9 Best Compensation Management Software Tools (2025)
The best comp management software tested and reviewed by HR tech experts. See feature comparisons, pricing data, benefits, drawbacks, and more below.
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Compensation management software is typically a cloud-based SaaS tool that helps HR and finance teams plan, manage, and optimize employee pay. These tools facilitate compensation processes like salary planning, bonuses, equity, and pay-for-performance programs. Comp management software is essential to the modern human resources department. Compensation adds up to 70.3% of total employer costs in the private industry. Therefore, it’s important for HR teams to take extra care when planning how to pay employees.
Many other factors contribute to needing compensation management software as well. Not sure the monetary value of a specific skill? Having trouble tracking performance-based compensation across different teams? Trying to boost retention through transparent payment decisions?
To simplify your buying process, we handpicked the best comp management solutions out of dozens in the market. Before you decide to buy, check out this guide to understand what’s out there, how much each product costs, what to ask on demos, pitfalls to avoid, and more.
To identify the top-tier Compensation Management Software, we evaluated dozens of tools across multiple criteria taking into account user feedback, demos, interviews with each company’s product team, and our own experts’ insight. We placed significant emphasis on three pivotal aspects: compensation management features, market analysis & benchmarking capabilities, and integration with HR systems.
- Core Compensation Management Features: The selected solutwions facilitate salary planning, performance assessment, bonus distribution, and equity administration. These features empower businesses to make informed compensation decisions, align employee rewards with performance, and optimize the overall compensation management process.
- Market Analysis and Benchmarking: Effective compensation management requires insights into prevailing market trends and competitive benchmarks. We focused on software solutions that enable businesses to compare their compensation practices with industry peers, access real-time market data, and make data-driven decisions to ensure competitive and fair compensation packages.
- Integration with HR Systems: To make the cut, the compensation management tools we picked had to offer compatibility with HRIS, HCM, and other essential HR platforms, ensuring seamless data exchange and minimizing manual data entry.
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Deel
We picked Deel Compensation for its unique ability to bring structure, equity, and compliance to global pay decisions—all within a single system. The platform is built to help companies replace disconnected spreadsheets with dynamic compensation planning that aligns with local laws, internal budgets, and evolving market benchmarks. For globally distributed teams, Deel’s emphasis on pay transparency, compliance, and automation sets it apart from legacy comp tools.
PROS
- Global salary benchmarking for 150+ countries
- Budgeting tools and compensation review workflows are built in
- Automated payroll adjustments for smooth implementation
- Multi-currency support with localized compliance guidance
- Supports pay transparency initiatives at the company and regional levels
- Integrated with Deel HRIS and payroll for end-to-end execution
- Excellent 24/7 customer service with fast onboarding (2-3 days) and local payroll experts in each jurisdiction.
- Deel HR is free for companies of all sizes.
- Seamless integration with platforms like QuickBooks, BambooHR, and Greenhouse, plus custom integration options.
- User-friendly, self-service features enable quick setup; identity verification often takes under 24 hours.
- Automated invoices simplify payments, provided they're in English.
CONS
- Global compensation dataset still maturing; full market data rollout expected later in 2025
- No current integrations with third-party benchmarking providers like Radford, Mercer, or Pave
- Performance-based bonus logic requires manual configuration; no native modeling yet
- Merit cycle tools are early-stage, with limited analytics for complex scenarios
- Currently not ideal for organizations without existing Deel infrastructure
- Key features like onboarding automation are add-ons, which may increase costs.
- Limited flexibility in modifying contracts or service agreements; changes often require an addendum.
- Invoices cannot be generated in languages other than English.
Deel’s Compensation Management module aims to solve a problem familiar to every HR and finance leader: how to manage fair, competitive, and compliant pay at a global scale without getting lost in spreadsheets. From what we’ve seen in the product demo and live webinar sessions, Deel is building toward an ambitious goal: true pay transparency on a global scale.
The core functionality today centers on compensation reviews, salary benchmarking, and budgeting tools, all wrapped in a clean UI that’s deeply integrated with Deel’s HRIS and payroll stack. Admins can set up compensation cycles, align them to budget, and configure structured approvals from management and executive teams. Each step can be localized, with support for multiple currencies and compliance indicators that warn you if a proposed salary falls outside local norms.
The platform also supports pay transparency, not just through policy templates or publishing ranges, but by giving teams the tools to model pay equity decisions, calculate raise costs, and proactively flag attrition risks. For example, early users mentioned using the tool to model what it would cost to bring all underpaid employees up to market rate, before attrition becomes an issue.
While many customers are still triangulating external sources like Radford, Mercer, and Salary.com for benchmarking, Deel’s internal data set, sourced from its 150+ country payroll network, is in early rollout. It’s not yet a replacement for standalone benchmarking tools, but is on track to become a powerful internal reference point.
Some limitations still exist. There’s no current integration with external comp databases; if you're running complex bonus structures based on company or division-level performance thresholds, you'll need to handle calculations separately for now.
Still, Deel is off to a strong start. What it lacks in legacy depth, it makes up for with flexibility, compliance-first design, and a clear product roadmap to give comp teams more strategic influence, particularly in global organizations.
Deel serves over 35,000 customers worldwide. Compensation management is used by distributed teams across industries who are already using Deel for HRIS, payroll, or international hiring.
Starts at $15 per employee per month. Includes access to:
- Compensation reviews and planning
- Budgeting tools
- Global salary benchmarking
- Local market insights
- Payroll automation for approved changes
- Pay transparency features
- Multi-currency and compliance support
Best For
Best for global companies that need to manage compensation across currencies, regions, and regulatory environments, and want to unify budgeting, benchmarking, and payroll in one system.
Aeqium
Aeqium combines the best of automation and flexibility, simplifying compensation management processes while allowing deep reconfigurability. With its intuitive platform and customizable workflows, Aeqium empowers HR teams to handle complex compensation cycles without needing external consultants or tech support. Plus, its reporting and insights tools provide real-time visibility, giving a clear edge in decision-making.
PROS
- Flexible Configuration: Highly customizable workflows and calculations without the need for specialized support.
- User-Friendly Interface: Intuitive dashboards that require minimal training for any kind of user.
- Real-Time Updates: Immediate changes propagate throughout the system during compensation cycles.
- Cost-Effective: Offers competitive pricing compared to similar tools like Pave.
- Strong Support: Dedicated Customer Success Managers and responsive support teams.
- Flexible Configuration: Highly customizable workflows and calculations without the need for specialized support.
- User-Friendly Interface: Intuitive dashboards that require minimal training for any kind of user.
- Real-Time Updates: Immediate changes propagate throughout the system during compensation cycles.
- Cost-Effective: Offers competitive pricing compared to similar tools like Pave.
- Strong Support: Dedicated Customer Success Managers and responsive support teams.
CONS
- Manual Payroll Integration: Currently, changes must be uploaded to payroll manually, but an automated sync is on the roadmap.
- Feature Gaps: Some functions, like ATS integrations and benchmarking data, could be expanded (but are being worked on as we write this).
- Initial Setup Hiccups: Some users have reported minor challenges during onboarding, though they are always solved swiftly by customer support.
- Manual Payroll Integration: Currently, changes must be uploaded to payroll manually, but an automated sync is on the roadmap.
- Feature Gaps: Some functions, like ATS integrations and benchmarking data, could be expanded (but are being worked on as we write this).
- Initial Setup Hiccups: Some users have reported minor challenges during onboarding, though they are always solved swiftly by customer support.
Aeqium excels at reducing the manual effort and errors typically associated with spreadsheets or rigid HRIS systems while letting users retain total control of their data. In other words, its system is as flexible as a spreadsheet but with structured workflows. Customers can calculate anything they need, write custom logic, perform validations, and manage budgets—top-down or bottom-up— without external consultants or tech support.
One of the main motivations behind Aeqium’s development is to allow for deeper and easier collaboration between managers and the people team. The tool works through customizable reviewer chains where the decisions about an employee’s compensation can be communicated up and down the chain for swift approval and revision.
Another feature that stood out during our demo was their Compensation Cycle Dashboard. It centralizes all compensation data, integrates with HRIS and equity systems, and allows HR teams to complete compensation reviews in hours instead of weeks. Its real-time update feature enables users to adjust formulas or logic mid-cycle, a level of flexibility that is, in our view, unmatched by traditional tools.
As an example of this flexibility, let’s say you are reviewing proposed salary changes. If you decide mid-cycle to change the formula driving the compensation proposals, you can make the adjustment in the backend. Then, the updates will propagate immediately across the system, without you having to restart the compensation cycle.
The Compensation Insights feature also stood out during the demo because it delivers proactive data points about employee compensation. For instance, it can help you identify pay equity issues, such as when employees may be out of band or have an upcoming drop in equity vesting. The comp team can then present this information to managers and work on mitigating issues like this before they arise.
While Aeqium is highly customizable, a few drawbacks remain. Automated payroll integration is still in development, and some users have expressed the desire for integrated benchmark data. Nonetheless, the team is quite responsive to customer feedback and has been known to release new features based on user suggestions.
Companies like IFS, DBT Labs, Front, Warby Parker, Loft Orbital, and Braze use Aeqium. Their customer list has grown considerably during the last year.
Aeqium's pricing isn’t publicly disclosed, but customer feedback suggests it offers competitive rates, often significantly lower than the competition. Notably, the platform also offers add-ons like compensation analysis and a total rewards portal.
Best For
Aeqium is ideal for mid-sized to large companies (200–6,000 employees) that require flexible compensation management and real-time configurability. It works well for industries like tech, consumer tech, and insurance, where dynamic compensation processes are essential.
OpenComp
OpenComp impressed us with its ability to bring order to compensation chaos. The platform takes the guesswork out of salary benchmarking, range creation, and merit cycle execution—especially for companies without in-house compensation experts. From our hands-on testing and product demo, we saw how OpenComp’s tools—especially the range builder, DEI insights, and cycle management—equip HR and finance teams with the confidence to make equitable, data-backed pay decisions.
PROS
- Real-time compensation benchmarking using global market data.
- Proprietary range builder tailored to company comp strategy.
- Offer and merit cycle workflows that simplify approvals and audits.
- Total reward statements for employee transparency.
- Integrates with 12+ HRIS tools and offers a public API.
- Real-time compensation benchmarking using global market data.
- Proprietary range builder tailored to company comp strategy.
- Offer and merit cycle workflows that simplify approvals and audits.
- Total reward statements for employee transparency.
- Integrates with 12+ HRIS tools and offers a public API.
CONS
- Some users noted a lack of two-way sync with specific HRIS systems.
- No feature (yet) for managing terminations or backfills with level tracking.
- Pricing can scale into six figures for larger orgs with advanced features.
- Some users noted a lack of two-way sync with specific HRIS systems.
- No feature (yet) for managing terminations or backfills with level tracking.
- Pricing can scale into six figures for larger orgs with advanced features.
OpenComp is a compensation management platform built specifically for organizations with up to 1,500 employees that lack deep comp expertise within their HR departments. The tool was developed around the compensation philosophy of Nancy Connory, Salesforce’s first VP of HR. This foundational expertise is deeply embedded in the product, from how it helps set salary ranges to how it guides merit cycle decisions.
OpenComp’s Head of Customer Success showcased the platform’s clean UI and modular architecture during our in-depth product walkthrough. One standout is the comp range builder, which creates company-specific salary bands based on a short strategy survey. You can also import your ranges and benchmark them against live market data.
We also tested the offer tool, which lets hiring managers quickly draft and route comp offers with pre-approval paths and historical reference points. On the current employee side, OpenComp’s cycle tool automates salary increases, allows for budget controls, and incorporates performance data. We especially liked the real-time executive summary that shows budget burn, market position, and the percentage of workforce below range.
Regarding employee experience, the platform creates total rewards statements that break down each individual’s comp package, including base, equity, bonuses, and historical changes.
That said, there are some limitations worth noting. Several users report challenges with certain HRIS integrations, including a lack of real-time two-way sync. Additionally, OpenComp currently lacks native support for managing terminations and backfill tracking by job level—features that would be valuable for organizations with evolving team structures. Finally, while pricing is flexible, it can escalate quickly for larger companies implementing the full suite of advanced tools.
While OpenComp doesn’t publicly list clients, they have worked with recognizable names in ecommerce, fintech, media, and publishing.
OpenComp pricing starts at $4,500 annually for base features like benchmarking and offer creation. More advanced functionality, such as range creation, cycle management, and DEI tools, can increase the price.
Best For
OpenComp is ideal for growing companies that want to professionalize their compensation practices without hiring a full-time comp leader. If your HR team is spread thin and your finance team needs clarity and control over pay decisions, OpenComp delivers expert-backed tools that scale with you.
beqom
beqom has a 99% customer retention rate for a reason. It’s a comprehensive solution to compensation management with powerful planning, budgeting, and forecasting functions that let you track headcount and compensation based on data from across your HR tech stack.
PROS
CONS
beqom’s compensation management software is a comprehensive suite with everything from performance, salary, and bonus management to budget planning and forecasting. Additional features allow you to measure compensation across gender, age, and race to uncover gaps, boosting transparency and equal pay in your organization.
You can also break down total compensation into smaller categories, such as executives and individuals, to get a granular understanding of how you’re paying different people.
- Lowe’s
- the Adecco Group
- BNP Paribas
- PepsiCo
beqom‘s pricing model is an all-inclusive annual fee. For specifics, you must contact a representative to get a quote based on your needs.
Best For
Large and enterprise companies.
HiBob
Hibob’s compensation management software is built into its people platform, but it’s strong enough to stand on its own with powerful reporting and collaboration tools.
PROS
- They have tons of modules, which makes them a real one-stop shop. Beyond Core HR, they have modules for most things People Ops-related.
- Bob is a fast-growing company and their product looks the part, as it has one of the sleekest-looking platforms in the HRMS space right now.
- Their payroll hub allows you to connect all your payroll systems, which works great if you want to pay people in multiple locations without switching providers.
CONS
- Customer support is only offered via a chatbot and email.
- As to implementation, several users commented that they felt there could be more attention via personal walkthroughs provided at the beginning. Many had to resort to reading documentation and watching videos or just figuring things out by themselves.
- Pricing is only custom and available upon request, so you can’t just sign up, pay, and start using the tool.
Hibob’s compensation management software is linked to its existing people platform, making it a great choice for companies looking for an all-encompassing HR suite. However, just because it’s a feature in bob’s larger platform, it doesn’t mean compensation management is an afterthought. It’s a powerful, efficient tool with yearly compensation reviews, equity and bonus allocation, detailed reporting and analytics, and so much more.
- SmartRecruiters
- Fiverr
- DraftKings
While Hibob doesn’t disclose pricing online, you can contact its sales team for a custom quote.
Best For
Small to mid-sized companies looking for an HR suite with compensation management built in.
I use Bob for storing and using employee data, and it is primarily used for onboarding and offboarding employees. I also use it for generating a monthly dashboard for the SLT which includes number of new starters, number of leavers, turnover, percentage of days worked and time to hire. One of the main features I use is the 360 performance review workflow, which allows me to roll out a seamless and simple process which encapsulates reviews from every angle (individual, manager, direct reports and peers). It binds everything including career history, goals and achievements into one place, so there's no need to search for previous conversations or documents in long-forgotten folders. The Your Voice tool is also a powerful tool which generates rich feedback in a safe, anonymous environment. The feedback received from this anonymous tool is then fed into the monthly and annual people strategy.
Unlike other HRIS's Bob allows the user to personalise, analyse and manipulate data to suit the business, rather than using a packaged up system that doesn't fully align to the business. The user experience on both the employee and employer's side is intuitive and engaging, meaning that even reminder emails are never ignored. Bob's built-in templates enable the business to measure Employee Net Promoter Score, along with other survey questions, which can then be accessed in a simple, easy to use dashboard with visual heatmaps to analyse findings instantly.
As our business grew, from 70 people to over 200, we wanted something that was able to organise personal data, generate detailed reports for analysis and run automated processes such as annual performance reviews. I would say that one of Bob's key benefits is its user experience for both the employer and the employee. Bob's self-service function is really easy to use, employees are able to input annual leave and sickness within a few clicks. From an employer perspective, it is simple to pull together reports based on personal data - for example, number of sick days taken in a year, or the average turnover of a segment of employees. Bob attempts to make the system somewhat "fun" at the onboarding stage by asking new starters what their hobbies are, and displaying that on their profile for other employees to view.
Whilst Bob's ability to use data to generate specific reports is great, workflows can be complex to set up, with many drop-down lists and options to select, so if it's quick data driven results that you're looking for, this could take a while to set-up. Another con is that Bob does not have a customer support team that is accessible by phone call, it is always an email or live chat system and sometimes it's just easier to chat to a real human and solve the problem. Like any robust system, it can take a while to initially set-up and get it working to what the business needs and not every business has that time to dedicate to rolling it out and there is little upfront training to support with this.
Bob is way ahead of the curve in terms of HRIS's on the market. Throughout my career I've always said that there's not a one-system-to-rule-them-all in the HR world, but Bob certainly comes close. For example, CharlieHR is great from an employee data-entry perspective and basic data storage, but there is very little it can do in the way of generating reports for analysis. Very few HRIS's on the market are able to link workflows and processes in the way that Bob can, for example, I can conduct a full recruitment process, hiring process and onboarding all within the same flow, seamlessness, whereas with other systems this can be really clunky.
Firstly, it's important that it covers core needs such as storing employee records, tracking annual and sick leave entitlements, communicating with payroll systems and software as well as benefits admin. Simple and visual data analysis is also essential for this type of tool - important metrics should be only a few clicks away. HRIS tools should be able to assist with recruitment processes and ideally offer an ATS which integrates with a solid employee onboarding process. The ability to run performance reviews and engagement surveys is also key to consider.
Bob is continually being updated, for example, Your Voice has been a new addition that we have added to our package which has proven to be an excellent way of gaining anonymous feedback, especially for a business of our size.
Bob is very good for organisations with 50+ employees, and ideally, someone within the HR department would have specific responsibility for this tool to get its full benefit.
Businesses smaller than 50, without a dedicated HR resource would probably not benefit from all of Bob's features.
Pave
With access to over 40,000 employee records from 500+ companies, Pave has some of the strongest benchmarking data in the compensation management space.
PROS
CONS
Pave’s compensation management software stands out because of its three-pronged approach: Plan, Communicate, and Benchmark.
Your company can make smart, purposeful compensation decisions based on real-time salary data, analytics, and merit cycle workflows for administering bonuses and equity. Employees have access to a dashboard to view salary, equity, bonuses, and benefits as part of their total compensation. This same visualization is offered to top candidates as well to promote transparency in the hiring process.
Pave also provides real-time, up-to-date market salary data to bolster compensation decisions.
- Allbirds
- HOVER
- Canva
Pave’s pricing is not available on their website. You must contact a sales representative by clicking the “Request Demo” button in the top right corner of its website.
Best For
Companies looking to provide transparent compensation to employees and candidates.
We used Pave both internally and externally. Externally, we used their offer letter functionality to help prospective hires understand their total rewards, including compensation, equity, and other benefits/perks. This feature helped us secure a few candidates.
Internally, we used it for market data/benchmarking, creating pay bands, and compensation planning. Their compensation planning tool was straightforward to set up, with a helpful implementation team guiding us through detailed worksheets to ensure everything was entered correctly.
The tool seemed designed by someone with a deep understanding of compensation, allowing us to add necessary information and enabling managers to make well-informed compensation decisions. It was also easy to mark promotions, make notes, approve changes, and keep everything in one place, saving us time by generating compensation reward letters.
Pave is incredibly easy to use and integrates seamlessly into our processes. It enhances transparency for employees regarding pay bands, pay information, and total rewards. The Pave team, from sales to implementation to account managers, was consistently helpful and pleasant to work with.
I was initially searching for a compensation planning tool to reduce the time my team and managers spent on compensation planning. It was important that the tool incorporated pay bands and other functionalities.
Pave encompassed a large part of what we needed, winning us over with its comprehensive compensation tool, pay bands, market data, and offer letter tool. The tool appeared very user-friendly, which was a significant factor in our decision to purchase it.
We ended up using it for only a year because their pricing increased significantly, making it impractical to keep when we also needed to cut costs.
The cost after our first year became too high to justify. They acquired Option Impact, which was great, but it would be better if they still allowed free access to global compensation data, not just US data. The price point can be prohibitive for small companies that could benefit significantly from the tool.
Pave includes many features that compensation departments need, with an intuitive design that supports HR and compensation professionals while being easy for employees and managers to use. These features make it stand out above the rest. I had considered Lattice, but it seemed cumbersome and less effective compared to Pave's more spreadsheet-like and user-friendly interface.
Consider who will use the tool the most and whether it is easy for them to navigate. Assess who will save time using it, how much time, and the value of that time. Finally, evaluate potential cost savings from reduced turnover if employees better understand their compensation.
Pave has continually added features to create a more equitable and transparent compensation process.
Pave is ideal for companies focused on compensation planning and offer letters/total rewards views. It is particularly geared towards venture-backed tech companies for market data.
It might not be suitable for organizations with many hourly employees, as my experience was with a population that was 95% salaried employees.
PayScale
PayScale is the trusted compensation platform for more than 7,500 customers, ranging from small businesses to Fortune 1000 companies.
PROS
CONS
PayScale recently merged with Payfactors to become one of the largest compensation software providers in North America. PayScale has a few different offerings under its umbrella, including Insight Lab, MarketPay, PayScaleTeam, Benchmark, and PayScale Data. With so much variety, customers can pick and choose which features they specifically need.
Certain product suites are geared towards company size as well. For example, MarketPay is designed with the enterprise customer in mind. Therefore, companies of all shapes and sizes can find a solution tailored to their needs. PayScale also offers numerous compensation resources on their website based on thorough research.
- Patagonia,
- The New York Times
- Wendy’s
- UnitedHealth Group
- Bloomberg
Pricing is not available on PayScale’s website. However, it does offer a free job pricing if you make an account.
Best For
Companies of all sizes that need a tailored comp management solution.
I use PayScale whenever we are setting up new positions. During periods of growth, I search for relevant job titles and descriptions to align with the roles we are hiring for. When considering reductions in headcount, I analyze salary data to assist with salary studies. Overall, I primarily use PayScale during times of expansion or downsizing to ensure competitive and fair compensation.
- PayScale is easy to navigate and visually appealing.
- I appreciate the communication features it offers.
- My favorite aspect is the ability to quickly and accurately check wages along with job descriptions.
I primarily use PayScale in my HR role to calculate salary wages. It helps me understand market rates for new positions and compare salaries across different cities. I can also identify new job positions to add to the company based on industry trends. Additionally, this program keeps me updated on wage trends nationwide. It also provides job descriptions along with corresponding pay scales.
- There isn’t much to dislike.
- It would be helpful to have a dedicated representative I could meet with for assistance.
- I do appreciate the 1-800 support line and the quick response times.
I prefer PayScale’s ease of use and intuitive navigation compared to its competitors. The integrated chatbot and application features also enhance the user experience. This has become my go-to resource rather than relying on a general Google search.
Consider how much time you want to spend using the platform versus outsourcing salary research to a staffing company. It's important to choose a tool that provides up-to-date wage data to help prevent turnover caused by below-market pay.
The most significant improvement over the years has been the addition of AI, particularly the chatbot, which helps me find quick answers.
PayScale is beneficial for any organization with staff who need to stay informed about salary trends and job descriptions.
The only organization that may not benefit from PayScale would be a direct competitor.
CompAnalyst
Salary.com’s CompAnalyst is the largest HR-reported source of market pricing, with 800 million market data points in 22 countries.
PROS
CONS
Salary.com’s CompAnalyst solution is a few different features under the same umbrella name. Its standard feature set includes labor cost forecasting, total compensation statements, survey management, reporting & analytics, and merit modeling.
Specifically, its Market Data tool is renowned for its massive database of market pricing. In addition, you’ll get instant access to over 50,000 named executives from public US companies, easily benchmarking your executive headhunting.
What makes CompAnalyst stand out, is its ability to grow alongside your organization. There is a standard feature set ideal for HR teams of one or two, which can expand as your company builds out a talent acquisition team and eventually a dedicated compensation team.
- GE
- Hallmark
- Toyota
- Wegmans
- Nordstrom
CompAnalyst is made up of a few different solutions, which you pay for separately. You must get in contact with a sales rep for detailed pricing.
Best For
Companies of all sizes will find CompAnalyst useful. As your company grows, you can expand your feature set from the base level.
I use CompAnalyst as part of my compensation toolkit. Specifically, I use this program to assist in benchmarking both hourly and salaried positions within my organization. By utilizing market data and compiled survey responses, I can see what other organizations of similar size and location are offering for various positions. This tool is also valuable when determining wages for newly created roles.
The platform is user-friendly and easy to navigate. It provides current market data that is refreshed monthly and includes compensation survey data from a national survey base. Additionally, the program offers reports that can be downloaded with minimal editing required.
I have been using CompAnalyst since April 2024, but my organization implemented it in September 2023. My organization needed a compensation benchmarking tool that could be used for overall benchmarking, job pricing, and market data analysis. CompAnalyst was chosen to address these needs and has since become an essential part of our compensation process.
Currently, my organization only has the basic model of this program. To access merit tools or performance management resources, an upgrade to the more robust package is necessary. Also, when trying to benchmark or price industry-specific jobs, data is not always available. In such cases, a request must be submitted to Salary.com to add the job and collect data, which can lead to longer turnaround times.
CompAnalyst provides not only market data but also access to Salary.com's extensive survey results at no extra cost if you participate in the survey. The platform also functions as a merit cycle tool and can generate Total Rewards or Total Compensation statements for all employees.
Organizations should consider their internal compensation philosophy and how they want to determine wages for their current positions. Once this is established, they should assess the type of data needed to price jobs and provide benchmarking information for their compensation structures and ranges.
The tool is updated monthly with refreshed market data and additional trending jobs. CompAnalyst also continues to enhance its resources, including webinars and whitepapers.
This tool is ideal for organizations with a defined compensation philosophy and a desire to offer competitive wages to both new hires and current employees.
CompAnalyst may not be suitable for organizations without an internal compensation strategy or those that prefer to rely solely on internal compensation calculations.
COMPview
COMPview is a flexible solution for companies of all sizes. It’s designed to adapt to any compensation plan, whether simple or complex.
PROS
CONS
COMPview, the compensation management software offered by HRSoft, is a no frills compensation solution that can easily adapt to any compensation model.
Upon logging in, users are met with a detailed dashboard that provides birds eye details on the status of compensation. From there, different users can access different functionalities. Frontline managers can make recommendations for their team members, leaders have access to a workflow for reviewing and approving, and upper management will receive detailed reports and compensation statements.
COMPview’s value proposition is being agile to meet the different requirements of its variety of customers. As such, they provide a dedicated customer support team that will be with you from implementation all the way to customer success.
- Nintendo
- Square
- Ameriprise Financial
- WellCare
COMPview is priced on a per employee per year model, plus a flat implementation fee.
Best For
Companies of any size looking for a flexible comp solution.
Compete
With a sleek and easy-to-navigate platform, Compete stand out for offering real-time data about benefits and compensation in the tech industry. HR leaders at hundreds of tech companies use their platform to stay competitive in their offerings and retain their people.
PROS
CONS
Compete’s co-founder and CEO, Amit Rapaport, comes from the world of HR. During her years in several roles, she realized that a major challenge for most HR people was tapping into real-time compensation data. Addressing this pain point is why Compete was founded. Each and every one of their customers provide data from their organization in an anonymous manner, which is fed into their ever-growing database.
On the user side, HR and hiring managers can search for any role, see how much it pays, and look at the benchmark for benefits and other forms of compensation. There’s hard data for salaries, dozens of benefits such as vacation days, maternity leave, healthcare, 401K, and of course benchmarking data about equity. Managers can then make their own conclusions vis a vis compensation and make an informed effort on how to retain their employees.
Many of the leading unicorns and public companies in tech are Compete’s customers. Some of them are Fiverr, Monday.com, Rakuten Viber, HoneyBook, Taboola, Riskified, ironSource, and Melio. Compete also caters to tech companies of all sizes.
Compete is available at a single price and they’ve made sure it’s affordable for startups as well, even if you only hire one person. Regardless of your company size, they offer an unlimited amount of seats.
Best For
HR leaders, CFOs, and Venture Capital Funds in tech.
ChartHop
ChartHop promises to take you beyond manual spreadsheets with their compensation planning solution that automatically generates a compensation review plan to share with management based on any metrics you choose.
PROS
- ChartHop seamlessly integrates with existing HR and ATS systems, streamlining processes by centralizing functionalities.
- The tool's organizational chart has long been a standout feature. It allows users to edit and navigate company structures easily. This fosters efficient communication and change tracking after reorganizations.
- ChartHop's goal-tracking interface is user-friendly and intuitive, simplifying goal management.
- The Map feature fosters a sense of togetherness for remote teams, enhancing employee engagement.
- Charthop nicely integrates with your existing HR and ATS systems. Having everything under one roof means not having to use ten different applications.
- Charthop’s organization chart is its biggest asset. Their drag-and-drop feature to edit the chart is a hit amongst a majority of the users. Overall, the tool makes navigation throughout the company really easy - you can find the people you need, figure out their responsibilities, and track changes after the latest company re-organization.
- Charthop's goal tracking interface is simple, intuitive, and easy to build. There's not much else you can ask for.
- Charthop's Map feature allows businesses to see where each employee is located. For organizations that work remotely, this promotes a feeling of togetherness, which is crucial for employee engagement.
CONS
- Navigating ChartHop's organizational chart can be challenging due to its fast zooming and somewhat unintuitive gestures.
- ChartHop's search function lacks user-friendliness and, from our research and testing, occasionally provides incorrect results.
- Compared to other tools, some users have shared that the user interface of ChartHop can seem outdated and cumbersome.
- Charthop's organization chart navigation isn't the best. The chart zooms in and out quite quickly, and the gestures aren't intuitive, making it difficult to use.
- Charthop can be a little complicated to figure out. Also, the fact that there are so many features is a little intimidating.
- Charthop's search function isn't user-friendly. There's not much information on how to use it effectively, and it sometimes throws the wrong results.
- Charthop's UI is somewhat dated and clunky.
ChartHop’s compensation management solution is excellent at distributing salary data and creating personalized scenario planning.
Your team decides what information to share with managers, from compensation and performance data to demographic and benchmarking data. Once all that information is chosen, ChartHop automatically creates compensation scenarios and exports it to detailed “smart guides” for managers to see.
Managers can then add their proposed changes to a dashboard that forecasts how the compensation changes affect the company. After that, they can approve changes and move them up the chain of command. It’s a powerful, intuitive tool that streamlines the review process.
- Peloton
- OpenAI
- better.com
ChartHop’s compensation planning solution is a part of their suite of employee management products.
The pricing tiers that offer compensation planning are Grow, Scale, and Enterprise. They are $7 per employee per month, $10 per employee per month, and custom priced respectively.
Personalized support is provided in ChartHop’s enterprise pricing plan.
Best For
Any company looking for an entire people planning suite with compensation built in.
Compensation Management Software Use Cases
Compensation management tools are incredibly useful across the employee lifecycle. Picture the beginning of the candidate journey. What’s the market pay for the role you’re hiring? How much do you bump their salary after 2 years, assuming they perform well?
These questions and more are answered with comp management. Here are a few more use cases.
- Enhance recruitment: Comp software helps provide clarity to what the market pays for a role. It will give you and your recruiting team a range for the job. This beats the old way of asking the hiring manager or using free sources.
- Boost retention: You’ll be able to tell how your employees are paid relative to the market. Therefore, you can make adjustments to prevent someone from leaving because of a better-paying opportunity elsewhere.
- Budget and model for future needs: Since compensation can make up 70% of the company budget, it’s essential to know how strategic decisions will impact compensation. If you are opening in a new location, hiring brand new roles, or implementing a new incentive compensation policy, these tools can help you understand costs.
- Deliver bonuses and equity: Instead of relying on a complicated spreadsheet to calculate bonus and equity amounts, your compensation software will do this for you.
- Manage compensation survey data: For those already using salary survey data, the software can help manage it all in one place. Additionally, many offer tools or services to help with the tedious task of survey participation.
- Manage job descriptions: Job descriptions are just as impactful on compensation. A role with additional responsibilities should pay more. Descriptions should emphasize that. Some vendors have a tool, while others outsource this function to partners.
- Build transparency and equality: Compensation management platforms have tools that show where you can improve equality in the workplace. By recognizing gender and racial pay gaps, your company can take steps to overcome implicit biases. Many software solutions promote transparency as well. Employee dashboards break down their compensation on the individual level.
Pitfalls to Avoid When Using Compensation Management Tools
When considering compensation management software, it’s important to avoid common pitfalls that may occur.
- Avoid shiny object syndrome: During a sales pitch, you may have seen powerful analytics tools and smooth UX that attract you to a certain vendor. But it’s essential to understand what your must-have features are, so you can separate them from the nice-to-have and extraneous features. Think about what’s essential. Otherwise, you might waste your budget on tools you’ll never touch.
- Understand the professional services vendors offer: Sometimes organizations will position their solution with a “dedicated” compensation professional with “unlimited” access. These terms are often used as a selling point. Be sure you understand how the services work, how quickly you can expect replies, and the skills of the services team.
- Implementation takes time: Adopting a compensation management software takes time and prioritization from your team. There are no instant solutions where you just send over an HRIS, API key, or CSV and everything is up and running. Discuss timelines and expectations with vendors upfront.
- Be mindful of contract length: Three-year or five-year contracts with big discounts can be tempting, especially when you’re trying to be budget-conscious. However, this could leave you with software you don’t like or don’t use. Be sure you know the cancelation policy, and choose a contract length that allows you to reevaluate after a reasonable amount of time. If you do your research beforehand, this shouldn’t be an issue. But sometimes unforeseen things happen, and you don’t want to be trapped.
- Know the data sources: It’s critical to understand where vendors source their data from and how it is validated in your compensation software. There are many different approaches that exist. For example, a data set may be validated by compensation professionals, but be very limited in job titles. Another may be from a large data source, but weak in certain regions. Think critically about what data is important to you and choose a vendor accordingly.
Benefits and ROI of Compensation Management Software
It’s much easier to gain buy-in with decision makers if you have a firm grasp of ROI. Compensation management software has many benefits that will provide measurable returns for your business. Here are a few that you can bring up to your superiors:
- Save time and costly errors: Having a streamlined process for pricing a job will save you countless hours. Being able to model and use pre-built reporting provides insights you may have never discovered in Excel without the risk of errors.
- Strengthened employee loyalty: When making informed compensation decisions, employees can rest assured they are being paid competitive salaries and bonuses. As a result, they will feel valued by your company, which builds loyalty.
- Ensured compliance: Compensation compliance can be tricky, especially if you’re hiring remote workers from different geographic locations. Instead of doing all the granular research yourself, comp management software automatically assists with staying compliant
- Decrease days to fill job req and false starts: Knowing the approved salary range for the role and what the market pays will ensure you avoid the dreaded “oh I was looking for $10k more in base pay.”
- Increased transparency: Employees who know what, how, and why they are paid are more engaged and less likely to leave. By being able to communicate a paid strategy from a high level as well as an individual will impact retention.
- Equal pay: Many comp solutions pull data from your HRIS or HCM to map salary and bonuses in accordance with gender and race. By recognizing pay gaps, you can take initiative to create an equitable workplace.
- Save money: In addition to saved time, comp management software saves money too. Benchmarking data shows you if you’re overpaying for a new executive. You can tweak company-wide bonus structures based on integrated performance or talent management data. These are just a couple of many examples.
Compensation Management Pricing
Compensation management software is priced either through a subscription or a license.
Companies such as ChartHop or Hibob, that offer comp management through their greater product suites, charge on a per user per month basis. Companies such as CURO charge for an annual license, which is based on how many employees you have. You will have to pay upfront for a license, whereas subscription you pay per month.
This will often come with implementation and service fees. If you sign a longer term contract, you may receive a discounted rate.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate a better price. For guidance, read our ebook on how to get the best pricing in HR tech.
Key Features of Compensation Management Software
Compensation management software is designed to streamline all of your comp operations. The features reflect that goal.
- Salary management: Easily keep track of how much employees make and use that information to make future compensation decisions.
- Performance management: Compensation management software often has performance management tools to determine eligibility for bonuses and equity.
- Bonus and equity administration: Comp management software automatically determines who is eligible for bonuses and equity based on performance, time since hire, and other factors. Once HR managers gather this information, they can submit it to managers for approval all in the system.
- Planning, budgeting, and forecasting: Using past and current data, your company will be able to plan compensation budgets and headcount. In addition, you can use this data to forecast where your company’s needs will be in the future. Detailed dashboards make this easy to visualize.
- Market analysis and benchmarking: Many comp solutions have access to detailed salary information from across the job market. You’ll be able to tell what competitors and peers are paying their employees in similar positions. As a result, you can offer new hires competitive compensation based on market data.
- Integration with HR systems: Compensation management systems centralize all your people data to make informed compensation decisions.
Questions for Demos
Before you get on the call, you need to think critically about your needs. Ask about key features, implementation timelines, customer success, and all the other variables that will help you make the right decision. It’s important to not be distracted by the bells and whistles.
Here are some suggestions for questions to ask:
- How can your product help me achieve my compensation goals?
- Can you benchmark this job for me?
- How do I build a report? How would I present this to others?
- We are opening a new office. How would I model the compensation costs with your software?
- Does this integrate with my human capital management system? If not, how much work will it take on our end to connect them?
- What features do current clients use the most?
- Are there automation features?
- Is the training required in the implementation process self-service, or hands-on with a customer success team?
- Has your product lengthened the employee lifecycle for your customers?
Implementing Compensation Management Software
Implementation of compensation management software differs from company to company. Generally, you should expect to spend a few weeks to a few months on the process.
The typical steps include set up, data integration, training, testing, going live, and post-going live review. If price is a concern, double check about implementation fees with your vendor of choice. Your first choice of vendor might have a lower annual cost, but charge big service and implementation fees that actually make it more expensive than your second choice.
Compensation Management Software FAQs
What is compensation management?
Compensation management is the process of determining the wages, salary, bonuses, equity, and benefits employees and potential hires receive.
What is compensation management software?
Compensation management software are solutions designed to streamline comp processes. They achieve this by automating processes that would typically be done manually or in spreadsheets.
What are some benefits of compensation management software?
Benefits of compensation management software include saved time and money, transparency and equal pay, ensured compliance, and heightened employee retention and satisfaction.
What are the features of compensation management software?
Compensation management software features include salary and performance management, benchmarking, reporting and analytics, planning, budgeting, and forecasting tools, and bonus and equity administration.
Final Advice and Important Takeaways
When choosing a compensation management software, think critically about your goals. Each of our featured vendors will provide you with streamlined comp management. Therefore, you must consider the extraneous factors that might make a certain vendor stand out.
Are you mainly looking for salary benchmarking? Choose a vendor with a huge database of salary information. Are you looking for an entire HR suite with compensation included? Choose a vendor that offers that feature set. Are you looking to spend as little money as possible? Take a look at each vendor and compare costs.
Regardless, you will end up with a useful solution. Just make sure you focus on the must-haves rather than the nice-to-haves.
Finally, compensation is necessarily linked to performance. If your team is having a hard time building out a detailed bonus plan, performance management software will make it much easier to track OKRs and annual reviews. Take a look at our performance management software landscape for more detail, including pricing, ROI, benefits, features, and more.
About the Author
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