How this calculator works
The subscription figure is simply employees × monthly price × months. That's the honest floor — it deliberately leaves out base platform fees, payroll add-ons, implementation charges, and the annual price increases most vendors apply, all of which push the real number higher. The Opangle figure is the one-time $1,999 build cost, after which you host the software yourself (typically $5–$20/month to your hosting provider) and pay us nothing recurring.
Why per-employee pricing costs more than it looks
Subscription HR software is priced to feel small each month, but it has two compounding properties: it scales with headcount (you pay more precisely because you're succeeding and hiring) and it never ends (there's no final payment and no asset at the end). Over a normal software lifespan of five to ten years, a growing team routinely pays five figures — and owns nothing.
A one-time custom build inverts both. The cost is fixed regardless of how many people you add, and when it's delivered you own the source code, the data, and the deployment outright. The trade-off is real: SaaS starts instantly and bundles services like automated tax filing, while a custom build takes a few weeks and hands filing to your accountant. This calculator is about the money; the pricing page covers exactly what's included.
The question isn't "which is cheaper this month" — it's "which do I still have in three years."