5 Best Free HR Software for Small Businesses in 2023
This article is part of a larger series on Payroll Services.
The best free HR software not only automates day-to-day HR tasks but also provides online solutions for managing the employee lifecycle—from hiring to retiring. Some systems include tools for tracking staff attendance and work shifts, while others allow you to pay employees and conduct performance reviews.
Although paid HR software provides similar features with added services (such as payroll tax filings and year-end tax reporting), smaller businesses may find free solutions to be more than enough for their needs. Some have limits to the number of employees or locations you can have though.
In this guide, we reviewed 12 free HR management software and narrowed it down to our top five recommendations.
- Homebase: Best free time tracking and scheduling for one-location businesses (with up to 20 employees)
- Deel: Best free global HR solution for direct-hire employees
- TimeTrex: Best free payroll system with basic HR tools
- Connecteam: Best free employee tasking and training software
- OrangeHRM: Best free HR software for managing employee performance reviews
If you want HR software with more functionalities, but you have a limited budget, consider reasonably priced options that come with a free trial. This allows you to evaluate its features and make sure it has all of the tools you need, without having to pay subscription fees outright.
- Gusto: 30-day free trial + solid payroll and HR tools with applicant tracking and basic job postings
- Paychex Flex: Three-month free trial + dedicated payroll support and learning management tools
- BambooHR: Seven-day free trial + workforce data management solutions with employee well-being surveys
HR Software Compared
All the free HR management software in this guide provides tools to handle employee onboarding and time-off management (excluding OrangeHRM). Basic HR reports and workflow automation functionalities are also available, as well as employee information management and time tracking solutions (except for Deel). Below are some of the standout features.
Employee Limits in Free Plans | Recruiting | Payroll | Performance Reviews | Learning Management | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Up to 20 employees in one business location | ✓ Included in higher tiers | Paid add-on | Performance matrix tracking only | ✕ |
 | Up to 200 | Global hiring tools* | International payroll** | ✕ | ✕ |
 | Unlimited | ✓** | ✓ | ✓ | Employee qualification and licenses tracking only** |
 | Up to 10 | ✕ | ✕ | Review timeline tracking only; included in paid plans | ✓ Comes with customizable course quizzes |
 | Unlimited | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓** |
*Deel’s global HR tools are free to use if you have local entities in countries where your distributed workforce is located and only have up to 200 employees.
**Available in paid plans
All the low-cost HR software we reviewed offer solutions for posting jobs, tracking applicants, onboarding new hires, paying employees, generating reports, and monitoring employee attendance. Here are some of the key features.
Free Trial | Starter Monthly Fees | Payroll | Performance Reviews | Learning Management | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 30 days | $6 per employee + $40 base fee | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
 | Free payroll for three months | $5 per employee + $39 base fee | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
 | Seven days | $8.25 per employee* | ✓** | ✓** | ✓ |
*Pricing is based on a quote we received
**This solution costs extra
Looking for more options? Check out our buyer’s guides on the best HRIS software and best HR software for small businesses.
Businesses that need more robust functionalities or a more powerful all-in-one solution may be better served by paid HR software. Apart from providing essential solutions for managing your workforce, many paid options offer advanced reporting, audit trails, and survey solutions for assessing employee engagement at work. Some even allow you to add your company’s branding elements to its platform.
For an online HR software that’s reasonably priced, consider Gusto. Its core platform may be payroll, but it has a feature-rich HR solution suite that can help you manage hiring and even learning programs. Gusto is also designed to streamline and automate processes, saving you time from having to manually track employee information, onboarding requirements, payroll tax filings, staff attendance, and more.
Homebase: Best Free Employee Scheduling & Time Tracking Tools
Pros
- Feature-rich free plan; comes with time tracking, scheduling, and messaging solutions
- Easy drag-and-drop scheduling tool
- Can handle unlimited employees
Cons
- Free plan limited to businesses with 20 employees in one location only
- PTO accrual tracking, geofencing, geolocation tracking, hiring, and onboarding are included in paid plans
- Payroll is a paid add-on
Homebase Pricing*
- Basic plan: Free ($0) for one business location with up to 20 employees
- Includes online time clocks and basic time tracking, scheduling, and messaging tools
- Essentials: $24.95 per location monthly
- Basic + geofencing, advanced time tracking and scheduling, and communication tools
- Plus: $59.95 per location monthly
- Essentials + PTO policies and balance tracking, hiring, and user permissions
- All-in-One: $99.95 per location monthly
- Plus + new hire onboarding, labor costing, and expert HR/compliance support
Add-ons
- HR Pro advisors and resources: $99 per month (included in All-in-One package)
- Job posting boosts: Starts at $79 per post (for Plus and All-in-One plan holders only)
- Promote job postings on ZipRecruiter and Craigslist
- Payroll: $39 + $6 per employee monthly
- Unlimited pay runs and payroll tax filing services in all states
*Annuals plans are available with discounted pricing
Homebase made it to our list of free HR management software mainly because of its robust free plan, which includes time tracking and scheduling tools that similar providers typically include in their paid tiers. It even offers time clock apps that allow you to capture employee clock-ins/out via computers, tablets, and smartphones. And, if you need to send real-time messages to employees about shift updates, Homebase has an in-app messaging tool to help you stay connected with your team.
While it seems like it has all the basic HR tools that small businesses will need to hire and manage employees, you have to upgrade to its paid plans if you want to track PTO, post job ads, hire qualified candidates, and onboard new hires. Payroll is also an add-on solution (TimeTrex includes this in its free tier), plus, it doesn’t provide access to health insurance and benefits plans for your employees.
Homebase Is Featured In
- Best Employee Scheduling Software for Small Businesses
- Best Free Employee Scheduling Software
- Best Time & Attendance Software
- Best Time Tracking Software
- Best Onboarding Software
- Best Free Applicant Tracking Systems
- Best HR Apps
- Best HR Software for Small Business
- Best Retail Employee Scheduling Software
Homebase Overview
Read our Homebase review to learn more about its features.
Deel: Best Free Global HR Platform for Managing Direct-hire Employees
Pros
- Free Deel HR platform includes time off management, app provisioning, and onboarding/offboarding tools
- Reasonably priced international contractor payments plan
- Assigns a dedicated customer success manager (CSM) to its clients
- Multiple payment options (bank transfer, crypto, bitcoin, digital payment processors, and contractor card)
Cons
- Free global HR platform limited to 200 employees and companies that have local entities in countries where its business is located
- HR payroll solutions are designed for global companies; its tools and services may be too much for small US-based businesses
- Lacks time tracking tools
- Deel HR doesn’t include international payroll as it designed for direct-hire workers (they are paid via your local payroll provider)
Deel Pricing*
- Deel HR: Free for companies with up to 200 employees
- Online HR solution for managing your workforce, from direct-hire employees to international workers
- Direct Employees: Start for free (via Deel HR)
- Ideal for companies that need to onboard and pay employees hired through their own local entities
- Contractors: Starts at $49 per worker monthly
- Hire and pay contractors in 150+ countries
- EoR Employees: Starts at $599 per employee monthly
- Full employer of record (EoR) services for hiring and paying international employees via Deel-owned local entities
Deel makes managing an international workforce easy for companies with distributed teams across the globe. Its Deel HR platform has all the essential tools to manage employees, from onboarding to offboarding. Expense and time off tracking features are also included, as well as staff profiles with online organization charts and people directories. Best of all, Deel HR is free for companies with up to 200 employees.
However, Deel HR is only optimal for those with local entities in countries where their business operates—meaning they don’t require an EoR to hire, manage, and pay employees on their behalf. If you do need this type of service, then you have to upgrade to Deel’s paid “EoR Employees” plan. Additionally, Deel lacks the time tracking and performance review features that most of the providers in this guide offer.
Deel Is Featured In
Deel Overview
Read our Deel review to learn more about its features.
TimeTrex: Best Free Payroll Software With Basic HR Tools
Pros
- Free version has a wide range of HR solutions (even includes payroll)
- Time clock apps support PIN, QR code, and facial recognition time entries
- Integrates with other payroll tools like QuickBooks, ADP, and Paychex
- Offers two software deployment options (on-site and cloud-hosted)
Cons
- Interface looks dated
- Recruiting, applicant tracking, invoicing, and expense management solutions are available only in higher tiers
- Pricing isn’t transparent
- Doesn’t handle payroll tax filings; only generates tax forms
TimeTrex Pricing
- Free version: Open-source Community Edition with no employee minimums
- Includes scheduling, time and PTO management, payroll, performance reviews, and an employee database
Paid options*
- Three custom-priced product editions (Professional, Corporate, and Enterprise) that include additional tools like recruiting, invoicing, and expense tracking functionalities
- Pricing is based on the software deployment option and number of employees (wherein fees start to decrease with 26 and more workers)
- Cloud-hosted: Fees start at $3 per employee monthly
- On-site hosted: $35.88 per employee, per year
*Pricing is based on a quote we received
TimeTrex is the only HR software on our list that includes payroll processing in its free version. Homebase offers a payroll tool for an additional fee, while the other free HR software we reviewed don’t have this feature. What’s even better about TimeTrex’s free Community Edition is the inclusion of performance reviews, scheduling, PTO management, an employee database, and even time clock apps to help capture staff attendance. This makes TimeTrex great for small businesses that want robust functionalities in a free HR management software.
What its Community Edition doesn’t have are the applicant tracking tools that Homebase and OrangeHRM offer in its free plans. You have to upgrade to its paid version if you want hiring features. Plus, TimeTrex doesn’t handle payroll tax filings for you—it only generates the tax forms, which you have to file yourself. However, if you have the budget to spend and don’t want the stress of handling tax form submissions, consider Gusto. It offers unlimited pay runs and payroll tax filings and has similar HR tools as TimeTrex’s, but for a reasonable fee (starts at $40 plus $6 per employee monthly).
TimeTrex Is Featured In
TimeTrex Overview
Read our TimeTrex review to learn more about its features.
Connecteam: Best Free Employee Tasking & Training Software
Pros
- User-friendly
- Robust task management and delegation tools
- Certification and training tracking
- Learning management with customizable course quizzes
Cons
- Lacks auto-scheduling and payroll tools
- Limited reports
- Doesn’t have phone support; you can only contact its support team via email or by completing an online support form
- You need to upgrade to at least its Expert plan if you want users to edit their online profiles
Connecteam Pricing*
- Small Business: Free ($0) for up to 10 users
- Full access to all Connecteam features
- Basic: $35 monthly for the first 30 users; plus six cents for each additional user monthly
- Includes payroll integration, timeline tracking, team chat, unlimited task tags, trainings with three course categories, and course quizzes with eight possible answers per question
- Advanced: $59 monthly for the first 30 users; plus $1.8 for each additional user monthly
- Basic + shift replacements, advanced customizations, and unlimited course categories
- Expert: $119 monthly for the first 30 users; plus $3.6 for each additional user monthly
- Advanced + process automation and users can view/edit personal profile
- Enterprise: Custom-priced
- Expert + private branding app option and access to a personal account manager
*Annuals plans are available with discounted pricing
Since Our Last Update: The provider has made a few adjustments to its pricing plans, such as renaming its free tier to “Small Business” and reducing the plan’s user limit to 10 (from 50 users). Connecteam also reduced the user seats of its paid options (from 50 to 30) and adjusted the monthly base fee (with pricing reductions of around $10 to $72).
Connecteam is our top pick for managing employee tasks because its communication tools, online checklists, and task automation keep everyone on top of work assignments while digitizing routine tasks with just a few clicks. In addition to creating and assigning tasks, you can add subtasks, due dates, and detailed task descriptions, as well as attach files and images if you need to. You can even use its “Timeline” tool to track employee roadmaps, such as the dates for performance reviews and salary changes.
Its learning management tools also allow you to create courses with multiple course categories. You can even add custom quizzes and embed YouTube videos to a course. However, it doesn’t let you post jobs like Homebase and OrangeHRM do, nor can it process employee payroll (TimeTrex offers this in its free plan). Connecteam also doesn’t have the performance review tools that both OrangeHRM and TimeTrex offer for free—but its timeline tool can help you track when the reviews happen, including upcoming schedules.
Connecteam Is Featured In
Connecteam Overview
Read our Connecteam review to learn more about its features.
OrangeHRM: Best Free HR Software for Managing Employee Performance Reviews
Pros
- Free-to-use open-source HR software has robust features (hiring, time and PTO tracking, employee information management, and performance reviews)
- Generally easy to learn and use
- Offers a cloud-hosted and an on-premise version (you can download and install it in a computer)
Cons
- Pricing isn’t transparent
- Onboarding, learning management, goal tracking, and career development tools are only available in the paid version
- Lacks a payroll solution (only integrates with third-party payroll software)
OrangeHRM Pricing
- Starter: $0
- Includes custom user roles, employee profiles, applicant tracking, basic job postings, time and PTO tracking, and 180-degree performance reviews
- Advanced: Custom priced
- Starter + asset tracking, audit trails, document management, onboarding, learning management, career development tools, payroll integrations, and 360-degree performance reviews
Unlike Homebase, which only monitors attendance-related performance matrices, and Connecteam, which tracks quarterly/annual review timelines, OrangeHRM lets you conduct 180-degree performance reviews at no cost. Apart from evaluating your staff’s work performance, its free Starter package comes with essential solutions for managing hiring, attendance, and employee data.
180-degree vs 360-degree Performance Reviews: 180-degree performance reviews combine an employee’s self-assessment with their manager’s assessment. A 360-degree performance review maintains those two elements while adding assessments from an employee’s direct reports, peers, and/or clients.
While these features make OrangeHRM optimal for budget-constrained business owners who want to automate basic HR tasks and employee work evaluations, it lacks the free payroll tool that TimeTrex offers and staff scheduling capabilities that the other providers in this guide have. You also can’t onboard new hires, track learning sessions, and create career development plans for employees unless you upgrade to its paid version.
OrangeHRM Overview
Alternative Free HR Software
The six free HR management systems in this guide have the tools you need to manage essential HR processes. However, if you’re a very small business looking for an online solution to run basic HR functions at no cost, consider Zoho People. Its free plan lets you store and manage employee information and documents in an online database. Approving and tracking time off transactions are also made easy with its PTO management solution.
The downside is that its free plan is limited to only five users. If you have more than five employees, then you have to upgrade to Zoho People’s paid plans (monthly fees start at $1.50 per user), which also grants you access to additional solutions like new hire onboarding and time tracking.
How We Evaluated the Best Free HR Software
To evaluate the best free HR software for small business owners, we started with 12 providers that offer either free-to-use HR systems or have free forever plans. Then, we looked at ease of use and the depth of features—whether it offers basic tools like time tracking and an employee database or even advanced HR functionalities, such as performance reviews and learning management. We also considered user reviews from popular third-party sites (like G2 and Capterra).
Bottom Line
The best free HR management software provides budget-conscious small businesses with online tools they can use to streamline HR tasks. Not only does it save them money, but it also helps save time since most of the free HR management systems on our list have workflow automation tools to automate processes.
In choosing the right free HR software for your business, consider your needs and whether it can handle your essential HR functions. Ease of use is also an important factor, as well as customer support and user training for new clients. If you have plans to grow, then take a look at its platform’s scalability, customization options, and pricing, in case you decide to shift from using its free version to its paid plan. You can read our buyer’s guides, where we compare many of these software’s pricing and functionalities to help you find the right option for you.
