Best HR Software for Small Business (2024)
The best HR software for small business as picked by SSR's expert HR tech reviewers. Read about features, benefits, pitfalls, pricing, and more below.
Top Human Resource Software
Small business HR software provides a range of functionalities designed to streamline and manage various human resource tasks.
The HR software market is packed with options. So many, in fact, that buyers are left confused and frustrated. We’re here to help! This guide offers general guidance and an expert perspective on crucial features like employee self-service, automation, and integrations.
Between product testing, user research, and talking to experts, we have put hours into this guide. In addition to offering product suggestions, we'll teach you how to evaluate HR software on your own. You’ll learn what to expect, what to avoid, and what to ask.
We’ve reviewed hundreds of HR software products over the years. In that time, we’ve learned the best way to give you what you’re looking for is to distill it down to the essentials.
This guide evaluates the most critical functions of HR software for small businesses. With our hands-on experience in HR, we were able to trim it down to three key elements: employee self-service, automation, and integration.
- Employee self-service: Small businesses are especially vulnerable to the harmful effects of wasted efforts, and this risk should be accounted for in the features of its HR software. Self-service portals empower employees to enter and update their own information. It may seem like the impact of employee self-service (ESS) is minimal, but the cumulative effect is substantial. Among other factors, our ESS evaluations note the ease of use, the number and type of data employees could access and update, and the platform's attention to information security protocols.
- Automation: Streamlined workflows save time, reduce errors, and allow your HR team to apply their efforts to tasks that need a human touch. To evaluate this factor, we asked industry experts to use their wide-ranging HR experience to assess the workflow of each tool. We coupled that with input from our user researchers, who ran simulations of typical sequences across the employee experience, like hiring, onboarding, and running payroll for a new employee.
- Integrations: Choosing HR software that doesn’t integrate with your current tech stack will cause significant challenges in the future. When testing integration capabilities, our evaluations were essentially pass/fail: our team checked for compatibility with common, standalone tools (the kind that small businesses use when starting out) and rated each platform on the number they could connect to.
You should know that we are approached by far more vendors than you see on our site. After careful vetting, only about one in ten make the cut. It’s a lot of work, but to offer you solid advice on buying HR software for small businesses, we must reevaluate our choices constantly.
You can learn more about our selection criteria and research methods by reading this article on how we assess HR tech vendors.
HiBob
BambooHR
Connecteam
Gusto
GoCo
Zoho People
JazzHR
Factorial HR
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HiBob
Bob is a modern-looking HR solution notable for its ease of use. Small businesses in various countries use it to streamline their HR operations with remarkable customization and efficiency. It’s excellent for managing international teams.
PROS
- Good customization for international operations. It’s easy to manage workflows like time off requests, parental or other types of leave, and employment types, across several countries, depending on how you’re set up.
- Contains some intranet-like features, which is odd for an HRIS, but a nice-to-have, people frequently point out. For example, people can post ‘shout-outs’ to the home page.
- 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
- Reporting can be somewhat basic for an HRIS
- As it’s made to be an HRIS, some modules are limited in function compared to more specialized tools. For instance, its performance module can also do surveys, but some of the users we consulted think these would benefit from more options and customizable parameters.
- 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.
Bob, or HiBob, has made it its philosophy to always put the employee first. You can see that ethos embodied in how easy the product is to use and the various ways this solution engages employees to better understand and cultivate culture. Bob is a great fit for forward-thinking HR departments that need tools like onboarding, time-tracking, payroll reports, time off management, surveys, benefits, and much more.
Tufin, Yotpo Ltd., Fiverr, Happy Socks, Taptica
Bob offers custom pricing. They have flexible plans for growing companies and will work with you to offer the best possible cost.
Best For
Companies with fast-growing teams that want to manage all or most HR processes in a single platform, in a modern way.
From an HR perspective, we use the tool daily. As people managers, I would think they use Bob on a weekly basis. Bob is used for all HR processes: onboarding, employee data changes, holiday requests, performance reviews, 1:1 updates, reporting, and surveys. All our policies are distributed through Bob, and the tool allows us to track who has read and approved the policies. Employees also use it as their internal 'Facebook,' sharing fun news.
- Bob is very intuitive to both implement and use.
- Bob integrates easily with other tools (e.g., Teams).
- Bob can be used for multiple sites and countries.
My customer (I'm an HR Manager consultant) was in need of an all-inclusive HRIS. We had a basic system to manage holidays, but all other HR processes were manually managed via Word and Excel templates. As the company grew, this became unmanageable. The key benefit of Bob is that it has multiple modules, allowing you to tailor it to your needs. Bob also offers basic customization, making the tool adaptable to your specific requirements without the need to build an HRIS from scratch. We've been using the tool for over a year now.
- The pricing of some modules is not competitive (e.g., the new ATS module).
- Although it is easy to create reports, you can't combine certain reports. If the data is in multiple areas in Bob, you can't merge it into one report.
- Bob frequently updates. While this can be beneficial, it often requires adaptation.
Bob stays close to market trends and evolves quickly to meet client needs.
Before choosing an HRIS, the HR manager needs to consider the following: What is the current flow of HR processes? How do you want these processes to evolve? What is the budget? What reporting do you need? Is the tool compliant with local regulations (e.g., GDPR)?
There are more options within reporting, improved logic in holiday setup and requests, and more logical flows in performance reviews.
Bob is a good fit for medium to large organizations that are evolving and expanding.
Bob is a bad fit for small organizations, due to the price.
BambooHR
BambooHR is a leading HR software, catering to both large companies and small businesses with its flexible pricing options.
PROS
- BambooHR is an HR tool tailored for small businesses, providing flexible packaging and customizable pricing, enabling you to expand features as your business scales.
- BambooHR is a simple and straightforward tool that is easy to navigate. This user-friendly interface and intuitive design is especially great for SMBs since tools like these tend to be used by managers across departments.
- Robust employee self-service features include onboarding, time off requests, and surveys.
- 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
- Payroll functionality within BambooHR is currently limited to U.S.-based employees.
- Small businesses operating in time zones outside of the U.S. should note that customer support is not available outside of U.S. business hours.
- Some features, including time tracking, employee surveys, and the entire performance management suite, are only available as add-ons that can add-up on an SMB budget.
- BambooHR's reporting capabilities, although sufficient for many small businesses, may not provide the advanced analytics and customization options required by some data-centric organizations.
As a cloud-based HR tool, BambooHR's offline functionality is limited. This may be a drawback for small businesses in areas with unreliable internet connectivity or those with a high percentage of deskless employees.
BambooHR - one of the best HR software for small businesses
- 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.
Having once been a small business, BambooHR strives to provide custom plans to suit growing business needs. Their HR platform covers the entire employee lifecycle, though some features, including performance management, are available only as an ad-on.
For small businesses, they offer the HR Essentials plan. They also offer various amenities, including an app marketplace for HR/recruiting vendors, an HR glossary, and occasional HR-focused events.
Among the 20,000+ companies that use BambooHR, you’d find names like Quora, Universal Group, Reddit, Asana, Change.org, University of Maryland, Grammarly, Stance, Postmates, Wistia, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and ZipRecruiter.
Pricing is not disclosed upfront, but they do offer a free trial of their all-in-one software and then go out of their way to find a version that will suit you. Before they come up with a personalized quote that will align with your budget, however, they are also likely to extend your free trial upon request or even give you a free demo of the advanced features.
Best For
BambooHR is a go-to resource for countless small businesses for good reason. It’s always been an approachable tool, well-known for its customizable capabilities. Its flexible pricing options cater to the requirements of growing organizations. Additionally, BambooHR's popularity among partially or fully remote teams further makes it an ideal choice for small businesses embracing flexible work arrangements.
Connecteam
Connecteam stands out as the premier all-in-one HR software tool tailored specifically for small businesses with a significant number of deskless employees. It comprehensively addresses most core HR concerns in a way that caters to the unique needs of unanchored workers.
PROS
- Among the rare fully-mobile HR tech tools designed for deskless workers
- Great value for its features, SMB-friendly pricing
- Highly receptive to user feedback, incorporating suggestions as new features
- One of the only fully-mobile HR tech tools for deskless workers
- Very adequately-priced for all it entails, SMB-friendly
- Quite open to feedback, having implemented user suggestions as features in the past.
CONS
- In the communication hub, the app lacks confirmation for sent and/or seen messages.
- Certain essential features like GPS-tracking are restricted to higher-tier pricing plans.
- In the communication hub, the app offers no confirmation that messages were sent and/or seen.
- Certain features that some teams consider essential, such as GPS-tracking, are only available in the higher-tier pricing plans.
Connecteam is the HR app for companies with a high percentage of deskless workers to manage. If you need a simple, robust, yet intuitive tool that lets you take care of HR processes for low-tech employees who don’t have a computer, this one is certainly worth checking out.
From the Connecteam app, managers can handle administrative work, like staff scheduling, task management, attendance management, time keeping, training, onboarding, and much more. Non-desk workers then interact with all of this via a mobile app, where they need nothing but a phone number to create an account.
Nike, Herbalife, Billabong, Footlocker, Mason Construction, American Eagle, McDonald’s, and many more.
Connecteam’s pricing can range from free-for-life to up to $159 per month. Final numbers will vary depending on the number of users and modules you choose. To give you an idea, here’s an overview of each plan within the operations module:
Connecteam’s payment structure is fixed for the first 50 employees you add. Once you add more, there would be an extra payment of $1.5 per additional employee per month.
These pricing options are yearly, where you save 18%, but you can also opt for month-to-month payments. They also offer enterprise pricing with more features and a personal account manager. Each paid plan also has the option of a 14-day free trial.
Best For
Connecteam connects and empowers teams and businesses of all sizes. Its user-friendly workforce management tool caters to low-tech, deskless workforces without extensive IT intervention. Industries served include healthcare, manufacturing, security, and more.
Gusto
Gusto's new native ATS enhances its offerings, allowing job posting, syndication, interview notes, and basic scheduling. Designed for employers with moderate hiring needs, it seamlessly integrates with the Gusto platform and demonstrates promising functionality and reliability.
PROS
- Gusto automatically files state new hire paperwork for users.
- Self-onboarding allows employees to add or update personal info, including bank details and withholdings.
- I-9s and W-4s are e-signed and stored within the system.
- Customizable offer letters and onboarding checklists for new hires.
- Native features to post jobs on popular job boards (LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, etc.) and track applications in one place.
- Accessible phone and email support.
- Payroll support for U.S.-based W-2 employees and domestic/international contractors.
- Transparent pricing without long-term contracts or setup fees.
- 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
- No capacity for hiring or paying non-U.S. employees
- Time tracking and e-signatures missing from Simple plan
- Only Premium plan users can access 24/7 support
- Free trial not offered
- 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's HR solution with its native ATS is a reliable and efficient tool that simplifies hiring, onboarding, and payroll processes.
The ATS feature integrates with popular job boards like LinkedIn, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter and is particularly useful in reaching a wider pool of candidates. It also automatically files state new hire paperwork, helping users save time and ensure compliance.
Another quality feature is Gusto’s self-onboarding: employees can update their personal information, including bank details and withholdings, here on their convenient devices. The e-signature capability for I-9s and W-4s also eliminates manual paperwork.
Gusto provides customizable offer letters and onboarding checklists, allowing users to tailor the onboarding experience for new hires.
As Gusto’s core product is payroll, its capability to provide this service is excellent. Users can use Gusto to pay their W-2 employees and contractors across the U.S. and worldwide. Paying global employees is the only thing Gusto payroll hasn’t covered yet. Thus, the tool is not a good fit if you’re doing international employee hiring.
American Canning, Matchless Builds, Citizen Pilates, Pain Clinic, Distant Moon.
Gusto offers flexible pricing plans to accommodate different business needs:
- Simple Plan: Starting at $40/month, plus $6/month per person.
- Plus Plan (limited-time sale): Starting at $60/month, plus $9/month per person.
- Premium Plan: Customized plan options available by contacting sales.
- Contractor Only Plan: Designed for businesses with no W-2 employees, priced at $6/month per person.
Best For
Gusto offers a budget-friendly basic plan, making it accessible to startups with limited budgets. For SMBs with smaller HR departments and greater financial capacity, the Premium plan is a recommended choice to invest in human resources effectively.
I'm an HR Generalist, so I mainly use Gusto to add new hires, update salaries, and ensure that payroll is correct. I also use Gusto to disperse employee documents for signature/acknowledgment (Employee Handbook) and to store employment documentation (offer paperwork, background checks, etc.). Others on my team use it to run payroll and enroll in state tax registration.
I love their customer service, they always have an answer for you and make my job so much easier. The interface is fantastic, and the design is very appealing, which is a huge factor for someone that uses it quite often. I also really like the admin dashboard, Gusto will list outstanding tasks with their deadlines and will prompt you with helpful information to finish the task.
My company is a portfolio company for High Alpha Innovation. Gusto is the go-to HRIS for all portfolio companies. We have been using it since we started in 2020 and have even used it for one of our own portfolio companies. Gusto is a very easy-to-use tool that has fantastic customer support. When you're working for a start-up, you don't want to spend a long time on payroll and Gusto really helps with that. It's also very easy to set up a new instance of Gusto for a company - it took like two hours and was a painless experience due to Gusto's interface.
Sometimes the outstanding tasks aren't accurate, we recently had tasks pop up for an employee that has been gone for two years. This is very specific, but I wish that you could make some employee documents private to employees, all the documents you upload are automatically public and don't give you an option. I dislike their benefits -- we ran a quote before and it took a few weeks to get back the quote and it was incredibly expensive.
The only similar tool I've used is a PEO called Justworks. I'm not sure if it's a fair comparison, since PEOs pretty much do everything for you. I will say, it was nice that you could set up Gusto in a day and run payroll the next day if needed. For Justworks, you have to wait until the system start date, which can be weeks later.
I think that customer service is a huge buying criteria, especially if you have an inexperienced team. It's invaluable to have experts that you can call or chat with at any time. Cost is definitely a big factor that differs from organization to organization. It's sometimes worth it to pay a little bit more to make your life easier and that's what we've found with Gusto. Lastly, I think that it's important to have an easy-to-use system for both HR and employees. Payroll is VERY important which makes it vital to have a system that is easy to comprehend.
Gusto has become more well-rounded over the years. Last year, they added performance reviews into the mix. It's definitely not perfect and not very customizable, but it's a free add-on, which can be a huge value to organizations that don't have performance management built out.
Small to mid-sized organizations. I think it could work for a small start-up, but would be better for slightly more mature organizations.
Gusto would not be good for a small startup that doesn't have someone with HR experience on its team. Definitely would recommend a PEO over Gusto.
GoCo
GoCo provides payroll and benefits administration, performance management, hiring, onboarding, documentation, time tracking, and HR support from a centralized dashboard. It’s also a versatile solution that seamlessly integrates with some of the most popular apps and services.
PROS
- GoCo is a highly affordable solution for small teams and organizations that only have a few employees, especially if those employees work remotely and maintain flexible schedules.
- GoCo gives users the ability to automate recurring tasks and activities, i.e. providing new hires with the necessary documents, collecting their e-Signatures, and setting termination protocol in motion.
- GoCo is also available as a mobile app. This provides even more support to today’s mobile workforce by giving them the luxury of requesting time-off, managing their benefits, or viewing their performance reports from nearly any location in the world.
- GoCo includes a fully embedded payroll solution that is highly secure. Alternatively, GoCo’s Payroll Sync feature is capable of connecting with several cloud-based payroll solutions.
- GoCo is a highly affordable solution for small teams and organizations that only have a few employees, especially if those employees work remotely and maintain flexible schedules.
- GoCo gives users the ability to automate recurring tasks and activities, i.e. providing new hires with the necessary documents, collecting their e-Signatures, and setting termination protocol in motion.
- GoCo is also available as a mobile app. This provides even more support to today’s mobile workforce by giving them the luxury of requesting time-off, managing their benefits, or viewing their performance reports from nearly any location in the world.
- GoCo includes a fully embedded payroll solution that is highly secure. Alternatively, GoCo’s Payroll Sync feature is capable of connecting with several cloud-based payroll solutions.
CONS
- Transitioning your payroll to the GoCo platform can be challenging and some users report a steep learning curve with the GoCo platform in general.
- Some users report difficulty when scheduling time-off for employees that aren’t full-time, especially if their pay is prorated.
- In certain cases, benefits plans cannot be edited by your administrative staff, ultimately requiring customer support to add information for new carriers or edit the information of existing providers.
- There are a few persistent technical glitches that are yet to be resolved by technical support.
- Transitioning your payroll to the GoCo platform can be challenging and some users report a steep learning curve with the GoCo platform in general.
- Some users report difficulty when scheduling time-off for employees that aren’t full-time, especially if their pay is prorated.
- In certain cases, benefits plans cannot be edited by your administrative staff, ultimately requiring customer support to add information for new carriers or edit the information of existing providers.
- There are a few persistent technical glitches that are yet to be resolved by technical support.
GoCo functions as an all-in-one solution to your HR, payroll, and compliance needs. Not only will your team save time by accessing all of these activities in one convenient location, but their direct line to HR ensures that their voices are being heard.
One of GoCo’s key features is the ability to automate certain tasks, like onboarding and even pre-boarding. This ensures that your new hires have everything needed to get started while freeing up your managers and supervisors to look after their daily responsibilities.
GoCo is used by organizations such as Comit Developers, Caliper Foods, Synstelien Community Services, Stoughton Area School District, and Dom & Tom.
GoCo pricing starts at $5 monthly for each employee. Custom pricing plans are available.
Best For
GoCo would make a great addition to the tech stacks of small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) looking for a budget-friendly yet comprehensive HR software.
Zoho People
Zoho People provides a comprehensive solution. Features include employee self-service, time and attendance management, performance tracking, payroll management, announcements, and user access control. What sets it apart is its budget-friendly pricing options and forever-free plan. This makes it an ideal, scalable solution for fast-growing businesses, startups, and small teams.
PROS
- All core HR features in a single dashboard.
- Gives certain users access based on job roles, hierarchies, or locations.
- Announcements feature helps users stay updated with work-related activities.
- Wide array of integrations.
- Has an Android and iOS app.
- Transparent and affordable pricing. Has a free plan and a 15-day free trial.
- 24/5 support.
- Available in multiple languages.
- All core HR features in a single dashboard
- Wide array of integrations
- User-friendly UI, constantly updated
- Available in multiple languages
CONS
- Since they offer so many modules, some maybe not be as robust as other products that have been more specific about covering particular needs. For instance, some teams have found their payroll offering quite basic.
- The mobile app isn’t very user-friendly.
- Some users reported that the platform can be slow to load every now and then.
- Since they offer so many modules, some may be not as robust as other products that have been more specific about covering certain needs. For instance, some teams have found their payroll offering to be quite basic.
- Not all that’s available in the web platform is available in the app
- Some users reported that the platform can be slow to load every now and then.
Zoho People offers an impressive list of features on each pricing plan, so most teams can find a good feature fit at a price they can afford. The platform even provides a free plan for up to five users.
Cases is a unique feature. It allows employees to submit HR questions into specific topic categories and receive immediate responses from agents assigned to them. It's a simple yet remarkable feature that saves employees and HR colleagues time.
With its access control management feature, users can assign permissions based on specific roles, defining precise access levels for each individual. This ensures that admins can effectively control what others can or cannot access within the system.
Another noteworthy feature is Announcements, which allow administrators to share information using diverse content types. The feature's customization options, including formatting and location-specific visibility, further enhance its usefulness.
Zoho People’s self-service feature enables employees to access their records and perform HR operations like leave management, timesheets, and policy documents.
The mobile apps further enhance accessibility, although some users have expressed dissatisfaction with their occasional instability and subpar performance.
Some room for improvement can be found in tools like payroll, which is relatively basic compared to similar tools.
ZPE Systems, Cloudfronts Technologies, Zomato, SpiceJet, Foresight CFO.
Zoho People is free for up to 5 users. After that, it has four plans that priced as follows:
- Essential HR: $1.25/user/month billed annually.
- Professional: $2/user/month billed annually.
- Premium: $3/user/month billed annually.
- Enterprise: $4.5/user/month billed annually.
Best For
Zoho People is an affordable yet powerful solution for small and medium businesses to manage and access employee data from a centralized location.
All of my team members are on Zoho. It starts with onboarding a candidate to our organization with the help of Zoho People, keeping the important documents, daily attendance, leave trackers, etc.
- I like the integration among the Zoho applications which makes life way easier.
- It also provides me with a wide range of features apart from attendance, leave, etc. so I keep trying new things.
- It was easy to set up; I didn't need to wait for an expert to set it up.
I just started my organization and wanted to keep records of their attendance, leaves, employee records, etc. I was using Zoho Books and was happy with that so I thought of trying Zoho People for HRMS. It has been nearly 3 years since I'm using Zoho People.
- There should be a few more integration options with other external software.
- The UI can be improved so interaction over the platform becomes easier.
- Sometimes changing the policies is difficult as quite a lot of things are interconnected.
I have used GreytHR and I found Zoho is quite advanced with a lot more features.
I think it all depends on someone's requirement but I think for startups and small-medium companies, keeping operations simple is key, we should not be wasting our time in dealing with bulky software. In this regard, Zoho People comes handy with the level of integration available within Zoho applications that can fulfill most of your organization's needs.
I have not seen Zoho People change a lot in the last 3 years since I started. There were some minor changes to the UI and some of the features which I found useful.
I think it is good for startups and organizations with remote teams etc. Also, if someone is using some of the other Zoho applications then I think it completely makes sense to use Zoho People.
I can’t think of an organization it wouldn’t be suitable for, but for a large organization, it might be difficult to align with Zoho People's predefined policies/structure.
JazzHR
JazzHR is dedicated to addressing the distinctive recruitment requirements of small and medium-sized businesses. They excel in this area, offering a competitive price, an exceptional product, and outstanding customer support.
PROS
- An affordable ATS that doesn’t place any limits on the number of users added.
- A 21-day free trial is available.
- Send out jobs to 18 top-trafficked job portals with a few clicks.
- Can integrate with LinkedIn Recruiter.
- JazzHR is quite affordable and doesn’t place any limits on the number of users added. It also offers free, 21-day trials that anyone can sign up for.
- JazzHR has built-in features for offer management. You can choose from existing offer letter templates or create your own and share them with successful candidates
- You can automate triggers for candidates to be automatically notified via email when their application has moved a stage further in the hiring process. Several other email responses can be automated.
CONS
- The lowest-priced plan’s features are basic, tackling only job postings and applicant gathering.
- No free plan or mobile app.
- The reporting feature lacks advanced customizations and can be hard to navigate.
- Some users reported a learning curve with JazzHR's UI and that it took them some time to get used to it
- For a product geared towards SMBs, it lacks a free plan. We mention this as a con since other SMB-geared recruiting products do offer free-forever versions, which puts JazzHR slightly behind the competition.
- Several users have mentioned that the reporting feature is difficult to use with very little room for report customizations.
- JazzHR currently lacks a mobile app, and the browser version isn’t well-optimized for mobile use.
JazzHR’s SMB-friendly ATS prioritizes seamless communication and collaboration by offering unlimited user access across all plans. This enables businesses to effectively coordinate their hiring process. In addition to its affordability, we appreciate how easy JazzHR makes it to share job openings across multiple job boards, ensuring maximum visibility.
To cater to different business needs, JazzHR offers various plans. Hero, i.e. their lowest-priced plan, provides essential features such as the ability to post up to three job openings. As your company grows, you can easily upgrade to higher plans like Plus and Pro, which offer more advanced capabilities for automating, customizing, and analyzing the hiring process. This flexibility ensures that you only pay for the features you require, aligning with your evolving business requirements.
Massaro, TED, Heath Ceramics, Fox Dealer, and Clearly are some of the names on JazzHR’s 10,000+ customer list.
JazzHR has three pricing tiers as follows:
- Hero: $75 per month.
- Plus: $269 per month.
- Pro: $420 per month.
Best For
JazzHR serves startups and SMBs with under 500 employees.
We use Jazz HR daily. We have our options set up to provide notifications for each new applicant for each position we have posted. More than 90% of our recent hires have been recruited and selected using JazzHR. As for workflows, we use JazzHR to post jobs, identify qualified candidates, contact candidates for additional information or to schedule interviews, and to notify candidates of non-selection or selection. Occasionally we use JazzHR to identify candidates for positions we have not yet posted.
JazzHR is really easy to use. It is very intuitive, with tabs being pretty self explanatory. JassHR also posts on multiple job boards and pulls quality candidates from those job boards as well, expanding our reach to prospective hires. It is very easy to read and download resumes, and we can quickly share the applications with others within our team who need to view them. The price for the service is also reasonable. There was a price increase this year but we felt it was still more than worth it. JazzHR also integrates with our HRIS, Zenefits, which is an additional benefit.
We bought JazzHR because we wanted to streamline our recruiting process. Being in the federal contracting and acquisition space, we get quite a few opportunities to fill vacancies. Our company needed to be able to identify qualified candidates quickly. We also wanted to use an applicant tracking system that hosted candidates from multiple sources. Our first experience with JazzHR was in late 2021 and we purchased a subscription in 2022. We've been happy with the service and often refer colleagues and other businesses to JazzHR.
It can sometimes take longer than expected to receive feedback or a response from a JazzHR rep. We also have noticed that the system freezes more frequently than expected. We can usually work around this by simply logging out and back in but it seems to be a JazzHR issue since this happens on different computers as well as different networks. We would like to see more customizable features so that the look of JazzHR has more of a personalized feel.
JazzHR provides more candidates than competitors and it has a much lower cost. We also like the ability to customize templates when responding to candidates without having to pay an additional fee or select a higher priced subscription. JazzHR is also much easier to navigate than Monster and Indeed, and candidates have shared that when using JazzHR directly, it is easier to upload resumes and apply than other services.
If you want a low cost option that checks off most if not all of the boxes, consider JazzHR. If you need fast customer service responses, then you might want to try a different provider who can accommodate that. If you don't need a highly personalized home page, JazzHR is a good option especially for the price. Overall, JazzHR is our favorite resource for our recruiting needs.
We have only used JazzHR for a little over a year now and have not noticed significant changes worth mentioning.
Any organization with recruiting needs.
Organizations who don't often hire employees or contractors.
Factorial HR
Factorial is an all-in-one HR platform used by thousands of teams across the globe. They have always placed a considerable emphasis on being SMB-friendly, evidenced in their pricing and flexibility, and comprehensive feature list.
PROS
- Flexible pricing scheme
- Complete HR Suite + ATS
- Strong SMB focus
- Good UX/UI and frequently updated design
- Flexible pricing scheme
- Complete HR Suite + ATS
- Strong SMB focus
- Good UX/UI and frequently updated design
CONS
- Some users have pointed out that the tools are not very customizable.
- Because it covers such a wide range of functions, we’ve found that modules like payroll and reporting could be further developed.
- Some users have pointed out that the tools are not very customizable.
- Because it covers such a wide range of functions, we’ve found that modules like payroll and reporting could be further developed.
Factorial is an excellent HR software solution tailored for SMBs. Their comprehensive offering handles employee onboarding, time tracking, leave management, organizational charts, payroll, TA, and more. enabling HR teams to save time and increase operational efficiency.
We've been familiar with the tool since early 2020, and have always applauded their commitment to data security". With Factorial, all database information is encrypted and GDPR-compliant. They also use a Single Sign-On system, and maintain good security hygiene with regular diagnostic assessments of vulnerability.
The Power MBA, The Hotels Network, Nextail, Ulabox, Vicio
The Factorial Core HR platform starts at $60 per year, then it's $4 per additional user. There is a 14-day free trial and custom enterprise pricing is available for bigger teams. Their ATS is available as an add-on, starting at $39 per month for 10 job offers. Then you can upgrade to Pro, with unlimited job offers, for $119 per month (all if billed yearly).
Best For
Small and medium-sized businesses with many HR processes to streamline. It's specially suitable for organizations with a remote workforce and operations in Europe, the US, or Latin America.
Oyster
Oyster is loved for its automated onboarding and robust benefits & payroll. If you’re a distributed team, you’ll love Oyster’s native HR tools, strong compliance support, and how well it handles your global employment as a legal employer on your behalf.
PROS
- Oyster takes care of necessary documentation through self-onboarding tools: employees access, sign, and upload documents themselves through the platform.
- Targeted for a remote workforce: Whether your employees are in one country or 100, Oyster can accommodate them accordingly with its current partners.
- Helpful HR tools that are free to access. For example, you can use Oyster’s Benefits Advisor tool to research benefits that local companies offer and local experts recommend in a specific country.
- Support salary payouts in over 120 currencies.
- Pearl — Oyster’s virtual hiring assistant is handy to suggest on the system's hiring, onboarding, and employment terms (the standard probation period and vacation leave credits) for new recruits based on where they’re based.
- Generous discounts for nonprofit organizations and refugee recruitment.
- Intuitive: The platform is easy to navigate and makes logical sense.
- competitively priced: The flat rate for employees and contractors makes cost comparisons simple, and is competitive in the market.
- Targeted for a remote workforce: Whether your employees are in one country or 100, Oyster can accommodate them accordingly, and this is a feature few platforms can boast.
CONS
- Expanding the integrations is on Oyster’s plan, so you may want to check whether your current software is or will soon be compatible with Oyster before making a purchase.
- Oyster doesn’t provide tools for employee performance at the moment. There are no in-app communication features either.
- Oyster’s benefits packages, while being robust, are available as add-ons.
- Slight delays in processing times for payments in the local currency are somewhat common.
- Immediate communication via phone support is not an option, but they do offer live support via Zoom when necessary.
- An initial security deposit is necessary to begin the engagement and is refundable.
- The platform lacks native time-tracking functionality and provides only an in-app tool for managing time off.
- If you’re looking to co-employ your employees and partially outsource HR responsibilities, Oyster isn’t for you. They are more akin to employer of record services (EOR) than a Professional Employer Organizations (PEO).
Oyster is built with remote-first businesses in mind. The platform has gained trust over the years by taking on the role of a capable legal employer to handle global employment on the customers’ behalf.
What we love most about Oyster is that its robust health and benefits options are country-tailored and reflect employees' local laws and cultures in over 180 countries. This feature, thus, is rejoiced by organizations that are scaling fast and globally.
More recently, there is also a feature calledOyster Total Rewards. It provides insights tools and compensation consulting to help businesses design salary, equity, and benefits plans for their employees according to their locations. The offboarding also has a more simplified flow for team members to follow throughout the offboarding process.
Quora, Wagestream, Impala, and Grover are some companies on Oyster’s long list of customers.
- Contractor: From $29 per contractor per month. It includes hiring contractors in 180+ countries, drafting, editing, signing compliant contracts, processing invoices, and paying contractors in 120+ currencies.
- Employee: Between $499-$699 per employee per month, billed annually. The plan enables you to hire full-timers in 130+ countries with compliance and liability coverage, get automation, and IP protection, set up global payroll, and manage expenses, allowances, and bonuses in 130+ countries.
- Scale: Custom pricing and comes with a discounted rate, dedicated guidance, and support to navigate global employment and bulk hiring.
- Optional Benefits (as opposed to those locally-required) are available as add-ons to the Employee and Scale plans.
- Special discounts for nonprofits and refugee employment.
Best For
Remote, hybrid, and distributed teams looking for an HR tool possessing global payroll, country-custom benefits, and robust compliance support.
I used Oyster daily. I spoke with their compliance and payroll teams at least twice weekly (more during payroll weeks). Key workflows were Benefits, Global EOR for EE's and Contractors, and Multi-Country Payroll. They made hiring and keeping track of our global applicant pool easy. Tasks were sorted by country.
I like the user experience. I like that the platform takes a fun approach (not cookie-cutter). I really love that I can set up a page for each country we do business in but have all the pages in one portal.
Our organization had many pain points as a startup. We needed the flexibility to hire people outside of the US quickly. Oyster was super user-friendly and was a wonderful EOR for us. I can't say enough nice things about their product and people! I have personally used them for just over a year.
Cons of having an EOR (or a PEO) are that we have less control over growing costs year over year (especially benefits costs - you are pretty much stuck with their recommendations). Another disadvantage of Oyster is the detailed customization usually wanted in smaller businesses. The cost of the tool is also steep.
Oyster is different from Atlas, for example, in the user interface. Oyster is more fun to use! In HR, so much of what we do is serious, urgent, and complex - high stress. This tool makes the work a bit more enjoyable.
Do you need an EOR? Have you researched EOR versus PEO, and why is an EOR more of a fit for your company?
They seem to be making continual improvements. Not stagnant.
Oyster can be a great fit for a company with employees, contractors, or vendors in multiple countries worldwide.
If a company has US based employers only, Oyster wouldn't be necessary.
FAQs on buying HR software for a small business
What is the best Human Resources software for small businesses?
The best HR software for a small business will, at minimum, address an organization’s most troublesome pain points while fitting into the desired budget. Individual needs and budgets vary, but the best platforms automate and streamline basic HR processes like employee data management, payroll, time/attendance, and benefits.
Why does a small business need HR software?
Small businesses can use HR technology to save time and improve the employee experience, performance, and hiring process. Another significant benefit is compliance: most small businesses do not recover from the fallout of even minor compliance issues.
What’s the difference between HRIS, HCM, HRMS, and HR software?
Let’s start by unpacking the letters. HRIS stands for Human Resources Information System, HCM stands for Human Capital Management, and HRMS stands for Human Resources Management System. The difference between HRIS, HCM, and HRMS comes down to methodology and specific features, but each is an example that falls under the umbrella of HR software.
What can you expect from modern HR software?
Software for small businesses has grown increasingly sophisticated (or complex, depending on your perspective) over time. Early platforms offered the basics, like employee information management, payroll processing, time/attendance, and benefits management. Modern small business HR software can do much more, like drive employee engagement with features that look and feel like social media.
Pitfalls of buying HR software for a small business
The most common pitfall of buying HR software is not buying HR software.
Often, small businesses realize they need HR software when it’s almost too late. It is common to start a business with spreadsheets for payroll and shared passwords on sticky notes.
Obviously, this works. No business would ever make it past the idea stage if it didn't. But we’ve seen a lot of panicked small business owners who’ve had the rug of sticky notes and spreadsheets pulled out from under them, and they would back us up on this: don’t wait to buy HR software.
Here are the most common mistakes people make:
- Choosing a vendor with no employee self-service: Since the whole idea of HR software is to save time, Employee self-service features are a must. ESS features are handy during employee onboarding or when starting a PTO request, for example. In these cases, an automated, self-service workflow can save time and reduce errors.
- Choosing a vendor that lacks automation: Speaking of automated workflows, it’s also recommended that your vendor has this capability in some of their features. Whether it’s running payroll, onboarding, or signing documents, many menial tasks can be done automatically.
- Rushing the decision: You should expect and allow for this process to take some time. That’s easy to say when you’re not the rug-pulled-out-from-under-you-guy, but even if you’re under pressure, make the time for good choices.
- Among the most critical considerations of your selection should be integration. If you’re starting with sticky notes, this won’t be an issue, but your HR software will be baked into the middle of all business operations, so integration with your entire tech stack is crucial.
- Rushing the implementation: For small businesses, implementing cloud-based HR software is often a self-service process. This is a critical step that requires time and deep focus.
- Basic data entry mistakes can have massive implications. For example, provisioning access to employee data to the wrong person (or, even worse, a whole team!) is much worse than embarrassing: it’s illegal.
- Moving slowly and keeping the vendor’s customer service resources handy can avoid this worst-case scenario.
Benefits and ROI of HR software for a small business
While reading this, there might still be a small part of you that says, “I’m a small business. Do I really need a fancy HR system?”
The answer is yes.
If you plan to grow your business, you need HR software. With the right platform, the HR software you use today to streamline operations for a dozen people could be the same one you use in a year when you’ve grown to a hundred people.
HR software can do more than manage basic employee data. Modern platforms can orchestrate training programs and track metrics like satisfaction and engagement. There are limits to the effect software can have on company culture or turnover, but consider this: at the very least, the software will free up your HR team and managers so they can attend to the tasks only people can do.
How are most HR management solutions for small businesses priced?
The vendors listed in this roundup represent the most common pricing models in HR tech. Most charge monthly per user, and some have an additional base fee. Many offer independently priced add-ons, which is excellent for small businesses who want to pay only for the features they’ll actually use.
Vendors in this space are familiar with the tight margins of small businesses, so they are often willing to negotiate. Be sure to ask about custom pricing tailored to your business needs.
The following estimations offer a rough idea of what you can expect to spend based on the size of your team. This information is drawn from data points collected from our personal experience, user interviews, and consultation with other HR tech experts.
We’d love your input, too! To help us provide the most accurate figures, we're crowdsourcing data on HRIS pricing. The survey is anonymous and takes about two minutes. Plus, anyone who helps the community by filling it out will be given access to the entire data set.
Key HR software features for small businesses.
If this is your first HR tech purchase, which features should you prioritize? While that depends primarily on your particular situation and business needs, the following features are standard:
- Employee management: Core HR functions related to employee management should be included. Features like an employee directory or org chart are staples, and you can expect time management features like scheduling, time tracking, and leave management.
- Onboarding & Documents: Many of these tools include a basic Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that can do everything from sourcing candidates to onboarding a new hire. Some of them can even process the necessary documentation through automated workflows.
- Employee Performance: HRMS features are relatively standard in HR software for small businesses. They can be used to define and track individual and team goals, and many also support collecting feedback and performance reviews.
- Benefits Administration: Basic benefits administration is reasonably common, but tailor-made administration functionality is rare due to variations between states.
Some other features that you should consider include:
- Social recruiting
- Sourcing
- Reporting & Analytics
- A good mobile app (Android & iOS)
Questions to keep in mind when demoing HR software for small companies
While most of the top HR software solutions for small businesses like yours offer a free trial or an instant self-service demo, some will ask you to schedule a live demo with one of their reps. Come prepared with questions reflecting the time you’ve spent exploring the market and defining your company’s specific needs.
Below, you’ll find some sample questions to get you started. Be sure to download our totally free and super-helpful spreadsheet organizer to make notes on each vendor and compare them later.
- How will this solution seamlessly integrate with our existing tech infrastructure, and what integrations will be required?
- How will other team members effectively utilize this solution within the organization?
- What are the critical functionalities I should inquire about?
- How can this tool enhance and elevate the applicant experience?
- What aspects might make me or my team apprehensive when transitioning from our current processes to this platform?
- How does this product ensure the security of employee data?
- What can I expect about the caliber of customer support? Does the platform have a help center? Online guides? Are the support resources high-quality and accessible to all?
Just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean that you should be reluctant to control the demo. These solutions are specifically designed for businesses like yours, so it’s better for everyone involved if you can articulate your needs and the use cases you care the most about.
Last advice on buying HR software if you’re a small business
Before you start doing free trials or schedule demos, get all the input you can from stakeholders who will be affected by the decision. The direct experience of people in other departments is invaluable for finding the right tool for your team. Encourage them to consider how the new software would impact their work today and how it might hold up in the future.
Software built for small businesses is usually designed to scale. You can expect this whether you’re starting with the most basic plan or even the free one.
It’s impossible to plan for everything, but with the right HR software, you can feel confident knowing that you’re prepared for anything from the success you expect to the setbacks you don’t.
You’re probably aware that with 50 or more workers, businesses must adhere to federal guidelines under FMLA and EEOC. But 50 is no longer the magic number. As it becomes common for states to require employers with fewer than 50 people to provide health coverage and retirement planning, the conventional wisdom has shifted.
Coupled with new laws, the perception of HR as a critical element of strategic operations has steadily narrowed the HR-to-headcount ratio.
And as a final note, If you're buying to implement in the US and seeking a custom evaluation, feel free to schedule a complimentary one-on-one consultation with an HR tech advisor here.
About Us
- Our goal at SSR is to help HR and recruiting teams to find and buy the right software for their needs.
- Our site is free to use as some vendors will pay us for web traffic.
- SSR lists all companies we feel are top vendors - not just those who pay us - in our comprehensive directories full of the advice needed to make the right purchase decision for your HR team.
