What timesheet and leave software actually costs UK small teams in 2026
· David Peralta
Every timesheet tool advertises a per-user price. Almost none of them charge it. Between add-on modules, company minimums and "request a quote" enterprise pricing, the number on the pricing page and the number on your invoice are usually two different things.
We went through the published pricing of the tools UK small teams most often shortlist, and worked out what each really costs once you add the modules needed for a normal setup: weekly timesheets, annual-leave booking, approvals and a payroll export. All figures are per user per month unless stated, and were verified against each vendor's own public materials in August 2026.
The add-on trap
Sage HR advertises Core HR + Leave Management at £4.60 per user — but timesheets are a separate module at £2.30, taking a like-for-like setup to £6.90 per user (ex VAT). It's still one of the more transparent structures: the modules are priced publicly in Sage's own calculator and you can compose them yourself.
Breathe HR prices by company band rather than per user: the Micro plan for 1–10 staff is £24 a month, and the Rota, Time & Attendance add-on another £11 — from £35 a month flat. For a ten-person team that's £3.50 a head; for a three-person team it's nearly £12.
Factorial starts from around £5.40 per user for its core plan, but timesheets and leave need the paid Time module — priced on request. Which brings us to…
The quote-based trap
Some vendors don't publish the price you'll actually pay at all. BrightHR's per-head price is quote-based and varies by company size: its published example works out at £16.67 per user for a five-person team, while its own FAQ says prices start from £3.00 per person for larger businesses. That's a five-fold spread with no way to tell in advance where you land. Quote-based pricing isn't automatically bad, but it makes comparison shopping hard and renewal negotiations harder.
The minimum-spend trap
Deputy is £4.25 per user on Core — the cheapest tier that includes timesheet approval — with a £20 monthly minimum per invoice. Fine at ten users; disproportionate at two. Access PeopleHR works out at £7.00: the £5.50 Core tier plus the £1.50 timesheets add-on, since timesheets only come as standard on the £8 Pro tier.
The scope trap
The cheapest quotes are often cheap because they cover less. Timetastic is £1.50 on Business and £2.50 on Pro, and it's an excellent, long-established UK leave tracker — but on every tier you can currently buy it does leave only, with no timesheets or time clock. Its Rota & Time Clock tier at £5.50 adds them and is early access behind a waitlist. If you need hours as well as holidays, the £2.50 isn't the comparison you think it is.
Plenty of small teams also start on Clockify's free plan and assume the cost is zero. It now caps at five users and excludes both approvals and time off, so a real timesheets-plus-leave setup means the Standard tier at $6.99 per seat — billed in US dollars, so your sterling cost moves with the exchange rate.
What this means for a real team
Take a five-person team. The monthly bill for a timesheets-plus-leave setup runs from roughly £21.25 (Deputy Core) through £34.50 (Sage HR), £35 (Breathe and PeopleHR alike) to £83.35 (BrightHR at its published five-person rate) — before onboarding fees or contract minimums. The headline prices suggested rather less.
Three questions to ask any vendor before you sign:
- Which modules does your quote actually include? Ask for timesheets, leave, approvals and payroll export line by line.
- Is there a minimum spend or minimum term?
- What happens to the price at renewal?
Where we stand
TS@BigRock charges £1 per user per month, everything included — timesheets, leave with live balances, approvals, tiered overtime, payroll-ready exports and UK working-time compliance records. No modules, no minimums, no quotes. The maths for a five-person team is £5 a month, and it stays that simple as you grow. See the full comparison.
Prices verified against each vendor's public pricing on 15 August 2026, on the lowest plan/add-on configuration matching this feature set. Figures are per user per month in GBP except where stated — Breathe HR is priced per company and Clockify in US dollars. Some vendors quote individually, so your own quote may differ. Competitor prices and packaging change — check each vendor's website for the current position.