Most HR buying decisions stall in the same place: the arithmetic. You cannot compare a per-employee PEO fee against a base-fee-plus-per-person payroll platform against one internal hire until you model all three at your own headcount. These tools do that arithmetic in your browser, on provider-published rates, with a verification date and no invented savings claim attached.
Available now
One tool, built to the standard the rest have to meet.
We would rather ship one calculator built on published rates than a portfolio of guesswork. The bar is simple: every number traceable to a primary source, dated, and correctable.
Enter your headcount and average salary. The calculator prices the published payroll software rows (Gusto Simple, QuickBooks Workforce Payroll, Justworks Payroll), the published PEO rows (Justworks PEO Basic and PEO Plus), the employer share of FICA at the Social Security wage base, and one internal HR hire at the federal median wage. Quote-only providers are named and left unpriced. It publishes no savings percentage, because none is defensible, and it shows you the premium, workers’ compensation, and state unemployment lines as quote-required instead of modeling them.
Runs in your browser · nothing transmitted · every rate re-verified October 15, 2026
Every figure a tool shows comes from the provider’s own pricing page, re-verified against it before release and dated on the page. When a provider re-prices, the tool is wrong until we re-verify, and the date tells you how stale it can be. That is the whole reason the verification date sits on the page instead of a “last updated” stamp generated by the CMS.
No invented numbers. Providers that quote per client are named and left unpriced. A savings percentage is a marketing claim, and a calculator that prints one is printing marketing, whatever its disclaimer says.
Nothing leaves your browser. No email gate, no transmission, no storage, no analytics on what you type. If a tool ever needs your data to work, it will say so before you type it.
Free to embed. If you advise employers on HR, payroll, or benefits, take the embed code and keep the credit line. An embedded calculator on an advisor’s site reaches the employer at the moment the census question comes up, which is exactly when it helps.
Where a tool fits in the decision
The tool answers the fee question, which is the smallest of the three. The model question, co-employment versus staying the sole employer versus an employer of record, usually moves more money than the fee does, and it comes first. The vendor question comes third, and only after you know which model you are buying.
Compare service models: the structural decisions that change cost and control, including PEO vs. ASO, PEO vs. payroll service, PEO vs. HR consultant, and employer of record vs. contractor of record.
Take the match quiz: eight questions produce a catalog-only shortlist with the reasons shown, and the result carries into a request for an introduction.
PEO cost: why the fee is the visible part of a much larger comparison.
Leaving a PEO: notice periods, benefit runout, workers’ compensation, data export, and employee communication during an exit.
Frequently asked questions
What free HR tools does HRPair have?
One, and it earns its place: the PEO cost calculator. It models the published payroll and PEO rate cards at your headcount and average salary, sizes employer payroll taxes at the Social Security wage base, and prices one internal HR hire at the federal median wage. A tool gets added only when it can stand on published numbers held to the same standard.
How much does a PEO cost per employee?
Where pricing is published, Justworks lists PEO Basic at $79 and PEO Plus at $124 per employee per month, administrative fees only, verified October 15, 2026. Most national PEOs, including TriNet, Insperity, and ADP TotalSource, quote custom proposals because pricing depends on census, states, industry risk class, and plan selections.
Do your tools use my data?
No. Every calculation runs in your browser. Nothing you type is transmitted, stored, or used for analytics, on the page or inside an embed. If a tool ever needs your data to work, it will say so before you type it.
Why do some providers appear without prices?
Because they do not publish them. TriNet, Insperity, ADP TotalSource, and Paychex PEO quote per client, so they are named and never priced here. A plausible-looking invented figure is worse than no figure in a document you are about to carry into a negotiation.
Can I embed your tools on my own site?
Yes. The copy-paste embed snippet is on the calculator page. Paste it anywhere your CMS accepts raw HTML and keep the credit line under the iframe. That is the whole consideration: the tool is free, and the link is how the next employer finds it.
Tools reviewed by Maya Chen, SPHR · Editorial Director · last reviewed October 15, 2026. Report a correction to editorial@hrpair.com with the page URL and a primary source.