title":"HR Software Development Cost Calculator | OceanLab","description":"Estimate what custom HR software costs: employee records, leave, time tracking, onboarding, payroll export, reviews and self-service. Editable hours.","canonical":"https://oceanlab.in/tools/hr-software-cost"},"tool":{"slug":"hr-software-cost","path":"/tools/hr-software-cost","name":"HR software cost","h1":"HR software cost calculator","lede":"Pick the HR features and get a cost and timeline range for a custom build, with what cutting each feature would save.","category":"industry","categoryTitle":"Health, fintech and business software","method":["The estimate starts from an HR preset: sign-in, roles, employee records, leave, onboarding flows, self-service, payroll export, reports, admin and an audit log, on the web. Each feature has a low and a high hour estimate for development, multiplied by the platform and design level, plus a contingency.","Design, QA and project management are added as shares of development hours, and each role's hours are multiplied by its hourly rate.","Weeks come from total hours divided by team size and productive hours per person per week.","The hour ranges are OceanLab planning assumptions, not market benchmarks. Edit any of them in the assumptions panel."],"sources":[],"faq":[{"question":"Should we build payroll?","answer":"Rarely. Payroll rules change by country and every year. Most custom HR tools export to a payroll provider instead, which is the default here."},{"question":"Where do the feature hours come from?","answer":"They are OceanLab planning assumptions for a typical version of each feature, not survey data. Each one is shown and editable, so you can replace it with a number from your own team or quote."},{"question":"Which hourly rates does it use?","answer":"Default rates are OceanLab's own: $50 an hour for engineering, $45 for design, $40 for project management and $30 for QA. Change any of them to the rates you have been quoted."},{"question":"Is anything I enter sent anywhere?","answer":"No. The tool runs in your browser and there is no sign-up. Nothing leaves the page unless you choose to email your result to OceanLab."}],"updatedAt":"2026-10-25"},"related":[{"href":"/tools/internal-tool-roi","label":"Internal tool ROI","detail":"Enter who will use the tool and how much time it saves them each day, and see the payback period and the net result."},{"href":"/tools/erp-tco","label":"ERP TCO","detail":"Put an ERP subscription and implementation next to custom software for the same processes, and see the cost each year."},{"href":"/tools/software-development-cost","label":"Software development cost","detail":"Pick the features and platform, check the rates, and get a cost and timeline range you can take to any vendor."}],"studies":[{"meta":{"slug":"matricola","industry":"hr","projectType":"HRIS core","country":"it","tags":["enterprise"],"compliances":["GDPR","Italian Privacy Code","CCNL Commercio","UniLav mandatory notices","Libro Unico del Lavoro","Workers' Statute","Immigration Act (D.Lgs. 286/1998)","D.Lgs. 81/2008","Law 68/1999"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/matricola/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Matricola - Core HR System of Record with Effective-Dated History and Approvals","description":"Designed and built a clickable core HR system for a Milan fashion retail chain with about 2,400 employees in 138 stores: every employee record with effective-dated history, lifecycle events from hire to exit with their approval chain, mandatory notices and payroll status, and a dashboard of what HR has to act on today.","category":"HR & Payroll / HRIS Core","client":"Filobruno Moda S.p.A."}}},{"meta":{"slug":"acequia","industry":"hr","projectType":"Multi-country payroll","country":"es","tags":["enterprise"],"compliances":["GDPR","Law 09-08 (Morocco)","EU Pay Transparency Directive","SEPA Credit Transfer (ISO 20022)","Sistema RED and modelo 111 (Spain)","Segurança Social and DMR (Portugal)","F24, UniEmens and LUL (Italy)","CNSS and IR (Morocco)"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/acequia/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Acequia - Multi-country Payroll Console Over Four Local Engines","description":"Designed and built a clickable payroll orchestration console for a Madrid engineering group paying about 1,550 people in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Morocco: one tracker for every country's run from input cut-off to paid and filed, validation and variance review before approval, and payment batches that only a second person can release.","category":"HR & Payroll / Multi-country Payroll","client":"Carrasca Ingeniería"}}},{"meta":{"slug":"bobbin","industry":"hr","projectType":"Leave & attendance","country":"pk","tags":["enterprise"],"compliances":["Factories Act 1934 (Punjab)","Punjab Shops and Establishments Ordinance 1969","Punjab standing orders","EOBI and PESSI registrations","Personal Data Protection Bill (draft)"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/bobbin/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Bobbin - Biometric-Free Leave and Time Attendance for a Textile Mill","description":"Designed and built a clickable leave and time attendance system for a Lahore spinning and weaving company: badge, rotating QR and geofenced mobile punches instead of fingerprints, each day worked out against the shift pattern, overtime approved and confirmed before payroll, and leave requests routed with balances and team coverage in view.","category":"HR & Payroll / Leave & Attendance","client":"Kapasgarh Textile Mills"}}},{"meta":{"slug":"sidehill","industry":"hr","projectType":"Benefits administration","country":"us","tags":["enterprise","saas"],"compliances":["ERISA","ACA employer mandate (IRC 4980H)","IRS Forms 1094-C and 1095-C","HIPAA","Section 125","COBRA","ANSI X12 834","Colorado FAMLI","Medicare Part D notice"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/sidehill/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Sidehill - Benefits Administration Platform for Enrollment, Life Events and Carrier Feeds","description":"Designed and built a clickable benefits administration platform for a Colorado outdoor gear manufacturer with about 1,800 employees: open enrollment with completion by location and language, one queue for new hires and life events, event decisions checked against Section 125 rules, and an employee benefits record that ties elections to carrier files, ACA codes and payroll deductions.","category":"HR & Payroll / Benefits Administration","client":"Granite Saddle Outfitters"}}},{"meta":{"slug":"zarpe","industry":"hr","projectType":"Employee onboarding","country":"cr","tags":["enterprise"],"compliances":["Law 8968","Código de Trabajo","CCSS social security","INS riesgos del trabajo","SOC 2","PCI DSS"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/zarpe/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Zarpe - Employee Onboarding Platform for a Contact-Centre BPO","description":"Designed and built a clickable onboarding platform for a Costa Rican nearshore BPO that hires 250 to 400 bilingual agents a month: a hire pipeline that will not let anyone skip a step, one record per hire with identity, right to work and background checks, a provisioning board for IT and facilities, and 30/60/90-day check-ins that catch early attrition.","category":"HR & Payroll / Employee Onboarding","client":"Guarumo Contact Solutions"}}}],"more":[{"href":"/case-studies/industry/hr","label":"HR & payroll case studies","detail":"Every OceanLab product build in HR & payroll."},{"href":"/case-studies","label":"All case studies","detail":"Every OceanLab product build."},{"href":"/ai-automation","label":"AI automation","detail":"AI built into real business workflows, with people in charge."}],"today":"2026-10-25"}