Are you in the market for a world-class HRMS to help your team streamline employee onboarding, payroll, benefits management, and talent acquisition? If that’s close to your case, this guide will allow you to identify the best human resources management systems. We’ll also look at the main benefits of this type of software, how to get internal buy-in from stakeholders, and much more.
But what do we mean by HRMS? And what sets it apart from an HRIS or an HCM? While many people have different definitions, we agree with Oracle NetSuite when they explain that an HRMS is the most complete form of HR software, being able to tackle just about any HR process within the employee lifecycle, including payroll.
So, through hours of research, we’ve rounded up the best HRMS software vendors based on their features for human resources management, as well as customer success, user experience, quality of support, implementation, etc. We’ve also tried to include a combination of companies focused on small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as well as enterprises or mid-market businesses.
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We take our research seriously and want to make sure we are presenting our readers with the very best solutions in a given software category. Here's how we select vendors to be in our buyer guides:
Here's more detail if you want to read further on how we research vendors.
We track thousands of HR tech solutions, and these are the best HRMS software vendors for several business sizes and regions per our research and expert council as of 2022.
Why we love it
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Rippling is an HR management platform for everything between onboarding and offboarding, with a soothing design and great user experience.
Rippling
Review:
Rippling is a relatively new company started by Zenefits alumni. They focus on helping small and medium organizations kill HR and IT busywork with one solution. An interesting thing about them is that they try to make their software easy to use and intuitive not just for HR professionals and recruiters but for the CEO, IT staff, and any team member who will interact with the product.
Their product falls in line with what you’d expect from a Silicon Valley-based startup: a great UI, eye-catching design, and fast performance. Notably, they also have over 500 integrations with everything from Slack to GitHub.
Rippling
Customers:
Rippling
Stats:
Rippling
Pricing:
Rippling’s pricing starts at $8 per month per user and will vary depending on which modules you’d like to use (or if you want the whole platform) and for how many people.
Best For:
SMBs with a strong need for automation in HR processes
Worth Checking Out:
Why we love it
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Paycor is a robust and data-centric HCM solution for leaders at U.S.-based companies who want their teams to save time on HR transactional tasks.
Paycor
Review:
Aside from having automation and AI capabilities, Paycor stands out from most HCM vendors for having some of the most potent HR analytics out there. They provide a custom company dashboard that leaders can build out as they please, choosing from literally hundreds of reports such as headcount trends by employment time, projected headcount, and voluntary turnover by tenure, just to mention a few.
Further, some of their reports use secondary pools of data in order to provide benchmark analysis in real time. This effectively helps executives and HR leaders alike better understand their workforce and how their efforts stack up in comparison to similar companies.
Paycor
Customers:
Among the companies that use Paycor, you’ll find names such as Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Detroit Zoo, and remarkably, several sports teams such as the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Fire.
Paycor
Stats:
Paycor
Pricing:
Fees will vary depending on your number of employees and the modules you add.
Best For:
Companies in the U.S. with up to 1,000 employees, mainly in manufacturing, healthcare, food and beverage, nonprofits, and professional sports organizations.
Worth Checking Out:
During the pandemic, Paycor expanded their offering to feature an immunization tracking tool. This is a part of a larger pool of mobile-friendly COVID-19 safety, analytics & compliance tools.
Why we love it
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Workday is one of the most popular people management software products out there specifically geared toward enterprises.
WorkDay
Review:
Workday is one of the best talent management systems and HRMS suites, particularly for large enterprises. Although it’s true that their reputation is not the best with users and the HR teams who have to implement the solution, if you’re in need of a product that can scale, checks the necessary IT and infosec boxes, and can be implemented across large global companies, Workday is a company worth looking into.
WorkDay
Customers:
WorkDay
Stats:
WorkDay
Pricing:
The exact pricing details of Workday aren’t provided by the vendor, since they’ll likely tailor their offer to your business size and needs. They also don’t offer a free trial, but you can see the tool for yourself through their demo videos online.
Best For
Large enterprises
Worth Checking Out:
Why we love it
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One of the top names in HR software, BambooHR is a flexible, user-friendly, and trustworthy HRMS with tons of features. These include an ATS, payroll, performance management, and much more.
BambooHR
Review:
A notable thing about BambooHR is that they offer flexible plans and several iterations of their technology to fit your business. Their platform spans the entire employee lifecycle, as they also have recruiting and performance management in addition to the full HRMS functionality. Also included are numerous amenities like an app marketplace of HR and recruiting vendors that integrate with their system, an HR glossary, and occasional HR events.
Since payroll, performance management, time tracking, and even an ATS are offered as either optional add-ons or part of the Advantage plans, it is without a doubt a very complete Human Resources Management System.
BambooHR
Customers:
Among the 20,000+ companies that use BambooHR, you’d find names like Quora, Universal Group, Reddit, Asana, Change.org, University of Maryland, Grammarly, Stance, Postmates, Wistia, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and ZipRecruiter.
BambooHR
Stats:
BambooHR
Pricing:
Pricing is not disclosed upfront, but they do offer a free trial of their all-in-one software and then go out of their way to find a version that will suit you. Before they come up with a personalized quote that will align with your budget, however, they are also likely to extend your free trial upon request or even give you a free demo of the advanced features.
Best For
BambooHR is a good fit for companies looking for a very customizable HR product, with pricing that reflects their needs. It’s also popular among teams that are partially or even fully remote.
Worth Checking Out:
Using this solution, managers spend an average of 80 percent less time on performance reviews; employees spend 50 percent less time. Bamboo provides research-backed questions and templates to give HR admins and managers a starting point for gaining insights.
Why we love it
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UKG is the result of the merger of Ultimate Software and Kronos. As such, it brings over 70 years of experience with People tech into the HR tech space.
UKG
Review:
Ultimate Software was mainly known for its core HR tech product, UltiPro. Now that they’ve merged with Kronos, UltiPro has been rebranded as UKG Pro. The new company behind it, the Ultimate Kronos Group, aims to combine HCM capabilities with robust people analytics and stellar payroll capabilities. Further, thanks in part to the merger, word has it that the service delivery of the HR teams who use UKG has improved considerably.
UKG
Customers:
UKG
Stats:
UKG
Pricing:
The price of UKG Pro is not revealed on their website, although research has shown that licenses tend to start at $600 per year for every five users.
Best For
Companies looking for an enterprise-grade product regardless of HR team size.
Worth Checking Out:
Why we love it
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Zoho People offers a 360-degree solution for HR teams with plans that range from completely free to just a few dollars per employee per month.
Zoho
Review:
As a software company that makes all sorts of business applications, it makes total sense that they’d offer a very complete cloud-based HRMS. Zoho People has an impressive list of features on each plan, so it’s hard to imagine HR teams at SMBs not finding everything they need here. This 360-degree HR solution is robust, user-friendly, and affordable.
Zoho
Customers:
Zoho
Stats:
Zoho
Pricing:
Zoho People is free for up to five users. After that, their HR Essentials plan starts at $0.83 per user per month if you pay yearly, or $1 user per month. To put things in perspective in case you grow fast, their enterprise plan is $5 per user per month.
Best For
Companies of all sizes looking for a flexible solution that checks all the HRMS boxes without breaking the bank.
Worth Checking Out:
Why we love it
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Oracle is one of the top names in IT. Their HCM, which can also process payroll, is popular among enterprises with more than 1,000 employees.
Oracle
Review:
Oracle’s human resources suite is built for the cloud and made for connecting every single HR process. It’s good for teams looking to have a single source of truth for HR data in order to improve decision making. Their product includes talent management, recruiting, workforce management, payroll, and HCM analytics.
Oracle
Customers:
Oracle
Stats:
Oracle
Pricing:
Oracle doesn’t provide pricing details for their HR suite up front. To get a quote, you’d have to request a demo, but they also offer interactive product tours you can take before chatting with a sales rep.
Best For
Enterprises with over 1,000 employees in most parts of the world.
Worth Checking Out:
Oracle has a customer community called Cloud Customer Connect with over 200,000 members.
Why we love it
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SAP SuccessFactors is one of the big names in HR software. They’re currently pushing the boundaries of the HCM category itself, calling their product an HXM suite (for Human Experience Management).
SAP SuccessFactors
Review:
SAP is trying to transform traditional human capital management into a more employee-oriented endeavor. Through their HXM, they are trying to position the worker’s experience as the main filter for how companies engage with their people. Their product helps HR managers deliver experiences that resonate with employees while shaping their strategy.
Although not branded as an HRMS, SuccessFactors does cover all the features you’d expect from this category. This includes cloud payroll and benefits administration, even for a global workforce.
SAP SuccessFactors
Customers:
SAP SuccessFactors
Stats:
Best For
Enterprises looking to improve UX
Worth Checking Out:
Over 1,000 customers have implemented SAP’s intelligent mentoring offering.
Why we love it
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Namely is an all-in-one HR platform designed to be used by everyone and made specifically with mid-sized companies in mind.
Namely
Review:
Namely is one of the best HR software solutions for the mid-market (from 50 employees to up to 1,000). Their modern, employee-friendly software sees nearly 80% of employees log in each month. Plus, their software saves their clients an average of 11 hours each week through automation and integrations, which provides a strong ROI for overworked HR teams.
Namely
Customers:
Namely
Stats:
Namely
Pricing:
Custom pricing for Namely is available upon request of a demo. It will vary depending on which package you choose. They start with a basic HR package and then sell extensions or enhanced services for things like payroll solutions and employee benefits.
Best For
Namely is a great HRMS for the mid-market (50-1,000 employees).
Worth Checking Out:
Why we love it
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Zenefits is a widely-known product for its ease-of-use and modern-looking UI. It's designed for SMBs and offers real competitive prices.
Zenefits
Review:
Zenefits can take care of HR processes like onboarding, offboarding, benefits, payroll, performance reviews, and more. Their average customer size is just under 50 employees, which means that the user experience is thought out not only for human resources staff but to be easy and quick enough for managers or executives who need to take care of some HR tasks as well.
Zenefits
Customers:
Zenefits
Stats:
Zenefits
Pricing:
Zenefits starts with the Essentials plan at $8 per month per employee. This includes all the core HR modules, time tracking and scheduling, integrations, and the mobile app. Those features are all included, plus other modules, as the plans go up in price. They also offer independent add-ons like payroll software for free, advisory services at $8 per month per employee, and benefits admin using your own broker at $5 per user per month.
Enterprise pricing is also available upon request.
Best For
Entrepreneurs and mid-size businesses in the U.S.
Worth Checking Out:
Why we love it
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Ceridian makes Dayforce, a modern cloud HR platform that can manage the entire employee lifecycle.
Ceridian
Review:
Although it’s labeled as an HCM, Dayforce by Ceridian also includes a comprehensive payroll tool. By combining core HR, benefits, workforce management, and talent management, Dayforce unifies data from all stages of the employee lifecycle for better decision making and data-driven insights.
In particular, Dayforce is built with a flexible rules engine that helps address complex regulatory requirements while providing real-time updates and calculations.
Ceridian
Customers:
Ceridian
Stats:
Best For
Enterprises with over 1,000 employees.
Worth Checking Out:
Ceridian’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts take the form of Ceridian Cares, an employee-driven charity that tries to improve the communities where the company operates.
Why we love it
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UZIO has a wide array of HRMS features and varied plans with real competitive prices. They let teams manage costs while enhancing the employee experience that's derived from all digital aspects of HR
UZIO
Review:
UZIO is an integrated, cloud-based platform for employers to manage HR, payroll, benefits, and more. Featuring automations for employee onboarding and offboarding, time tracking, compensation management, benefits administration, and tax administration, UZIO takes a great deal off your HR team’s plate — all while minimizing errors.
UZIO
Customers:
UZIO
Stats:
UZIO
Pricing:
UZIO has four pricing plans that give users access to specific functions of the system. These plans are priced as follows:
UZIO also has an All-in-One plan that users can buy to access all of the above and more. This plan is priced at $10 per employee per month plus $30 per month.
Best For
HR teams looking for a cost-friendly solution with module-based pricing
Worth Checking Out:
To wrap this up, we’ll assume you’ve read everything above and have a couple of vendors in mind to reach out to and book a demo with. To send you off to this part of the buying process, there’s one last piece of advice that can help a great deal when evaluating HRMS software providers.
These demos should revolve around your HR requirements, and you should try to avoid having one-size-fits-all demonstrations whenever possible. To do this, share your list of requirements and questions beforehand, asking them to show that specific functionality. Since reporting is such a big part of HR management these days, you could even give them data for them to run into the system.
This way, you and your team will get to truly see how much of a fit the tool is for you, as well as gauging other factors like intuitiveness and overall user experience. Couple this guide with our very own HR and recruitment software buying organizer and you’ll be on your way to find the perfect platform for your HR needs.
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