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10 Best Onboarding Software of 2023 for Training New Hires

The Best Onboarding Software Shortlist

Here’s the list of the best employee onboarding software solutions that I’ll cover in this article, with detailed summaries below:

  1. 1. Deel — Best global onboarding software
  2. 2. TalentReef — Best for recruiting and onboarding hourly workers
  3. 3. Trakstar — Best for building onboarding programs connected to learning paths
  4. 4. monday.com — Best for collaborative onboarding workflows
  5. 5. Eddy — Best for small, local businesses with deskless workers
  6. 6. Absorb LMS — Best for intuitive UI & ease of use
  7. 7. ClearCompany — Best for an adaptable, paperless & mobile-friendly onboarding experience
  8. 8. Wrike — Best work management software for streamlining the onboarding experience
  9. 9. iSpring Learn — Best for building customized new hire training in multiple languages
  10. 10. Connecteam — Best for managing the employee lifecycle from day one

I've always had a soft spot for employee onboarding and orientation. Why? Because I love to make a great first impression, and that's what onboarding is all about. I can tell you first-hand that investing in some top-notch onboarding software will save you a lot of time and future hassles.

In a previous HR role, I was a key member of our hiring process and I onboarded over 350 new hires during a nine-year span. That's why I really enjoyed digging into the best onboarding software on the market for this top 10 list. I remember the pain points well, and all the software systems in this list can help you overcome them.

What is Onboarding Software?

Onboarding software is an HR tool that allows you to automate and track where new employees are within their onboarding process. There are often many steps to an onboarding program and sometimes it can feel overwhelming. Using a software system to organize everything creates a better employee experience for your new hires.

Using onboarding software, you can create onboarding checklists and assign due dates to specific tasks or internal training. You can also provide links to more supporting materials to help your new staff get acquainted with your company properly. They’re an essential part of creating a good first impression for anyone starting a new role.

Overviews of the Best Onboarding Software

In this section, I've included a brief description of each onboarding software system and explained what each does best to help you find the best system for you. I've also included a screenshot of each to show you their user interface too.

1

Deel

Best global onboarding software

Deel is a full-scale HR platform that brings a global approach to onboarding, allowing HR teams to provide a seamless and unified experience to any worker, no matter their location. It offers a secure and compliant solution for businesses to manage employee data, automate workflows, and set up local benefits and payroll.

Why I picked Deel: Their employer of record service offers a simple and compliant way to hire and onboard employees using one of their 100+ local entities, while its contractor management service helps you collect necessary compliance paperwork and generate localized contractor agreements. In addition, Deel’s HR tools allow you to easily provision software access, send out company equipment, or initiate background checks too.

Deel Standout Features and Integrations:

Deel provides an easy-to-use interface that guides users through creating contracts, including a library of templates and clauses that you can pick from to customize your contracts and offer letters. Its employee onboarding tracker lets you add new employees to the system and track their progress throughout the orientation and onboarding process. Deel automatically keeps track of all documents and forms that need to be completed and allows users to securely sign and store compliance docs.

Integrations are available with Ashby, BambooHR, Expensify, Greenhouse, Hibob, Netsuite, Okta, OneLogin, Quickbooks, SCIM, Xero, Workday, and Workable, and more through the Deep API, allowing you to have a single source of truth for your workforce data.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.6 1220

Free demo available

Flat rate user pricing, with a free version for businesses with up to 200 people

Pros

  • Add-ons available for localized benefits and global payroll
  • Knowledgeable support staff
  • End-to-end global employee lifecycle management

Cons

  • Limited customization for some tools
  • Contract templates could be simplified
2

TalentReef

Best for recruiting and onboarding hourly workers

TalentReef is a staffing software that caters to the needs of companies hiring hourly workers. It has recruiting and hiring tools to help you find the best candidates for your open roles, and it can facilitate new employee onboarding and performance management for your existing team.

Why I picked TalentReef: The software allows you to manage multiple job boards and parse through resumes as people apply to your open roles. You can create customized workflows for how candidates move through the hiring process, ensuring EEOC compliance. Once you've found the right fit for a role, you can send the candidate a personalized offer.

You can run background checks and have tax forms filled out by new hires easily through the software. Once an employee is up and running, you can set goals with them and schedule regular performance check-ins. Position and pay changes can also be managed, ensuring employee records stay up-to-date and reflective of their standing.

TalentReef Standout Features and Integrations

Features include chat applications, SMS management, branded career pages, job board management, applicant tracking, interview scheduling, a talent community, campaign communications, onboarding, compliance, performance management, and reporting and analytics tools.

Integrations include various job boards and social media platforms, payroll and HRIS systems, training and LMS software, POS systems, and background check services.

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

Pros

  • Customizable workflows and templates
  • Specifically designed for the needs of hourly workers
  • Recruitment, onboarding, and talent management in one place

Cons

  • May not be suited to salaried workers
  • Pricing is not transparent
3

Trakstar

Best for building onboarding programs connected to learning paths

Trakstar Learn is a cloud-based learning management system that helps employers manage their onboarding process quickly and effectively. It simplifies the process of bringing new hires into an organization by automating many administrative tasks associated with onboarding, such as reviewing stacks of training materials.

Why I picked Trakstar Learn: Their LMS is customizable and allows you to create courses for your new employees to consume on demand. The platform also includes real-time analytics, customized forms, and automated reminders to ensure that all necessary steps are completed on time and without any errors. Trakstar’s user-friendly UI makes navigating through the various stages of the onboarding process easy. You can also customize their dashboard so that you only view the relevant information, without searching multiple menus or tabs, providing a better user experience.

Trakstar Learn Standout Features and Integrations:

Trakstar's business analytics expedite and improve the onboarding process. It provides administrators with access to real-time data captured through employee onboarding surveys, enabling them to track progress on goals and objectives for new employees. Through automated reporting capabilities, administrators can also monitor various performance indicators and key metrics from within the application, such as how quickly employees are mastering core tasks or how closely they're adhering to company-set standards.

Trakstar's integration with other leading HR technologies gives organizations access to further analytics functions, such as predictive HR forecasting and custom-built dashboards, helping organizations foster more cohesive work environments by integrating data from diverse sources into one holistic performance measure. Key software integrations to note include ADP Workforce Now, Azure Active Directory, BambooHR, Google Workspace, Office365, Okta, and Slack.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.3 188

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

Pros

  • Training progress can be linked to specific employee performance goals
  • Strong team collaboration features
  • Integrates with other Trakstar modules

Cons

  • Pricing details and plan features are not transparent
  • Small list of pre-built integrations
4

monday.com

Best for collaborative onboarding workflows

monday.com is marketing mainly as a workflow tool for scaling an organization, but they’ve also built in a number of HR features, and specifically, some features for onboarding. It’s not a pure HR tool but it’s a useful tool with a lot of the basics.

Why I picked monday.com: Their software is great for creating collaborative onboarding workflows that map out the process of interviewing and hiring candidates, and allow for commenting and task assignment. Their customizable dashboards keep multiple parties abreast of developments and make tracking the next steps in the internal setup process easy. They also have a new employee onboarding template to get you started.

monday.com Standout Features and Integrations:

monday.com's best feature, overall, is the flexible nature of their platform. You can create your own configurations easily, without coding knowledge, using their templates, drag-and-drop elements, and widgets to capture the details you need. This makes it possible to use their software for more than just tracking onboarding tasks. For example, you can also use monday.com to track team-wide task assignments, monitor workflows, or manage other internal projects.

Integrations include project management apps like Slack, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Jira, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Typeform, and many more, accessible through a paid plan with Zapier.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 8599

14-day free trial + free plan available

From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats)

Pros

  • Simple organization by dragging and dropping tasks
  • Excellent collaborative features
  • All-in-one work management platform

Cons

  • No bottleneck identification or assistance
  • Automations are not fully customizable
5

Eddy

Best for small, local businesses with deskless workers

Eddy is an all-in-one HR suite built for local businesses. With Eddy, businesses can hire, onboard, manage, and pay employees with one easy-to-use software for local businesses with deskless workforces.

Why I picked Eddy: Their simple, yet robust onboarding process makes the transition from candidate to new hire easy to manage. You can easily communicate important information to your new hires like start date, starting pay, who their manager is, and what they should wear on their first day to work. You can also create customizable “New Hire Packets” that include an onboarding agenda, and the other necessary documents employees need to sign, which can be completed easily from mobile devices too.

Eddy Standout Features and Integrations:

All documents can be signed electronically, plus you can assign specific due dates to paperwork and tasks, and company admins will receive updates regarding the new hire’s progress. Eddy's onboarding also helps your team stay aligned by assigning internal team tasks to make sure the new hire has a desk, laptop, or other necessary essentials.

Integrations are available with Glassdoor and Indeed, to help link your recruiting process with your onboarding flows.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.8 15

Free demo available

From $8/employee/month + a $49 base fee/month

Pros

  • Excellent document management system
  • Friendly, helpful customer support team
  • Recruitment and onboarding in one

Cons

  • No free trial or freemium plan
  • ATS module costs extra
6

Absorb LMS

Best for intuitive UI & ease of use

Absorb LMS is an award-winning learning management system with smart administrative features, high quality learner engagement tools, and even ecommerce options to sell your own custom built courses. All of this makes it an excellent solution for onboarding new employees with flexible training programs online.

Absorb LMS empowers organizations to onboard employees with the skills needed to stay modern and relevant in today's fast-paced world. Delivering employee onboarding training with Absorb LMS fuels employee confidence and productivity. Not only is it an intuitive online employee training software but—thanks to both the administrator and learner interfaces being designed to meet WCAG 2.0 accessibility standards—it's also one of the most accessible.

Absorb LMS has all the features and functionalities you'd expect from award-winning onboarding software, except it doesn't require a dedicated eLearning expert to use it. Whether you're training one hundred employees or one hundred thousand, with everyone under one roof or many, Absorb LMS uses automation and artificial intelligence to scale learning at SMBs and global corporations alike.

Absorb LMS integrates with ADP, Salesforce, Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and provides access to thousands of ready-to-use courses through content library partners such as BizLibrary, Skillsoft, and LinkedIn Learning.

Absorb LMS offers pricing upon request, as well as a free trial or free demo.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 282

Free trial + free demo

Pricing upon request

7

ClearCompany

Best for an adaptable, paperless & mobile-friendly onboarding experience

ClearCompany is a comprehensive talent management system with integrated modules that cover the full employee lifecycle, from applicant tracking to hiring and onboarding, employee engagement, performance management, and analytics. They're best for companies based in the U.S. and Canada.

Why I picked ClearCompany: Their modern system makes paperless onboarding simple with automated online delivery, tracking, collection, and storage of all forms and documents. You can save time and money while eliminating errors by using ClearCompany's smart forms, which put an end to redundant data entry by pre-filling previously entered information and validating data for formatting and accuracy.

ClearCompany Standout Features and Integrations:

Their integrated, behind-the-scenes compliance management tools also make their platform stand out. Without leaving their platform, you can check employment eligibility (for U.S. employees), run background checks, and verify tax forms like I-9's and W-4's. Their software also supports digital signatures, making the process of signing off on HR forms more user-friendly for your new staff.

Integrations are available with tools for background checks, skill assessments, calendars, job postings, payroll, benefits, and single sign-on (SSO) applications.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.6 247

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

Pros

  • Easy to connect hired candidates into onboarding workflows
  • Referral Management feature tracks internal employee referrals
  • Recruiting and onboarding in the same platform

Cons

  • User interface is a little bit dated
  • Pricing details are not transparent
8

Wrike

Best work management software for streamlining the onboarding experience

Wrike is a work management software that can help companies streamline numerous processes, including their onboarding flows. You can use it to centralize and manage all tasks related to onboarding new hires, such as providing access to company systems, assigning mentors, and setting up training sessions. You can also use their onboarding template to organize any training materials new hires need to complete during their orientation process too.

Why I picked Wrike: Employers can track the progress of individual tasks assigned to each new hire and receive notifications when tasks are completed or delayed. This feature makes it easy for employers to stay on top of their onboarding program without manually monitoring each task constantly. There are also templates to create an onboarding workflow, streamlining the process of scheduling a new hire's first few weeks with the information and meetings they need to have.

Wrike Standout Features and Integrations:

Their cloud-based collaboration platform allows multiple users—such as HR personnel, managers, and new hires—to collaborate on tasks related to onboarding in real time. This allows all parties to easily share information and answer questions within the platform, as needed.

The software also includes reports with data-driven insights that monitor your onboarding program's performance over time. These insights help employers identify areas where their program needs improvement so they can make changes accordingly. Wrike's timeline tracking feature also provides an overview of all onboarding-related tasks so that users know when each step should be completed, helping ensure a smooth transition into their new role.

Integrations include ADP, Airbrake, Airtable, BambooHR, Box, Clearbit, Dropbox, HubSpot, IBM Watson, Intercom, and others.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2 2544

Free plan available

From $9.80/user/month

9

iSpring Learn

Best for building customized new hire training in multiple languages

iSpring Learn is a cloud-based learning management system (LMS) from iSpring Solutions. It's designed to facilitate online corporate training, serving as a platform for companies of all sizes to create and launch eLearning content quickly.

Why I picked iSpring Learn: Their LMS system is a great choice for organizations that have a lot of training requirements built into their onboarding process, since you can easily customize their training portal to match your corporate identity. This includes adding corporate logos and favicons, and applying the desired color schemes.

There's also the localization aspect, which enables training managers to easily translate the user portal into any language to accommodate new learners. This can help organizations who are multinational train their workforce at scale. Using their localization feature, platform admins can assign a specific language version of the portal to every subsidiary or branch office around the globe.

iSpring Learn Standout Features and Integrations:

iSpring Learn features an intuitive user interface that’s easy to use for training managers as well as learners. One of their core features is the content management function, which allows you to either upload or create your own content right within the platform. You can upload content in various formats, including PowerPoint presentations (PPT), video tutorials (MP4 or FLV), audio lectures (WAV or MP3), and complete eLearning courses in SCORM. The LMS also supports Flash clips (SWF) as well as other supplementary document formats like XLS, DOC, and PDF.

Integrations are available natively with ADP, BambooHR, Salesforce, Workday, and Zoom. Or, additional integrations can be configured using their REST/SOAP API.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.6 47

30-day free trial

From $2.87/user/month (billed annually)

Pros

  • Works on mobile devices
  • Easy to create onboarding workflows
  • Creates a branded learning environment

Cons

  • More software integrations would be welcomed
  • Convoluted pricing rubric (many add-on options)
10

Connecteam

Best for managing the employee lifecycle from day one

Connecteam is an employee onboarding software solution that caters to remote workers and deskless teams. The software’s dynamic HR hub empowers HR departments to provide in-depth but straightforward onboarding experiences to their entire workforce, creating a good user experience from day one.

Why I picked Connecteam: The platform’s onboarding capabilities go beyond the employee training aspect. For instance, the software has a document feature that ensures total compliance from the beginning of each new hire’s employment journey. Recruitment managers can upload and keep track of each new hire’s documentation, contracts, and certifications in a central location.

Connecteam Standout Features and Integrations:

The software has all the essential features for streamlining every employee’s onboarding experience through its communications hub and employee timeline feature. For instance, HR teams can warmly welcome each new hire by making an announcement on the platform’s social feed. An employee directory is also available for users who want to find other employees in the company, and they can communicate with them directly via their team chat app.

Other useful features include time tracking, dynamic employee smart groups, checklists and forms, and interactive quizzes to measure knowledge comprehension.

Integrations include Google Calendar, Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, and others.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.3 34

14-day free trial + free plan available

From $29/month for 30 users (paid annually)

Pros

  • Tracks training progress per employee
  • Does not require technical expertise
  • Keeps an updated database of all courses created

Cons

  • Complex pricing structure
  • Integration details are limited

Need Expert Help Selecting The Right Training And Onboarding Software?

We’ve joined up with Crozdesk.com to give all our readers (yes, you!) access to Crozdesk’s software advisors. Just use the form below to share your needs, and they will contact you at no cost or commitment. You will then be matched and connected to a shortlist of vendors that best fit your company, and you can access exclusive software discounts!

Best Onboarding Software Comparison Chart

Here’s a comparison chart that summarizes basic details about each of my top onboarding software selections. You can view pricing details and the availability of free trials or demos side-by-side to help you find the best software for your budget and business needs.

Tool Free Option Price
1
Deel

Best global onboarding software

Free demo available

Flat rate user pricing, with a free version for businesses with up to 200 people Visit Website
2
TalentReef

Best for recruiting and onboarding hourly workers

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Visit Website
3
Trakstar

Best for building onboarding programs connected to learning paths

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Visit Website
4
monday.com

Best for collaborative onboarding workflows

14-day free trial + free plan available

From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats) Visit Website
5
Eddy

Best for small, local businesses with deskless workers

Free demo available

From $8/employee/month + a $49 base fee/month Visit Website
6
Absorb LMS

Best for intuitive UI & ease of use

Free trial + free demo

Pricing upon request Visit Website
7
ClearCompany

Best for an adaptable, paperless & mobile-friendly onboarding experience

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Visit Website
8
Wrike

Best work management software for streamlining the onboarding experience

Free plan available

From $9.80/user/month Visit Website
9
iSpring Learn

Best for building customized new hire training in multiple languages

30-day free trial

From $2.87/user/month (billed annually) Visit Website
10
Connecteam

Best for managing the employee lifecycle from day one

14-day free trial + free plan available

From $29/month for 30 users (paid annually) Visit Website

Other Onboarding Platforms

Here are a few more worthwhile options that didn’t make the best onboarding software list:

  1. Constructor

    Best for customizing onboarding programs

  2. Pneumatic Workflow

    Bet for simplifying and automating the onboarding process

  3. Leapsome

    Best to manage learning, performance, and engagement

  4. Trainual

    Best business playbook software

  5. Looop

    Best learning management system (LMS) tools

  6. Enboarder

    Best for onboarding, transitions, and reboarding

  7. Qualtrics Employee Experience

    Best enterprise-grade onboarding software

  8. Atlas

    Best for onboarding remote employees in 160+ countries

  9. Newired

    Best onboarding software with contextual overlays

  10. Back HQ

    Best self-service knowledge base

Selection Criteria for Onboarding Software

Wondering how I selected the best onboarding software for this list? Wonder no more — I'm happy to explain my selection process to you. First, I drew on my years of personal HR experience to add more expertise to my software assessments. This helped me pinpoint the features that add a lot of value. My experience also made it easier to highlight each system's standout onboarding features — features I wish I'd had access to when I was onboarding employees on a weekly basis for nine long years!

Here's a summary of the main features I evaluated to create this list:

Core Functionalities

To create this list, I started out by evaluating and comparing a wide range of HR software systems with dedicated onboarding checklists and workflows. For a software system to land a spot on my long list, it needed to include the following basic functionalities:

  • Tools to support digital learning for in-office, hybrid, or fully remote employees
  • Progress tracking tools for both administrators and new hires
  • Software integrations with HR database systems (or be a module within an existing HR system) to simplify data management

After determining my long list of top contenders, I further honed my choices by using the selection criteria below. I used these criteria as a standardized framework to see how each system compared to the next.

Key Features

Keep in mind, the specific features included in each onboarding system will depend on the type of software you choose (a standalone tool versus a module within an HR management system or an L&D-focused system). However, these are the key features I assessed when selecting the best onboarding software for this list:

  • Company wiki: Well-organized information and FAQs are extremely useful for any new employee needing basic how-to information, organizational charts, and company culture guidance.
  • Communication with liaison(s): Onboarding tools should connect new employees to the names, faces, and contact information of the people who can help them, especially your core human resources staff.
  • Training modules: Onboarding includes a lot of process orientation and employee training; software can help organize, facilitate, and track learning initiatives and certifications on your behalf automatically. 
  • Contracts and e-signatures: Official papers can either be paperless through the onboarding system or scanned into the system for document management purposes. As well, many systems simplify the process by supporting electronic signatures on internal documents, avoiding the need to print documents out. 
  • Self-service benefits administration: Onboarding software may include the ability to sign up for company benefits like health care, parking passes, and supply requests; this can all be done virtually.
  • Employee feedback: The ability to collect feedback and questions across the onboarding process helps ensure employees feel satisfied with the structure and pace of their onboarding tasks.
  • Automate workflows: Instead of needing to do something over and over, I recommend selecting software that allows your power users (your HR team) to create criteria and triggers to automate HR processes across the employee lifecycle.

User Interface

Having a clean and uncluttered user interface (UI) is extremely important for onboarding software. You want to make a good first impression on your new hires right from day one. You'll also want the ability to customize the software with your own company branding. Doing so will increase employee engagement for your new staff as they complete their orientation process. That's why I chose software with an intuitive user interface that makes the end-to-end process easy for all types of users—new employees and administrative staff.

Usability

With onboarding software, usability really comes down to the ease of use a software system offers. The day-one onboarding experience should be intuitive, fun, logical, and well-paced. Your human resource personnel will need access to onboarding program creation tools, employee data fields, and process reports. For the end users (your new employees), they'll appreciate features like workflow mapping, user tutorials, progress mapping, and help desk access.

Software Integrations

It’s a safe assumption that you use common tools like Slack, Microsoft, and Google products, just to name a few. How easily do the following software solutions integrate with these kinds of tools? Integration with your HR management system is also crucial since you'll be able to collect new hire details and sync them directly into your payroll and other modules.

Price

I selected onboarding software with scalable and transparent pricing structures that work either as a standalone product or as part of an HR management system. I've also noted which systems offer generous free trials, freemium plans, or free demos to help you test out a system before you commit to a contract.

Onboarding Software: Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions you may have about HR onboarding software and how it can help you create a positive employee experience for your new hires:

Other Resources to Create a Top-Notch Onboarding Experience

Wondering what else you can do to create a better onboarding experience for your new staff? Don't sweat, we've got you covered! Here are a few other articles that will help you get the most out of your onboarding process:

Final Thoughts

This list contains a number of software types you can use to onboard new hires. Whether you're a small business or a Fortune 500 company, I'm confident there’s something here that will work for you. 

Looking for more insight into the world of onboarding and the employee experience? Be sure to sign up for our weekly People Managing People newsletter too

By Kim Behnke

Kim Behnke is an HR Tool Expert & Writer for People Managing People. She draws on her 9 years of human resources experience and her keen eye for systematic processes to support her analyses of the top HR tools on the market. She is passionate about maximizing efficiencies and streamlining workflows to ensure internal systems run smoothly. Kim's HR experience includes recruitment, onboarding, performance management, training and development, policy development and enforcement, and HR analytics. She also has degrees in psychology, writing, publishing, and technical communication, and recently completed a Certified Digital HR Specialist program through the Academy to Innovate HR. When away from her desk, she can usually be found outside tending to her ever-expanding garden.