The Sage alternative without packs of 25 and an annual commitment
Sage licenses in packs of 25 employees with a twelve-month minimum term. MetronHR bills per person, is cancellable monthly and is set up in minutes rather than in a project.
No credit card required · Cancel monthly
All information about Sage HR Suite comes from the official provider pages. As at: 2 September 2026.
Lena H.
Tobias K.
Aylin D.
Mehmet Y.
Sophie B.
Mara W.Leave, 3 daysAylin Demir · 28–30 OctTraining, 1 dayTobias Krüger · 22 Oct
Leave, 3 daysNadia Schulz · 22–24 DecReview
Month endSeptember · Krämer payroll officeDone- Made in GermanyDeveloped and hosted in Germany
- Certified data centreISO 27001, located in Germany
- Web, app and terminalBrowser, iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows
- GDPR compliantServers in Nuremberg and Falkenstein
Features in detail
Sources and notes (12)
- Sage HR Suite, Project time tracking / budgets: The time management records „job and project times“. Client hourly rates, project budgets with a target-actual traffic light and billable activities are not named on the product page.
- Sage HR Suite, Allowances / hour packages: Client-bound hour packages with periodic renewal and carry-over are not documented.
- Sage HR Suite, Onboarding and offboarding workflows: The personnel management covers personnel files, personnel development and employee reviews. A joining and leaving process with tasks, owners and deadlines is not listed as a separate feature.
- MetronHR, Payroll handover to the accountant (DATEV payroll export): Export file for DATEV LODAS and DATEV Lohn und Gehalt in the Team and Professional plans, at no extra cost. Hours, premiums, vacation and sickness per person and month, with your own accountant's wage types.
- Sage HR Suite, Payroll handover to the accountant (DATEV payroll export): Sage runs payroll in its own payroll module, from 39 euros a month, instead of handing it to an accountant (sage.com/de-de/produkte/sage-hr-suite-personal-software, retrieved 2 Sep 2026). Sage names no DATEV payroll file from its time management; on 24 Oct 2026 the product page could not be retrieved for a fresh check.
- MetronHR, Application hosted in Germany: The application and customer data run at Hetzner Online GmbH in Nuremberg and Falkenstein, exclusively in Germany.
- Sage HR Suite, Application hosted in Germany: For the cloud version Sage names a „TÜV and ISO certified data centre“, without a country or operator. For central sign-in (SageID) and system administration (SEOS) the privacy policy expressly names data centres in Dublin, Ireland.
- MetronHR, Hosting operator without a US parent company: The operator is Hetzner Online GmbH, a German company with no US parent. This marketing website is hosted with Vercel, Inc. (USA) in the Frankfurt region, where no employee data is processed.
- Sage HR Suite, Hosting operator without a US parent company: An AWS data centre for SageID and an Azure data centre from Microsoft for SEOS, both in Dublin. The controller is Sage GmbH in Frankfurt, a subsidiary of Sage Group plc in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
- Sage HR Suite, Mobile app: The German HR Suite product pages name no native app for iOS or Android. Time tracking is advertised for the office, field work and home office, without naming an app.
- MetronHR, API: The open REST API v1 is part of the Professional plan: readable are employees, departments, clients, services, projects, time entries, absences and published shifts, while clients, services, projects, time entries and absences can be changed, each secured by keys with permissions per resource. Outgoing webhooks and the MCP server for AI assistants also belong to Professional. Sign-in via Microsoft Entra ID comes with every plan. Further integrations are agreed individually in the Enterprise offer.
- Sage HR Suite, API: Sage names interfaces and an AppCenter, but documents no open API with terms on the HR Suite product pages.
~ = available with limits, the notes are below the table. – = no verified information is available for this provider on this feature. That is not a no: we only record a negative where we can cite a source.
An overview of which features exist at all, regardless of plan. The price-performance comparison is on the pricing page, the individual features in detail under Features.
Feature comparison as at September 2026. Information about competitors comes from publicly available sources, in each case the official provider pages with the date retrieved, and can change. Sage HR Suite is a trademark of its respective owner.
MetronHR is also available as a native app for iOS and Android:
Where the data sits
Server location and operator are two different questions. A data centre in Germany does not remove the data from US law: providers with a US parent company fall under the CLOUD Act and the surveillance powers of FISA 702, regardless of where the servers stand. Microsoft's chief legal officer in France testified under oath before the French Senate's committee of inquiry on 10 June 2025 that he could not guarantee that data from European data centres would not go to US authorities (record of the Sénat). That is why both are shown side by side here, each with the source it comes from.
What is compared is what the provider documents for its own application, not the infrastructure of its marketing website. More about our own hosting is in the Trust Center.
MetronHR
- Server location of the application
- Hetzner Online GmbH, Nuremberg and Falkenstein. All servers stand exclusively in Germany.
- Operator and legal jurisdiction
- Hetzner Online GmbH, a German company with no US parent and therefore beyond the reach of the CLOUD Act and FISA 702. No US provider sits in the data path for the application.
- Processors outside Germany
- None for the application. Payment is handled by Stripe Payments Europe (Ireland). This marketing website is hosted with Vercel, Inc. (USA, Frankfurt region), and analytics run through PostHog Cloud EU and the reverse proxy cdn.metronhr.de with a Cloudflare edge. No employee data is processed there.
- Source
- MetronHR privacy policyAs at 08/2026
Sage HR Suite
- Server location of the application
- For the cloud version Sage names a TÜV and ISO certified data centre, without a country or operator. Central sign-in via SageID runs in an AWS data centre in Dublin, Ireland, and system administration via SEOS in an Azure data centre from Microsoft, also in Dublin. The HR Suite is alternatively available as a locally installed desktop solution.
- Operator and legal jurisdiction
- Amazon Web Services for SageID and Microsoft for SEOS, both US groups, with data centres in Ireland. The controller is Sage GmbH, Franklinstraße 61-63, 60486 Frankfurt am Main, a subsidiary of Sage Group plc, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
- Processors outside Germany
- The privacy policy for the cloud services names Auth0 Inc. (Bellevue, Washington, USA) as the technology provider for SageID, Sage Global Services Ltd. (Newcastle, United Kingdom) and Sage Spain SL (Madrid) for provisioning and administration, Pendo (Raleigh, USA) for usage analytics and SendGrid from Twilio Inc. (San Francisco, USA) for sending SMS. The full list of sub-processors is in the annex to the data processing agreement.
- Source
- Sage, privacy policy for cloud services abgerufen 02.09.2026
All information comes from the providers' publicly available privacy policies and security pages, and the date retrieved is on every card. Providers can change their infrastructure and their processors at any time. The adequacy decision on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework still applies, but is under legal challenge.
What MetronHR does better
- MetronHR advantage
No packs of 25 and no annual commitment
Sage licenses by default in packs of 25 employees, with annual billing and a twelve-month minimum term. A business with 14 people therefore pays for 25. At MetronHR what counts is who actually works: 5 euros per person on the Team plan, 10 euros on Professional, cancellable monthly, with no pack boundary and no quotation process.
- MetronHR advantage
Set up in minutes instead of in a project
For the HR Suite Sage offers a personal needs analysis, consulting, training and a GDPR service, plus the choice between cloud and local installation. That suits large organisations and takes time. MetronHR is self-service: register, invite employees by email, productive in a few minutes. The standard working-time model, the public holiday calendar for all 16 federal states and approval rules are preset.
- MetronHR advantage
A server location with a name, not just with a certificate
For the cloud version Sage names a „TÜV and ISO certified data centre“, without a country or operator. The privacy policy for the cloud services names an AWS data centre in Dublin for central sign-in and an Azure data centre in Dublin for system administration, both US groups. MetronHR names the operator and the locations: Hetzner Online GmbH, Nuremberg and Falkenstein, a German company with no US parent.
- MetronHR advantage
Client allowances and project budgets
Sage's time management records job and project times. What is missing is the billing layer above it: an hourly rate per client, a budget with a target-actual traffic light and hour packages that renew and carry unused time over. MetronHR keeps both and prepares the invoice from them.
ContingentsClients' hour packagesKanzlei RuhrPackage 40:00h31:30hPraxis Dr. LindnerPackage 20:00h18:45hApotheke am MarktPackage 10:00h10:30h
Price comparison
Sage bills per module and in packs of 25 employees. Example: a business with 20 people that needs time management.
| Service | MetronHR | Sage HR Suite |
|---|---|---|
| Time management (recording, absences, shift roster, traffic-light account) | Team 5 euros per person, 100 euros for 20 people | Time management module from 21 euros a month, licensed in packs of 25 |
| Payroll in house | not available, MetronHR only prepares it | Payroll module from 39 euros a month |
| Applicant management | not available | Module from 19 euros a month |
| Licensing unit | per active user, no package thresholds | Packs of 25 employees, even if fewer are needed |
| Term and billing | terminable monthly | a twelve-month minimum term, billed annually |
| Server location | Hetzner Online GmbH, Nuremberg and Falkenstein | Data centre not named, SageID and system administration in Dublin |
| Project budgets, client allowances, onboarding workflows | included in Professional | not available |
Time management (recording, absences, shift roster, traffic-light account)
- MetronHR
- Team 5 euros per person, 100 euros for 20 people
- Sage HR Suite
- Time management module from 21 euros a month, licensed in packs of 25
Payroll in house
- MetronHR
- not available, MetronHR only prepares it
- Sage HR Suite
- Payroll module from 39 euros a month
Applicant management
- MetronHR
- not available
- Sage HR Suite
- Module from 19 euros a month
Licensing unit
- MetronHR
- per active user, no package thresholds
- Sage HR Suite
- Packs of 25 employees, even if fewer are needed
Term and billing
- MetronHR
- terminable monthly
- Sage HR Suite
- a twelve-month minimum term, billed annually
Server location
- MetronHR
- Hetzner Online GmbH, Nuremberg and Falkenstein
- Sage HR Suite
- Data centre not named, SageID and system administration in Dublin
Project budgets, client allowances, onboarding workflows
- MetronHR
- included in Professional
- Sage HR Suite
- not available
Prices per sage.com, Sage HR Suite product page, retrieved on 2 September 2026: „licensing is by default in employee packs of 25. The price applies including software maintenance for one workstation with annual billing and a twelve-month minimum contract term, plus VAT.“ A total price for a specific number of employees is not on the page; it is prepared as a quote.
No credit card needed · cancellable monthly
Frequently asked questions
What you need to know about switching from Sage HR Suite to MetronHR.
Question not answered here? Every step is explained in the help centre.
Send us a messageWhat does the Sage HR Suite cost compared with MetronHR?
Sage quotes module prices: payroll from 39 euros, time management from 21 euros, applicant management from 19 euros a month. Licensing is by default in packs of 25 employees, with annual billing and a twelve-month minimum contract term, plus VAT. A total price for your own number of employees is not on the page; it is prepared as a quote. MetronHR costs 5 euros per person on Team and 10 euros on Professional, cancellable monthly. As at 2 September 2026.
When do you need more than MetronHR covers?
If you run payroll in house. Sage calculates it, sends electronic notifications, produces certificates and recalculates, plus travel expenses and applicant management. MetronHR prepares payroll and hands it to the tax firm, and that is a decision: over 90 per cent of German tax firms run payroll for their clients, and MetronHR is built for those businesses. Anyone who runs payroll in house takes on Sage's terms: licensing in packs of 25 employees, annual billing, a twelve-month minimum contract term and module prices with no total price for your own workforce. MetronHR costs 5 euros per person and is cancellable monthly.
Where does the data sit at Sage?
For the cloud version Sage names a TÜV and ISO certified data centre, without a country or operator. The privacy policy for the cloud services names an AWS data centre in Dublin for sign-in and an Azure data centre from Microsoft in Dublin for system administration, plus Auth0, Pendo and Twilio in the USA. The controller is Sage GmbH in Frankfurt, a subsidiary of the British Sage Group plc. MetronHR runs at Hetzner Online GmbH in Nuremberg and Falkenstein.
Which features does MetronHR have that Sage does not cover?
Client-bound hour packages with renewal and carry-over, project budgets with a target-actual traffic light, client hourly rates, onboarding and offboarding workflows with tasks and deadlines, and day planning in 15-minute steps with activities, staffing rules and qualification requirements. Sage in turn covers payroll, travel expenses and applicant management, exactly the topics MetronHR deliberately leaves out because payroll is calculated at the tax firm.
Does Sage have a native app for employees?
The German HR Suite product pages name no app for iOS or Android. Time tracking is advertised for the office, field work and home office, without naming an app. MetronHR has native apps for iOS and Android with clocking, absence requests and a self-service file, plus an Android tablet as a stationary terminal.
Can I bring my data from Sage to MetronHR?
For master data, times, absences and balances yes; Sage offers reports and custom reporting. What cannot be carried over is payroll runs, electronic notifications, travel expenses and applicant data, because MetronHR does not cover those areas. Anyone who wants to keep payroll in house should check whether a switch makes sense at all. Also note Sage's twelve-month minimum contract term; MetronHR is cancellable monthly, so you can test in parallel and switch at the end of the term.
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- Cancel monthly
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