10 Best HR Software Platforms Reviewed & Compared in Q2 2026
Our HR tech experts demoed dozens of HR software platforms and researched many more to find the best tools on the market. Find pricing info, screenshots, pros & cons, and more below.
The best human resources (HR) software helps you tackle a range of people-related processes, from talent acquisition (TA), leave management, and onboarding to employee benefits, payroll, time and attendance, predictive analytics, and workforce planning.
With such a broad scope, the HR software market is highly competitive. But finding the right platform for you shouldn’t be a nightmare.
In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know to make an informed decision. I’ll review the top platforms, plus discuss HR software features, costs, benefits, pitfalls, product demos, and implementation best practices.
To choose the best HR software, I met with vendors for product demos and asked tough questions based on user research statistics, expert feedback from HR thought leaders, and my own hands-on product testing. Plus, my 6+ years in HR managing payroll, benefits, compliance, and onboarding have given me keen insight into the features HR professionals actually need.
Because of HR software’s broad scope, I focused on all-in-one systems that handle core HR processes, like payroll, benefits, time-tracking, and document management, for businesses of various sizes. Some platforms that might not cover core functions but have unique use cases made it into my honorary mentions.
I evaluated more than 20 platforms and narrowed them down to my top 10, looking closely at each system’s scalability, integration, self-service functionality, compliance and security, and total cost.
- Scalability: I tested each HR software system’s capacity to handle rapidly growing teams by evaluating features such as single sign-on, enterprise system integration, batch processing, and HR automation.
- HR Software Integration: Each of my top picks integrates with other critical business platforms, such as payroll, accounting, talent management, or recruitment software, to ensure seamless data sharing.
- Reporting and Analytics: My top HR software picks feature robust reporting and analytics capabilities that deliver actionable insights into employee data and HR metrics, such as employee growth and retention.
- Employee Self-Service: I examined each HR system for the quality of its self-service functionality. These critical HR features empower employees to access and update their information, request time off, view pay stubs, and participate in performance management processes.
- Data Security: It is crucial that HR software vendors undergo regular audits, such as SOC 2 Type 2. In addition to verifying that these measures were in place to protect sensitive employee data, I reviewed each platform’s approach to compliance with relevant employment laws and data protection regulations.
- Total Cost of Ownership: It is important to understand the overall cost of implementing and maintaining an HR system, including licensing fees, customization, training, and ongoing support.
Finally, I combined the product scores submitted to our site by readers like you with the scores on third-party review sites to determine each vendor’s popularity, user, and overall ratings. These provide a snapshot of each platform’s capabilities for quick comparison.
For more about how expert SelectSoftware Reviews writers and I review HR software, check out How We Assess HR Tech.
Paylocity
Paylocity offers a wide range of modules for the entire employee lifecycle. Although it markets itself as supporting all business sizes, its strong focus on automation, customization, and compliance — plus a higher starting price, according to user reports — makes it a better fit for midsize companies with more than 300 employees.
PROS
- Highly rated mobile app scoring 4.8 on Apple App Store and 4.7 on Google Play, above most HR apps we've evaluated.
- On-demand pay is fully handled, with employees accessing earned wages early and Paylocity running the calculations and reporting itself.
- Built for complex U.S. payroll, with managed garnishment services and general ledger mapping included standard, often an add-on elsewhere.
- Paylocity’s customer support is highly rated for always being available to answer questions.
- Global payroll support for 100+ countries.
- Provides free and unlimited training modules on the website.
- Paylocity’s mobile app has a good UI and functionality
- The tool is easy to use for both employees and employers.
- Has 350+ pre-built integrations.
CONS
- Unintuitive interface, with some actions taking multiple clicks across modules and pop-ups; new users typically need training.
- Limited self-service configuration, with workflows like benefits enrollment requiring Paylocity's support team rather than self-service setup.
- Two separate systems for global payroll, requiring toggling between Paylocity and partner Blue Marble, adding time despite aggregated reporting.
- Undisclosed pricing.
- It doesn’t have a free trial or free plan.
- Support is available in English only.
- It isn’t the best solution for remote teams looking for a tool to manage payroll and benefits for their contractors.
Paylocity simplifies the management of employees, documents, and processes. One of the key strengths of their HR software is the ability to streamline information collection and task completion across various users and workspaces. Whether it's confirming employee addresses, collecting proof of certification, or managing employee onboarding, Paylocity makes it easy to automate and centralize these processes.
Midsize companies will appreciate Paylocity’s support for employee recruitment and retention. You can effectively manage your scaling workforce demands with an internal ATS that allows you to take bulk actions, such as mass text communications.
Their self-service and community modules also function as central hubs where employees can communicate and collaborate with coworkers, complete tasks, stay updated on company news, and access resources and pay stubs. I find this especially useful for wide-scale system adoption since employees don't need to be platform experts to access the information they need.
As for managers and HR professionals, they have full visibility into employee data at the position and seat level, can easily configure new positions, assign required skills and certifications, predict vacancies, and manage budget changes.
Paylocity also takes compliance seriously, with a dashboard that provides quick access to work authorizations, EEO and FLSA compliance data, and industry news. And if you need extra support, Paylocity's HR Edge service provides expert resources, including an account manager, to help you minimize risk and implement best practices.
Finally, you can use Paylocity's robust reporting and analytics capabilities to gain a deeper understanding of your workforce. With real-time, visualized data, you can monitor key metrics, identify trends, optimize your HR strategies, and drive business success.
Paylocity serves more than 41,000 companies, including the Lincoln Park Zoo, Scrub Daddy, and Buena Vista Business Services.
Although Paylocity does not disclose pricing, third-party sources indicate it ranges from $17 to $32 PEPM. Pricing depends on what modules you require from its HR, Finance, and IT suites.
Best For
Paylocity is best for medium-sized companies that need support managing their growing teams and complex pay processes.
I used Paylocity primarily for daily timekeeping and bi-weekly payroll processing when I took over as admin. I also began saving documents in employee files and explored options to better utilize the system.
The tool sent reminders for required filings. For payroll, my workflow involved verifying timesheets for accuracy, running the primary employee payroll, and a separate payroll for the doctor-owners, whose compensation varied monthly. After running payroll, I reviewed the reports to confirm that all expenses were accurately entered by the bookkeeper before final submission.
It was simple to enter time. Running pre-payroll was straightforward. The reports were easy to review.
The organization I consulted for initially bought Paylocity for payroll management when it had about 50 employees. I have personally used it as a contractor for receiving payments and later as an administrator. Most recently, I was an administrator for five months before transitioning the company to ADP.
A primary benefit was the ease for employees to log their time, and payroll processing was fairly simple. Although the tool offered additional features, these were not activated, limiting its functionality for other HRIS tasks.
It also lacked an active e-verify setup, although that option was available, indicating the person who selected the product did not receive adequate guidance from the implementation specialist.
Companies with fewer than 100 employees did not have a dedicated contact person. When I reached out with questions, the answers varied depending on who responded, with some being incorrect.
No one provided guidance on how to implement additional features, such as HRIS and e-verify, for a more robust system. It was also much more expensive than the full ADP system, which I later implemented and found more comprehensive.
I found the lack of customer service frustrating, and the previous HR person, who hadn’t managed implementations, received inadequate support. Getting questions answered was challenging, with email inquiries often redirected to someone who never responded.
Personally, I prefer ADP, and for small companies with only payroll needs, Gusto is a good, user-friendly option.
Budget is critical; evaluate the value provided for the cost. Confirm that the features you’re paying for are activated. This tool is not recommended for companies with fewer than 100 employees.
The company appears to have expanded too quickly, and high employee turnover suggests they may struggle to meet the needs of complex organizations like ours, which involved unique requirements for doctor-owners.
It is best suited for organizations with over 100 employees and simple payroll needs.
It is not ideal for companies with fewer than 100 employees or for HR/payroll staff who may lack extensive experience.
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Deel
Deel HR offers a simple, effective HRIS for remote and international teams that need a way to compensate their employees, and a system for record-keeping.
PROS
- Offers a single system for paying employees and contractors in over 150 countries.
- Provides 100% in-house support from local country experts, with a first response time of just 1.25 minutes.
- Features APIs and native integrations with over 100 popular HR tools.
- Employee experience features such as 1:1's and pulse surveys.
- Excellent 24/7 customer service with fast onboarding (2-3 days) and local payroll experts in each jurisdiction.
- 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
- Not the best option for teams on a budget that don't hire internationally.
- Deel HR is relatively new and lacks many features found in BambooHR, Bob, and other established solutions.
- 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.
I added Deel HR to this page for their global focus and simplicity. The majority of their features are geared toward small and mid-market companies just entering the international space. Their core platform, Deel HR, serves as the hub for all of their HR processes, with the option to add global payroll functionality.
This is actually relatively new. In my previous Deel demos, they used separate interfaces to manage HR processes and EOR payroll, which made it a pain to toggle between the two. This was because Deel Hire's EOR came before their HR platform release, but as they continued to add more HR-focused features, the interface consolidated into a global HR & payroll hub.
Today, Deel still shines the brightest when it comes to managing a distributed team. Their new compensation module provides salary data from 150+ countries to create fair and competitive wage ranges for global employees. The IT module lets you send remote workers office equipment worldwide, including managing device returns and resets for offboarding. And they even offer unique support for contingent workforces, like more than 15 flexible payment options (including cryptocurrency).
All of this makes managing international teams significantly easier than piecing together multiple vendors. That said, Deel has room to grow to rival competitors like Rippling for process automation or Bob for employee experience. But they remain the ideal platform for global, smaller, and cost-conscious companies looking to establish or expand their international presence.
40,000+ companies, including Makerpad, Andela, and Brex.
Deel HR starts at $5 per month.
Best For
Deel HR is best for remote-first companies with global HR (and payroll) needs.
From an HR perspective, it's like moving from chaos to calm.
- Empowerment: The platform feels like a strategic partner, allowing us to focus on what truly matters in HR.
- Single Source of Data: Deel serves as a central hub for employee data—eliminating the need to open multiple sheets to gather information such as periods, employee records, and performance. It’s professional, organized, and aligned with leadership needs.
- Confidence: Deel provides a sense of relief and assurance. As an HR professional, I don’t need to worry about international labor laws, especially during onboarding processes.
- Deel supports faster growth by minimizing legal risk and enabling lean, efficient HR operations.
- For C-level leaders, it’s a strategic solution that supports the achievement of company goals.
- It reduces waiting time for global expansion efforts.
- Its easy access to data helps predict trends, analyze scenarios, and support timely decision-making.
Our organization was struggling with complex HR processes such as recruitment, onboarding, and paying international contractor employees while ensuring compliance with each country’s labor laws.
After implementing Deel, a key improvement has been the consolidation of our entire international workforce management into one tool.
This is a fully automated platform, which eliminates the need for manual administrative tasks.
With the full interface in place, the platform ensures compliance with labor laws in every region. Deel allows our HR teams to focus on strategic work instead of administrative activities.
- Report customization is limited. While the data exists, additional work is needed—such as pivoting—to extract certain valuable insights.
- It currently works only on PC and lacks a mobile-friendly version, unlike other apps.
- It can be expensive for smaller startups.
- Deel’s support channels are primarily AI bots, which can delay urgent responses when quick answers are needed.
- Deel offers greater flexibility in currencies and allows contractors to choose their payment methods.
- It has better infrastructure and operates in over 100 countries.
- It provides a unified dashboard for managing and viewing data.
For HR teams, focus on integration, compliance, and risk mitigation. For the IT team, consider pricing, especially if it comes from the IT budget, and whether the platform offers strong global support.
Deel has evolved from a payroll solution to an all-in-one infrastructure. It now includes robust IT equipment and can scale into an HRIS for both global and domestic teams. Recently, it has introduced AI support to assist with in-process tasks.
Deel is well-suited for tech startups and software development companies, especially those with more than 50 employees.
Deel may not be ideal for domestic small businesses with limited budgets.
HiBob
Bob is a global HR software platform that provides customizable features to streamline HR processes, including advanced functions such as compensation and workforce planning. But Bob particularly stands out for its focus on employee experience — from its funky, colorful interface reminiscent of 1970s disco, to employee recognition and interest groups that foster workplace connection. Bob is well-suited for most SMBs, but if your goal is to manage HR processes and improve platform adoption and engagement with employees, I recommend Bob. It's both fun to use and a powerful tool to manage people processes.
PROS
- U.S. and UK payroll support, processing payroll for both directly within Bob without a third-party integration.
- Intranet features letting teams post announcements, welcome new hires, and celebrate employee wins from Bob's homepage.
- HR ticketing that lets employees anonymously report issues and track case status.
- Predictive analytics using signals like tenure, team turnover, and career development to flag attrition risk before it happens.
- 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
- Limited customer service options, with support available only via chatbot and email.
- Undisclosed pricing, requiring a sales call for a custom quote.
- 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 is an interesting contender in the HR software space. Its philosophy is to put the employee first, and you can see that in how easy its HR platform, Bob, is to use. For example, I can send "kudos" to staff directly from Bob's homepage. Bob’s default settings also let employees customize their public profiles to showcase their gender pronouns, hobbies, and "superpowers."
But one of my favorite features, which I haven't seen any other HR software system emulate, is the “Club View” function on organization charts. With it, I can sort employees by their hobbies or interests, making it easier to connect with like-minded peers. This is great for global or remote teams where direct engagement with coworkers is challenging.
Forward-thinking HR departments interested in improving employee experience will like Bob. It offers essential tools, including onboarding, time-tracking, payroll, time-off management, surveys, benefits administration, and performance management.
HiBob has more than 4,400 customers worldwide, including SmartRecruiters, Fiverr, and VaynerMedia.
Undisclosded.
Best For
Bob is best suited for SMBs prioritizing employee experience in their HRIS.
I used Bob on a daily basis as we were constantly growing. We needed to make changes often, such as promotions, compensation changes, and new hire onboardings. For example, we had new hires every Monday and needed a way to ensure that the onboarding was seamless.
The HRIS was super helpful as it would trigger onboarding steps for the incoming employee. From personal data, to I-9 documentation, and work information, Bob had it all. Another workflow was making changes when an employee needed a compensation increase or promotion.
The system was very user friendly and we were able to easily go into the portal, locate the work section, and make the changes. It helped us track their previous promotions as well as the dates and managers under which the changes were made.
I like Bob as it is user friendly; for someone who never used it before, the page can easily be navigated and is not too complex for first time users.
Another thing I like is that Bob can help us navigate data fast and efficiently. I needed to run a report to gather some employee information and it gave me what I needed very quickly, and I was able to complete a project before the deadline.
Bob has many integrations available for our organization. For example, when a new hire would complete their part of their onboarding on Bob, we would immediately be notified on our internal messaging system, Slack. It was a great way for us to get a notification and complete the task efficiently.
We bought Bob mainly because we needed a reliable HRIS to help us track any employee data. Before, we only focused on spreadsheets and Excel, which was a very difficult way of tracking changes, especially because we needed to have the spreadsheets open all of the time.
Our organization needed something more secure, fast, and efficient, especially because we were a growing team and needed to ensure our data was accurate and precise.
Once we moved to Bob, it was much easier to track and maintain any employee data such as compensation, promotions, manager changes, compliance regulations, and any employee personnel data.
I used it for more than 2 years and thought it was a wonderful system. Personally, I believe that Bob provided the HR operations team and managers ease when it came to data, employee changes, and org charts.
I disliked the fact that there were so many different features that we initially got confused on what to use and how to use it. I think they should have an easier way of including all the features rather than letting us pick which features we need.
The Bob representatives were a bit pushy and needed to have follow ups a lot. It was a waste of time in my opinion, and they could have just condensed it down to maybe 3-4 meetings rather than 9-10 meetings.
Another con of Bob was that there was no security factor in place. Being in HR, we must ensure that data is secure as it is highly confidential. Bob did not have any layer of security and we had to use a 3rd party to configure the security level for the HRIS. If there was a security factor, then it would be better for HR professionals to keep their data safe.
Bob is different as it is much more user friendly. I have used tools such as Workday, and found it to be a bit complicated as it has a whole different way of gathering data or running reports. Bob was easy to understand despite the fact that it has so many features in place. As mentioned previously, it is much more user friendly and easier to use than other websites/HRIS.
The criteria would be the cost (it is highly expensive), the employees (ease for them), and the overall system. Depending on the size of the organization, the HR operations team should first understand the cost of the entire system. It is a bit costly, and the team must understand to what extent they are willing to pay for this system.
For the employees, they should understand that this would somewhat be the single source of truth as it will contain all the information about their colleagues, their team, and themselves. The overall system as a whole is great for emerging startups and fast growing teams.
Bob is a good place to start for managing data and other HR operations, plus many integrations for the organization to implement.
Over time I think they have added more features and integrations such as GSuite, MSuite, 3rd party extensions, and better navigation for the website.
Initially, it was not very stable, and certain operations were done randomly, however they have improved their operations and management overall for the website, which can help many organizations and HR users.
They are slowly rolling out their payroll system as well, so that might be a plus for new users to have all HR operations in one place.
Bob is good for startups, HR teams, Software/AI companies.
Larger organizations such as 10,000+ employees, very small businesses/shop owners, or currently a company that needs global payroll (Bob is only limited to the UK).
BambooHR
BambooHR has been a go-to HR solution for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) for years, with modules covering nearly every HR process — from hiring to payroll, benefits, time tracking, and performance management. BambooHR stands out to me for its plug-and-play HR workflows, pre-built reports, and easily navigable interface that requires little training.
PROS
- Flexible pricing, with volume and bundling discounts as needs grow, plus a 7-day free trial.
- Simple user interface, with a newer navigation side panel that speeds up training and improves adoption.
- Global support, with EOR services powered by Remote allowing hiring and payment in more than 90 countries without leaving BambooHR.
- Company branding, letting you update interface colors and logos to match your company's guidelines.
- Flexible packaging and custom pricing is the way they roll. You can pick out one or two packages and pick other modules as add-ons based on your needs.
- Very simple and straightforward tool, easy to use.
CONS
- Limited support times, available only 6 AM to 6 PM MT, Monday through Friday.
- Critical functions reserved as add-ons, including U.S. payroll, benefits administration, and time-tracking.
- Reliance on partnerships, with HR compliance, EOR, and training handled through third-party integrations rather than native features.
- Payroll is only available for US-based employees
- Customer support is only offered during US business hours.
- Some modules like time tracking, performance management, and surveys are only available as add-ons.
BambooHR has made it to my shortlist for many years for its simple interface, modules that support the entire employee lifecycle, and easy-to-build HR workflows.
Aside from core HR functions like an applicant tracking system (ATS), leave management, employee records, and a company calendar, they also have performance management, benefits administration, and payroll available as add-ons. But what I particularly like about BambooHR is that it continues to innovate on these core HR functions while keeping its SMB user base in mind.
For example, within the last year, it underwent a major interface overhaul with the addition of a left-side navigation menu, similar to other HR platforms like Rippling and Gusto. This makes it even easier for new users to learn the platform as it mimics popular social media platforms — especially helpful if you struggle with platform adoption among your employees.
They also added a new AI assistant, EOR services, and compensation benchmarking in 2025. While I like the new AI assistant for quick access to data and policy insights with source citations, BambooHR's in-app HR benchmarks are particularly exciting and a novelty for small-business-focused HR platforms.
With them, I can compare compensation, turnover, and eNPS against peers by company size, industry, and location. This helps me make strategic decisions like addressing pay equity gaps or improving onboarding when turnover spikes, without relying on third-party sources like SHRM or the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only ADP in my shortlist offers similar benchmarking capabilities.
But BambooHR does have its flaws. For one, its benchmarks are based on the anonymized data of its 34,000+ customers, a far cry from ADP's more than 1.1 million customers, making them less accurate overall.
For another, creating your own workflows, such as new hire onboarding, continues to use a guided walkthrough. This is perfect for HR software newbies but can be frustrating for companies that want more advanced customization, like initiating tasks through integrated apps like Slack. If you need that workflow configurability, look to Rippling or monday.com instead.
BambooHR has 34,000+ customers, including names like MasterClass, Bitcoin.com, and ZipRecruiter.
BambooHR offers three per-employee, per-month plans: Core ($10) for core HR features like employee records, hiring, time off tracking, and compliance tools; Pro ($17), which adds performance management and employee engagement features; and Elite ($25), which includes compensation management, advanced analytics, HR benchmarks, and premium services. Volume and nonprofit discounts are available.
BambooHR also offers add-ons such as Time Tracking, Payroll, and Benefits Administration (US only), as well as Employer of Record services via Remote. A 15% bundle discount applies to Payroll and Benefits Administration for US-based employees only.
Note: BambooHR’s 7-day free trial allows you to try everything in its Elite plan, plus its Benefits Administration add-on. If you’d like to see their time-tracking, payroll, and EOR add-ons in action, you can request a free demo.
Best For
BambooHR is best for US-based growing businesses..
I used BambooHR to manage all HR work, including payroll, employee relations tracking, benefits, and employee experience. When I was working with the smaller organization, I used the application daily for a few months. I believe the company is still using BambooHR and anticipate they engage with it daily.
I was primarily responsible for setting up the HR system and establishing workflows for the end user. Once the system was set up, I used it to confirm that all employee information was flowing correctly throughout the system.
I liked the comprehensive approach it provided. It allowed me to manage everything in one system without needing to use other platforms. The platform was very user-friendly.
I worked for a smaller start-up that used it to centralize all of its HR needs. They were using it to replace paper files, outsourced payroll, and similar services. BambooHR addressed these needs and allowed them to manage all of their HR work in one place.
I personally used BambooHR for a few months while helping the company implement the software. I found it to be a helpful tool, especially for smaller organizations.
I disliked the limited compliance information across different states. I was not able to use it for our international employees. Uploading large amounts of data was difficult for larger organizations.
BambooHR is great for smaller organizations that don't have a complex employee structure. It was very user-friendly.
Organizations should consider the complexity and size of their employee structure. They should also evaluate the cost in comparison to what they currently pay for other ad hoc services that this tool would replace.
Unknown, as I didn’t use it for a long time.
Smaller, more centralized organizations will find BambooHR a great fit.
BambooHR is not a great fit for large or more complex organizations that need a custom tool.
Rippling
Rippling is an all-in-one HR platform with an intuitive design and thoughtful UX that handles everything from onboarding to offboarding. It's long been on my shortlist simply for its powerful, no-code automation tools that let you streamline complex HR processes across multiple HR modules, such as payroll and performance management. It also offers EOR, professional employee organization (PEO), and HR services — all of which you can turn on or off as your business scales. This, along with its IT device and inventory management for remote teams, makes Rippling the strongest option if your business needs are rapidly evolving and you want to stay on one platform as you grow.
PROS
- Advanced reports and data visualizations, using Excel-like formulas to combine data from multiple HR modules in real time for a macro view of people operations.
- 600+ integrations, connecting Rippling to your existing tech stack and reducing the need to switch platforms.
- No-code automations and apps, letting you build workflows and tools that connect modules within and outside Rippling.
- Native, purpose-built features, with HR functionality built directly into the system rather than added through acquisitions or third-party partnerships.
- All-in-one platform for employee management + PEO services offered, and even a suite of other IT products
- With 500 integrations, it’s very likely that they integrate with other key tools from your tech stack.
- Operates globally with any currency
- Workflow automation
- Analytics opportunities
- Provides a holistic view of company outflows—headcount costs included
CONS
- Minimal AI tools, with no AI assistant trained on company data yet, unlike competitors such as BambooHR, UKG, and ADP.
- Limited tech support, available only during business hours and without phone support.
- Lack of feature refinement, as rapid releases sometimes lead to buggy workflows, crashes, or freezing.
- Total buy-in to Rippling is essential
- Very SMB-oriented, in case you’re a larger company.
- New features tend to be buggy in ways that tech teams are not accustomed to fixing
Rippling is a popular human capital management (HCM) system that helps SMBs manage HR and IT processes in a single platform.
Rippling focuses heavily on automation tools to free HR teams from repetitive manual tasks, such as self-service onboarding and benefits enrollment. Using simple if-then statements, I can build surprisingly complex workflows, from adding non-discretionary bonuses to employee paychecks once they satisfy the necessary criteria to sending task reminders through Slack.
I even built my own workers' compensation (WC) injury workflow that sends WC tasks to an injured employee's direct manager when I enter an injury date in the employee’s profile.
While I have yet to test it, Rippling now offers tools to build your own internal app using Rippling data and automated workflows so that you can create even more individualized processes. The company also plans to release tools to make custom integrations for even more powerful data flow between applications.
This kind of customization, alongside support for increasingly complex HR needs such as global payroll, headcount planning, and employee travel management, makes Rippling the best option for fast-growing companies. All of Rippling's products operate on the same platform, meaning you retain access to your employee data regardless of whether you grow, shrink, add new locations, or acquire new ones.
Rippling serves more than 20,000 companies, including Blaze Pizza, Taskrabbit, Anthropic, and Forbes Advisor.
All customers must purchase Rippling’s base platform, Rippling Platform, which starts at $40 plus $8 PEPM. You can then add on modules from the following suites:
- HCM: HR modules including U.S. and global payroll, benefits administration, time and attendance, performance management, scheduling, chat, and recruiting.
- IT: IT modules including identity and access, device, and inventory management.
- Spend: Finance modules including corporate cards, bill pay, and expense management.
Best For
Rippling works best for fast-growing SMBs looking to leverage automated HR workflows in their HRIS.
I use Rippling for a wide range of functions: creating workflows to automate key processes, conducting performance reviews, adjusting payroll and expenses, onboarding and offboarding, and generating ad hoc reports to support business needs. Compliance is a priority, and Rippling helps ensure everything is handled properly.
The payroll application is effective for processing payments to contractors in multiple countries. The built-in currency exchange feature is simple to use and ensures accurate payments, which is essential.
- Rippling is highly versatile, and the workflow builder is easy to use and customize.
- It scales well with business growth, making it a sustainable long-term solution.
- The platform supports comprehensive employee life cycle management, including onboarding, offboarding, performance reviews, and training.
I have been using Rippling for about a year. Our organization became increasingly reliant on global contractors, and Rippling has made it easy to manage contractors from different countries around the world. Payroll is highly efficient, and benefits administration is simple.
The reporting tool is user-friendly, allowing accurate reports to be generated with just a few clicks. The workflows and IT functions are powerful and straightforward, offering a high level of versatility across the platform.
- When modifying a workflow trigger, the entire workflow is deleted, which is frustrating.
- The cost can be high for small businesses, as each app comes with separate pricing.
- Rippling’s interface is not very user-friendly and has a learning curve, although manageable with time and effort.
Rippling stands out with its strong global support and nearly 24/7 live chat. Specialized support teams are available to help tailor the platform to specific organizational needs.
Consider how the organization plans to scale and whether the investment aligns with long-term growth. Training requirements should also be factored in, as the platform requires time to learn to use effectively.
Rippling’s support has improved significantly, with faster response times that enhance the overall user experience.
Rippling is well suited for small to medium-sized organizations that employ global contractors and are experiencing growth.
Rippling may not be ideal for small businesses with limited HRIS experience or those without the resources to manage a complex system.
Gusto
Gusto's small-business-friendly interface makes it especially approachable for startups and new businesses. It features step-by-step workflows to build strong HR habits and complete process-heavy tasks, such as payroll and performance reviews. I'm particularly impressed by how Gusto keeps its small-business customer base in mind as its product offerings expand. Instead of being weighed down by additional features (something I think many vendors occasionally struggle with) Gusto keeps simplicity its guiding principle. This means features complement rather than complicate its existing interface, so you can navigate new modules like scheduling without much training — a huge win for ease of use.
PROS
- Affordable, transparent pricing, with contractor-only plans starting at $35 plus $6 per worker per month and the Simple plan at $49 plus $6 PEPM, undercut only by OnPay in this round-up.
- Gusto-brokered benefits, offering employee medical, dental, and vision insurance at no cost beyond premiums.
- Plug-and-play features, letting you complete processes like onboarding and payroll in a few clicks after guided implementation, without lengthy setup.
- The dashboard feature keeps tabs on compliance tasks
- The hiring and onboarding sequence is nicely streamlined between HR and the new hire
- Post-offer, pre-start tasks are made easy with integrations like CorpNet (state tax set up) Checkr (background checks)
- Easy payroll for U.S.-based W-2 folks, domestic, and international contractors
- Person-to-person phone support, email, and other customer service resources
- The business model is responsive to customer needs
CONS
- Limited customization options, with out-of-the-box workflows that require adjusting your processes to Gusto's rather than the reverse, and more complex needs often requiring third-party integrations.
- Basic reporting, covering standard payroll and workforce reports but lacking advanced analytics like data visualizations or cross-module comparisons.
- Gusto can support payments for international contractors, but not employees
- No native accounting feature to keep earning and spending under the same roof
- Analytics dashboard is simplistic
Gusto began as a payroll-focused platform for small businesses but has evolved into an all-in-one HR solution supporting benefits, recruiting, performance management, and compliance training. With EOR services through its Remote partnership and money management features like invoicing and bill pay, startups can run most of their business operations in one place.
The platform walks you through payroll setup, helps you register your business in various states, and provides in-app assistance to resolve government notices. Features like Gusto-brokered benefits, labor law poster compliance, a solopreneur subscription plan, tax credits, and a payroll line of credit give you the right level of support regardless of your company's size or structure — critical when you don't yet have resources for a dedicated HR employee.
That said, Gusto likely won't be your long-term platform if your business grows beyond 300 employees. The system lacks the automations, analytics, and configuration options needed for complex processes like candidate relationship management, succession planning, and multi-entity management. You'll eventually need to graduate to more robust platforms like Paylocity or Rippling. But for startups and new companies expecting limited growth, Gusto is a stellar option to consider.
Gusto services about 400,000 companies, mostly small, local businesses in the U.S. Examples include Rise Marketing, Little Fish Accounting, and Arklign Laboratories.
Gusto offers three primary tiers: Simple, Plus, and Premium:
- Simple: $49 plus $6 PEPM; includes single-state payroll, PTO management, and employee database.
- Plus: $80 plus $12 PEPM; includes everything in Simple plus multi-state payroll and time tracking.
- Premium: $180 plus $22 PEPM; includes everything in Plus, plus performance and compensation management and priority support.
It also offers additional Contractor Only, Solopreneur, and EOR plans:
- Contractor Only: $35 plus $6 PEPM.*
- Solopreneur: $49 plus $6 PEPM; includes S Corp compliance features.
- Gusto Global: $699 PEPM.**
Gusto offers a host of other add-ons and services, including global contractor payments, same-day pay, and workers’ compensation plans.
* New contractor-only plan customers pay a discount rate of $0 plus $6 PEPM for the first 6 months.
Best For
Gusto is best for startups and new businesses with limited growth plans.
Every two weeks, I use Gusto to run our payroll for our employees. I also use Gusto to onboard new employees. We also use Gusto to manage pay for our contractors. At the end of the year, Gusto makes it easy for us by processing our W-2 forms and 1099 forms. It's been great to have Gusto as a place where everything related to our employees' wages and benefits can be found in one spot.
The interface is extremely intuitive and easy to use. Everything for our employee pay and benefits is all in one place, so when a new employee joins, they can enroll in everything at once. Our employees have access to Gusto also, so if they need to make any updates to their information, it's easy for them to self-serve.
We've been using Gusto since 2021. We purchased Gusto because as a small start-up, we needed to have a full-service payroll provider that was intuitive to use and could also provide us with other services, such as 401K administration, worker's comp, and more. It was helpful for us to also have a service where they could alert us on any state-by-state requirements with regard to payroll and insurance, as we do have employees across many different states. I also really appreciate that Gusto helps to file all taxes related to payroll.
Some of the benefits via Gusto are administered via third parties (eg, worker's compensation, 401k), which means that for any detailed changes that we need to make, we have to work through a different point of contact. I wish that Gusto could help handle all of that for us. Also, Gusto doesn't have a customer service phone number that you can easily call, so if you need help, it is more cumbersome.
The user interface is significantly more user-friendly than other payroll providers like ADP.
You should consider if your payroll provider can help do payroll for other states or countries. You should also consider whether you want your payroll provider to help assist with other benefits. Also, consider how important high quality and speedy customer service is for you.
I've noticed that Gusto now offers assistance in registering with states, which is helpful for remote or distributed teams.
It's great for start-ups who may not have an HR team to figure out benefits administration.
Larger organizations that are growing quickly may find Gusto expensive. Also, small organizations who are hoping to opt into a large group healthcare plan won't be able to get that facilitated via Gusto.
UKG
If you need detailed people reports, quick access to critical data, and customizable dashboards, UKG's HR software is for you. I picked it for its exceptional platform and HR process customization capabilities. Beyond simply adding your company logo, you can customize which modules you access from its tabs, drag and drop widgets to create your own at-a-glance dashboards, and adjust permissions to collaborate across teams with shared views.
PROS
- Advanced search and filter tools, with global search pulling up saved reports or employee data across modules for quicker access.
- UKG Bryte AI assistant that produces reports, automates scheduling, and addresses pay errors within a natural conversation.
- Industry-specific add-ons, such as Roster Cloud for casino resorts or TeleStaff Cloud for public safety staffing, to meet specialized needs.
- Super robust product, packing years of experience with HCM and Workforce Management technology
- Since they offer UKG Pro for HRMS and UKG Ready for workforce management, you could arrive at a combination of products that suits many of your HR needs from the same set of tools.
CONS
- Steep learning curve, often requiring multiple training sessions to ensure widespread, effective use.
- Expensive, with modular pricing that may be too costly for small teams.
- Long implementation, with setup often taking several months when migrating to UKG.
- Compared to newer tools, UKG Pro and UKG Ready tend to miss a unique selling point or a specific focus on a certain type of business. While they work great for bigger companies in all sorts of industries, very niche operations might have a hard time adapting to the tool.
- Similarly, UKG offers many solutions under one umbrella, so it's not the best fit if you're looking for only a handful of specific use cases.
UKG is the result of a merger between Ultimate Software and Kronos Incorporated. It offers two HR technology solutions: UKG Pro and UKG Ready. Here, I focus on UKG Ready, which is geared toward growing midsize businesses.
UKG is best for process-heavy HR teams that want the ability to personalize how they get HR work done. UKG accommodates different working styles by enabling complex processes that other HR platforms with predetermined workflows cannot support, such as accident reporting or succession plans. This adaptability, coupled with the reliable support from the UKG Community, is the characteristic that impressed me the most.
Speaking of, the UKG Community feature offers a massive repository of information and insights drawn from the questions and answers of other users. It also allows users to seek assistance and interact with other current platform users— extremely handy when you want to learn new capabilities or troubleshoot issues without contacting customer support.
Admin users will appreciate the fine-grained control over user access, which strengthens data security through permissions for different individuals and user groups.
Yet UKG’s high configurability and option-saturated screens make it challenging to set up properly, especially if you're migrating data and workflows to the platform. I don't recommend UKG as your first HR software solution, as new users will find it exceedingly complex. But if you're growing and need varying workflows and data reports to support multiple entities, locations, or worker types, UKG is a great option.
UKG has more than 80,000 customers, including MGM Grand, Belle Tire, and The Salvation Army.
Custom.
Best For
UKG is best for companies with 50+ employees and often complex HR needs that require a highly customizable HR system.
We used UKG as our HRIS primary system of record to feed all other systems that relied on employee data. It was used for payroll, performance management, and compensation management. Again, a selling point of this tool for the transportation company was the multi-state tax calculations it was able to deliver.
UKG is a comprehensive solution when looking for an HRIS. It also has favorable integration capabilities with other systems. I also appreciate that UKG is a scalable system that allows your business to expand as needed.
I used UKG with a past employer in the transportation industry. We implemented it and used it for several years. We selected UKG due to the fact that the transportation company I worked for had a few separate subsidiaries in different states under the primary corporate umbrella. UKG was able to handle the complexity that came with managing a distributed workforce under multiple EINs. The taxation functionality was particularly helpful for their mobile and transient 1099 workforce.
UKG would benefit from expanding its reporting and data analytics capabilities. Other competitors have more robust tools and functionality In this area. The cost for this platform has also been an obstacle for smaller organizations.
No HRIS is perfect and has the solution for all employer pain points and needs. That said, UKG is very versatile and flexible to customize and modify to the needs of different types and sizes of businesses.
People should consider scalability, integration, cost, and ease of use. These will be critical, especially for companies planning on growing and expanding their workforce. Also important not to “over buy” modules that the business may not be ready to utilize yet. Scale its functionality as the business grows and matures.
UKG has moved to a cloud-based platform and developed a mobile app
UKG would be a great HRIS platform for companies of all sizes but especially for those looking for flexibility and to scale.
Companies not looking to grow and scale would not maximize the use of a tool like UKG.
ADP
If you're growing and need flexible support for unique business cases, ADP's Workforce Now HR software is a worthy consideration. It offers the largest selection of native solutions to handle the evolving needs of midsize businesses, including global payroll in more than 140 countries, benchmarks for strategic workforce planning, and even business advisory services. ADP also has one of the largest integration libraries on the HR software market, allowing you to connect accounting, business intelligence, and collaboration tools for a centralized system to handle all your people processes as you grow.
PROS
- Enormous product library, spanning HRIS/HCM/HRMS, global payroll, data analytics, contractor management, and financial wellness tools from one vendor.
- Advanced reporting, with benchmarking data and AI-generated insights covering turnover and headcount planning.
- HR outsourcing, offering PEO or managed services for payroll and benefits until you're ready to bring them in-house.
- ADP Assist, an AI assistant for natural-language navigation, report creation, and payroll processing, plus automating repetitive tasks.
- Native, all-in-one technology suite for recruitment, payroll, and compliance.
- 17 RPO service centers in 14 countries and provide services in 42 different languages.
- Dedicated team of AIRS-certified recruiting professionals.
CONS
- Legacy system, built from acquired businesses and ongoing updates to older software, leaving some workflows dated compared to newer platforms.
- Requires customization and training, including walkthroughs with ADP experts and workflow setup.
- Hidden fees, varying by business size, number of monthly payrolls, and payroll tax and reporting needs.
- Technology options outside ADP’s dedicated HR tools are limited.
ADP is an HR software vendor with more than 75 years of experience in HR solutions. It has a significant foothold on the U.S. HR software market, processing payroll for more than 42 million Americans. This means that, even if you’ve never used ADP, you likely know somebody who has.
As ADP’s mid-market option, ADP Workforce Now (ADP WFN) provides a balance of both pre-built and configurable HR workflows. It especially shines in the payroll department, allowing me to tackle complex payroll cadences, like multiple pay schedules and off-cycle pay runs, from the same screen. It even supports fluctuating workweeks, certified payroll, and employees with multiple pay rates.
I like ADP WFN's interface from the employee perspective, especially its mobile app. The ability to complete preboarding tasks from your phone, including taking and uploading pictures of I-9 documents and voided checks for direct deposits, eliminates the extra step of transferring images during desktop onboarding; a huge time saver.
Despite this, after multiple walkthroughs, I still find the admin interface busy and unintuitive. There's a lot of scrolling to access various features, such as reports on its HR dashboard page. Starting the onboarding or termination workflows for an employee requires more than two clicks, unlike the one-click buttons in Rippling's navigation pane.
Most of this stems from legacy functionality that ADP continues to upgrade and modernize. Its 2025 interface makeover offers a more accessible design with prominent buttons and contrasting colors, plus it adds its AI copilot, ADP Assist. With it, I can complete HR tasks, like building a report, within a natural conversation — a win if you need scalable, advanced customizations while retaining the ease of use of platforms like BambooHR.
ADP WFN’s primary market is small- to midsize businesses, with customers such as Four Seasons, Logicalis, and Smoothie King.
ADP WFN doesn’t disclose its pricing. You’ll need to contact its sales team for a custom quote. The quote depends on several factors, including the frequency of your payroll (weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly), number of employees, worker types (employees, contractors), subscription tier, add-ons, and support level.
You can choose from the following subscription tiers and add-ons:
- Select: Payroll, tax, HR tools, ADP Assist, Voice of the Employee, onboarding, digital recordkeeping.
- Plus: Everything in Select and benefits administration.
- Premium: Everything in Plus and workforce management.
- Add-ons: Talent acquisition, performance management, compensation management, HR assist, enhanced analytics, and learning management.
Best For
ADP Workforce Now is best for organizations experiencing/aniticipating growth/scalability.
Paycor
Paycor is a robust mid-market HR software for leaders at U.S.-based companies who want to save their teams time during payroll processing. In particular, their pay grid interface is great if you're looking for a more hands-on payroll experience that allows you to complete it faster (sometimes in just three clicks) and manage pay runs for multiple locations or pay schedules in one place.
PROS
- Payroll services covering check stuffing and delivery, garnishment services, payroll auto-run, employee paycards, and on-demand pay, useful for companies with frontline teams.
- Financial wellness tools giving employees earned wage access, budgeting tools, and financial learning and counseling to support better spending and saving habits.
- Frontline worker support through advanced time tracking (geofencing, on-premise time clocks, group punching), scheduling, and integrated workers' compensation.
- Paycor payroll solution and mobile app are both straightforward to use.
- Intuitive self-service employee portal.
- Offers multiple modules for small businesses and custom plans for teams with 50-1000 employees.
- Unlimited payrolls.
- Offers discounts frequently. Though not listed on their site, a free trial is available to those who contact the support team directly.
- On-demand pay is available for all plans.
- With the acquisition of the people development platform Verb, it has improved its employee learning experience.
CONS
- Core HR processes sold as add-ons, requiring extra payment for benefits administration, time-tracking, and scheduling.
- Legacy interface that feels dated compared to newer products, with non-payroll modules requiring more training to use effectively.
- Expensive for small teams, with the Basic plan starting higher than comparable solutions like Gusto or OnPay.
- Undisclosed pricing.
- Customer support is reported to be slow at times.
- It is not a good fit for teams with 1000+ employees or those requiring advanced customization to meet their unique requirements.
Paycor ticks all the boxes for the features we look for in HR software. The employee self-service portal is excellent; it makes tasks like reviewing or signing contracts or choosing benefits straightforward. Admin users are automatically informed about any updates to sensitive employee information.
While Paycor didn’t invent the wheel by offering mobile apps, their platform is well-built and well-liked. They make it easy to access payroll, time, attendance, and other HR features on the go.
Though large enterprises can use Paycor, its platform is best suited for SMBs to use alongside other core HR tools as they grow. Paycor offers multiple plans for companies with fewer than 50 employees, so whether you only need a payroll solution or a full HR suite, Paycor is a flexible option.
One of Paycor’s top features is its pay grid for payroll processing, which I found one of the easiest and most customizable, even compared to payroll-forward vendors like ADP and Paylocity.
True, it looks much like a fancier Excel spreadsheet, but I can get a macro view of payroll costs, along with in-app warnings, such as net pay shortfalls, to reduce the risk of errors. I can also see upcoming pay runs months in advance and make changes ahead of time, like entering year-end discretionary bonuses for the last payroll, so I don't forget them.
Despite this, Paycor’s HR modules outside of payroll lack the finesse of more modern alternatives like Rippling — mainly because Paycor adds these capabilities after company acquisitions. For example, Paycor Paths, their leadership development module, comes from their acquisition of the behavioral microlearning platform, Verb.
As a result, modules tend to have an inconsistent interface. Their performance management module, for example, is completely separate from the rest of its platform, with a new navigation panel and design compared to its payroll, benefits, and time-tracking modules. Not only does this create a disjointed experience, but it makes it harder to quickly find the information I need when moving between HR tasks.
Paycor has nearly 800,000 customers, including Wendy’s, Detroit Zoo, and the Cincinnati Bengals.
Paycor does not disclose its pricing, so you must contact its sales team for a quote. It offers two product tiers: one for small businesses with 50 or fewer employees and one for companies with 50–1000+ employees.
Within the small business product tier, you can choose from 4 subscription plans outlined below. Although not currently listed on its site, Paycor’s starter plan, Basic, used to cost $99 + $6 PEPM to give you an idea of costs.*
- Basic: Basic multi-state payroll and tax compliance.*
- Essential: Everything in Basic plus reporting, analytics, onboarding, PTO management, and basic recruiting.
- COR: Everything in Essential plus HR support center, 1:1 HR guidance, and expense management.
- Complete + ASO: Everything in COR plus advanced analytics, 401(k) plan administration, employee assistance program (EAP), and dedicated HR partner.
- Add-ons: Workers’ compensation, time and scheduling, benefits administration, and advanced recruiting.
* New Basic, Essential, Cor, and Complete + ASO plan customers get 50% off for the first 6 months.
The payroll titan Paychex has now acquired Paycor. Paycor's platform and services haven't changed as of this writing, but Paychex plans to expand its service offerings for Paycor customers.
Best For
Paycor is best for payroll management at U.S. companies with up to 1,000 employees.
We used Paycor primarily for core HR tasks—not because it was exceptional, but because it was already in place. I accessed it regularly for payroll-related work, verifying employee information, and ensuring job titles, pay rates, and other details were accurate.
I also used it to pull reports and pay stubs when employees had questions or when finance needed support for audits. During onboarding or offboarding, I updated employee statuses and ensured records were accurate.
Day to day, it functioned more as a backend system I used as needed rather than a tool I looked forward to using.
It handles payroll processing reliably, with few surprises, so I could run batches and know the direct deposits would hit on time for our team. The employee self-service portal is decent—folks can grab their own pay stubs or update basic info like addresses without asking me every time.
It also keeps compliance stuff like tax filings and W-2s in one spot, which saves headaches during year-end scrambles. Reporting for basic HR was mostly decent. Overall, it's solid for the basic work.
I worked for two companies that used Paycor. Both organizations had legacy relationships with Paycor and had relied on it for several years. From what I understand, they transitioned from spreadsheets to Paycor as their first HRIS solution.
Managing compliance and payroll manually had become unsustainable, and moving to an HRIS system made those tasks easier to handle. I've used Paycor for a couple of years across both companies.
One significant frustration with Paycor was how clunky the interface felt when navigating between payroll, HR, and reports, which took way too many clicks, and it never saved your spot as it should have.
Customer service support was a nightmare; they'd take forever to respond with generic emails that didn't fix anything, leaving us hanging during critical payroll weeks when we were already stretched thin.
Billing was mishandled constantly—sometimes payroll payments would be issued in triplicate, and we'd waste hours on the phone chasing refunds and fixes that dragged on.
Reporting sucked too; it was rigid and clunky, with no real customization, so I couldn't pull the dashboards or exports we needed for board meetings without tinkering with it for an hour.
Onboarding workflows didn't integrate well or even at all with our other tools, forcing me to manually copy data back and forth every single time.
Paycor feels more outdated compared to competitors. It’s solid for payroll and compliance, similar to ADP, but lacks the speed and user-friendliness of tools like BambooHR or Gusto. It performed better than ADP WFN in my experience, but that's a low bar.
Bamboo offered smoother navigation and cleaner dashboards, making everyday tasks faster and easier.
Gusto’s layout was more intuitive, and even though its reporting wasn’t extensive, it was far easier to use than Paycor.
Overall, I preferred modern, user-friendly options like Bamboo and Gusto, which made the workday more efficient.
Choose a system that works for your team’s size, budget, and actual workflow. Invest in a platform that’s efficient and doesn’t require excessive training. A good tool should be intuitive enough that employees can use it without constant guidance. Don't compromise on usability for the sake of legacy systems.
I haven’t seen much change over the years. It feels like one of those systems that hasn’t kept up with modern expectations. While stability is important, innovation matters too—and Paycor hasn’t evolved where it should.
Paycor is likely best suited for larger, traditionally structured organizations such as financial institutions or government agencies that prioritize stability over innovation.
Paycor is not a good fit for small companies.
OnPay
OnPay is the most affordable platform on our shortlist, with a one-size-fits-all pricing model and no additional implementation or data migration fees. Their $49 + $6 PEPM price even includes multi-state payroll support, which rivals Gusto’s starter subscription plan. I also like that OnPay focuses primarily on small-business HR needs, providing federal, state, and local tax compliance, along with simple reports and an internal human resources information system (HRIS) for managing performance reviews, employee rosters, and internal communications.
PROS
- Small business HR tools included in the base price, covering e-signature, customizable offer letters, I-9 and W-4 forms, legal templates, and multi-state payroll.
- Specialized industry payroll support, handling unique needs like nonprofit tax exemptions and clergy tax exemptions for religious organizations.
- Support for multiple worker types, paying employees and contractors, remote or on-site, within the same payroll run.
- Free tax form handling for W-2 employees and 1099 contractors.
- Some HR services included within the plan at no additional cost.
- 30-day free trial available (starts after OnPay verification).
- Well-developed online help resources.
CONS
- No native accounting or time-tracking, requiring integration with platforms like QuickBooks Online, Xero, When I Work, or Deputy.
- Limited scalability, with a fixed feature set that may require migrating to a new platform for needs like paying international employees or contractors.
- Lacks advanced HR tools, with no AI assistants, automated payroll, or configurable reports, meaning more manual entry or third-party apps for complex processes.
- Poor functioned employee mobile app.
- Requires payment four days before payday for direct deposit.
- Doesn’t support automatic payroll.
- Customer support sometimes hard to reach.
OnPay is an excellent first-time HR software system for small businesses. It covers core HR processes, such as payroll and benefits, at simple, affordable pricing.
The standout features for me are its compensation and benefits management capabilities. You don't have to calculate state and federal taxes and withholdings; the platform will do it automatically in compliance with regulations.
I also didn’t encounter any issues during testing of OnPay’s payroll features. But even if I had, their tax accuracy guarantee means they’ll work with the tax agency and cover any penalties or fees to resolve the issue.
As for benefits tools, the platform is an excellent licensed health insurance broker and can help you select the right plans in all 50 states. I noticed some well-known names, such as Vestwell and Guideline, listed as OnPay's 401(k) providers if you need retirement benefits for your employees.
OnPay's HR features include e-signature, offer letter sending, customizable checklists, PTO management, and self-onboarding.. While this is a great pick for very small businesses, I wouldn’t recommend OnPay for companies with more than 100 employees. It will likely become too labor-intensive to maintain — even if they do market themselves as being able to manage more than 500 employees.
OnPay does not publicly disclose how many clients they have.
OnPay is best for small businesses that need affordable HR software.
Best For
OnPay is best for small businesses that need affordable HR software to handle essential HR, payroll, and benefits functions. It is especially helpful for agriculture businesses, churches, clergy, and nonprofits because of its special payroll services.
We use OnPay on a monthly basis to deliver payroll. We also use integration features to connect directly with payroll and accounting software. It enables us to automate or streamline data collection related to working hours and personal details. We do weekly, bi-monthly, and monthly pay runs, and OnPay allows us to establish separate and automated pay schedules for each. We also use OnPay to manage and approve PTO via the employee self-service dashboard.
The interface is slick and easy to use. It offers flexible and expandable HR and benefits tools, meaning it can grow with the business. The streamlined and partially automated PTO with self-service is also good.
We bought OnPay to streamline our payroll process. Our HR and finance teams were too small and preoccupied with rapid growth activities to manage payroll, and as a result, mistakes were being made. The monthly payroll process was analog, without much automation, and quite inefficient and laborious. We wanted to have a more automated and online process, which OnPay provided.
OnPay is genuinely focused on small businesses. The interface is clean and simple, not overloaded with features like those found in big company payroll tools. It connects directly with our timesheets, allows staff to update their personal data, and has streamlined and mostly automated our payroll process. We have used this tool for a couple of years.
The design is a little boring and old-fashioned. The reporting section is a bit awkward to use. It doesn't have great support for international customers.
The design is a little boring and old-fashioned. The reporting section is a bit awkward to use. It doesn't have great support for international customers.
Can you also pay contractors through the system? Can you pay staff according to different pay schedules?
We haven’t used it long enough to answer this.
US-based SMEs without international offices can benefit from OnPay.
OnPay is not great for US businesses with international offices. Choose a tool that can service staff overseas as well.
Monday.com
Monday.com offers a versatile platform that can help HR teams elevate their processes. While it may not be your typical HR software, its customizable templates, helpful automation, built-in integrations, and collaboration features make it a valuable asset for optimizing all sorts of workflows and managing employees effectively.
PROS
- Monday.com offers a high degree of customization and automation, empowering HR teams to adapt the platform to their unique requirements.
- There are over 200 pre-made templates that can be used immediately for various processes, saving you time and effort.
- There’s a free plan for SMBs and startups that lets you access all existing templates, create up to 3 boards, and have unlimited documents.
- Free plan available, and affordable, scalable plans for small to midsize businesses
- Easy to learn and use
- Customizable dashboard
- Collaborative document creation with the ability to turn content in docs into tasks in projects with a few clicks
- Gamified progress tracking with visual celebrations for users
- Workflow automation for repetitive tasks
- Built-in communication tools reduce reliance on email
- Customized forms for in-house or client use that can be easily turned into projects
CONS
- It can take some time to learn and set up the Monday because it’s not your typical HR software but rather a versatile platform with multiple use cases, including HR.
- There currently aren’t any features for payroll or benefits administration.
- Users need to upgrade to the Standard plan to access integrations and automation features, which are key to getting the most out of the platform.
- 3+ users are required to get on any of the paid plans
- Limited storage on the Basic plan
- Could be too complex for simple project management needs
- No phone customer support
- Tracking different conversations can be difficult because of all the clutter
Though Monday.com isn’t your typical HR software with payroll processing and benefits admin features, their powerful and user-friendly platform can be adapted to various HR scenarios, thanks to its wide range of customizable templates and helpful automation. Whether it's managing the recruitment pipeline, onboarding new employees, conducting performance reviews, or tracking employee development, Monday.com gives you the flexibility to create workflows that fit your organization's unique processes. For those who don’t feel like creating things from scratch, there are several ready-to-use templates covering various aspects of employee management, from employee lifecycle packages and cross-company event planning to employee directories and time-off requests.
Another area where Monday.com differs from traditional HR software (but in a good way) is native project management. The platform's Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and calendar views facilitate seamless collaboration among team members and ensure that everyone is always on the same page, knowing who is responsible for what tasks and where each project stands. The customizable automations further streamline processes by automatically updating timelines, assigning tasks, sending notifications, and more.
We appreciate Monday.com’s emphasis on data visualization and reporting. Its customizable dashboards provide a high-level overview of HR pipelines and tasks, allowing you to quickly identify areas that require attention. You can also generate custom reports and analytics and share them with relevant stakeholders to make collaborative decisions.
If you’re an HR professional looking to streamline workflow management and enhance collaboration, we think Monday.com is worth checking. While it may not be a one-stop-shop for all HR functions, its flexibility, customization options, and user-friendly interface make it a valuable addition to any HR team's toolkit.
Monday.com’s customer list boasts big names like Lionsgate, Glossier, and Oxy.
Monday.com's free plan allows up to 2 users and 3 boards, while paid plans start at $9/month.
Best For
Monday.com HRIS is best for startups and small businesses due to its affordable pricing structure, which includes a free plan.
I use Monday.com to track my personal tasks across multiple groupings. One grouping is for HCM project updates, another grouping is for future projects, and I also have groupings for my individual direct reports. Whenever something comes up that cannot be resolved right away, I add it to my tasks manually. I plan to add workflows via Microsoft Power Automate, which can scrape emails and identify key tasks to add to Monday.com. Once that workflow is up, I'll be able to manage my tasks more effectively with less manual input.
I enjoy the ease of use that Monday.com provides. The automation and multiple integrations allow adaptability with Monday.com. Additionally, it is easy to collaborate with teams over tasks.
I have used Monday.com for personal organizational management, as well as for my work. The hardest part of my job as a department leader was not only tracking my own priorities but also the priorities of my direct reports.
Monday.com offers an easy way to manage tasks, add priorities and deadlines, and even assign tasks to people outside of your subscription. Automations and AI are also available, making setting up new tasks and tracking them easy. I've been using Monday.com for about two years now, and I intend to keep using it for a long time to come.
Without expertise, it's hard to add custom fields to tasks that are easy to adjust. Another issue I have is that Monday.com can be tedious as you move between main groupings, and setting up default values has to be done manually. Finally, Monday.com doesn't offer as much customization as other task-tracking websites, such as Notion.
Monday.com is very easy to use compared to the competition, making it easy for new users to get set up and track things right away. The barrier to entry is very low.
Consider cost, as Monday.com will beat the competition in cost alone if you need a simple task-tracking solution. However, if you have specific business needs, you may want to consider functionality and ease of customization.
I have not used Monday.com long enough to see how it has evolved over time. It hasn't changed at all since I started.
Monday.com is great for individual use and small teams, not for larger organizational structures.
Large teams that need to manage multiple, complex workflows or individual users that want to pay for the additional features won’t find Monday.com to be a good fit.
Other HR Software Platforms Worth Considering
Several platforms didn’t quite make my top 10 list, but have unique features that cater to special business cases, making them worth mentioning. Check out my picks below:
Homebase: Best For Companies with Frontline Workers
As far as small-business HR platforms go, Homebase is one of the top contenders for teams with a high percentage of frontline workers. It offers PTO management, scheduling, break waivers, and advanced time-tracking features, including photo sign-in PIN codes and geofencing to prevent buddy punching and time theft.
Since my last demo, Homebase has added AI assistants specifically designed to automate payroll, hiring, and scheduling processes. I especially liked its scheduling assistant, which saved me time by automatically generating first drafts of schedules and suggesting ways to resolve hour conflicts.
monday.com: Best For Team Collaboration
I’ll admit it: I’ve been a long-time skeptic of labeling monday.com an HR software system. As a project management platform, it lacks the built-in compliance, employee data protections, and HR-specific workflows you’d expect from comprehensive HR software suites.
But I can’t deny how powerful monday.com is for HR process management. I’ve used it for employee onboarding and managing HR documents. I can trigger onboarding tasks automatically based on a new hire’s role, level, or department, with assignments as detailed as mandatory training courses or manager-reviewed first projects.
The platform also offers HR templates for recruiting, performance reviews, and employee development, plus configurable, real-time report dashboards that rival platforms like Rippling.
I recommend monday.com for teams that need advanced automations and flexible workflows for HR tasks that require a lot of collaboration. Budget-strapped or one-person HR departments may also find it useful to manage their personnel database. Still, because it lacks native payroll, benefits, and compliance features, it works best as a supplemental HR tool and not your primary HR system.
Remote: Best For Global Recruitment
Remote is another global payroll provider platform for hiring and paying teams in more than 90 countries. While it doesn’t support nearly as many countries as Deel, I find Remote’s core HRIS much easier to navigate, thanks to its side navigation panel.
Remote’s recruiting function is particularly powerful, giving you the reins to handle global recruitment functions yourself, with access to 800 million candidate profiles, AI-powered job matching, and a mini applicant tracking system (ATS).
Does Your Company Actually Need HR Software?
While tiny businesses may be able to handle all of their employee information in spreadsheets, purpose-built HR software becomes increasingly essential as your business grows. If you’re still not sure if HR software is right for your business, here are some key signs that you should be thinking about implementing one:
- You Have More than 25 Employees: While 25 employees is not a rigid threshold (a startup with under 20 employees can still benefit from HR tools(1)), it is an excellent place to start thinking about using an HR software system. With more than 25 employees, keeping track of data becomes a chore, and at a certain point, it becomes impractical (and error-prone!) to manually enter and update all employee data.
- Many of Your Jobs Require Licensing or Certification: If you are in an industry where employees require up-to-date certifications for legal reasons, staying on top of the schedule is critical. HR software can streamline the process by setting up automated reminders when certificates are due to expire.
- You’re Growing Fast: Companies face changing legal requirements as they pass different size thresholds. Keeping up with the legal requirements of a growing company is much easier to do automatically with HR software than by hand in spreadsheets.
- You Want Your HR Team to Play a More Strategic Role: Having one easily searchable system that stores employee information, runs payroll, and handles benefits saves a lot of time for your HR team. It allows them to focus on more strategic projects for your business, like increasing employee engagement and retention or improving organizational culture.
- You Manage Hourly Employees: With hourly employees, you often have to track hours and manage changing schedules. This is another process that is made infinitely easier with HR software.
- You Need Custom Workforce Data Reports: As businesses become increasingly data-driven, accurate and readily available people analytics becomes more and more critical. Many HR software solutions have features that enable you to hone in on data-driven recruitment and gain better ideas of your company's health.
Key Benefits of HR Software
At SelectSoftware Reviews, we like to start with the “why?” behind any piece of software. With HR software, many assume that the answer is simple: it’s a must-have because a database that tracks your employee information is necessary.
In fact, buying HR software is not the no-brainer choice it’s made out to be. It is a major strategic decision that requires a lot of time, thought, and buy-in, and in some cases, it’s just not the right tool for the job. However, I’ve seen HR software systems offer tremendous benefits when adopted at the right time and place(2). Here are the key ones:
Save Time with Automation
By automating recurring tasks like benefits, payroll administration, new employee orientation, time tracking, and attendance management, HR software with a core human resources information system (HRIS) helps make tedious HR processes quick, simple, and less prone to error.
In fact, AI is reported to save time and boost productivity for nearly 9 in 10 HR teams, according to research(3).
Improve the Employee Experience
HR software doesn’t just benefit your business and bottom line. It’s also a direct asset for your employees. With a user-friendly employee portal, your employees can navigate benefits options easily, review and update personal information, manage requests for time off, and much more.
Employees who feel their employers’s onboarding software is effective are five times more likely to report high levels of engagement.
Employee Performance
Beyond simply reviewing conduct and achievements, your HR system can drive employee performance.
Performance reviews, engagement surveys, performance management capabilities, and customizable integrations with other tools can all be used to build culture and turn company values from ideas to action. Statistically, 72% of HR generalists engaging in self-service HR software reported a lighter workload.
Increase Compliance
If you are careful with the setup and initial data entry, HR software can significantly improve your business’s data accuracy and accessibility.
In addition to helping out in a pinch, data accuracy, and task automation support compliance year-round. Automation results in fewer human errors. Many vendors do a great job of staying on top of changes in laws and regulations, keeping you in the loop, and updating their products accordingly.
Better Organization
If a team’s starting point is pencil and paper, using an HR system will alleviate some data security risks and the hassle of sifting through physical files. For teams who have moved beyond the paper files to a patchwork of spreadsheets and other tools, buying a complete HR suite will help keep everything in the same place.
Stacey Richey (VP of People at Corvus Insurance, 18+ years in HR) shared her personal experience with this problem and how an HR software platform solved it.
Early on, her company used multiple tools for people processes: one tool for payroll, one for employee perks and benefits, one for talent development, one for performance management, etc. Does this sound familiar? She knew it was time for an all-in-one HR software system. First, she identified the needed features and set her team off with a head start and a list of non-negotiables.
The result: they identified the right tool for the right price, and today, they save hours each month by not having to switch from one app to another, build integrations, or transfer info.
Streamline the Hiring Process
Some HR software tools can also act as lightweight, small-business-oriented applicant tracking systems (ATS), and some have a full-fledged ATS built-in.
These features allow you to easily collect resumes, review candidate info, and speed up employee onboarding and training, providing new hires with a seamless transition into your company. Custom workflows also help ensure the onboarding process does not overlook key steps or necessary documents.
Business Intelligence
Analyzing data metrics becomes increasingly important as your business grows. By creating custom reports, your HR software system makes it easy for your HR team to analyze hiring costs, calculate turnover, and employee engagement, and ultimately use data to help inform business decisions.
Workforce Management
The top HR software platforms come from best-in-class HR technology companies. Progressive, forward-thinking HR departments can count on comprehensive HRIS, HCM, or HRMS (human resource management software) platforms for complete workforce management.
For example, employee engagement is sometimes built right into HRIS or HCM systems, along with intuitive employee onboarding, easy-to-access payroll and benefits, mobile first-time and attendance, and payroll management. This is done through a cloud-based service that automatically updates as new modules roll out.
Common Pitfalls When Buying and Using HR Software
Making mistakes is a great way to learn, but with this complex and expensive software, sometimes it’s best to learn from the missteps of others.
The best way to avoid buying the wrong HR software system is to ask the right questions. Keep this in mind as you start working with vendors — check out my suggested questions below, and take note of these shortcomings that are typical traits of bad HR software.
Lack of Employee Self-Service
If your HR software doesn’t allow employees to update their personal information or choose their own benefits plans, then it’s not saving your human resources team time. The tools that offer the greatest returns always include employee self-service capabilities.
Inability to integrate with other systems: If you want to save time with HR software, make sure it integrates with your current tech stack(4). Manually transferring data from one system to another is the exact opposite of saving time.
Take, for example, the integration of a standalone ATS. Though there are some exceptions, most HR software platforms don’t include an ATS that is sophisticated enough for high-volume hiring. Remember this as you shop: chances are good that your ATS and HR software system will be neighbors but not roommates. You can ensure they get along if you think ahead about integrations.
Lack of Data Accuracy
Your HR software is only as good as the data it stores. A system full of inaccurate data is useless and potentially hazardous, so make sure your HR system takes measures to ensure accuracy. This applies to data entered manually or via API from another HR software or recruiting solution — be sure that your HR software takes this step seriously.
Lack of Consideration of the Application’s Limits
The right HR software for a small business and/or a startup is not the right HR software for a 1000-employee company. Your company’s current size must be a major factor in your decision, and if your business is growing fast, you’ll want an HR system that can grow with it.
For very large teams, the options are relatively limited compared to what is available for small groups. This owes to the fact that the latest and greatest tech often comes from small, boundary-breaking startups that are too curious (and sometimes distractible) to focus on making incremental improvements to the feature set needed by enterprise-size organizations.
Incorrect or Rushed Implementation
Take your time. There are few things worse than technical debt, one of which is technical debt that results from preventable mistakes.
Do not rush the data transfer process when setting up a new HR software platform. If you cut corners, data will likely be entered or transferred incorrectly. Without a doubt, you will meet that data again during a frustrating and preventable moment when you discover you’ve entered the wrong pay rate or manager permissions.
It’s advisable to get a consultant if you can afford it. Someone who “has been there, done that” when transitioning data from one system to another can be advantageous. And, of course, if your new HR software comes with a ton of vendor support, use it all! Many companies offer tremendous support to their new clients to ensure a smooth implementation of their platform.
Non-user-Friendly Platform
HR software is only effective if employees actually use it. A poorly designed platform may generate net-negative productivity and net-positive frustration. Make sure your new system is designed for the humans who will use it: it must be easy on the eyes with good UX in all environments in which it will be used, whether an app, browser, or mobile web.
Insufficient Data Security
It will surprise nobody to read that a data breach on an HR software system is very, very bad. These platforms store scads of sensitive, personal employee information, so even a minor instance of compromised security could cause irreparable damage to your business.
Be cautious and methodical when setting up your system’s security measures — and remember the sometimes blurry difference between your HR pros and your IT pros. And one rule of thumb: be weary of vendors with fewer than 20 employees listed on LinkedIn.
Insufficient Planning
HR teams who have not sufficiently mapped out the process of installing and introducing their HR software system will face tremendous struggles getting their solution off the ground. To prevent this, your team should create a concrete timeline that outlines each implementation phase in great detail.
Communicate with the relevant set of employees/managers at each implementation stage. Ask and expect a lot of questions, and remember: no rushing!
Having led many HR software implementations, Richey has “been there, done that''. In her experience, she found that one of the biggest mistakes companies make is purchasing a product that works only for where they are today, with little thought of where they may be in the near or distant future.
“Think of all the possible changes your company might experience in the next five years and plan for that.” She shared. “You want a system that scales with the company to ensure you won't switch HRIS for a long time.”
Key Features of HR Software
A clever way to save money on buying an HR software platform is to think about your goals and codify them into an organized spreadsheet to make notes throughout your vetting process(5). It’s worth thinking through some of the key HR software features(6). Here are a few you’ll want to consider.
- Employee Self-Service Portal: Employee data management can be a lot of work for your HR department. The self-service function of many human resource management systems helps eliminate this challenge by enabling employees to view and edit their information, including benefits selection, time off, and more through a self-service portal.
- Time and Attendance Management: HR software simplifies tracking time off and planned and unplanned absences due to sickness, injury, maternity leave, or unauthorized leave.
- Onboarding Capability: While onboarding typically involves a lot of paperwork, with HR software, employees can complete much of the onboarding process electronically, including open enrollment. Most HR platforms even have electronic signature functionality, allowing employees to sign scanned documents that can be stored in the system.
- Custom Reporting: As HR increasingly relies on data and trends, it’s crucial to have a system that can create reports to help improve business decisions. A powerful people analytics system takes the manual labor out of preparing reports and replaces it with empirical evaluation speed, accuracy, and objectivity.
- Learning Management: Though a learning management system (LMS) may be baked into your HR software, it's much more likely that, like the ATS, you’ll use this tool as a standalone solution. Whether integrated or built-in, the LMS is critical for managing educational materials during employee onboarding and throughout the employee lifecycle.
- Employee Database: The employee database of an HR software platform allows you to store all employee records and information in a centralized location. The data is searchable, making finding details on employee salary and position, performance appraisal histories, disciplinary histories, and training records easier.
- Recruiting Functions: Many HR solutions allow you to air job postings, conduct interviews, store resumes, and transfer information when a new candidate is hired. While not all HR software systems have applicant tracking system features, they often allow native ATS integration so that you can transfer new-hire data to your system quickly and smoothly.
- Training and Development Management: Tracking employee training is essential, particularly in an industry where employees require specific certifications or licensing. HCM or HRMS platforms let you see what training employees need or want and helps you stay current on any required recertifications.
- Central Storage for Company Documents: As a centralized location for any information your employees might need, your HR software should be where employees can find HR policies, employee handbooks, emergency evacuation procedures, safety guidelines, and more.
- Benefits Administration: Your HR software should enable employees to enroll in health insurance, manage their 401(k), and track their benefits information. Many systems also offer payroll software and services to keep your employee benefits information auto-updated though often the payroll features cost extra.
- Compensation management: To reduce the risk of error when handling employee compensation, HR software systems often offer payroll functions. This allows you to handle many forms of incentive compensation, including salaries, paid time off, overtime pay, and bonus programs automatically.
HR Software Pricing
Pricing of HR software depends on the breadth of the feature set offered and the size of your organization(7).
- Typically, it is charged on a per-employee/per-month basis. You can find HR software that costs you $2/employee/month and solutions that run as high as $30/employee/month (plus additional fees for payroll and benefits, as well as extra modules for hiring and onboarding).
- As with many things in life, you get what you pay for. If you just need to check the box, a cheaper solution makes sense. Suppose you want to use your HR system as a tool for increasing employee engagement, retaining employees, and generally driving business value through human capital management. In that case, you’ll have to pay for one of the better solutions.
- Some vendors will also charge ancillary fees in addition to the recurring SaaS cost. Be aware that these add-ons can add up, and realize that you can often negotiate these fees much more easily than the recurring per employee/per month cost of the cloud-based solution. Setup, consulting, support, and software fees are all fair game for negotiation.
A quick note: SelectSoftware Reviews continuously crowdsources data on HR software pricing through a survey(8). We do this to increase transparency and help HR teams better understand their options. It's anonymous and takes only two minutes; anyone who helps the community by filling it out will get access to the entire data set.
How to Get Buy-In for New HR Software
Any time you manage a significant purchase for your business, internal stakeholders will be watching. In fact, part of the process of buying a new HR software platform is stakeholder management. You must justify your choices from start to finish, from vendor selection to HR tech buy-in to implementation.
Generating wholehearted stakeholder buy-in is particularly important because it is crucial to maximizing the solution's value. Identify these key stakeholders early and understand how to maintain their support.
Below is a brief overview of the various important stakeholders and advice for managing each.
Company Leadership
If you want your HR software to have the best chance for success, you’ll need to get CxO buy-in and continuous support from the top leaders at your company (9). To accomplish this, present the business case to them and carefully lay out the ROI your new HR software will drive.
Present your implementation plan and provide them with a detailed timeline. Throughout the life of the HR software, provide leaders with updates about how the system is meeting the goals laid out for it, and how you plan to stay on track to achieve future goals.
Human Resources
The rest of your HR team is one of the biggest stakeholders involved in the implementation and must not be overlooked. A successful solution will make HR functions much easier, and a failed solution will make them much, much more difficult. It is important to use their help to get this right.
Because they will lead in handling employee questions, issues, and possibly grievances with the system, make sure your people team feels good about the selection and is properly trained to use it.
Communicate to all human resources team members how a new HR system will change some employees’ duties, especially with the automation of tasks that they previously performed manually.
Benefits Brokers
Some of the HR professionals I talked to consider it essential to involve benefits brokers in the process. First, ensuring that the HR software vendors you're considering work with the benefits carriers you currently use are vital.
If they do not, part of your implementation process will include justifying to your employees why they are being forced to make a difficult change. In some (but not all) cases, a benefits broker can help with this.
Although keeping current benefits unchanged may narrow down and simplify your search from the start, brokers can be helpful to help navigate the notoriously tricky ins and outs of benefits and coverage. Finally, some benefit brokers have an internal HR software team you can partner with during the RFP (request for proposal) process.
Operations Team
Your operations team will be involved in the budgeting, reporting, and legal compliance of your HR software. They may also communicate with benefits management providers and external partners affected by your new system. Communicating with your operations team is crucial to their continued support of your HR solution.
IT Teams
Your tech teams will play an important role in helping implement and update new software, so involve them in the decision-making process to ensure they are comfortable with the technology and any security implications.
It may also be helpful to open a communication channel between the vendor’s tech people and your IT team, so if they do run into problems, you are already one step closer to a solution. If the system will require a lot of updates, especially if they are not the automatic, cloud-based type, make sure that your tech team is aware and prepared.
Employees
Every employee has a stake in the success or failure of your HR software. A successful, easy-to-use system is a massive benefit to workers.
At the same time, the success of your HR software is dependent on your employees using it correctly, so be sure to provide the necessary training and communicate the solution clearly and early. You should listen to your employees' feedback at every step of the road and take their complaints and concerns seriously.
Be sure to carefully explain the positive ways an HR platform will impact their day-to-day work and focus specifically on how the system will benefit them now and in the future.
Questions to Ask During Demos with HR Software Companies
The next step is working with vendors and doing demos. For this step, it’s essential to come prepared with questions that address the core needs of your organization from a functional standpoint, as well as the various items internal stakeholders are looking for (security, data migration, self-service portals, etc.).
Here are questions you should have in your back pocket to ensure your company's needs are met by the tool your vendor is selling.
- How will information be exchanged with carriers (for benefits)?
- How can we put important data into this system? (API, Excel spreadsheets, documents, other databases, and paper documents)
- Does it accommodate benefits carriers’ rules?
- Does it integrate with ATS/payroll system/any other systems you might have that impact workforce management?
- What built-in security measures does it contain?
- Does this solution have SSO (single sign-on) capabilities?
- Are there multiple authorization levels for different types of users?
- Is there a maximum number of employees it will support?
- What types of reporting capabilities does it have?
- Does it include features to help HR communicate with employees, like mass emails or sophisticated message filtering?
- How much technical training will be required?
- What kinds of technical support are provided?
- What recruiting capabilities are built in?
- Which HR processes will be automated?
Richey points out, “Demoing software can be painful, but it pays to go into the weeds for every single module.” When approaching a demo, Stacey likes to get a feel for what every workflow will feel like for her employees. She believes they must be getting a tool that makes their lives easier, and often, this commitment requires a trial version to test out the software after the demo.
How to Implement an HR Software System
Here are some best practices to help you ensure a successful HR software implementation.
- Fully commit: To take full advantage of the services your HR software offers, you must fully understand all of its features and how to use them. Get your data migrated into your new system quickly (but do not rush!) and dedicate time to get used to the new processes.
- Decide on an implementation team: It’s always wise to have a team that will take full responsibility for the rollout process of the product. This team should be in charge of communicating the new HR software to staff from different areas of the company so they’re equipped to take full ownership of the implementation process.
- Concentrate on adoption: To prevent poor adoption, ensure employees are aware of the new technology before you roll it out. It’s also essential to select a user-friendly HR system and provide the necessary training so all employees, from new hires to executives, feel comfortable using the technology.
- Seek support from the vendor: It’s unrealistic to rely entirely on the vendor to fix all your problems, but they can certainly be helpful in many cases. Understand in detail the support that will be offered, and get SLAs in place if you can.
- Be able to adapt: Being adaptable is always important for an HR team in many cases, including when implementing an HR software solution. If the roll-out lacks energy or employees are responding negatively to the system, you need to be ready to change your approach to set your HR software up for success.
HR Software FAQs
An HRIS is an employee management platform that allows HR teams to store and manage employee records. They generally include or integrate with standalone tools that offer core HR functions like payroll, performance reviews, and ATS. Almost all HR software systems have an HRIS at their center, functioning as their employee database management tool.
What does HRIS stand for?
HRIS stands for Human Resource Information System.
What does HCM stand for?
HCM stands for Human Capital Management.
What does HRMS stand for?
HRMS stands for Human Resource Management System.
What’s the difference between HRIS, HCM, and HRMS?
On the surface level, there isn’t a massive difference between HRIS, HCM, and HRMS. They are all comprehensive people management systems that help companies optimize their HR processes.
However, there can be some subtle differences between HRIS, HCM, and HRMS(10).
- An HRIS is an all-encompassing in-house software for managing people, procedures, and policies(11).
- An HCM has all the features of an HRIS but often includes talent management capabilities(12).
- An HRMS is an end-to-end system with all of the features of an HRIS and HCM but often includes payroll and time and labor management capabilities.
What are the different types of HR software?
There are many types of HR software, each addressing specific aspects of human resource management. While some tools do far more than what their label suggests, we group the ecosystem into the following main categories:
- HRIS/HRMS/HCM: Manages employee data, self-service portals, absence and PTO management, benefits administration, performance management, and recruitment tracking.
- ATS: Manages the recruitment process by organizing candidate information, tracking application statuses, and facilitating communication with applicants.
- Recruitment Software: Automates job postings across multiple platforms and track applicant responses, often integrating with ATS to build a pool of engaged talent and improve the candidate experience.
- Onboarding and Offboarding Software: Simplifies the integration of new employees into the organization and ensures smooth exits for departing staff.
- Learning Management System: Administers and tracks employee training programs, focusing on skills development and compliance training.
- Payroll Administration Software: Automates payroll calculations, tax compliance, and financial reporting.
- Performance Management Software: Monitors employee performance, sets objectives, and facilitates regular feedback to support development and organizational growth.
- Employee Benefits Administration Software: Manages employee benefits like health insurance and retirement plans, ensuring accurate enrollment and compliance with policies.
When should a company use an HR software system?
According to Danielle Jones (CEO of Pinnacle Consulting Services, 10+ years in business and HR), if an organization has at least one employee whose full-time job is to manage people systems and benefits administration, then it is time to start using an HR software system.
Sources
- What HR Tools Should I Use as a Startup? - SSR
- 10 Key Benefits of HR Software and Automating Your PeopleOps - SSR
- The Impact Effective HR Software Has on Business Success - SSR
- HRIS Integrations to Consider Before Updating your HR Tech Stack - SSR
- A Clever Way to Save Money on HR Software - SSR
- 9 Essential HRIS Software Features That Matter Most - SSR
- HR Software Pricing Guide: Complete Cost Breakdown for 2026 - SSR
- HR Tech Pricing Survey conducted by SSR
- HR’s Simple Trick to Get CXO Buy-In - SSR
- HRIS vs HCM vs HRMS, the Key Difference Explained - SSR
- HRIS Basics: How HR Software Delivers Intelligence from Hire to Retire - SSR
- HCM Software: Definition, Benefits, Examples, and Features - SSR
About the Author
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