Keep your company. Hand us the HR work.
A PEO becomes your co-employer and still leaves the day-to-day HR work with your team. We're your own HR department: we do the work, and your company stays the only employer, with your own tax ID, benefit plans and carriers.
The short answer
The alternative to a PEO is to stay your company's only employer and outsource the HR work itself. A PEO becomes your employees' co-employer, puts them on its benefit plans and gives your team a platform to run HR in. An outsourced HR department like People Processes has no co-employment: you keep your tax ID, your own benefit plans and carriers, and a named HR business partner and team do the day-to-day work. For a 30-person company, Foundation comes to about $167 per employee per month, against about $215 for Justworks with its HR consultant and time-tracking add-ons and $253–$323 for a large PEO once you count the HR work they leave with your team.
Why companies leave PEOs
What owners tell us when they call.
You're still doing the HR work
The PEO runs payroll and files taxes. Entering hires, approving time, onboarding, terminations and manager problems stay with your team.
Your benefits aren't yours
Your employees are on the PEO's plans, priced by the PEO. You can't shop them, and you can't take them with you.
One bundled number
Fees, benefits, workers' comp and unemployment tax can come bundled together, so it's hard to see what each one costs you.
Advice only when you ask
A support line answers the question you bring. You want someone who knows your people and tells you what's coming.
Your options
Every way to cover HR, honestly.
| Option | Who's the employer | Who does the day-to-day HR work | Benefits | How it's usually priced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PEO | Co-employer with you | Your team, in the PEO's platform | The PEO's plans | Per employee per month, or a percentage of payroll |
| ASO (administrative services) | You | Your team; the ASO processes payroll and administration | Your own plans | Per employee per month |
| Payroll service | You | Your team; the service pays people and files payroll taxes | Your own plans, if any | Per employee per payroll |
| Fractional HR | You | A part-time HR professional, for the hours you buy | Advice on your own plans | Hourly or a monthly retainer |
| An in-house HR hire | You | Your HR hire, alone | Your own plans | About $102,483–$201,457 a year with benefits and taxes, before software (median HR specialist to median HR manager) |
| People Processes | You, and only you | We do, with a named HR business partner | Your own plans; we shop them every year | Published, per employee per month; month to month |
Typical service models; individual providers vary.
Is this a PEO?
No. Here's the difference.
| A typical PEO | People Processes | |
|---|---|---|
| Who's the employer | Co-employment: the PEO becomes your employees' co-employer for payroll taxes and benefits. | Your company stays the only employer, under your own tax ID and your own unemployment tax accounts. |
| Payroll taxes | Often filed under the PEO's own tax accounts, so your company's unemployment rate may no longer apply. | Filed under your own tax ID and accounts. We run payroll and file for you. |
| Benefits | The PEO's plans, priced by the PEO. | Your own plans and carriers. We're a licensed benefits agency (since 2009), shop your renewal every year, and are paid by the carrier, not by you. |
| Workers' comp | Usually on the PEO's policy. | Your own policy, through your own carrier. |
| Who does the HR work | Your team, in the PEO's platform, with a support line for advice. | We do it: a named HR business partner, onboarding calls with every new hire, one-on-one open enrollment, a Monday Brief on everything open and same-day written answers. |
| Pricing | Usually unpublished: per employee per month or a percentage of payroll. | Published: Foundation from $1,650/month and Complete from $3,500/month for the first 10 employees, then a set price per employee up to 50. Based on headcount, never a percentage of payroll. |
| Contract | Many run year to year but let you leave on 30 days' notice. | Month to month. Either side can end it with 30 days' written notice. |
| When you leave | You replace your benefit plans, sometimes mid-year, and go back to your own tax accounts. | Nothing changes for your employees' benefits, because the plans are already yours. |
Who does the work
Who actually does the HR work?
- Done for you
- Partly: you still do some of it
- You do it, or nobody does
| Who does it? | Comprehensive software | PEO | In-house team | HR consultant | People ProcessesFoundation & Complete |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calls and onboards a new employee | No: You, through the software | No: You, through their portal | Yes: Your HR hire | No: You | Yes: We do |
| Enters new hires, updates employee records and processes terminations | No: You, in the software | No: You, in their portal | Yes: Your HR hire | No: You | Yes: We do |
| Reviews timesheets and processes payroll | Partly: You enter it; the software pays and files taxes | Partly: You review hours and enter pay; they send payments and taxes | Yes: Your HR hire or bookkeeper | No: You | Yes: We do |
| Follows up on missing documents | Partly: Automated reminders, then you | No: You | Yes: Your HR hire | No: You | Yes: We do |
| Joins termination meetings | No: You | Partly: You (a shared HR line can advise) | Yes: Your HR hire | Partly: You, with their advice | Yes: We join by video when it's risky or you ask |
| Meets employees at open enrollment and explains benefits | No: Nobody; employees read it in the app | Partly: A webinar or a benefits portal | Partly: Your HR hire, if they know benefits | No: Rarely | Yes: We do, one-on-one |
| Counsels managers on compliance and problem employees | No: Help articles | Partly: A shared HR line, when you call | Yes: Your HR hire | Yes: Yes, by the hour | Yes: Your named HR business partner |
| Runs benefits administration and required filings | Partly: Tools only | Yes: Yes, as the co-employer | Partly: If you hire those skills | No: No | Yes: Yes; you stay the only employer |
| Sets up, designs and maintains your HR tools | Partly: You, with a setup guide | Partly: Their system, as it comes | Partly: Your HR hire, if they can | Partly: Recommends | Yes: We build and maintain them |
| Builds systems across all seven pillars | No: No | No: No | Partly: Depends on one or two people | Partly: Recommends | Yes: Builds and runs them |
| Manager training | No: No | Partly: Online courses | No: Rarely | Partly: Occasional workshops | Yes: PPCL, included with Complete |
| Coverage when someone is out or leaves | No: None | Partly: A shared HR line | No: A gap until you rehire | No: None | Yes: A team, always covered |
| Proof it's working | Partly: Reports | No: None | No: Up to you | No: Up to you | Yes: Gold Standard audit, included |
| Typical cost | Per-employee software fees | A per-employee fee or a percentage of payroll | About $100K–$200K a year for one HR hire, with benefits and taxes, before software | Hourly or a retainer | From $1,650 a month |
What you're really paying
The fee is only part of the cost.
A PEO's fee doesn't include the HR work your team still does in its system. Here's Justworks' published price with its HR consultant and time-tracking add-ons, and the large PEOs' averages, each plus that work, against Foundation and Complete.
Foundation against a PEO
Foundation runs payroll, benefits, onboarding, offboarding, leave and filings. On a PEO, someone on your team still does that work in the PEO's system.
| 30 employees, one state | People Processes Foundation | Justworks Plus with its HR consultant and time-tracking add-ons + the work it leaves you | A large PEO + the work it leaves you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service fees a year | $57,000 | $58,300 | $72,000–$97,200 |
| Per-event fees a year (new hires, separations) | $3,000 | — | — |
| HR work your team still does, a year | — | $19,200 | $19,200 |
| Total a year | $60,000 | $77,500 | $91,200–$116,400 |
| Per employee per month | $167 | $215 | $253–$323 |
| One-time setup (year 1 only) | $9,500 | — | — |
Complete against a PEO
Complete adds pay studies, performance reviews, surveys, culture and communications, benefits explainers and videos, and manager training. On a PEO, that's manager-level work you'd staff or skip.
| 30 employees, one state | People Processes Complete | Justworks Plus with its HR consultant and time-tracking add-ons + the work it leaves you | A large PEO + the work it leaves you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service fees a year | $113,800 | $58,300 | $72,000–$97,200 |
| Per-event fees a year (new hires, separations) | $3,000 | — | — |
| HR work your team still does, a year | — | $75,000 | $75,000 |
| Manager training you'd buy separately | — | $6,000 | $6,000 |
| Total a year | $116,800 | $139,300 | $153,000–$178,200 |
| Per employee per month | $324 | $387 | $425–$495 |
| One-time setup (year 1 only) | $19,000 | — | — |
How we worked this out (October 2026)
- Justworks is its published PEO Plus price ($124 per employee per month) plus its dedicated HR consultant ($30) and advanced time tracking ($8) add-ons, $162 in all. The large-PEO range ($200–270, rounded) comes from ADP, TriNet and Insperity's annual reports: averages across all their clients, not quotes. No setup or per-hire fees are assumed for either.
- Our prices are list prices for 30 employees. Per-event fees assume 25% of headcount hired and 25% leaving each year.
- The HR work your team still does is our estimate: 390 hours a year (about 7.5 a week) for Foundation-level work, valued at the median HR specialist's pay; and another 576 hours for what Complete adds, valued at the median HR manager's pay. Pay includes benefits and payroll taxes (BLS OEWS May 2025 and ECEC June 2026).
- Not included on either side: health premiums and workers' comp. On a PEO they're bundled into the PEO's own rates, and there's no reliable public figure for any markup, so we assume none.
- Both sides include their software. Foundation includes payroll, time and attendance, onboarding and benefits administration; Complete adds applicant tracking, performance management, training and surveys.
Your numbers will differ. Send us your PEO invoices and we'll do the real math for your company.
When a PEO is the better choice
- You have fewer than 10 employees and want large-group health plans you couldn't buy on your own.
- You'd rather not own your benefit plans or your payroll tax accounts.
- Someone on your team has the time and the skill to do the day-to-day HR work in the PEO's system.
If that's you, stay. If you send us your invoices and it's the better deal, we'll tell you.
Your benefits
What happens to your benefits.
On a PEO, your employees are on the PEO's plans. When you leave, those plans end and you need your own, starting the day the PEO's coverage stops.
Timing matters. Moving at a plan renewal avoids resetting deductibles mid-year. If you have to move mid-year, ask the new carrier whether it will credit what employees have already paid.
Your own plans can cost more or less than the PEO's. Small groups sometimes get better rates through a PEO's large plan, and sometimes they don't. We're a licensed benefits agency, and we'll quote your own plans before you decide.
Founder-led, not platform-led
The founder reads your plan.
Rhamy Alejeal founded People Processes in 2009 and wrote the method we run on. He still reviews the work himself.
- He reviews every Gold Standard audit and every client's HR Strategic Plan, every year.
- He wrote People Processes, a #1 Amazon bestseller in Human Resources and one of INC.com's Top Ten Leadership Books of 2018.
- He sits on the Memphis Branch board of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, advising on workforce trends and what employers pay, and previously served on the Fed's Industry Council on Healthcare.
- He teaches the manager training program live.
Compare by provider
On a specific PEO?
People Processes vs ADP TotalSource
ADP TotalSource is a PEO: it becomes your co-employer and gives your team its platform. We're your own HR department instead, and you stay the only employer.
ComparePeople Processes vs TriNet
TriNet is a PEO: it becomes your co-employer and bills your benefits through its plans. We're your own HR department instead, with your own plans.
ComparePeople Processes vs Insperity
Insperity is a PEO: it becomes your co-employer and prices its service as a markup on your payroll. We're your own HR department instead, at published prices.
ComparePeople Processes vs Justworks
Justworks is a PEO built around software you run yourself. We're your own HR department: our team does the work, and you stay the only employer.
ComparePeople Processes vs Paychex PEO
Paychex PEO makes Paychex your co-employer. We're your own HR department instead, and you stay the only employer.
CompareSwitching
Leaving a PEO, step by step.
- Step 1
Send us your agreement and invoices
Your PEO agreement and the last three invoices. We'll show you what you're paying for each piece, and what it would cost to run on your own.
- Step 2
We plan the move around your benefits
As a licensed benefits agency, we quote your own plans and time the switch so coverage doesn't lapse. Moving at a plan renewal avoids resetting deductibles mid-year.
- Step 3
We set you up under your own tax ID
Payroll, time and attendance, onboarding and benefits administration move to systems in your company's name. Then you give your PEO notice.
Send us your renewal or your PEO's invoices.
Upload them in any format. We'll break down what you're paying and send you a free benefits quote. Free, and kept confidential.
“Superior customer service just comes natural to them!”
Chad Davis · VP of Operations, Vectair Systems
FAQ
PEO questions.
- Is People Processes a PEO?
- No. There's no co-employment. Your company stays the only employer: your tax ID, your benefit plans, your carriers. We run the HR work as your own outsourced HR department.
- What's the alternative to a PEO?
- Stay your company's only employer and outsource the HR work: payroll, benefits administration, onboarding, leave, compliance and manager support. That's what People Processes does.
- Is a PEO cheaper than outsourced HR?
- Usually not, once you count the HR work a PEO leaves with your team. For a 30-person company, Foundation comes to about $167 per employee per month, against about $215 for Justworks with its HR consultant and time-tracking add-ons and $253–$323 for a large PEO once you count the HR work they leave with your team.
- Can we keep our own benefits?
- Yes. Because you stay the employer, your plans and carriers stay yours. We review them at every renewal and quote alternatives as a licensed benefits agency.
- What happens to our benefits when we leave a PEO?
- The PEO's plans end and your own plans start. Time the switch for a renewal if you can, so deductibles don't reset mid-year. We plan the move and quote your plans.
- How long is the contract?
- Foundation and Complete are month to month. Either side can end with 30 days' written notice.
- Do you work with companies in every state?
- Yes, employers in all 50 states. Each additional state is $500 one-time, then $50/month.
Sources (checked October 27, 2026)
- Justworks pricing
- ADP annual report (10-K), fiscal 2026
- TriNet annual report (10-K), fiscal 2025
- Insperity annual report (10-K), fiscal 2025
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (HR specialists, May 2025)
- HR manager wages (BLS data via O*NET OnLine)
- BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (June 2026)
- BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (2025)
Provider names are trademarks of their owners. This page compares publicly available information; individual contracts vary. Spot something out of date? Email service@peopleprocesses.com.
Keep your company. We'll do the HR.
Send us your PEO agreement and invoices. If your PEO is the better deal, we'll tell you.
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