An HR information management software system (HRIS or HRMS) manages people data across the employee lifecycle—from recruiting to termination. A strong HRIS takes on the tasks of onboarding, payroll, performance management tracking, and more, saving small businesses money and time. We’ve rated the top systems based on how affordable they are for small businesses, their ability to scale as you grow (features and plan options), and how easy they are to use.
Learn more about what an HRIS/HRMS is before choosing a system.
We looked for complete HRIS solutions that can support you from the time you start hiring employees—some even help prior to that with recruiting tools—to the time their employment is terminated. All but a few offer payroll as part of the package; those that do not include it in their plans offer it as an add-on.
Top HRIS Software Picks
HRIS Software | Best for |
|---|---|
Best overall, especially for companies that need integrations and hardware/software application support in their onboarding | |
Businesses that need all-in-one HR software vs externally integrated solutions | |
Small businesses needing HR functions only | |
Businesses with <100 employees seeking a payroll-first HR solution | |
Small businesses needing HR software for performance and employee management especially | |
Growing companies that expect to transition from basic HR and payroll but would rather hire a PEO vs in-house HR staff | |
Small businesses (even under five employees) seeking an inexpensive solution for basic HR needs |
How We Chose the Top HRIS Software
RUBRIC SCORECARD CRITERIA:
25% of Overall Score
Many HRIS do custom pricing, so we got quotes. We rated highest for plans under $5,000 a year for 15 employees. We also gave points for transparency and unlimited payroll. Zenefits and Gusto scored highest in this area, while Rippling and Paycor came in close second because of a lack of full pricing transparency.
20% of Overall Score
This score covered the basics for HRIS: online onboarding with forms, an employee database, benefits, and HR functions in general. Paychex and ADP Run earned a perfect score in this area, because of their robust HR features; Rippling followed closely behind and only lost a few points because access to expert advisers costs extra money.
5% of Overall Score
As much time as we spend on research, it cannot replace the experiences of real-world users. Here we consider scoring on popular review sites like Capterra and G2. All of the software on our list, except Zoho People, are very popular in the market.
5% of Overall Score
HR runs on reports, both for sending to the government and for tracking the effectiveness of programs. We considered the number and customizability of reports. Paychex, Zoho People, and Gusto scored well in this area.
25% of Overall Score
This goes deeper into the features, looking at the depth of functionality for the most needed HR tools, from payroll to learning management. Rippling, Paycor, and Paychex have the functionality small businesses need; ADP Run is also very solid, but it lost points because it charges extra for some features that other providers include in their plans.
20% of Overall Score
We considered interface, customer support, online guides, and dedicated help when compiling this score. ADP Run scored well in this area; it lost a few points because there is a learning curve. Its other attributes work together to make overcoming the learning curve easier.
Rippling
PROS
- Intuitive interface highly rated by users
- Offers hardware onboarding
- Excellent integrations capabilities
CONS
- Gets pricey as you add functions
- No live customer support for software issues
- HR advisers cost extra
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.63 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR tools | 4.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Popularity | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Reporting | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payment Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
Rippling tops our list because of its affordability, wide range of high-quality features, and amazing user reviews (4.9 out of 5 stars, average). This HRIS works for businesses of any size and can grow with you, even offering Professional Employer Organization services and global payroll services. It’s a great choice for companies that need to assign software access. The interface is icon-driven and easy to use. It’s great for tech companies or businesses that use a lot of different programs.
Rippling Pricing
Rippling’s price starts at $8 per month, per user, for the employee management platform. After that, it charges for modules for payroll, benefits administration, etc.
Here’s a list of Rippling’s price per module, without any discounts or promotions applied:
Core Employee Management: $10 per employee, per month
Payroll: $8 per employee, per month
Employee benefits: $6 per employee, per month
Flex HSA and FSA benefits: $6 per employee, per month
HR Help Desk: $100 a month
App management: $8 per employee, per month
Device management: $8 per employee, per month
Rippling Features
- Strong hiring and pre-hiring tools: You can add on an applicant tracking tool if you’re hiring a sizable number of employees—background checks are available too. Its base employee database makes it easy to organize and store employee data and helps create a strong onboarding process.
- Solid software integration: The system integrates with over 500 business programs, including Slack, G Suite, and many other popular business applications. What’s great about this is that you can give new employees their own login access with a few clicks as well as restrict or end it once their employment terminates.
- Payroll add-on: Although payroll isn’t included in Rippling’s standard packages, it is available as an add-on in all 50 states and includes tax filing, direct deposit, garnishments, multiple job codes, and multiple pay rates. In fact, it ranked as one of our top international payroll providers.
- Benefits administration: You have access to a wide range of benefits, available in all 50 states, contrary to Gusto. This includes health, dental, and vision insurance plus flex plans (FSA, HSA) and commuter benefits. Rippling will also send your Affordable Care Act notices and handle COBRA notices.
- Device and App management: You can partner with Rippling to buy, set up, secure, and manage employee work computers, phones, and other devices including Single Sign On, provisioning, multi-factor authentication, and API support.
If applicant tracking is the most important feature to you but you don’t need Rippling’s base employee management product, check out our applicant tracking system guide for more options.
Paycor
PROS
- Flexible plans
- Small biz pricing (<39 employees) is a flat rate
- Easy-to-use software with a lot of functionality
CONS
- Many functions are add-ons
- Customer service was not good in 2020 and the first half of 2021
- Does not file state new hire forms for you
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.63 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR tools | 3.88 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Popularity | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Reporting | 4.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payment Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.63 | OUT OF | 5 |
Paycor offers a strong payroll program and a flexible set of integrated HR tools that make it a good option for businesses needing an all-in-one HR system. Its plans run from $99 to $199 per month for up to 39 employees, with no per-employee additions, making it affordable but not the cheapest—check out Zoho People if your business is very small and budget-conscious. Paycor has high ratings from users, although it received quite a few complaints in 2020 and the first half of 2021 for bad customer service.
Paycor Pricing
Paycor lets you modify your plan with add-ons and sends a customized price.
Paycor divides its pricing by the number of employees. It has flat-rate-plus pricing for businesses with fewer than 40 employees and custom pricing for 40+ employees. In addition, you may request specific features not found in your plan. There’s an online questionnaire that takes you through the process, then a quote is sent to you.
Pricing for businesses with <40 employees:
- Basic Plan: $99 per month. Payroll, employee portal, employee profiles, and org chart
- Essential Plan: $149 per month. Basic Plan plus PTO, workflows, onboarding, training, compliance support, document storage
- Complete Plan: $199 per month. Essential Plan plus dedicated HR specialist, integrations with 401(k), time tracking, Performance management, benefits support
Paycor Features
- Optimized payroll: Go beyond time sheets and pay runs with pay-on-demand features, garnishments, benefits, and 401(k) integrations, and more. Paycor also handles tax filing and keeps an eye on tax laws at the federal, state, and local levels. You can also get tracking and scheduling.
- Employee portal: Employees can access coworker profiles, the company org chart, W2s, benefits information, and more. They can also make changes and request PTO on the app. They can also sign documents and complete tasks. HR and managers can edit and update information, approve requests, send communications, and more.
- Hire-to-retire employee management: Paycor offers recruiting software, compensation planning and analysis, onboarding singly or in bulk, and talent development through performance management, including goals tracking, team insights, best practices. The learning system offers canned and customized courses and gamification. Some of these functions are add-ons.
- Benefits administration: The Benefits Advisor software lets employees manage, shop, and enroll in benefits through the portal or mobile app. It offers dashboards and reports to help you understand the costs and get automated alerts and reminders (such as for re-enrolling).
Zenefits
PROS
- User-friendly interface; employee app highly rated by users
- Workplace health and employee well-being tools
- Brokers benefits packages in 50 states + Washington DC
CONS
- Payroll costs extra
- Gets pricey in high-tier plans
- HR advisers cost extra
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR tools | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Popularity | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Reporting | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payment Features | 3.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 |
Zenefits can get pricey as you add more features, and payroll is a separate add-on, but it integrates with 50 business applications. Thus, we recommend it for businesses that may already have a payroll system they like and simply want to add HR functionality. The Growth plan offers the most important functions to help you onboard and manage employees.
Zenefits Pricing
Zenefits has three plan levels, plus add-on programs. The pricing with a full list of features is on its website. The plans all include hiring, onboarding, scheduling, an employee directory, document storage, and basic reports.
Zenefits plans:
- Essentials: $10 per employee, per month (5 employee minimum)
- Growth: $18 per month, per employee. Essentials + compensation management and performance management
- Zen: $27 per month, per employee. Growth + employee well-being management, surveys, and communications tools
Zenefits also offers these add-ons:
- Payroll: $6 per employee per month
- Advisory Services: Unlimited access to HR and payroll experts, $8 per month, per employee
- Benefits Administration (with your own broker): $5 per month per employee
Zenefits Features
- Talent management: Create offer letters with their templates, and make it easy for employees to self-onboard with onboarding checklists, forms, and e-signatures. Zenefits also handles background checks.
- Communication and record-keeping: With a communications hub for one-on-one meetings and document storage, it’s easy for HR and managers to keep track of their people. Zenefits also offers employee surveys.
- Employee well-being: Zenefits manages benefits in all 50 states to keep you compliant, but it also offers well-being tools like articles, advice, and surveys.
- Performance management: Performance management is 360, with reviews by managers, peers, and the employees themselves. Zenefits has compensation management tools as well to help you retain your best employees.
- Employee portal: Employees can view important information, from policies to their W2s and leave balances. They can request PTO (and managers can approve it), see announcements, contact coworkers through the portal, and more. Zenefits has a mobile app as well.
- Payroll: Payroll includes unlimited pay runs, garnishment support, filing taxes, and sending forms. (Add-on)
- Advisory services: Get unlimited access to a team of HR and payroll experts who can advise you on changing regulations, dealing with difficult employees, writing the company handbook, and terminating employees fairly and within regulations. (Add-on)
Gusto
PROS
- Unlimited pay runs
- Cheap, contractor-only plan
- Gusto Wallet helps employees with financial health, get advances
CONS
- No customizations
- Benefits management only in 39 states
- Not good for over 100 employees
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR tools | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Popularity | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Reporting | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payment Features | 3.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
Gusto is an extremely popular payroll software with good HR functionality. We often compare it to other small business HR software, and it always does well. It’s affordable, easy to use, and has the most important HR features a small business needs. If you’re a multi-state employer though and benefits are a requirement, you’ll need to confirm it offers insurance within each state your employees reside.
Gusto Pricing
Gusto has transparent pricing with four plans. Except for the contractor plan, all come with full-service payroll, workers’ compensation, health benefits administration, and an employee self-service portal:
- Contractor-only: $6 per contractor, per month for payroll and filing
- Core: $39 per month plus $6 per employee, per month
- Complete: $39 per month plus $12 per employee, per month. Core + PTO, employee directory, onboarding
- Concierge: $149 per month + $12 per month, per employee. Complete plan + HR Support
Gusto Features
- Payroll: Gusto can handle payroll including tax filing in all 50 states and is our #1 recommended payroll software for small businesses. It pays via check and Direct Deposit, but can also offer Gusto Wallet —an employee account with a mobile app that lets employees get paid faster, manage finances, and take advances. It’s a great alternative for employees without traditional bank accounts as well.
- Hiring: Gusto makes it easy to send offer letters and onboard new employees, with checklists, online signing of documents, and setting up software for your new employee or team.
- Employee management: Track PTO and timecards and conduct employee surveys.
- Benefits: Gusto can help you choose and manage benefits in 38 states. These include medical plans and health savings accounts, 401(k)s, and commuter benefits. You can explore and choose plans, and Gusto will help employees get signed up.
- Employee portal: Employees have access to the company directory and organizational chart, plus company documents. They can make profile changes, request time off, and renew benefits as well.
- HR assistance: The Concierge Plan comes with a library of HR documents like job descriptions and policy templates, plus dedicated advisers and a direct line for the support team.
BambooHR
PROS
- Intuitive platform
- Integrates with over 50 applications
- Customizable workflows and reports
CONS
- Limited mobile app
- No dedicated representatives
- No learning management tools
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.05 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR tools | 3.13 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Popularity | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Reporting | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payment Features | 3.81 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
BambooHR offers hire-to-retire functionality at a reasonable per-employee price. However, we were most impressed by its employee engagement and performance management tools, even though these are add-ons. Users also like BambooHR, saying it’s intuitive and has great tools. It does payroll through a partner company, TRAXPayroll.
BambooHR Pricing
BambooHR does not list pricing online for its two plans. You need to call for a quote based on your needs. This is what we were quoted for 15 employees:
- Advantage Plan: $8.25 per employee, per month
- Performance Management Module: $5.25 per employee, per month
- TRAXPayroll: $75 + $4.05 per employee, per month
- Implementation: $241.25 (one-time)
- Training: $299
This adds up to an annual cost of $3,588 the first year, with subsequent years costing $3,047.75 per year.
BambooHR Features
- Talent acquisition: Bamboo offers features for applicant tracking, onboarding, and creating onboarding workflows. Document storage with online signatures lets you keep employee records handy.
- HR features: Enjoy benefits tracking, workflows and approvals, PTO management, and training trackers. With BambooHR Advantage, you get advanced reports, customizations, and custom workflows.
- Employee portal: The employees can access a company directory, organization chart, and company calendar. Track who is working and who is taking PTO. Contact coworkers or managers via the mobile app. Employees can access their records and manage time off.
- Payroll (Add-on): Three-step payroll with tax filing and end-of-year forms makes it easy to stay compliant with federal and state laws. Over 100 standard reports help you analyze your workforce expenses.
- Time tracker (Add-on): Time tracking with reminders and overtime calculations integrate into payroll to make it easy.
- Performance management (Add-on): Help employees grow professionally with manager, peer, and self-management feedback, goals, and reminders.
Paychex
PROS
- Charges per employee, per month, split by pay run
- Great choice of payroll and HR tools to customize your plan
- Benefits include 401(k)
CONS
- Can get expensive as you add features
- Pricing can change each year
- Payroll support can be hit-or-miss
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 0.88 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR tools | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Popularity | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Reporting | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payment Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 3.88 | OUT OF | 5 |
If you have specific needs, Paychex can create a highly customized plan for you. It offers hundreds of functions in HR, payroll, and compliance support, as well as a wide variety of benefits. As such, it’s an excellent choice for businesses that want a full-service HRIS that can grow from a small startup (even solo businesses) to a mid-to-large business. Just be warned that the pricing is not completely transparent and is subject to change each year.
Paychex Pricing
Paychex only lists pricing for its most basic plan, Paychex Go, which is primarily payroll. It runs $59 per month plus $4 per employee, per month. For higher plans, you need to call for custom pricing. Paychex offers over 300 features and will mix and match a custom program for you.
Paychex did give us an estimate for its Flex Enterprise program at $125 per month plus $3.01 per employee, per month, with a $200 setup fee they offered to waive. This comes to $2,041 per year for 15 employees, without the setup fee. One representative told us that prices can increase each year, but are negotiable.
Paychex Features
- Payroll: Time and attendance tracking feed into payroll. You can pay workers by checks, direct deposit, or paycards, and let Paychex handle your tax filing and new hire form filing. Paychex handles garnishments if you sign up for its Enterprise Plan—with Gusto and other payroll-centric software, its included in non-premium plans. Paychex does however assign you a payroll specialist.
- Talent acquisition: Paychex has hiring services, including job posting and applicant tracking. You can get onboarding tools, including personalized messages and videos, and background checks.
- HR tools: HR and business forms and labor compliance posters, and an employee handbook help keep your workers informed. The performance management and learning management systems help you maintain a well-trained workforce. It also provides HR consulting, including assessment of your needs and alerts to changes in local, state, or federal labor laws.
- Benefits: You can get your employees medical, dental, visual, retirement, and other benefits and have them managed through the payroll program. Paychex also offers an employee financial wellness program.
- Mobile app: Employees can view pay stubs and benefits information, but managers can handle payroll and view employee information, including benefits programs.
- Ability to grow with you: Paychex can handle over 1,000 employees. You can transition from payroll software to a complete Professional Employer Organization. It offers hundreds of add-ons and integrates with third-party applications for accounting, HR, sales, hiring, and more.
Zoho People
PROS
- Free plan
- Inexpensive plans overall
- Feature-rich software
CONS
- Payroll version for India only
- Users say the learning curve is steeper than usual
- No HR advisers
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR tools | 3.13 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Popularity | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Reporting | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payment Features | 3.88 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 2.13 | OUT OF | 5 |
Zoho People is an excellent choice for businesses on a shoestring budget who are willing to put some time into learning software. It not only offers a free program for under five employees, but its most expensive plan is under $10 per employee, per month. In addition, you can’t get payroll outside of India. The People Plus plan only comes with the India edition of payroll, and none of the plans offer HR advisers on staff. However, if you need to manage shift workers or bill clients for jobs, this software has a lot of built-in tools to make it easy.
Zoho People Pricing
A user is defined as an employee or someone who has access to the software. For example, if you have a third-party accountant, she would be charged as a user. Paid plans must have at least five users.
- Free Plan (Under five employees): PTO tracking and employee database
- Essential HR: $1.25 per user, per month. Onboarding, PTO, workflows, employee database
- Professional: $2 per user, per month. Essential plus attendance and shift tracking, time tracking, billing
- Premium: $3 per user, per month. Professional plus performance appraisals, goal tracking, 360-degree feedback, HR analytics
- Enterprise: $4.50 per user, per month. Premium plus employee query management, learning portal
- Plus Plan: $9 per employee, per month. Recruiting, HR, Expense, Connect, and Chat Plans included
The Expense Plan can be added for an additional $2 per user, per month.
Temporary staff management can be added for $1 per employee, per month.
Zoho People Features
- Employee database and files management: These include an employee database, document storage and personal file uploads, e-signature integrations, and templates for employee signs.
- Talent management: With Zoho People, you get tools for recruiting, applicant tracking, even social media posting of jobs. The onboarding portal walks employees through policies, setting up profiles, signing documents, and covering other objectives.
- Employee management: From shift scheduling to performance management, your managers can run their teams through Zoho People. Performance management includes goal setting, peer feedback, skill lists, self-appraisals. There’s a venue for receiving and responding to employee queries and complaints. Zoho People has customizable workflows and approval processes, plus a learning management system that includes online, classroom, and independent learning. Its communication tool is similar to Slack for employee chat, or you can send employees announcements, host forums, and most manuals for employee access through the system.
- Pre-payroll tools: While the payroll plan offered with Zoho People is listed specifically as the India version, there is a separate US version you can purchase extra. In any case, with Zoho People, you can track time with biometric integrations and geo-tracking if desired, approve time sheets, track and grant PTO, and manage expenses including advances.
Bottom Line
Most HRIS software covers the basics: employee communication, onboarding, performance management, and the handling of benefits and PTO. Others include payroll, and many have strong learning management systems. To choose the best HRIS/HRMS solution for your business, you need to consider price vs features, and whether the software service covers your needs now with the ability to grow in the future. With the right software, you can ease the burden of mundane administrative tasks from HR managers so that they can concentrate on your people.
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