Zenefits offers an all-in-one HR platform that enables you to onboard new hires, store employee information, run payroll, and manage compensation and performance. Small businesses find it useful, but it’s not for everyone—for instance, if you primarily need payroll vs the HR support, you might spend more money than necessary. Or if you value live phone support, Zenefit’s email-based support system may make running payroll for your business difficult. To help, we reviewed numerous Zenefits competitors and chose the top six you should consider.
Best Zenefits Alternatives for Small Businesses
Zenefits Alternatives | Best For |
---|---|
(Best overall) For small businesses (<100 employees) needing payroll plus basic HR support | |
Employers that want access to a wide range of employee benefits including wellness perks | |
Businesses looking for a customizable employee information system with HR, payroll, and IT management tools | |
Companies that require an all-in-one HR and payroll platform with a dedicated representative | |
Employers needing flexible plans that scale with their business | |
Businesses that want comprehensive and affordable employee health insurance options that are available across the U.S. |
How We Chose the 6 Top Zenefits Alternatives
In order to identify the top six Zenefits competitors, we looked at several platforms that provide a similar set of HR, benefits, and payroll features. We then ranked them according to how similar they are to Zenefits but highlighted features that are different to help you decide which software is best for your company. We evaluated each using the following criteria:
25% of Overall Score
Aside from the low or high cost of monthly subscriptions (wherein anything below $45 per employee is best), we looked at whether the provider offered multiple plan options, unlimited payroll runs, zero setup fees, and discounts on annual plans.
30% of Overall Score
HR tools that allow online onboarding, new hire reporting, time and attendance monitoring, compensation and performance management, and employee benefit options that are available in many U.S. states are a must. Plus, having access to HR experts and a self-service portal are also ideal.
10% of Overall Score
Automatic payroll runs, payroll tax processing (federal, state, and local), year-end tax report preparation and filing, and direct deposits within two days are just some of the essential functionalities that we looked at. We also checked whether or not the provider offered a penalty-free guarantee—in case they make a mistake when processing the client’s payroll.
5% of Overall Score
Users should be able to access payroll summaries and customize reports, as well as create new reports within the system.
20% of Overall Score
Apart from having an interface that’s intuitive and easy to learn, the provider’s system should be able to integrate with commonly used programs, such as QuickBooks, Homebase, and TSheets. Users should also have access to how-to guides and live phone support that’s reliable and quick when it comes to problem resolution.
10% of Overall Score
We checked reviews that actual users left on third-party sites like G2, Capterra, and Software Advice.
Based on our evaluation, we recommend Gusto as the best Zenefits alternative for small businesses. Similar to Zenefits, it has an intuitive interface that can handle automatic payroll runs, payroll tax payments and filings, direct deposits, and online onboarding. Gusto also offers a variety of payment options and features, including direct deposit and pay cards, and includes HR and payroll support in all of its plans
Gusto
PROS
- HR and payroll support in all plans
- Variety of payment options, including payroll card and on-demand pay
- Highly rated customer service
CONS
- Not ideal for businesses with more than 100 employees
- Insurance benefits not offered in all US states
- Limited integration options and HR tools (lacks performance and compensation management)
RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
HR Features | 3.38 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Popularity | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Reporting | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Payroll Features | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Ease of Use | 5 | OUT OF | 5 |
Primarily focused on payroll, Gusto can process paychecks for both employees and contractors located in any US state. Similar to Zenefits, it can provide your staff with medical, dental, vision, life and disability, flexible spending account (FSA), and health savings account (HSA) plans. However, Gusto’s health insurance coverage is limited to 39 US states, while Zenefits’s insurance options are available in all 50 states.
Another reason Gusto is a good alternative to Zenefits is its customer service options. You can contact representatives by phone, email, or live chat, whereas Zenefits’s support is handled mostly through email—there is a tech support number, but when you’re able to talk to a rep, they usually tell you someone will contact you via email.
Pricewise, Gusto may not be as affordable as Zenefits, but with Gusto, you don’t have to pay extra for full-service payroll and health insurance administration. Both are included in its base plan (Core), which is priced at $39 plus $6 per employee monthly. Zenefits’ base HR plan (Essentials) costs $10 per employee monthly, and you have to buy payroll as an add-on ($6 per employee monthly).
For benefits, you must have your own broker to manage them, and it costs an extra $5 per employee monthly to activate. Benefits administration is included in all plans, but you have to pay the applicable premiums for health insurance and workers’ comp plans.
Gusto Pricing
- Free 30-day trial
- Basic plan: $19 plus $6 per employee, per month (Beta plan for one to two employees)
- Core plan: $39 plus $6 per employee, per month
- Contractor-only plan: $6 per person monthly
Other Gusto Features
- Access to Gusto Wallet (an app that helps employees paid with Gusto to save money, access cash between paydays, and monitors financial health)
- Project tracking and workforce costing
- 529 college savings plans
- Two-day and next-day direct deposit options
- Software integration options include FreshBooks, Xero, QuickBooks, TSheets, When I Work, Homebase, Expensify, and more
Justworks
PROS
- It’s a PEO that offers a variety of reasonably priced payroll services
- Provides full-service customer support (via phone, email, SMS, chat, and Slack)
- Health insurance options are available nationwide
CONS
- Reporting needs improvement in terms of customizations
- No applicant tracking function
- Limited integration options
RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 5 | OUT OF | 5 |
HR Features | 3 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Popularity | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Reporting | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Payroll Features | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Ease of Use | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 |
Justworks is a professional employer organization (PEO) that offers health insurance benefits, payroll management, compliance support, and HR tools (such as online onboarding, employee information management, and PTO monitoring).
As a PEO, the provider pools your employees along with thousands of other small business employees, so you get access to “big company health insurance options” at a low rate. Zenefits also provides health insurance, but it isn’t a PEO, so it doesn’t have the power of numbers working in its favor.
In terms of pricing, Justworks’ base plan (Basic) is more expensive than Zenefits’s Essential plan (even with the payroll and benefits administration add-ons). Despite Justworks’s pricey options, its Basic plan has a comprehensive feature set that includes payroll processing, payroll tax filing, HR consulting services, PTO management, workers’ comp, health and wellness perks, life and disability insurance, and a more robust employee self-service dashboard.
Justworks Pricing
- Monthly fees start at $49 per employee.
- Price goes down as the number of employees increase
- If you subscribe to an annual plan vs month-to-month, you get discounted rates.
Other Justworks Features
- HR consulting included in all plans
- Access to harassment prevention and inclusion training
- Fitness memberships
- COBRA administration, HSA/FSA accounts, medical/dental/vision insurance, and 401(k) retirement plans available in higher pricing tiers
- Online company directory and calendar (for holidays, birthdays, pay dates, and more)
- Integration with accounting software (QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online, and Xero)
Rippling
PROS
- Has an applicant tracking add-on
- Offers IT management of employee apps and devices
- More than 500 integration options
CONS
- Limited advanced HR features (no compensation or performance management)
- Payroll module isn’t available as a standalone product
- Live phone support costs extra (HR help desk)
RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.13 | OUT OF | 5 |
HR Features | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Popularity | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Reporting | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Payroll Features | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Ease of Use | 4 | OUT OF | 5 |
Rippling has an employee management platform as its base system that allows you to manage staff information and electronic documents. The advantage that Rippling has over Zenefits is its international reach, especially when processing employee salaries. This is ideal for employers whose staff and contractors are located globally. You can also use its job codes tool to monitor employee time and the cost of that time on a per location, client, and task basis.
However, unlike Zenefits, its pricing details aren’t all transparent. While the cost of its base platform is published on Rippling’s website, the fees for its add-on modules are custom priced and available only by request. Moreover, Rippling doesn’t provide tools for managing and tracking compensation and employee performance.
For pricing, you have to contact Rippling to get an exact price quote. It also sometimes runs discounts for which you may be eligible.
Pricing
- Employee management (must purchase): $10 per employee monthly
- Payroll: $8 per employee monthly
- Employee benefits: $6 per employee monthly
- Flex HSA and FSA benefits: $6 per employee monthly
- Applicant tracking: $6 per employee monthly
- HR Help Desk: $100 monthly
- Device management: $8 per employee monthly
- App management: $8 per employee monthly
Other Rippling Features
- Full-service payroll (international and all 50 US states)
- PEO option
- Federal, state, and local tax filing
- Direct deposit and check options
- Job codes and multiple pay rates
- New hire and W-2/W-4/1099 filings
- Online onboarding, employee self-service, and open benefit enrollments
- IT management module employee device and app setup and monitoring
- Library of pre-built reports
- Access to over 4,000 insurance plans from leading carriers (such as Aetna, Human, and BlueCross Blue Shield)
- Over 500 integration options that include TSheets, Homebase, When I Work, GoodHire, Checkr, SurveyMonkey, Greenhouse, Guru, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Slack, Asana, DocuSign, and Adobe Sign
Paychex
PROS
- Multiple pay options (i.e., paper checks, direct deposits, pay on-demand, and pay cards)
- Intuitive interface
- 24/7 customer support
CONS
- Not all of its pricing details are transparent
- Garnishment payment services are available only for premium plan subscribers
RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 1.5 | OUT OF | 5 |
HR Features | 4.13 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Popularity | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Reporting | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Payroll Features | 4.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Ease of Use | 3.88 | OUT OF | 5 |
Paychex is an all-in-one payroll, HR, and benefits platform. Its features include online onboarding, time and attendance tracking, payroll and tax administration, workers’ compensation, and benefits administration. You also get access to a customer service team that’s available 24/7.
If you need payroll support, Paychex assigns a dedicated specialist to help with all of your payroll and payroll tax needs. The provider even offers several ways that you can pay your employees. Unlike Zenefits, Paychex lets you pay employees through direct deposits, paper checks, pay cards, and pay on-demand.
Another advantage that Paychex has over Zenefits is its learning management module. Apart from being granted access to a library of online courses, you can incorporate your existing training programs into its platform, as well as create custom videos, reminders, and quizzes.
In terms of pricing plans, Paychex has different packages to fit the payroll and HR requirements of small to enterprise-level businesses. The cost of its small business option, Paychex Go, is published on Paychex’s website. However, you have to contact its sales team to request a custom package for the Paychex Flex and Paychex Flex Enterprise options.
Paychex Pricing
- Paychex Go (small business payroll option): $59 plus $4 per employee monthly
- Call to get pricing details for its Paychex Flex and Paychex Flex Enterprise plans
Other Paychex Features
- Employee self-service portal
- New hire reporting
- Background screening
- Files and pays federal, state, and local taxes
- Automatic W-2s and 1099s
- Access to group and individual health insurance options, HSA, FSA, dental and vision plans, and 401(k) retirement services
- Standard and custom analytics and reporting
- Add-on solutions for hiring services, liability insurance options, time and attendance, and more
- Integration options include QuickBooks Online, Xero, Indeed, BambooHR, SimplyHired, Clover, OnShift, Hubworks, and Insight360
ADP Run
PROS
- Feature-rich with strong HR tools; includes tax payments and filing
- Flexible product plans
- 24/7 customer support
CONS
- Pricing for full-service payroll isn’t transparent
- Its do-it-yourself (DIY) payroll option is expensive
- Inconsistent customer support quality
RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 0.5 | OUT OF | 5 |
HR Features | 4.38 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Popularity | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Reporting | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Payroll Features | 4.5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Ease of Use | 4.63 | OUT OF | 5 |
Similar to Zenefits, ADP also has performance, compensation, and attendance management solutions. It even offers a compensation benchmarking solution, called ADP DataCloud, that lets you access current market insights and analyze information (such as employee turnover, overtime, and pay data) from over 30 million anonymized employers. This is helpful as it enables you to assess whether or not your compensation package is at par with the market.
Depending on the size of your company, ADP offers flexible product options that are designed to support your business as you grow from five employees to more than 1,000 staff. Aside from full service payroll, it provides HR solutions that enable you to manage benefits, recruitment, and new hire onboarding.
Unlike Zenefits, pricing details for ADP’s full service payroll and HR solutions are not published on its website. Based on our quote of $14 to $15 monthly per employee, ADP is more expensive when you do feature-by-feature comparison, because time tracking, integrations, and some hiring options (like background checks) aren’t included in their base product.
ADP Pricing
- Call for pricing. We were quoted approximately $14-$15 per employee, per month when factoring in all payroll fees, including year-end reporting, excluding benefits and other products.
- Tiered pricing; four product plans
Other ADP Features
- Employee self-service portal
- PEO option
- Background checks
- New hire reporting
- PTO management
- Access to health, dental, vision, life and disability, and retirement plans
- Access to business insurance (for employers)
- Payroll and tax processing
- Direct deposits
- Designated HR help desk support
- Integration options include QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, SAP Success Factors, Workday, TSheets, Homebase, ZipRecruiter, iCIMS, Docufree, OrgChart Now, Slack, and Pingboard
Trinet
PROS
- Robust offering of HR services and tools
- Access to comprehensive benefit options
- Easy-to-install platform
CONS
- Pricing isn’t transparent
- Inconsistent customer support quality
RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 1 | OUT OF | 5 |
HR Features | 4 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Popularity | 2.5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Reporting | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Payroll Features | 4.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
Ease of Use | 5 | OUT OF | 5 |
Similar to Justworks, TriNet is a full-service PEO. It is optimal for businesses that want to outsource HR administration tasks like hiring, managing benefits, and paying employees and contractors. For benefits offerings, what Trinet does is pool all of its clients together with other small businesses, enabling it to offer premier health insurance plans at an affordable rate.
An advantage that TriNet offers over Zenefits is that it provides access to localized health insurance. So, wherever your employees are located, they can get good quality health insurance.
Aside from benefits, TriNet also provides full service HR and payroll solutions—from applicant tracking, attendance monitoring, and performance management to tax processing (federal, state, and local taxes) and electronic preparation and delivery of Form W-2s. Additionally, it has a learning management module that lets your employees access more than 500 courses that tackle business skills (such as accounting, business writing, and computer skills), workplace ethics, and compliance training among others.
TriNet Pricing
- Call for pricing. We were quoted a monthly fee of $150 to $165 per employee (for a business with 25 employees)
Other Trinet Features
- Access to medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and retirement plans
- Access to voluntary benefits (such as accident coverage, critical illness, pet insurance, and discounted auto/home policies)
- Online self-service tools and open benefits enrollment
- ACA compliance
- Workforce analytics
- Expense management
- Integration options include QuickBooks, Xero, Greenhouse, BambooHR, Okta, and Google Cloud
Bottom Line
Zenefits is a great choice for businesses looking for an integrated platform with HR, payroll, and benefits tools. However, there are other good options that also offer functionalities similar to Zenefits. Some even provide additional solutions like employee device and app management as well as PEO services. Moreover, your HR and payroll needs may change as your business grows—you’ll then have to look for a Zenefits alternative and find the right payroll solution to fit your new requirements.
Based on our evaluation, we found Gusto to be the best Zenefits competitor for small businesses. Its payroll services cover all 50 US states, and you have access to unlimited pay runs with two-day direct deposits. It also has a good selection of benefits, and you can get customer support via phone, chat, or email. Sign up for a free trial today.
Robie Ann Ferrer contributed to this article
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