The Best HR Software For Small Business
Here’s the list of the best small business HR tools that I’ll cover in this article, with detailed software summaries below:
As a small business owner, it’s easy to neglect HR. It’s not as exciting as business functions that focus on growth or revenue, and it’s not a legal requirement to have an HR department. Yet, even businesses with a small number of employees still have some HR duties. And these can quickly eat into your time if you don’t perform them efficiently.
HR software is a huge help, and the tools are effective. For a small fee each month, these tools help you build HR processes and automate key tasks. You’ll spend far less time on them and far more time on the work you want to do. Other key benefits include increased productivity, workforce insights, and an improved employee experience. On top of that, they can also help small and midsized businesses (SMBs) stay competitive in this new age of remote work by tapping into the global talent marketplace.
This article covers the 10 best HR tools for small businesses. I’ll also explain why you might need one and what to look out for when making your selection.
What is HR Software and How is it Tailored for Small Businesses?
HR software refers to a wide range of software systems that are designed to simplify common HR tasks and processes that span across the employee lifecycle. They are sometimes referred to by different names too. For example, some software vendors refer to their products as HR management systems, HR databases, or by acronyms like HRIS, HRMS, or HCM.
Regardless of the name, small businesses need the same core HR functions as larger ones: payroll, scheduling, time-tracking... etc. However, the main difference when shopping for an HR system for an SMB is the monthly price and the level of customer service provided by each vendor. With fewer in-house HR resources at your disposal, you'll want a system that's easy to use, with lots of training materials and extra support if you need it.
Overviews of the 10 Best HR Software for Small Businesses
Here’s a brief description of each SMB HR software to showcase each tool’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the interface. Most of the tools follow a SaaS business model, which means you pay a monthly subscription fee to use them. However, there are some free and self-hosted options below as well.
Deel
Best all-in-one global HR software for small businesses
Deel is a comprehensive HR platform designed for businesses of all sizes. For small businesses and startups, Deel has made their new HR tools free, so it’s an excellent option for onboarding and managing additional help. Furthermore, Deel’s global compatibility lets you hire and manage freelancers and employees in 150+ countries without having to figure out local laws, tax systems, or international payroll management.
The Deel platform is user-friendly and integrates several features that make it easy to manage and pay workers compliantly without juggling multiple tools. Included for every client are features like contract and stock option management, expense reimbursements, and compliance documentation tracking.
Employees and contractors can self-manage their pay and personal data, which reduces admin load. Deel uses major payment providers like Wise, PayPal, Payoneer, and Revolut to offer flexible withdrawal options and reduce unnecessary international transfer fees.
Deel has positive online reviews from clients and their workers. The company offers 24/7 online chat support.
Integrations are available with Ashby, BambooHR, Expensify, Greenhouse, Hibob, Netsuite, Okta, OneLogin, Quickbooks, SCIM, Xero, Workday, and Workable. They also have an Open API solution that allows developers to build their own interfaces on top of the Deel platform too.
Deel’s HR management tools are free for businesses with under 200 workers. They offer flat rate pricing for their hiring and payroll services, so you can simply scale up or down depending on your situation. You can request a free demo through their website to discuss your hiring needs.
Oyster HR
Best HR software for hiring international employees or contractors
Oyster is a comprehensive HR platform that enables companies to recruit, hire, onboard, pay, and provide employee benefits for staff or contractors across the globe. Using Oyster, you can create and manage employee profiles, track holiday and sick leaves, and monitor absences. The software can generate payslips and tax forms and keep track of employee insurance coverages.
Oyster also offers a variety of templates and tools to help businesses create custom HR forms and procedures. This can be especially helpful for small businesses that don't have the time or resources to develop their HR protocols.
Before agreeing to an international hire, you can obtain a cost estimate using Oyster's employment cost calculator, allowing you to set budgets and plan expenses accurately. Once you're ready, Oyster also helps you create, manage, and store contracts for new hires.
You can use Oyster to post jobs and oversee recruitment too. Their system allows you to track candidate responses, create interview guides, and even offer conditional job offers. It streamlines the process of onboarding new staff, from creating new accounts to uploading documents and setting up payroll. Oyster also tracks employee roles, responsibilities, and contact information too.
You can configure contracts based on the employee's location and local labor laws, and pay employees in over 120 currencies, including multiple payment methods. The software provides a central platform for users to consolidate invoices and generate detailed reports on payroll costs. Oyster's built-in expense management feature allows users to approve and reimburse expenses for remote workers.
In addition to its onboarding and payroll systems, Oyster offers an Oyster Health add-on to simplify the process of creating benefit packages for international employees. Small businesses can save time and money by outsourcing their HR needs to Oyster HR while maintaining compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.
Oyster integrates natively with other programs like ATS, HRIS, and ERP applications. Key integrations include BambooHR, Bob, Expensify, Greenhouse, Oracle Netsuite, QuickBooks, Workday, and Xero.
Pricing for Oyster starts at $499/employee/month or $29/contractor/month. They also offer a free demo.
Rippling
Best small business HR software to centralize employee management
Rippling is an all-in-one HR software that helps small businesses manage all aspects of employee management from one centralized location. With features such as automated onboarding, digital document storage and retrieval, and complete payroll processing, the software provides an efficient way to handle the most important HR tasks.
The payroll feature automates time tracking and paychecks. This eliminates the need for manual entries and ensures that employees get paid on time and accurately every single pay period. The onboarding tool helps employers automatically set up employee accounts with all necessary information, such as tax forms, benefits packages, and company policies, which saves time and energy while ensuring accuracy. The offboarding feature allows employers to quickly terminate employee accounts and access all relevant documents in one place—making it easy to track who is currently employed by a company at any given time.
IT & security management features offer complete control over employee access points, such as email accounts and applications, without requiring manual intervention from IT staff or administrators. It provides a single-sign-on solution that allows employees to easily access multiple applications without remembering individual usernames or passwords. The platform also offers time tracking and expense management so that users can easily keep track of employee hours worked and expenses incurred while on the job. Lastly, the software integrates with popular accounting programs like QuickBooks Online to quickly sync financial information between both systems without hassle.
monday.com
Best flexible HR software for customized data dashboards, forms and automations
monday.com offers great value for small businesses since it can streamline many different types of data collection processes, depending on what you need.
With 200+ pre-built templates to choose from, it’s fast and easy to migrate your data to their system, including the ability to upload data from existing Excel spreadsheets. Once you’re all set up, you also have the option to view your data in many different visual formats including bar and line graphs, pie charts, and Gantt charts.
For small businesses—especially those with lean or no dedicated HR support—their existing templates for recruiting, onboarding, and HR service requests will add a lot of value. However, it can also be used for other functions too, like planning company events, tracking sales leads, managing external contractors, or tracking learning and development.
monday’s system also includes Forms that collect details and feed them into dashboards in real-time, with customizable automations to reduce simple and repetitive administrative tasks.
To further enhance your internal processes, monday integrates with a wide range of communication and productivity tools, such as Google Drive, LinkedIn, Slack, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, Outlook, Zoom, Zapier, and others.
For very small teams, monday.com offers a free forever plan (with limited features) for two users. Beyond that, their paid service levels start at $10/user/month, and a free 14-day trial is available too.
Paycor
Best HR software for a wide variety of features in their lower-priced plans
Paycor's HCM platform helps small businesses manage all aspects of HR, including payroll management, benefits administration, and compliance. In addition to its core HR offerings, Paycor provides a range of services, such as employee onboarding, performance management, and time & attendance tracking.
The cloud-based platform lets you streamline HR processes and manage employee data in one central location. Paycor also provides tools to help you manage employee onboarding with time tracking, job costing, and new-hire reporting. You can confidently pay your employees on time and accurately track labor costs. The platform helps users manage expense reports and mitigate risk with compliance tools. Managers can also set up automated reminders for their employees to submit their timesheets and review their vacation requests.
Paycor helps you identify talent gaps and create succession plans. Its talent management module provides you and your managers with data-driven insights into which employees are thriving and which ones may be struggling. This information can then be used to provide targeted training and development resources.
Additionally, its tools for reviewing and providing feedback help managers ensure that their team members are on track and meeting expectations. Paycor also allows employees to view their own employee records and track their progress, empowering them to take control of their careers and ensuring that everyone is working towards the same goals.
The platform integrates with apps like Instant Pay, Goodhire, WEX, bswift, Humana, Indeed, and LinkedIn. There are dozens of other integrations available through its marketplace.
Pricing for Paycor starts at a flat fee of $99/month plus $5/employee/month.
Factorial
Best HR software for SMBs wanting a linked team-wide calendar and scheduling tools
Factorial is a cloud-based HR management software with a wide range of features that help small businesses streamline their HR operations for a reasonable price. Their system includes modules for employee management, time tracking, recruitment, onboarding, talent acquisition, employee performance, payroll, and employee expenses. It also offers advanced reporting and analysis tools, allowing small business owners to stay on top of key HR metrics, such as headcount, turnover rate, and cost per hire.
Factorial's HR software includes the features internal recruiters need to advertise job vacancies on various job portals and social media platforms and track candidate applications in one centralized location. Their onboarding tool automates the entire onboarding process, from creating offer letters and capturing digital signatures to gathering employee details on their first day.
It enables enterprises to define performance metrics and track employee progress toward achieving them. Managers can provide feedback, set goals, and conduct performance appraisals.
You can use Factorial to keep digital records of your key employee data, including their personal information, employment details, and performance metrics. This data is securely stored in the cloud and can be accessed by authorized personnel remotely.
Their time-tracking tool monitors employee attendance, breaks, and overtime, with a linked team calendar that also tracks project deadlines, meetings, and events, ensuring everyone is on the same page. Through the platform, employees can clock in and out, request absences, and view their schedules from their mobile devices. Managers can set up alerts to inform them of any missed shifts, so they can act promptly to avoid any payroll discrepancies.
Factorial’s self-service portal allows staff to update their personal information, request vacations, and view performance feedback. The portal has a social feed feature where employees can share updates, which helps foster a vibrant company culture.
Factorial is compliant with data protection laws, including the GDPR. The platform's security features ensure data is secure and only authorized users can access the data.
Integrations are available with Google Workspace, Indeed, LinkedIn, Okta, Payflow, Sage HR, Slack, Zapier, and many others.
Connecteam
Best HR software for small businesses with shift scheduling and GPS tracking
Connecteam is an HR and people management solution that caters to small businesses that need an affordable, all-in-one solution. It is purpose-built to serve as an all-in-one platform for human resources departments managing deskless employees, as well as hybrid or remote teams. It provides tools to help manage and train staff members, including non-desk workers within a mobile application.
Connecteam offers three main modules for you to explore—these are HR & Skills, Communications, and Operations. The HR & Skills module comes with training and onboarding, document storage, recognition and rewards, a timeline, employee quiz app, and time off management features. The Communications module is where you’ll find the self-service knowledge base, the social media-like company news feed with engagement tracking, survey tools, and the live chat function.
The Operations module, on the other hand, houses the shift management and scheduling tool, task management with oversight, real-time reporting with digital forms and checklists, and the built-in time clock with advanced GPS tracking capabilities. All these three modules are easy to use and optimized for mobile devices. Other Connecteam features include premade recurring shift templates, advanced filtering and bulk actions, user permissions, dynamic employee smart grouping, clock in and out via GPS, and employee milestone tracking.
Connecteam offers an extensive help center to walk you through all the key features and functionality of the software. They also have a blog, case studies, a template library, and pre-recorded and live events to help you get the most out of the platform.
Connecteam integrates with QuickBooks Online.
All premium plans come with a 14-day free trial. Connecteam also offers a free plan for up to 10 users, tailored for small businesses and startups.
Bambee
Best for automatic compliance monitoring and guidance from certified HR professionals
Bambee is a cloud-based HR software that provides small businesses with access to HR support and guidance from certified HR professionals. It's designed to help small businesses with their HR needs, such as employee onboarding, compliance, and employee terminations.
Bambee's HR software is affordable and easy to use with an intuitive user interface. The customer support team is always available to assist with any questions or concerns, and all clients receive a dedicated HR manager as well. On top of that, you can also sign up for their guided payroll service as an add-on if you need additional help with your payroll process too.
One area where Bambee excels is its automatic compliance tracking feature, which ensures that your business is always in compliance with state and federal HR laws. Their HR auditing feature also automatically reviews your HR policies for any potential gaps that need addressing, helping you keep your policies up-to-date with any legal changes. In addition, their compliance monitoring feature also extends to mandatory training requirements covering health and safety, ethics, sexual harassment training, and other internal requirements.
Integration details are currently not available.
Pricing for Bambee starts at $99/month. You can also request a free demo through their website.
Eddy
Best all-in-one HR software for local businesses with deskless workers
Eddy is an all-in-one HR suite built for small, local businesses. With Eddy, businesses can hire, onboard, manage, and pay employees within one easy-to-use software.
Founded in 2017 by former professional basketball player turned entrepreneur, Travis Hansen, Eddy has grown rapidly due to its simple but powerful product, highly-rated customer service, and focus on local businesses with deskless workforces.
Key features include job posting management, tracking incoming candidates, and a full-scale applicant tracking system (ATS) to support your hiring process. The onboarding system lets HR managers create custom onboarding packages, assign tasks, and easily collect digital signatures.
A core function of Eddy is people management—users can access company directories and store important employee records, add notes to performance reviews, and attach training and certifications to employee profiles.
You can also create custom PTO policies and approve or deny requests; tap into their time tracking tool, which allows employees to easily clock in and clock out; and navigate payroll processes using Eddy’s full-service payroll management system that includes support for multiple pay periods and end-of-year W-2 preparation, filing, and distribution.
Eddy starts at $8/employee/month plus a $49 base fee, and offers a free demo.
iSpring Learn
Best employee training and professional development software
iSpring Learn is an employee learning management software (LMS) that facilitates new employee onboarding, product and sales training, compliance training, and performance evaluations. Users can create e-learning modules, deliver training courses, and administer assessments and surveys to help employees grow and develop their skills. Administrators can also build individualized learning paths that suit the needs of each employee.
Employees can access materials related to their roles, skills, and experience level through the software. Users can create customized training content with video, audio, PDFs, and even simulations with the drag-and-drop system. Gamification elements make learning more interactive, engaging, and fun. Employees can earn badges and certificates when they complete courses.
The software is mobile-compatible, so users can access employee data, track employee performance, and run reports from anywhere. This is beneficial for small businesses that don't have a central office location or have remote employees working from various devices. The reporting system allows managers to track employee progress and identify areas of improvement, helping craft better learning trajectories for every employee.
A 30-day free trial is available, and paid plans start from $2.99/user/month when billed annually.
Need Expert Help Selecting The Right Human Resources (HR) Software?
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The 10 Best HR Software for Small Business Comparison Chart
Here’s a comparison chart that summarizes basic details about each of my top HR software selections. You can view pricing details and the availability of free trials or demos side-by-side to help you find the best HR software for your budget and business needs.
Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Deel Best all-in-one global HR software for small businesses | Free demo available | Flat rate user pricing, with a free version for businesses with up to 200 people | Visit Website |
2 | Oyster HR Best HR software for hiring international employees or contractors | Freemium plan + free demo available | From $499/employee/month or $29/contractor/month | Visit Website |
3 | Rippling Best small business HR software to centralize employee management | Free demo available | From $8/user/month (EOR pricing upon request) | Visit Website |
4 | monday.com Best flexible HR software for customized data dashboards, forms and automations | 14-day free trial + freemium plan available | From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats) | Visit Website |
5 | Paycor Best HR software for a wide variety of features in their lower-priced plans | 90-day free trial + free demo available | From $5/employee/month + $99/month base fee | Visit Website |
6 | Factorial Best HR software for SMBs wanting a linked team-wide calendar and scheduling tools | 14-day free trial | From $6.50/employee/month | Visit Website |
7 | Connecteam Best HR software for small businesses with shift scheduling and GPS tracking | Free plan available | From $29/month (30 users) | Visit Website |
8 | Bambee Best for automatic compliance monitoring and guidance from certified HR professionals | Free demo available | From $99/month | Visit Website |
9 | Eddy Best all-in-one HR software for local businesses with deskless workers | Free demo available | From $8/employee/month + a $49 base fee/month | Visit Website |
10 | iSpring Learn Best employee training and professional development software | 30-day free trial | From $2.87/user/month (billed annually) | Visit Website |
Other Small Business HR Solutions
Are none of the above tools a good fit for your organization? Then here are some options that didn’t make our top list but might be a good choice for the right business. You can also check out our article on the overall best HR tools for more advice.
- Homebase
Best all-in-one employee management software with built-in compliance
- GoCo
Best HR software for dedicated customer service
- Paylocity
Best HR software for employee self-service
- Gusto
Best small business HR software for freelance payroll accountants
- BrightHR
Best HR software for small businesses needing a vacation planner & PTO tracker
- Bitrix24
Best HR software for hosting on-premise
- CuteHR
Best HR software for managing remote teams
- Open HRMS
Best open-source human resources software
- SnapHRM
Best free solution for businesses with under 5 employees
- Fingercheck
Best HR software for workflow automation and approvals
How I Selected the Best HR Software for Small Businesses
Wondering how I built this top 10 list of HR software specifically for small business owners? I'm happy to describe my process.
First, I evaluated and compared a wide range of HR software systems with positive user ratings that included a wide range of core HR features. To narrow this list down further, I then compared each system in greater detail using my selection criteria below.
I also drew upon my nine years of experience as an HR professional to pinpoint the key features that add a lot of value and cut down on time-consuming processes.
Selection Criteria
Here's a short summary of the selection criteria I used to build this list of the best HR platforms for SMBs:
- User Interface (UI): User experience is vital in any software. The best tools have a clean UI that is easy and intuitive to navigate on mobile or desktop.
- Usability: HR tools for small businesses need to be user-friendly so anyone can use them. Documentation and good customer support can also help.
- Integrations: Integration with other tools helps automate tasks. For example, you could set up an integration that automatically adds people to a Slack channel when you create an employee profile. Or one that links your payroll software with your talent management system.
- Value for Price: Small businesses often have small budgets for HR software solutions. That's why I've included several free options for small companies that need to cover the basic modules for no cost. However, as every HR professional knows, you get what you pay for when it comes to software. What I mean is, the paid tools in this list will offer better support, improved ease of use, and more advanced features overall.
People Also Ask
Here are some answers to popular questions we hear often about HR software for small businesses:
Are there different types of HR software that are suitable for small businesses?
What key features are included in HR software?
As a small business owner, what else should I know to help me select the best HR software?
Do small businesses require HR?
What can you do if your company doesn't have an HR department?
Other HR Resources for Small Businesses
Working within a tight budget can sometimes be stressful. However, we have a lot of other software lists that were specifically prepared with that in mind.
Here's a list of our top resources for small businesses you should definitely check out:
- Applicant Tracking Systems for Small Businesses to Recruit Better
- Employee Scheduling Software for Small Business
- ERP Systems for Small Businesses on a Budget
- Free Payroll Software for Tight Budgets
- HRIS for Small Businesses to Manage HR Data
- HRMS for Small Business
- Learning Management Systems (LMS) for Small Businesses
- Payroll Services for Small Businesses
- Payroll Software for Small Businesses
- Recruitment Software for Small Businesses
And if you want to learn more about HR and best practices for managing people in your small business, be sure to sign up for the People Managing People newsletter too.
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