What HR software costs in Pakistan, and what the quote hides

Vendors in Pakistan almost all sell per employee, per month, in PKR. That part is honest. The headline number is not the bill. A cheap seat that adds FBR tax, the mobile app, GPS attendance and a second branch as extras can cost more than a dearer seat that already includes them. Read the quote the way you read a payslip: line by line.

This is not a ranked price list. Prices move. StreamHCM publishes current plan math on the pricing page. Use that, plus the questions below, when you compare anyone else.

The two numbers on every quote

You will see a company fee and a per-employee fee, or only the second. Ask what “employee” means. Some vendors count only people who get a payslip. Some count every login, including a manager who never punches. Some freeze the count for the year, so a hiring spike in August is free until renewal. Some bill the peak. Write that rule down before you sign.

Annual prepay is usually cheaper. It is also a lock. Do not prepay 12 months until you have run one real payroll on the trial.

What is often missing from the seat price

Four add-ons show up after the demo. Device integration: ZKTeco, eSSL, Suprema, Fingertec. The tax engine: FBR slabs you can edit after a budget, not a PDF the vendor emails. The employee app on iOS and Android. A second or third branch. If any of those are “talk to sales,” the website price is a teaser.

Implementation is the fifth. “Free setup” should mean they import your file, map departments, and stay for the first pay cycle. If setup is a 40-hour consultancy at a daily rate, add it to year one.

USD invoices and surprise FX

Global tools bill in dollars. The PKR cost then moves with the rupee, not with your headcount. For a Pakistani company paying local salaries, a PKR invoice is simpler to budget and to explain to finance. If the vendor is local and still quotes USD, ask why.

How to compare two quotes fairly

Pick one headcount, say 50. Ask both vendors for the monthly total that includes: attendance devices you already own, FBR and EOBI, leave, employee app, and two branches if you have them. Ignore the pretty per-seat badge until those five are in the same currency and the same month. Then look at the trial: 14 days and no card is a fair minimum. A forced annual contract before you have seen a payslip is not.

The same test sits on the best HR software in Pakistan page. Price without FBR or EOBI is not a Pakistani payroll price.

What StreamHCM puts on the page

StreamHCM bills in PKR on Starter, Growth and Enterprise. The public calculator on /pricing lets you move headcount. Demo, setup, training and support are listed as included on every plan, not as a silent extra. Read that page for the current figures. This article will go stale if I paste today's rupees into a blog that Google keeps for a year.

A cheap system that fails payday is not cheap

One wrong tax month costs more than a year of seats. If the quote is low because the product cannot update slabs, or because support is a ticket in another timezone, you are buying a cheaper way to get a June surprise. Pay for the engine that already knows Section 149 and the EOBI wage base. Then argue about the seat rate.