When you compare care software for a home care provider, the monthly figure on the quote hides a choice that matters more than the figure itself: what the price is counted in. Some products count people who log in. Others count the carers who deliver care. This guide explains both models neutrally, what each means as you grow, and why Carelo counts active carers and nothing else.
Priced per user. The supplier charges for each named login. Office staff, managers, finance and sometimes carers each count as a seat. The attraction is that a very small team pays very little at the start. The cost is that every new person who needs access adds to the bill, and the number of logins you can afford starts to shape how many people see the system.
Priced per carer. The supplier charges by the size of the care team, either per carer or by a band such as up to 15, up to 30 or up to 50. The number of office logins is then a separate question: some suppliers include them, some cap them, some charge for them. The attraction is that the price follows the thing that actually grows when a provider grows, which is delivery. The thing to check is the definition of a carer, and whether office staff are counted.
Neither model is dishonest. Many care software products charge per office user, per module or per service user, and many do not; the terms differ by supplier and by plan and they change, so check your current supplier's price list rather than relying on a general statement, including this one.
In a provider of five carers, the registered manager does most of it. By the time a provider reaches thirty or forty carers, the list of people who need to see the system is long, and every one of them has a reasonable claim:
Under per-user pricing, each of these is a purchasing decision. People who see the system less often tend to be given shared logins to save money, and a shared login weakens the audit trail: you can no longer say who changed what. In a regulated service, that is the wrong trade.
Take a provider that grows from 15 to 40 carers over two years. Its office will not grow in proportion: perhaps from three people to six. Under per-user pricing the bill rises with office headcount and with any carers who count as users. Under per-carer pricing the bill rises with the care team, and the office can grow without touching it.
The two models also behave differently when the office changes shape without the care team changing. A provider that adds an on-call rota, brings finance in-house or opens a second branch has changed its office but not its carers. Per-user pricing reacts to that; per-carer pricing does not.
The honest way to compare is to price your own situation twelve months ahead: the carers you expect, the office logins you will want if nobody had to ration them, and any modules or apps that are charged separately. Compare the totals, not the headline.
Carelo is priced by active-carer band: £59 a month for up to 15 active carers, £89 for up to 30, £119 for up to 50, £169 for up to 100 and £249 for unlimited carers, excluding VAT. A carer counts only if they had work in the month. Office staff and managers are never counted.
That is deliberate. We think the people who run a care service should all be able to see it, with their own login, so that every change in the record has a name against it. So office logins are unlimited on every plan, and so are service users. The carer app and the family app are included at no extra cost, migration is free, and there is no setup fee. The first month is free, and yearly payment is discounted.
Two optional add-ons sit on top: Carelo AI from £39 a month, and Live Tracking from £19 a month. Neither is needed to use Carelo. For families who employ their own carers or personal assistants, the Personal Plan is £30 a month. The full table is on the pricing page.
If you are weighing Carelo against a product you already use, our comparison pages set out the questions to ask both of us: Birdie, Nourish, CarePlanner and Access Care Planning. We have not listed anyone else's prices, because they vary by plan and change; ask each supplier for theirs in writing.
Our guide to how much care management software costs goes further into the charges to look for, and the guide to choosing home care software covers what to test on the demo.
No. For a very small provider with one or two office users, per-user pricing can come out lower. The gap tends to open as the office grows, so price the team you expect to have in twelve months, not only today.
No. Office logins are unlimited on every plan, and so are service users. Your band is set by the number of active carers, meaning carers who had work in the month.
Yes. Both are included at no extra cost on every plan.
Because a care record is evidence. When several people use one login, you cannot show who recorded or changed something. Individual logins give each action a name and a time, which matters at inspection and when something goes wrong.
Your band follows the number of active carers. If it moves up or down you change band; your service users and office logins stay unlimited either way. The details are on the pricing page.
Yes. Ask your supplier for their current terms in writing, price your own numbers on both, and use our comparison pages for the questions to ask. Carelo is not affiliated with any other supplier named on this site.
From £59 a month excluding VAT. First month free. Free migration.
See the full pricing table