CharlieHR is a UK small-business HR platform for onboarding and absence tracking. Compare Core, Recruit, and Advice pricing plus key features for 2026.
Researched and fact-checked by Bartu Cavusoglu · Updated July 18, 2026
CharlieHR is an HR software platform built for small businesses, founded in London in 2015 and still headquartered there today with a team of around 40 people across the UK. The product is designed to replace spreadsheets and manual processes for small-company HR admin, centered on onboarding, absence management, and employee records.
CharlieHR targets UK-based small businesses and startups that have outgrown manual HR tracking but are too small for an enterprise HRIS. Optional add-ons extend the core platform into recruitment and HR advisory services.
The core platform includes GDPR-compliant employee records and document storage, smart onboarding workflows for new hires, and absence/time-off management with configurable leave types, manager approvals, and calendar sync to Google or Outlook. Employees can self-serve time-off requests and check their own allowance balances.
The Charlie Recruit add-on brings applicant tracking to manage hiring pipelines, and the Charlie Advice add-on connects businesses with 1-to-1 HR expertise for employment law and HR decisions — both requiring an active Core subscription.
CharlieHR's Core HR plan is priced by company headcount, starting at £20/month for 1–4 employees and scaling to £735/month for 250+ employees, with a 75% introductory discount for the first six months for new small customers (as low as £5/month initially).
Recruit starts from £55/month and Advice starts from £179/month, both requiring an active Core subscription; all prices exclude UK VAT. A 7-day free trial is available for the Core plan.
The Core HR plan starts at £20/month for businesses with 1–4 employees, scaling up to £735/month for 250+ employees, with a 75% introductory discount for new small customers in their first six months.
Yes, CharlieHR offers a 7-day free trial of the Core plan.
No, CharlieHR does not include full payroll processing; it focuses on onboarding, absence management, and employee records.
Charlie Recruit is an optional add-on applicant tracking system that lets small teams manage hiring pipelines without separate recruitment software.
CharlieHR is built for UK-based small businesses and startups that need lightweight HR admin tools but don't require an enterprise HRIS.