6 Best Compensation Management Software

Compensation management software helps businesses budget, plan, and administer employee compensation like bonuses and merit-based pay. Though typically used by larger businesses, the best ones can be used even by smaller businesses wanting a stronger reward-based system to improve hiring and employee retention. These tools should also integrate with HRIS and HR payroll software and have robust reporting functionalities.

To help you find the best compensation management software, we compared the most popular providers and focused on features most valuable to business owners. After evaluating each, we narrowed it down to six recommendations.

• Compease by HR Performance Solutions: Best overall for small businesses looking for salary benchmarking and merit compensation management
• CompXL: Best for businesses using Excel but wanting a platform that automates and simplifies compensation management
• COMPview by HRSoft: Best for larger companies or those scaling quickly that need to manage multiple, complex compensation plans
• Payfactors: Best for HR professionals wanting tools that will help with hiring and retention
• CompAnalyst by Salary.com: Best for hiring managers wanting to ensure they are offering competitive rates to attract and keep the best employees
• CaptivateIQ: Best for sales and finance businesses that need a way to manage commissions

Best Compensation Management Software Compared

	Pricing	Target customers	Types of compensation	Salary comparisons to market average	Custom reports	Average user review scores*	Training
	$2–$7 per employee, per month	Small business to large corporations	Merit, bonus, incentives, more	✓	✓	4.89 out of 5	✓
	Visit Compease
	Call for Quote	>200 employees	Merit, bonus, incentives, more	✓	✓	4.67 out of 5	✓
	Visit CompXL
	Call for Quote	>500 employees	Merit, bonus, incentives, more	✓	✓	4.56 out of 5	✓
	Visit COMPview by HRSoft
	Call for Quote	Small business to large corporations	Incentives	✓	✓	4.4 out of 5	✓
	Visit Payfactors
	Call for Quote	Small business to large corporations	Merit, bonus, incentives, more	✓	✓	4.4 out of 5	✓
	Visit CompAnalyst by Salary.com
	Call for Quote	Small business to large corporations	Commissions	✕	✓	4.5 out of 5	✓
	Visit CaptivateIQ

*Based on scores from Capterra, G2 Crowd, and TrustRadius.

Looking for an alternative?

If the choices here are too much for you, consider the following:

• Your HR payroll provider: If you are already using HR software, contact them to see if they offer a compensation management tool. Some, like Rippling and ADP, can add it to your system. This makes for better integration, possibly at a cheaper price. If you need an HRIS, check out our list of the best HRIS software.
• Culpepper Compensation Surveys: If all you need is targeted compensation survey data, then consider hiring this company.
• Gapsquare FairPay Pro: If pay disparity is the issue, then this software provides automated analysis of pay and monitoring to check for inequalities and pay gaps.
• Excel: Many businesses use Excel spreadsheets to create and manage compensation packages. Excel has functions designed for this purpose. In fact, many of the services on our list mimic Excel’s functions, automating them for you.
• Salary.com: If you only need a quick benchmark salary, such as when posting a job, the Salary.com website lets you input a job title and description to get a basic salary estimate.

Compease: Best Overall for Small Businesses

Overall Score: 4.21 / 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing		4.50 out of 5
	Features		3.00 out of 5
	Popularity		5.00 out of 5
	Reporting		4.13 out of 5
	Functionality		5.00 out of 5
	Ease of Use		4.06 out of 5

What We Like

• Very easy to use
• Inexpensive
• Can add Performance Pro for compensation tied to performance management

What's Missing

• Need to call for a quote; minimum pricing applies
• Very little integration capability

Compease Pricing and Features

• $2–$6 per employee
• Compease + Performance Pro: $3–$7, per employee
• Both have minimum pricing
• For companies with >50 employees (though does work with smaller businesses)
• Average user score: 4.89 out of 5
• Market comparisons
• International pay

Compease by HR Performance Solutions, a division of CU Solutions Group, is a comprehensive compensation management platform designed for credit unions and small businesses. It and Payfactors are the only two that work with as few as five employees, yet compete well against the larger software solutions on our list. It lets you manage multiple merit compensation strategies, benchmark salary ranges against local and industry standards, and more.

Compease earned a 4.21 out of 5 in our evaluation. The fact that it lists a by-employee price gave it a boost in the scoring category, although you still need to call for a quote, and it does not say what the “required minimum” price is. It earned top scores for functionality and reporting, but it lost points for lacking integrations and some compensation management features.

Compease Pricing

Compease offers two plans: Compease Starter and Compease. Both plans include merit pay modeling and planning, automation, salary structuring, equal pay analytics, and performance management integration. However, the Compease Plan includes companywide salary range structure consulting, an in-house job evaluation system, and access to certified compensation consultants.

Pricing starts at $2 per employee, per month, and can go as high as $6, depending on which plan you use, how many employees you have, and where you are located. You need to call for a more exact quote and minimum pricing applies.

HR Performance Solutions also bundles Compease with Performance Pro and the Learning Center. These bundles start at $3 per employee per month. Again, you need to call for a quote.

Compease Features

Compease offers tools for market analysis for hiring and establishing job equity, and bonus and merit-pay management for employee retention. It’s highly regarded by users for its intuitive interface as well.

Compease’s dashboard offers several analytics to give you an idea of the health of your compensation plan.
(Source: Compease)

• Merit pay, bonus pay, and incentives: Compease lets you allocate bonus budgets to managers for distribution and can even handle approvals automatically based on the criteria you program in. With both contribution-based and discretion-based compensations, you have flexibility in how you reward your people.
• Pairs with Performance Pro: Performance Pro combines performance management with compensation management, linking compensation to goals for greater incentives. HR Performance Solutions offers both Compease and Performance Pro in a package deal at a reduced price. No other software on our list has this, although some may integrate with Performance Pro and vice versa.
• Compensation budgeting, planning, and forecasting: You can create multiple compensation schedules for performance or merit, and run them to see how they will affect your budget.
• Salary and wage comparisons: Compease makes it easy to compare salaries with external market data and internal salary range benchmarking. It also has tools that automatically evaluate your structures so that you can see where adjustments need to be made.
• Analytic reports: Compease’s reports include compa-ratios and salary projections. It can include up to eight compensable factors for job responsibility comparisons.
• Integrations: Compease has the most awkward integration plan of the software on our list. Rather than supplying an API like most other software, it has a built-in Data Bridge Tool with four options: 1) a spreadsheet that you fill out manually, 2) an assisted setup of the integration configuration with training, 3) the assisted set-up, training, and update of your system, and 4) having HR Performance Solutions do all the work for you. The last three options cost extra.
• Ease of use: Real-world users of Compease rate it on Capterra at 4.9 out of 5 for ease of use. This is the highest ease-of-use score we’ve seen. Customer service was also highly rated, even though you don’t get a dedicated representative.

CompXL: Best for Excel Users Needing Automation

Overall Score: 4.08 / 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing		1.00 out of 5
	Features		5.00 out of 5
	Popularity		5.00 out of 5
	Reporting		3.38 out of 5
	Functionality		5.00 out of 5
	Ease of Use		4.63 out of 5

What We Like

• Choose from the types of compensation management tools you need
• Customizable to accommodate the unique needs of many businesses
• Excellent customer support team

What's Missing

• Some users report that it is difficult for multiple planning managers to use the tool
• May be difficult to use for those unfamiliar with Excel files

CompXL Pricing and Features

• Quote-based pricing
• Requires 1-year contract
• For companies >300 employees
• Average user score: 4.67 out of 5
• Market comparisons
• Multiple compensation schedules
• Pay gap analysis
• International pay

Based in Jacksonville, Florida, and founded in 2006, CompXL helps businesses automate manual Microsoft Excel functions for compensation management. It offers a customizable platform with dedicated support. Customers on Capterra report that the platform’s flexibility lets it accommodate even the most complex compensation structures—all with an intuitive user interface.

CompXL earned a 4.08 out of 5 in our evaluation, with perfect scores for functionality, features, and real-world user approval. The platform offers reward, merit, bonus, and equity tools that can be configured to meet the unique needs of businesses. These in-depth tools give their platform a huge advantage, especially compared to competitors such as Payfactors that have more limited functionality according to users.

CompXL Pricing

As with most other compensation software options, CompXL does not provide pricing information online. However, we received a top-end quote of $40,000 for the first year for a complete system that handles salary, bonuses, and equity, with a large percentage of the price going into setup and training. This is for a company of 300 starting from scratch in designing a merit-based bonus program and needing integration into its HRIS.

If you’re interested in requesting a quote detailed to your business needs, you can contact the CompXL sales team via phone.

CompXL Features

With CompXL, clients have the benefit of working with a dedicated representative who can guide them through the design and implementation process and provide ongoing support. This is especially helpful for users who aren’t experts in Excel—but any user, experienced or inexperienced, can make the most out of the platform’s extensive customizations. CompXL also integrates with HRIS tools, so you can view all of the most up-to-date data in one place.

CompXL lets managers create and submit bonuses for their teams.
(Source: G2 Crowd)

• Merit pay, bonus pay, and incentives: Employers can base merit pay on individual and organizational performance; users can manage bonus, equity, and total reward statements from one place using the Merit, Bonus, and Equity tools. Only COMPview by HRSoft includes equity in this regard, though Compease may let you put in the numeric value.
• Compensation budgeting, planning, and forecasting: CompXL helps with budgeting, total rewards statements, salary adjustment letters, and long-term agreements. (Some of the software on our list, like Compease, don’t manage long-term, while CaptivateIQ does for commissions only.) CompXL allows for multiple reviewers to view and edit spreadsheets at the same time, which enables users to streamline compensation planning.
• Salary and wage comparisons: Analytic tools let employers compare compensation information across departments and between individual employees, but the market data must be imported from third-party sources. If you want market data analysis included, look at CompAnalyst by Salary.com.
• Analytic reports: CompXL users can take advantage of the analytics dashboards that are built into the user interface; users can view organizationwide budgetary allocations, individual and departmental compensation information, and related trends.
• Integrations: The software is compatible with Excel and integrates with a number of HRIS systems, including ADP Workforce Now.
• Ease of use: Real-world users say that the platform is intuitive and easy to navigate, even for those unfamiliar with Excel functions, but the more complex functionality may be difficult for those unfamiliar with Excel. Even so, it has one of the highest user rates of those we reviewed, earning an average of 4.67 out of 5 from third-party review websites.

COMPview by HRSoft: Best for Large or Fast-growing Companies

Overall Score: 4.01 / 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing		0.00 out of 5
	Features		5.00 out of 5
	Popularity		5.00 out of 5
	Reporting		3.38 out of 5
	Functionality		5.00 out of 5
	Ease of Use		5.00 out of 5

What We Like

• Intuitive and easy to use for employees and administrators
• Training is extremely helpful and simplifies the onboarding process
• Robust compensation tools and customization

What's Missing

• Reporting functions difficult to customize

COMPview by HRSoft Pricing and Features

• Quote-based pricing
• May require a contract
• For companies with >500 employees
• Average user score: 4.56 out of 5
• Market comparisons
• Multiple compensation schedules
• Pay gap analysis
• International pay

COMPview is a top-tier HR software offered through HRSoft, a global leader in compensation management. It offers users access to robust compensation statements and compensation plan modeling, as well as user-friendly bonus, incentive, and employee reward management.

HR professionals, administrators, and managers can use the software to streamline compensation plans, budget and model changes, and review merit, bonus, and equity awards. While it mostly caters to large companies, if you are a fast-growing business with complex compensation packages and existing HR and payroll software, COMPview is worth looking into.

HRSoft’s COMPview earned 4.01 out of 5, with a perfect score for its wide range of features and easy-to-use platform. In addition to its great features, COMPview is also recognized for the in-depth training available to clients. It mostly lost points because it requires a quote and works mostly with larger companies.

COMPview by HRSoft Pricing

HRSoft generally works with companies consisting of 500 or more employees, but it can refer you to another company that handles smaller clients. If you are interested in their services, plan 15–30 minutes for an in-depth interview concerning your needs and benefits packages. Its sales team will then offer you a fixed-fee price. You can contact HRSoft via phone, email, or online contact form. Prospective users may also request a free demo.

COMPview by HRSoft Features

Beyond basic functionality, COMPview has a ton of advanced features that allow its platform to stand out from others on the market. Nonetheless, it’s highly rated for ease of use and training.

COMPview allows you to manage the entire compensation cycle, from analysis to allocation.
(Source: COMPview)

• Merit pay, bonus pay, and incentives: HR administrators can use COMPview to plan and manage merit, bonus, and equity awards and then communicate those benefits to employees. CompXL is the only other provider on this list that also includes equity calculations.
• Add-ons: Users can also choose to take advantage of the additional platforms that HRSoft has available, such as REWARDview for total compensation and rewards options and PERFORMview for performance management tools. Only Compease has a similar offering through its performance management add-on, Performance Pro.
• Compensation budgeting, planning, and forecasting: Users can budget for and plan unlimited compensation plans for every level of the organization.
• Analytic reports: Administrators can run reports for everything, from annual bonuses to necessary approvals and audit preparation.
• Integrations: Users can integrate data from other HR tools, including human resource information systems (HRIS), performance management, and even payroll. Very few other software integrate with payroll, making this a big bonus for COMPview.
• Ease of use: COMPview users report that the administrator and employee dashboards are intuitive and the employee compensation statements are easy to understand. Some did say that the interface itself could be more visually appealing, however.

Payfactors: Best for HR Professionals Concerned With Retention & Hiring

Overall Score: 3.90 / 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing		4.00 out of 5
	Features		3.88 out of 5
	Popularity		3.75 out of 5
	Reporting		5.00 out of 5
	Functionality		2.63 out of 5
	Ease of Use		4.38 out of 5

What We Like

• Consolidates data from multiple salary surveys
• Helpful and responsive support staff
• Intuitive interface

What's Missing

• Data may be inflated for niche roles that are more common in metropolitan areas
• Some users report that functionality is more limited than other platforms

Payfactors Pricing and Features

• Quote-based pricing
• Requires a minimum 1-year contract
• For companies with >5 employees
• Average user score: 4.40 out of 5
• Market comparisons
• Pay gap analysis
• International pay

Payfactors, now part of Payscale, is a cloud-based compensation data management tool that allows HR professionals to integrate all their data in one place, including corresponding job descriptions for open positions. This is a unique feature that most of the other providers don’t offer to their customers. Admins can compare compensation across multiple levels of various jobs, stay up to date with job and industry-specific compensation trends, and optimize candidate attraction and employee retention.

In our evaluation, Payfactors earned 3.9 out of 5, ranking high for their great support team and user experience, and the fact that it works with small businesses. It lost points because, like CompAnalyst by Salary.com, it’s designed for analysis rather than calculating bonuses and other compensations for approval for payroll.

Payfactors Pricing

As with the other providers we considered besides Compease, Payfactors does not provide pricing information online. On top of that, it will not give pricing without a demo and discussion about your company’s requirements.

We received a quote of $6,000 a year for Payfactors Basic, and $9,000 a year for Payfactors Pro, which lets you integrate employee data. This price is for a three-year contract. A one-year contract would raise the price by approximately 10%. We were also told the prices are subject to change at any time.

However, unlike Compease, the price is for unlimited users, and you can set access for different users—so an intern, for example, cannot access as many tools as your HR manager.

Payfactors Features

In June 2022, Payfactors launched a new platform that provides more information and dynamic comparison data on a single platform. Users can build standardized pay structures and practices with grade-based pay structures and employee and job insights. Contact Payfactors to learn more about the new platform.

Payfactors allows unlimited users but lets you limit what functions each user can access.
(Source: Payfactors demo)

• Merit pay, bonus pay, and incentives: Administrators can provide baseline education and leadership skills requirements to job descriptions to see the difference in pay. This information can be used not only in market analysis but also when discussing pay rates with employees.
• Compensation budgeting, planning, and forecasting: The Payfactors Pro Plan makes it easy for users to view an employee’s compensation history to make decisions regarding future increases. Plus, unlike others, it has a “What if” sandbox, where you can test out different scenarios to see the long-term impact.
• Salary and wage comparisons: HR professionals can compare compensation rates for various levels of a role to identify issues with pay equity. It has data from three sources: employee data, market analysis, and Peer—a legacy data source from Payfactors used by 15% of Fortune 100 companies.
• Price a job for free: Like CompAnalyst by Salary.com, you can put in the information for a single job and get a salary analysis.
• Analytic reports: Creating and downloading reports is easy and intuitive; some users say that editing capabilities are limited, but customer support can assist with editing or adding fields to the system-delivered reports.
• Integrations: Users can integrate a number of other HR platforms, performance management tools, and data sources to keep all relevant information in one place.
• Ease of use: The platform is reportedly easy to use; online resources provide additional guidance when a representative isn’t available.

CompAnalyst by Salary.com: Best for Salary Analysis for Hiring

Overall Score: 3.77 / 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing		2.40 out of 5
	Features		3.50 out of 5
	Popularity		4.38 out of 5
	Reporting		5.00 out of 5
	Functionality		2.63 out of 5
	Ease of Use		5.00 out of 5

What We Like

• Compare salaries for over 15,000 job titles
• User-friendly dashboard
• Users get access to a Customer Success Manager and Professional Services Consultant
• Can find comparable salaries on a single job for free

What's Missing

• Does not offer live or in-person training
• Some users say navigation is not always easy and there are some limits to reports

CompAnalyst by Salary.com Pricing and Features

• Quote-based pricing
• For companies with >10 employees
• Two-year contract minimum
• Average user score: 4.40 out of 5
• Market comparisons
• International pay

CompAnalyst focuses on pay and compensation comparisons as opposed to day-to-day management. Through Salary.com, it provides HR professionals access to market data for more than 15,000 job titles and 225 industries that come from verified HR surveys as opposed to third-party sites like Indeed. Data is also available for over 27,000 compensable factors that make it possible for HR professionals and hiring managers to closely tailor job descriptions and salaries based on market data. It’s the only software on our list that has so much data natively. In addition, it offers extensive tools for creating and managing salary structures as well.

Overall, the platform scored 3.77 out of 5 in our evaluation. Its functionality scored low for its lack of budgeting tools and inability to implement a management approval process—but its features, reporting, and ease of use allowed it to still rank high on our list.

CompAnalyst by Salary.com Pricing

CompAnalyst requires you to see a demo and discuss your needs before giving you a price. Plans provide unlimited access and require a contact of at least two years. We were quoted $5,000 per year for a two-year contract, $4,500 per year for a three-year contract, and $3,600 per year for a five-year contract. This includes a customer service specialist and up to 10 free job requests per year for any niche jobs that are not on the software.

If you’re interested in CompAnalyst, contact a rep by phone, email, or online contact form. You can also schedule a free demo to see if the software meets your business’ data needs.

CompAnalyst by Salary.com Features

CompAnalyst provides the best analytical tools with the most depth and breadth of information available. However, compared to the others, it falls short when it comes to calculating individual compensations and budgeting for the current bonus period.

We found the CompAnalyst interface easy to use. The dashboard gives you both tools and information within easy reach.
(source: CompAnalyst demo)

• Merit pay, bonus pay, and incentives: CompAnalyst looks at total cash compensation; it does not differentiate between salary and bonuses. Further, it does not manage internal compensation for individuals the way most of the others on our list do.
• Compensation budgeting, planning, and forecasting: Market data and analysis can be used by managers and HR professionals to plan for future pay raises or new positions. It alone on our list offers a relocation wizard specifically designed to show you the cost differences for a transferring employee.
• Salary and wage comparisons: Administrators can view internal and external data to evaluate pay equity and stay competitive in the hiring process; Its dashboard and widgets let users view everything at once.
• Hiring and retention: Users can fine-tune salary pricing based on factors like specific skills, certifications, and education requirements—the greatest detail of all the software on our list. Further, it offers a flight risk report based on an employee’s salary and performance evaluation imported from your HRIS. We did not see such a report from any other software on the list.
• Analytic reports: Administrators can create market composites based on market data, Salary.com surveys, and third-party data; automated alerts help HR professionals identify possible issues with pricing so that they can be addressed immediately.
• Integrations: CompAnalyst integrates with your HRIS, so you can sync internal data for a more comprehensive compensation analysis.
• Ease of use: Users report that CompAnalyst’s Professional Services Consultants and Customer Success Managers are responsive and knowledgeable; prospective customers can contact Salary.com via phone or online form.

CaptivateIQ: Best for Managing Commission-based Compensation for Sales & Finance Industries

Overall Score: 3.28 / 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing		4.00 out of 5
	Features		3.25 out of 5
	Popularity		5.00 out of 5
	Reporting		3.38 out of 5
	Functionality		3.00 out of 5
	Ease of Use		2.13 out of 5

What We Like

• Salespeople can see their commissions in real time
• Easy interface
• Can make as many compensation plans as you need

What's Missing

• Focused on commission incentives only
• Support is by email or contact form

CaptivateIQ Pricing and Features

• Quote-based pricing
• For companies with >10 employees
• Average user score: 4.50 out of 5
• Multiple compensation schedules
• Forecasting/budgeting
• International pay

CaptivateIQ is a popular compensation software for finance, sales, and any business that depends heavily on commissions. It integrates with Salesforce and other CRM software to enable you to easily calculate commissions. You can program as many compensation plans as you want, create reports, and allow salespeople to access their own data so that they can keep track of their earnings and how well they are meeting goals.

CaptivateIQ only earned 3.28 out of 5 in our evaluation—but that’s because of its tight focus on commissions. It lacked the salary comparison and merit compensation tools found in the other software on our list. It also lost a lot of points for ease of use because it lacks dedicated teams and implementation support. However, real-world users gave it an average rating of 4.71 out of 5 stars over multiple review sites.

CaptivateIQ Pricing

Like most on our list, CaptivateIQ requires you to call them for a quote. It does, however, work with both small companies and large ones. You need to make an appointment for a 30-minute discovery call about your needs to get a quote. Pricing is on a per-seat basis for employees and admin, plus there is an implementation fee.

CaptivateIQ Features

CaptivateIQ is only for commissions—but it offers an excellent array of tools for short-term and long-term planning. Create as many plans as you wish with the complexity you need. You can set up approvals for managers and let employees see their bonus schedules so they know what pay to expect.

The calculation engine will let you build out commission plans.
(Source: CaptivateIQ demo)

• Merit pay, bonus pay, and incentives: Captivate only calculates commissions; it does not do bonus pay or merit pay unless you manually program in compensation—for example, a bonus for closing a deal early. However, you can create as many compensation plans as you want and assign them to individuals or groups. You can set goals, and even better, let individual salespeople access their own data and reports so they can track their commissions and goals.
• Compensation budgeting, planning, and forecasting: You can calculate commissions based on expected sales and commissions being earned, but it does not offer much by way of forecasting or budgeting tools. For that, consider Compease or CompXL.
• No salary and wage comparisons: CaptivateIQ is the one compensation management software on our list that does not do wage comparisons.
• Analytic reports: Unlike the others on our list, CaptivateIQ focuses solely on commission-type reports. You can include booking data, calculate commissions on sales of long-term projects, calculate splits, and more. CaptivateIQ lets you pull data from multiple sources as well, so you can get a complete picture of your salesperson’s commissions. You can make reports with simple graphics or provide details in a spreadsheet for a deep dive.
• Integrations: CaptivateIQ integrates with dozens of sales CRM, HRIS, and even payment processors. A few examples include Salesforce, SAP, Amazon Redshift, QuickBooks, ADP, Workday, and Stripe. It was the only one we found that included payment processors.
• Ease of use: The interface is easy to use, but there is a lot to unpack, and it will help to have familiarity with Excel formulas for calculating commissions. There is also a knowledgebase in the program, and you can email support for help. Users reviewing on Capterra gave it a 4.8 for ease of use.

How We Evaluated the Best Compensation Management Software

We compared each compensation management software on pricing, functionality, reporting, ease of use, and customer reviews. We also scored and ranked each of its services to help you find which software is best fit for your unique situation.

We evaluated each software based on the following criteria:

Bottom Line

Compensation management software can help businesses create total compensation schedules for employees of all levels, budget for future compensation changes, and model the impacts of bonuses on the business’s bottom line. Some even allow HR managers to analyze salaries and bonuses across national averages and internal data to ensure equality within the office and competitiveness in the market. When used together with the best payroll services, you can ensure your employees are paid fairly and properly.

Compease tops our list because it works with both small and large businesses, can do market comparisons, and lets you manage and plan your employee merit, bonus, and other compensation schedules. Pricing starts at $2 per employee, per month. Call to get your custom quote and a demo today.

Visit Compease