Best Human Resources Software for Small Businesses
Based on In-Depth Reviews
- 200+Hours of research
- 50+Sources used
- 28Companies vetted
- 4Features reviewed
- 8Top
Picks
- HR Software is not a substitute for an HR administrator.
- Streamlines and automates workflow and HR functions.
- Pricing depends on the number of employees or users.
- Most platforms provide free trials or online demos.
How we analyzed the best Human Resources Software for Small Businesses Providers
Our Top Picks: Human Resources Software for Small Businesses Reviews
There are different types of HR software for small businesses. Some specialize in administrative tasks such as managing payroll and attendance, others offer strategic solutions for recruiting and development, and a few others aim to offer an all-inclusive experience by covering most HR functions. Choosing the right one for your small business will, for the most part, depend on the HR functions that you are looking to automate.
ADP HR Software for Small Business review
Best for Ease of Use
Although ADP is commonly known for its payroll services, it also offers basic HR features for businesses of any size. Its workforce management module gives you tools for managing time and attendance, labor costs, benefits, and recruitment.
Screenshot Adp.com, June 2020
Additionally, through ADP’s online platform, employees can easily edit personal information, keep track of their accrued time off, and access their monthly and annual pay statements and tax withholdings report. They can also manage payment options, such as setting up direct deposit for multiple bank accounts.
Cost: Customers can request a quote on their website.
Trial: ADP allows customers to schedule a demo.
The Applicant Manager review
Best ATS for Small Businesses
The Applicant Manager (TAM) is an affordable and easy-to-use Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that functions as a repository of job positions and applicants’ information. The software offers HR managers and business owners features to recruit candidates, screen applicants, send job offers, hire, and onboard new talent to their companies.
Screenshot Tamrecruiting.com, June 2020
Employers can post and advertise their available job positions in over 100 job boards. Applicants, on the other hand, just need to apply through any of those job boards, and their information will automatically appear on TAM where employers can compare and rate applicants, sort by distance, and schedule video interviews. Employers also have access to job posting templates and interview guides.
Cost: Between $40 and $90 dollars a month per account user, plus a one-time setup and implementation fee.
Trial: 21-day free trial.
Snagajob HR Software for Small Business review
Best for Posting Hourly Jobs
Snagajob is a platform that instantly connects hourly job employers with job seekers. The software helps them find candidates that match their criteria and directly invite them to apply.
Screenshot Snagajob.com, June 2020
Once employers create an account, they can customize their career site, post job positions with screening questions, and track applicants. Snagajob also allows them to create campaigns to promote and sponsor their job positions.
Cost: Employers set up a budget and pay for results—per clicks, leads, job postings, or applications.
BambooHR review
BambooHR is an all-inclusive software for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers web-based software focused on managing five key areas: employees’ data and attendance, new hires, onboarding, compensation, and work culture.
Screenshot Bamboohr.com, June 2020
The platform includes features for managing employees’ information such as position, salary, and benefits. Administrators can track time-off requests, set accrual policies and holidays, and generate different types of reports. They can also create job openings and post them on free job boards like Indeed and Glassdoor. Additionally, employees can edit personal information, request time off, and access company documents and general information by simply downloading the BambooHR app or accessing the website.
Upon opening an account, BambooHR provides account owners and managers interactive guides and an HR project manager to help them configure and customize their accounts to their company’s needs.
Although the BambooHR software does not include a payroll feature, it provides an add-on that allows account managers to export payroll data from BambooHR and process it through TRAXPayroll or another payroll-specific software.
Cost: BambooHR does not list their pricing, however, customers can request a quote.
Trial: 7-day free trial.
Zenefits review
Most Comprehensive
Zenefits is an all-in-one software that allows you to perform most HR tasks from one place. Its dashboard features modules to manage employee directories, scheduling, paid-time-off policies, and benefits. It also includes a three-step build-in feature to run payroll and taxes, and it can be integrated with financial software to manage accounting and your company’s 401(k).
Screenshot Zenefits.com, June 2020
Through their online dashboard or mobile app, employees can update their information, connect with co-workers, check time-off balance, and submit requests anytime.
Cost: Zenefits charges between $8 and $21 dollars per employee per month, depending on which of their three tiers you choose.
Trial: 14-day free trial.
Homebase review
Best for Shift Workers
Homebase's main feature is its hourly schedule creation tool, making it a helpful option for businesses with shift workers such as franchises, restaurants, and retail stores. With this software, managers can check their team availability and easily create their weekly or monthly schedules by simply adding employees’ personal information. Employees, on the other hand, immediately receive instant notifications regarding their schedules and upcoming shifts reminders via the mobile app, email, and/or text message.
Screenshot Joinhomebase.com, June 2020
Homebase allows managers to calculate overtime, and forecast labor costs and total sales based on previous week data. They can also post jobs in multiple job boards (including Indeed, Facebook, Craigslist, and ZipRecruiter), view applicant information, and keep track of upcoming interviews. Additionally, Homebase offers a health and safety questionnaire to screen for COVID-19 symptoms before employees clock in.
Cost: Homebase’s main features for scheduling, clocking in/out, and tracking applicants are free. Customers start paying if they want to add additional tools to manage performance, budget, and onboarding. In that case, Homebase offers three different tiers ranging from $14 up to $70 dollars a month per location.
Trial: Homebase is free. Simply sign up, check it out, keep it or cancel it if you don’t like it.
Zoho People review
Best Value
Zoho is an online suite that provides multiple operating systems for businesses, including apps for HR, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and finance. Zoho People is their feature for managing administrative HR processes such as attendance, timesheets, hiring, and onboarding.
Screenshot Zoho.com/people, June 2020
Zoho People’s main selling point is their pricing, making them one of the least expensive HR software players on the market. They offer five different tier options ranging from $1 up to $8 dollars per employee per month. Customers can opt to bundle all their applications by choosing Zoho One, their integrated business software, which features tools to manage sales, marketing, customer support, HR, accounting, and operations.
Cost: From $0.83 to $8 per user per month.
Trial: 15-day free trial.
Jazz review
Best for Recruitment
JazzHR offers businesses a simple dashboard to keep track of their recruiting and hiring process. The software gives HR managers the ability to customize recruiting workflow, research candidates, and perform background checks.
Screenshot, Jazzhr.com, June 2020
Jazz gives employers tools to stay organized and track pending tasks, applications, upcoming interviews, and job openings. They can build candidate pipelines, and custom links to maximize their posts’ visibility on job boards, including Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Monster. Additionally, they can coordinate interviews directly from the platform, send job offers, expedite onboarding documents by requesting electronic signatures, and transfer candidates’ information to other information systems and payroll software.
Cost: Plans from $39 up to $329 a month.
Trial: 21-day free trial.
More insight into our methodology
Managing employees’ information, keeping track of attendance, timesheets, payroll, performance, and even recruiting and onboarding new talents—these are all time-consuming and labor-intensive tasks. Enter HR software, which can help streamline your workflow, and save you time and money along the way.
If you’re looking for this type of software, you’ve probably already realized that there are a few dozen companies to choose from. Which one you choose ultimately depends on your company size, needs, and budget.
These are some factors you should consider before making a decision:
Plans & Pricing
When it comes to HR software, pricing varies widely by platform. Typically, companies charge a monthly fee per employee, with prices ranging from $2 up to $21. Others might offer tiers limited to a specific number of employees, users, or in very few cases, locations for a fixed monthly payment. The features included also influence the price range. Most of the time platforms will charge extra for adding modules for payroll and hiring.
In some cases, software providers may offer volume discounts to businesses with larger workforces.
We particularly favored those companies that offered the most features at affordable prices.
Ease of Use
The point of investing in HR software is to simplify workflow while maximizing your time. This doesn’t mean that configuring your account won’t take some time at first, but a platform that is intuitive to follow will offer a smoother user experience.
The best part is that most HR software allows you to either subscribe for a free, no-commitment trial—meaning you don’t have to give them your payment information—or to request an online demo with a representative. You should take the time to try them or to at least evaluate if the interface meets your expectations before making a final decision.
To get an idea of the user experience each program offered, we spoke to HR professionals, signed up for free trials when available, and requested demos as needed. We also checked how compatible they were with widely used platforms, such as G-Suite, job boards, and payroll software. Integration is an essential tool because it will allow you to easily transfer data without having to input the same information every time.
Features & Services
Because HR software offers small businesses tools for automating administrative tasks, it is important that you assess which solutions are best for your business. This will help you get the maximum return on your investment.
HR software can include tools for:
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Employee record-keeping
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Performance evaluations
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Employee scheduling
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Time and attendance tracking
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Time off and vacations
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Benefits administration
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Payroll management
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401(k) management
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Applicant tracking
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Hiring
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Onboarding and training
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Analytics and reporting
Help & Support Services
Another key factor is to make sure the software provider has a dedicated team of experts and customer service representatives to help you configure your account or with any type of system malfunction.
Most companies offer customer assistance on weekdays over the phone, and can also be reached by email or through chat. Some even include webinars, tutorials, and guides to help you configure your account or to train new account users. We favored companies with different types of support resources.
Helpful information about Human Resources Software for Small Businesses
If your small business has started to grow, keeping up with your employees’ records, payroll, attendance, and other HR tasks might be getting more complicated and time-consuming. Investing in HR software can offer you some solutions.
What can HR Software do for your business?
In very broad terms, HR software programs offer advanced tools and/or modules to manage a wide range of human resources and administration processes, including payroll and recruitment.
There are three different types of HR software:
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Core HR which offers traditional administrative functions such as payroll, attendance, benefits management, among others.
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Strategic HR, focused more on hiring and employee-development solutions
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Integrated HR, which tends to be an all-inclusive option.
All in all, there are many combinations to choose from, it can be either a very targeted software or a whole suite of tools.
HR software has been in the market for more than 20 years. While older versions tended to be much more expensive and difficult to use—which meant only larger businesses could afford them—these programs have evolved significantly and their newer, cloud-based versions have made them an alternative for businesses of all sizes. They now offer integrated and intuitive systems at a lower cost.
How to choose the best HR software
Choosing the right HR software will depend on business size, needs, and budget. Once you’ve assessed these factors, it’ll be easier to determine which HR functions are essential in order to accomplish your particular business goals.
When evaluating HR software, keep in mind the following aspects:
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Specialization: In most cases, you’ll have to choose between software that can manage multiple functions and one that specializes on a particular one, such as payroll or recruitment services. Evaluate what you really need and prepare a list of tasks you would like to test before signing up. If possible, use the free trial, or request an online demo so that you can try out its features and its ease of use.
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Integrations: The key questions here are: how well does that particular program communicate with the ones you already have? How easy is it to transfer data between them? This is especially important if you already use other software to run HR tasks, or if you decide to incorporate others in the future.
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Scalability: if your business has the potential of growing with time, you’ll want software that’ll grow with you. In that case, you should check how many users or employees you can include in your package.
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Support and customer service: Check who will assist you in case help is needed configuring your account and how long it will take to answer your questions. While phone support is preferable, check to see if they offer guides and other support options.
Why invest in HR Software?
At first, acquiring HR software for your small business could seem like a costly solution that your company can do without, but in the long run, it can save you much more than what you’ll spend.
We spoke with HR Manager Amarilys Burgos, who has been working in the field for more than 20 years, about why small business owners should consider investing in HR software. According to her, there are five main reasons:
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Time-saving: an automated system will help reduce the amount of time you spend managing HR tasks that are usually done by hand. Once you’ve configured your account—which will be the most time-consuming part—performing tasks such as payroll or keeping track of attendance will be a matter of just a few clicks.
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Accuracy: automated software will reduce errors and improve data collection. If the software includes features for payroll, it’ll automatically calculate taxes and other deductions. It’ll also help you monitor progress, new applicants’ information, and keep track of interviews.
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Data storage: HR software can serve as a repository for employees’ information, and other important data that would have traditionally been printed and stored in files.
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Automatic reports: some platforms offer the ability to generate automatic reports, a task that would otherwise require both time and a team of HR representatives to compile all data, process, and interpret it.
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Agility: it will influence how quickly tasks can be performed and managed.
What To Watch Out For With HR Software
Privacy and Security
Keeping business and employees’ information private and secure should be every employer’s priority, especially if they’re going to keep it in cloud-based software. For that reason, it’s of foremost importance that you thoroughly read the platforms’ security and privacy policies. They should at least offer data encryption, firewalls, and intrusion-detection systems. Additionally, make sure that they don’t share account information with third parties unless duly authorized.
Back-Ups
If you’re saving your data to an off-site cloud-based server, make sure to keep additional in-house backups in a physical server in the office or hard drives. It’s also good practice to enable automatic backups daily, weekly, or every time you update new data. This will allow you easy access to your data any time, without requiring an internet connection, and even during power outages.
Our Human Resources Software for Small Businesses Review Summed Up
| Company Name | Best for |
|---|---|
| BambooHR HR Software for Small Business | Offers tools to handle every key aspect of human resources management. |
| Jazz HR Software for Small Businesses | Customize recruiting workflow, research candidates, and perform background checks from one place. |
| Zenefits HR Software | Easily integrates with financial software to manage accounting and your company’s 401(k). |
| Homebase Human Resources Software | Features user-friendly hourly schedule creation tool. |
| Snagajob HR Software for Small Business | Instantly connects hourly job employers with job seekers. |
| The Applicant Manager HR Software for Small Business | Great for incorporating custom workflows, email templates, and prescreening questions |