CharlieHR vs Sage HR

A detailed comparison of CharlieHR and Sage HR. See how they stack up on features, pricing, and user ratings.

At a Glance

CharlieHR Sage HR
Rating 4.7/5 4.1/5
Starting Price $5/mo $6/mo
Free Trial Yes Yes
Free Plan Yes No
Features 9 9
Best For SMB SMB

CharlieHR

Simple, affordable HR software designed for small UK and European businesses with 2-200 employees, covering time off, onboarding, and people management.

Rating 4.7/5
Best for SMB
Free trial Yes
Free plan Yes
Start Free Trial →

Sage HR

Cloud HR management solution from Sage offering leave management, shift scheduling, timesheets, performance reviews, and recruitment in a modular, pick-and-choose system.

Rating 4.1/5
Best for SMB
Free trial Yes
Free plan No
Start Free Trial →

Feature Comparison

Feature CharlieHR Sage HR
Workflow Automation
Reporting Dashboard
EEO/OFCCP Compliance
GDPR Compliance
API Access
HRIS Integration
Slack Integration
Zapier Integration
Mobile App

Pricing Comparison

CharlieHR

Free Free
Team $5/mo

Sage HR

Core HR $6/mo
Modules Custom

Integrations

Both tools integrate with

Gmail Google Workspace Slack Zapier

Only CharlieHR

Xero

Only Sage HR

ADP Azure AD Google Calendar Gusto Microsoft 365 Microsoft Teams Okta OneLogin Outlook Outlook Calendar

Pros & Cons

CharlieHR

Pros

  • +Extremely simple setup — most teams are running within a day
  • +Free plan available for very small teams (up to 2 users)
  • +Clean, modern interface designed for non-HR people
  • +Affordable per-employee pricing for UK and European SMBs

Cons

  • -No payroll module — you need a separate payroll provider
  • -Limited API and integrations compared to larger platforms
  • -Feature depth is shallow — not suitable for 200+ employee companies
  • -Performance reviews are basic compared to Lattice or HiBob

Sage HR

Pros

  • +Very affordable per-employee pricing
  • +Clean interface with core HR essentials
  • +Modular — pay only for what you need
  • +Good shift scheduling and leave management

Cons

  • -Payroll not included — need Sage Payroll separately
  • -Less feature-rich than BambooHR or Personio
  • -Limited recruitment functionality
  • -Part of large Sage ecosystem — not always cohesive

Which Should You Choose?

Choose CharlieHR if:

  • • Your company is SMB size
  • • You want to start with a free plan
  • • Higher user ratings matter to you (4.7 vs 4.1)
  • • Budget is a priority (starts from $5/mo vs $6/mo)
  • • Extremely simple setup — most teams are running within a day
Try CharlieHR Free

Choose Sage HR if:

  • • Your company is SMB size
  • • Very affordable per-employee pricing
Try Sage HR Free

How we evaluate tools

Our ratings combine verified user reviews from G2 and Capterra with hands-on feature analysis. Pricing is checked against official sources. We may earn a commission through affiliate links, but this never influences our rankings or recommendations. Read our full methodology.