Employment Hero Alternative UK

Employment Hero is an HR platform from £4/employee/month in the UK (10-user minimum), with payroll and rotas as paid add-ons. If you already have payroll sorted through Xero or QuickBooks and just need time tracking and leave management, TimeTally does exactly that for £3/employee/month — a fraction of the cost.

Quick comparison

FeatureTimeTallyEmployment Hero
Pricing per employee/month£3From £4 (10-user minimum)
Timesheet trackingRotas & Time add-on (£2)
Holiday management
PayrollXero/QuickBooks journal, CSVPayroll add-on (£3)
HR suite
UK leave rules
Free trial14 days, no cardRequest a demo

Employment Hero UK prices checked on employmenthero.com/uk/pricing, 3 October 2026.

The Key Difference

Focused tool vs comprehensive HR platform

Employment Hero is an HR platform with UK plans from £4 to £7 per employee a month, and payroll (£3) and rotas and time attendance (£2) as add-ons, each with a minimum charge. TimeTally focuses on doing two things exceptionally well: timesheet tracking with approval and leave management, with direct payroll export to Xero, QuickBooks, or CSV. See our comparison matrix for a full side-by-side view.

TimeTally timesheet entry form
Hours tracking
Holiday tracking
Approval workflow
Payroll export

Leave management at a fraction of the cost

Both platforms handle UK leave management well. The difference is that TimeTally does it for £3/employee — without requiring you to buy into a full HR suite.

UK holiday entitlement

Auto-calculated based on working pattern and start date

Request & approve workflow

Employees request, managers approve from any device

TimeTally holiday requests
Timesheet tracking on mobile

Simple timesheets, powerful exports

If you already use Xero or QuickBooks for payroll, you don't need Employment Hero's payroll add-on. TimeTally tracks employee hours, manages timesheet approvals, calculates overtime, and exports payroll-ready data directly to the software you already use.

Hours tracking

Employees log start/end times or total hours per day

Timesheet approval

Managers approve or reject with one tap

Pricing breakdown

TimeTally

£3

per employee/month

  • Unlimited timesheets
  • Holiday management
  • Timesheet approval
  • Hours tracking
  • Payroll exports
  • Managers who don't log hours free

Employment Hero

From £4

per employee/month

  • Rotas & time attendance (£2 add-on)
  • Holiday management
  • Payroll (£3 add-on)
  • HR plans from £4 to £7
  • 10-user minimum
  • Demo rather than free trial

Example:For 20 employees, Employment Hero HR Essentials (£4) plus Rotas & Time Attendance (£2) = £120/month. TimeTally for the same 20 employees = £60/month with rota, timesheets and leave. Prices checked 3 October 2026.

Everything flows to payroll

Already using Xero or QuickBooks? TimeTally exports approved timesheets, overtime, and holiday data directly — no need to switch payroll providers. Employment Hero sells payroll as an add-on, which is great if you want everything in one place, but unnecessary if your payroll is already sorted. Explore how it works or use our ROI calculator to see the savings.

  • Approved hours posted to Xero or QuickBooks as a wages journal
  • Holiday taken automatically deducted
  • Overtime calculated and included
  • CSV export for any other payroll software
Export to payroll

Which should you choose?

Choose Employment Hero if:

  • You want HR and payroll in one platform
  • You need onboarding and performance management
  • Your budget allows for a comprehensive HR suite

Choose TimeTally if:

  • You already have payroll sorted (Xero/QuickBooks)
  • You just need timesheets and leave management
  • You want the lowest cost per employee

Need a full HR + payroll suite → Employment Hero
Need timesheets + leave at the lowest cost→ TimeTally

Try TimeTally free for 14 days

No credit card required. Get both timesheets and holidays in one simple tool.

No credit card required • Free 14-day trial • Cancel anytime