Is Employment Hero or Subframe better?

Neither clearly leads. Employment Hero starts at On request and Subframe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Employment Hero or Subframe?

Subframe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Employment Hero and Free for Subframe.

Does Employment Hero or Subframe run on more platforms?

Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

Can I use Subframe for free?

Yes. Subframe has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Employment Hero starts at On request.

HR & Recruiting · head to head

Employment Hero vs Subframe

Employment Hero

HR & Recruiting

Australian HR, payroll and recruitment platform for employment management

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

Subframe

Design Tools

The AI-native design tool built for code

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Subframe has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Employment Hero hR Essentials at AUD 10/employee/month requires a minimum of 10 users, so it cannot be bought for a team smaller than that even if actual headcount is lower; Subframe the free plan is capped at 1 project, 10 pages, and 2 prototypes with limited AI usage and only 24 hour version history, versus unlimited AI on the $29 per editor per month Pro plan, as of August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Employment Hero and Subframe actually diverge.

Attributes where Employment Hero and Subframe differ
Attribute	Employment Hero	Subframe
Starting price	On request	Free
Pricing model	subscription	freemium
Free tier	No	Yes
Category	HR & Recruiting	Design Tools

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated).

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Employment Hero

HR Essentials at AUD 10/employee/month requires a minimum of 10 users, so it cannot be bought for a team smaller than that even if actual headcount is lower
Core features like payroll, chat and rostering are unbundled add-ons billed separately per employee, for example Managed Payroll costs an extra AUD 20/employee/month with a AUD 400 monthly minimum

Subframe

The free plan is capped at 1 project, 10 pages, and 2 prototypes with limited AI usage and only 24 hour version history, versus unlimited AI on the $29 per editor per month Pro plan, as of August 2026.

Pricing, plan by plan

Employment Hero

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Employment Hero review.

Subframe

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Subframe review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Employment Hero if

Nothing in the data separates Employment Hero from Subframe on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Employment Hero review

Choose Subframe if

You want to start without paying.

Subframe review

Questions people ask

Is Employment Hero or Subframe better?: Neither clearly leads. Employment Hero starts at On request and Subframe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Employment Hero or Subframe?: Subframe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Employment Hero and Free for Subframe.
Does Employment Hero or Subframe run on more platforms?: Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Subframe for free?: Yes. Subframe has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Employment Hero starts at On request.

Employment Hero vs Subframe

Employment Hero

Subframe

The short version

Where they differ

Where each one falls short

Employment Hero

Subframe

Pricing, plan by plan

Employment Hero

Subframe

Which should you pick?

Choose Employment Hero if

Choose Subframe if

Questions people ask

Related pages

More on Employment Hero

More on Subframe

Keep looking

Other head to heads