A TriNet alternative that keeps you the only employer.
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.
The short answer
TriNet is a professional employer organization (PEO). It becomes your employees' co-employer and provides benefits through its own plans; its 2025 annual report shows it billed clients about 10% more for insurance than the insurance cost it. People Processes is an outsourced HR department, not a PEO: your company stays the only employer, keeps its own benefit plans, and our team does the day-to-day HR work, at published, headcount-based prices.
Side by side
TriNet vs People Processes
From TriNet's own published pages and filings, checked October 27, 2026.
| TriNet | People Processes | |
|---|---|---|
| Who's the employer | Co-employment: TriNet becomes your employees' co-employer. | Your company stays the only employer, under your own tax ID and your own unemployment tax accounts. |
| Pricing | Not published. TriNet's 2025 annual report works out to about $171 per employee per month in service fees on average, plus about $97 more that it billed for insurance above what the insurance cost it. | 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. |
| Benefits | TriNet's plans. In 2025 TriNet billed $4.2 billion for insurance that cost it $3.8 billion, about 10% above cost. | 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. |
| Contract | Annual contracts that renew. TriNet says most can be ended without penalty with 30 days' notice. | Month to month. Either side can end it with 30 days' written notice. |
| Who does the HR work | As with most PEOs, your team enters hires and changes in TriNet's platform; TriNet processes payroll and files taxes as co-employer. | 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. |
| When you leave | If your employees are on TriNet's plans, you'll need your own plans, which can mean mid-year. | Nothing changes for your employees' benefits, because the plans are already yours. |
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 TriNet plus that work, against Foundation and Complete, for a 30-person company.
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 | TriNet + the work it leaves you |
|---|---|---|
| Service fees a year | $57,000 | $61,600–$96,500 |
| Per-event fees a year (new hires, separations) | $3,000 | — |
| HR work your team still does, a year | — | $19,200 |
| Total a year | $60,000 | $80,800–$115,700 |
| Per employee per month | $167 | $224–$321 |
| 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 | TriNet + the work it leaves you |
|---|---|---|
| Service fees a year | $113,800 | $61,600–$96,500 |
| Per-event fees a year (new hires, separations) | $3,000 | — |
| HR work your team still does, a year | — | $75,000 |
| Manager training you'd buy separately | — | $6,000 |
| Total a year | $116,800 | $142,600–$177,500 |
| Per employee per month | $324 | $396–$493 |
| One-time setup (year 1 only) | $19,000 | — |
How we worked this out (October 2026)
- TriNet's fee range runs from its average service fees alone (about $171 per employee per month in 2025) to those fees plus what it billed for insurance above its insurance cost (about $268). Both are averages across all clients, not quotes. No setup or per-hire fee is assumed.
- 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.
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 |
When TriNet 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.
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.
Switching
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
TriNet questions.
Comparing other providers?
- Is People Processes a PEO like TriNet?
- No. TriNet becomes your co-employer. We don't: your company stays the only employer, with your own tax ID, benefit plans and carriers. We're your outsourced HR department, and we do the HR work itself.
- How much does TriNet cost?
- TriNet doesn't publish prices. Its 2025 annual report works out to about $171 per employee per month in service fees on average, and it billed clients about 10% more for insurance than the insurance cost it.
- Is People Processes cheaper than TriNet?
- For a 30-person company, Foundation comes to about $167 per employee per month. For TriNet, the fees plus the HR work your team would still do come to about $224–$321. The full math is on this page.
- Can we leave TriNet in the middle of the year?
- TriNet's annual report says most contracts can be ended without penalty with 30 days' notice. Plan the benefits switch so your own plans start when TriNet's coverage ends.
- What happens to our benefits if we leave TriNet?
- If your employees are on TriNet's health plans, you'll need your own plans when you leave. Timing matters: switching at a plan renewal avoids resetting deductibles mid-year. Send us your agreement and invoices and we'll plan the move and quote your own plans.
Sources (checked October 27, 2026)
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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