Compare
Traditional outsourced-HR providers built their model in a different era: multi-year agreements, phone-based advice, pricing you only learn on a sales call. HQ.ai was built to be the opposite - self-serve, month-to-month, priced in the open. Here is the honest comparison.
Dimension
Traditional outsourced HR
HQ.ai
Contract
Traditional: Often a multi-year agreement
HQ.ai: Month-to-month, cancel any time
Getting started
Traditional: Sales call, consultation, onboarding
HQ.ai: Sign up and start in minutes
Everyday answers
Traditional: Phone an advice line and wait your turn
HQ.ai: Ask the AI, answered in seconds, any hour
Pricing
Traditional: Quoted on a sales call
HQ.ai: Published on our pricing page, from $59/mo
The hard calls
Traditional: Depends on your plan and who picks up
HQ.ai: A real Humanistiqs advisor - on HR365, the same person every time
Hiring tools
Traditional: Often separate or not included
HQ.ai: HQ Recruit built in or standalone from $65/mo
All HQ.ai figures are current and match our pricing page. The left column describes the traditional outsourced-HR model in general - not any single provider.
The traditional model asks you to commit for years before you know if the service fits. We think that is backwards. HQ.ai is month-to-month on every self-serve plan: if we stop being useful, you stop paying. That keeps the pressure exactly where it belongs - on us.
When a staffing question lands, you want an answer while the problem is in front of you - not after a callback. HQ.ai answers everyday questions in seconds, at 6am before open or 11pm after close. And when a question is genuinely hard, it says so and brings in our human team rather than bluffing.
HQ People from $59/mo. HQ Recruit from $65/mo. HQ Business from $89/mo. HR365 with a dedicated advisor from $799/mo. It is all on the pricing page, and the price you see is the price you pay - unlimited logins, no per-seat charges, no surprise extras.
An honest comparison cuts both ways. If you want someone else to handle everything end to end and you are comfortable with the commitment that comes with it, a full-service provider can be the right fit. And parts of what some of them offer - like insurance-backed products - are things we do not sell.
That is why we built HR365 and Recruit365: the same done-for-you feel, a dedicated advisor who knows your business, without the multi-year handcuffs.
No sales call, no contract, no risk. Sign up, use it for a month, and judge us on whether we made your week lighter.