10 Best HRIS For Small Businesses Reviewed For 2024

Paycor’s HR platform is designed to help companies eliminate paper-based administrative tasks by automating common workflows. Their unified employee database acts as a single source of information for all employees, and eliminates the need to re-enter data manually.

While it’s technically an HCM (human capital management) platform, Paycor’s Basic service level includes self-service employee onboarding, in-product compliance tracking, document storage, in-house communication options such as a chat feature, company news and mobile push notifications, and a long list of payroll features. Their user-friendly mobile app also gives employees the ability to access their pay statements and tax documents, request time off, view their work schedules, and manage their employee benefits.

This platform is a great option for small businesses because you can start off with the Basic modules, and scale up to add more features when you’re ready, and your budget allows. Paycor embraces this approach and is happy to work with you to tailor their technology to your business needs rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution. With their more advanced service levels, you unlock features for talent management, workforce management, and a multitude of employee experience tools such as pulse surveys, goal tracking, and feedback and recognition tools.

Paycor can integrate with a handful of other HR and payroll tools including MyEnroll360, WorkforceHub, TimeDock, Global Shop Solutions, Glassdoor, GoodHire Background Checks, Hubworks, Workforce.com, Zip Forecasting, TimePilot and others.

Deel is a global HRIS solution 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. Deel’s global compatibility lets you hire and manage freelancers and employees from anywhere in the world without having to figure out local laws, tax systems, or international payroll.

The Deel platform includes various elements that make it simple to pay employees and contractors without having to juggle several tools. The user-friendly interface includes features such as contract and stock option management, expense reimbursements, and compliance tracking for every client. Automated onboarding is a great time saver, and the analytics are helpful in keeping track of your HR data.

Employees and contractors can self-manage their pay and personal data, which reduces admin load. The platform provides a polished and consistent payment experience, making it easy to self-serve data changes and set up withdrawals.

Deel integrates 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 connections with the Deel platform too.

Deel offers a flat rate pricing upon request. You can also book a free demo through their website to discuss your hiring needs.

Rippling is an all-in-one HRIS that simplifies the complicated world of human resources management. Their cloud-based platform provides an easy way to manage onboarding, payroll, benefits administration, time tracking, and onboarding & offboarding, all in one place.

Rippling is an ideal system for companies with limited resources who still want to provide their employees with top-notch service as it saves time by automating many tasks that would otherwise take hours to complete manually. For example, it offers fully automated onboarding and offboarding processes, giving small businesses an easy way to manage these traditionally paper-heavy processes. You can easily customize forms to match your company's brand, store documents securely in the cloud, and automatically sync data across multiple departments, so everyone is updated on new hires automatically.

Rippling’s talent management feature identifies high performers within your organization and builds succession plans accordingly, helping you ensure that there's always someone ready to take on increased responsibilities when needed. When it comes to recruiting new candidates, Rippling allows managers to easily track the hiring progress from sending an offer letter to an employee's first day, ensuring a smooth transition into the company culture.

Rippling’s time-tracking feature enables employees to log their hours accurately and quickly. Their integrated expense management feature simplifies the expense reimbursement process by allowing employees to submit expenses electronically and capture approvals via digital signature. This reduces paperwork and streamlines the review process, making it easier for managers to monitor employee expenses.

Their reporting capabilities allow you to analyze key metrics related to employee performance and satisfaction, such as engagement or turnover rates. These reports can give you valuable insight into what’s working well within your organization, while also uncovering any areas for improvement.

Integrations are available with 1Password, Asana, DocuSign, Dropbox, GitHub, Google Workspace, LinkedIn, Microsoft 365, Netsuite, Sage Intacct, Slack, Typeform, QuickBooks, and many other popular software systems

Due to the modular nature of their HRIS system, pricing details are customized upon request. You can also request a free demo through their website too.

TriNet is HR software that provides HR services to small and medium-sized businesses. It includes features such as payroll processing, benefits administration, time and attendance tracking, and performance management. It's best for small businesses that need a comprehensive HRIS solution that can streamline their HR processes.

I picked TriNet as one of the best HRIS for small businesses because of its robust features and integrations. It's a one-stop-shop for everything HR-related, making it an ideal choice for small businesses that need a platform to manage their HR tasks effectively. What sets TriNet apart from other HRIS solutions in the market is its focus on small businesses. It's designed to be easy to use and affordable, and it offers a wide range of features that are specifically tailored to the needs of small businesses. Plus, its integrations with other popular tools make it a versatile solution that can be customized to fit your business's unique needs.

Some of the features that make TriNet stand out include its payroll processing and benefits administration capabilities. These features are often the most time-consuming and complex tasks for small business owners, but TriNet takes care of them with ease. Additionally, its compliance management tools help ensure that your business is always in compliance with the latest regulations, which can save you time, money, and headaches down the line.

Its feature list includes payroll processing, benefits administration, time and attendance tracking, performance management, onboarding and offboarding, compliance management, and an employee self-service portal.

Integrations include QuickBooks, Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, BambooHR, Lattice, Greenhouse Software, Carta, and Xero.

Remofirst is a global HRIS platform that assists businesses in hiring and managing international teams. The platform is designed to simplify the hiring and management of international employees and contractors, offering cost-effective solutions and round-the-clock support. 

Remofirst offers a Global Employer of Record (EoR) service, enabling companies to employ remote workers in over 160 countries without the need for a local entity. The tool offers a range of services, including managing international payroll and invoices, administering benefits, supporting compliance with local laws, and providing customer support.

Additionally, Remofirst assists with visas and work permits, which is crucial for businesses looking to employ staff who need to work in different countries. Workforce management features, such as onboarding and offboarding, help maintain organized employee records. Background checks are also conducted to ensure the suitability of potential hires. 

Integrations include third-party payment providers, such as Wise and PayPal.

Pricing for Remofirst starts at $199/employee/month for EOR services and $25/user/month for contractors. The platform does not offer a free plan or a free trial, but a free demo is available.

Zoho People is a cloud-based HR software platform that helps simplify HR operations and the employee experience. Their employee database scales easily and is used in over 45 countries.

Their platform streamlines core HR functions such as employee onboarding, time off management, HR file management, and employee database management. Even at their lowest pricing level, users will benefit from module-based reports, workflow management tools, and “Zia” - their AI bot which answers employee questions and can be accessed from any screen within their system.

Technically an HRMS (human resources management system), this is a great choice for businesses with hourly, shift-based, field-based, or remote workforces due to the depth of their attendance tracking, shift-scheduling and mobile check-in features. By enabling Zoho People’s geo-fencing capabilities, companies can mark geographic locations such as client offices or field sites using GPS points. GPS-based attendance improves the accuracy of reported work hours by ensuring mobile staff can only log in when they arrive in the area, and log out when they leave.

Their full-feature mobile app is another bonus for mobile workers as they can access company information or connect with their colleagues in just a few clicks. As well, remote workers can check-in and out of their workday using People Kiosk: a digital version of the old punch-clock system that uses facial recognition to identify workers and track in and out times.

In addition to Zoho’s own apps (of which there are many!), further integrations exist for Google Workspace and Google Analytics, Office365, Slack, Zendesk, WordPress, Joomla, and payment gateways such as PayPal, WePay, WorldPay and more.

Eddy is an all-in-one HR software solution for managing people, processes and payroll. Their simplified and fully digital processes for onboarding, training, time-tracking and time-off requests eliminate the need for spreadsheets and paper forms, and can save your HR teams between 10 to 15 hours of administrative wrangling per week - a significant amount.

This is a great software option for small business owners with frontline or deskless workers, since new hires can complete and e-sign all their onboarding paperwork digitally on their first day, or even earlier by using their self-onboarding features. Several other notable features that new employees will appreciate are new-hire task lists (which are trackable by managers and HR administrators), and first day messages, so hiring managers can answer all those typical first-day questions before new hires even ask them. This simple feature goes a long way to boosting your new employee’s user experience, by giving them the information they need to show up on day one with confidence.

Another feature I really like is Eddy’s training tracking module, which allows companies to track anything with an expiration or renewal date. Users receive automated reminder notifications so nothing will ever slip through the cracks. This alone is a huge time-saving feature for many industries that require specialized training, licenses or workplace safety certifications. You can also attach copies of certificates to training records, and run built-in reports for an overview of your training compliance in just a few clicks.

Eddy’s HR platform starts at $8 USD/employee/month plus a $49 USD base fee per month. Add-ons are available for payroll, applicant tracking, and HR advisor services for additional fees. There is no free trial available, but you can request a free demo and quote via their website.

Gusto is an all-in-one HR solution with scalable pricing and features that work for smaller businesses with simple salary structures all the way up to complex, sophisticated international teams. Their Core level functions primarily as a payroll system with hiring and onboarding tools, and insurance benefit management support included. Their platform really comes alive at the Complete level, which includes team management tools, performance reviews, PTO management, and employee engagement features.

Hiring teams can submit job postings directly to public job boards using the platform, and also send out personalized offer letters to top candidates. The onboarding process is also supported by a centralized onboarding checklist that streamlines the new hire experience, but can be customized with task delegations to other team members for added support.

In today’s work-from-anywhere world, it’s common to have a global workforce, rather than all employees residing in the same place. Gusto has you covered there too, as it supports payments to international contractors in over 80 countries. As well, it also has a built-in device management tracking system that helps with inventory control, network access, and keeping your company data secure.

The list of integrations for Gusto is very comprehensive, with over 135 options to choose from. Commonly used options include Asana, Bonusly, ChartHop, DropBox, GitHub, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Sage Accounting, Salesforce, Shopify, Slack, Webex, Zipbooks and Zoom.

Sapling’s People Ops platform allows HR teams to automate common HR tasks from onboarding to offboarding and everything in between. This tool simplifies tasks using auto-assigned workflows, email scheduling, and alerts which can be customized for different locations, departments or employee types to standardize processes. This is a useful feature for companies with distributed teams as it helps HR managers regulate processes across all work locations and departments. The system also comes with pre-built reports to analyze any type of data that’s stored in the system.

Helpful features to improve your employee experience include colour-coded org charts by location, department or custom groups, an employee directory, and customizable employee profiles to help reflect your company culture and core values. HR teams will appreciate the system’s ability to track job-related data such as promotions, salary adjustments, relocations and other historical changes. The system also supports paid time-off (PTO) tracking, including customizable PTO policies for different groups.

Sapling is technically an HCM (human capital management) platform, so their main focus is improving people-centric processes like onboarding and offboarding, and enhancing internal communication through features like intranet services, shared calendars, and mobile app accessibility. The platform does not include any built-in payroll functionalities. However, their deep integrations make it easy to combine Sapling with the other tools your business is already using, such as payroll providers and applicant-tracking systems. This actually gives a lot of flexibility since you can keep any systems you’re using, and focus on upgrading your employee experience via Sapling instead.

Sapling integrates with 50+ leading HR, IT and productivity systems including JazzHR, Lever, Workday, ADP, Paylocity, 15Five, Kallidus, Lattice, OneLogin, Greenhouse, Okta, Zapier, the Google Suite, Slack, Lessonly, ChartHop, Jira, LinkedIn, and many other platforms.

Pricing for Sapling’s People Ops Platform, including their core HRIS features, starts at $6.99 USD/user/month for a team of 100 people. Add-ons are available for time-off tracking and survey tools, for an extra fee. For their All-in-One platform you can request a free quote on their website. A free demo is also available.

Say “hi” to Bob, an HRIS platform designed to maximize the employee experience and link employees to your company culture.

Their platform includes all the core features you’d expect in a robust HR system: employee data management and HR analytics, benefits management (beyond simply healthcare coverage), culture tools, a document hub with DocuSign built right in, streamlined time and attendance tracking features, digitized onboarding, a dynamic people directory with a linked org chart, and customizable workflows and reports.

You can also add more advanced features, such as compensation management, a payroll hub, performance management, and people analytics depending on your business needs.

Their user interface is designed with a social media-like feel to get employees excited about engaging with the company. From a central homepage team members can view birthdays, work anniversaries, and interesting stats about other colleagues to help people make connections - an important feature in today’s work-from-home environment.

Their Club View further deepens engagement by sorting the staff directory by hobbies, superpowers, gender pronouns, or other custom categories. Bob also supports company announcements, shoutouts, and emoji-based reactions to help teams maintain a positive vibe. As well, the homepage keeps a log of where staff are (i.e., working remotely, in the office, sick, or on vacation), which is a useful feature for companies with remote or hybrid workforces.

Bob has a long list of 40+ integrations with commonly used programs, including many applicant tracking systems, Azure Active Directory, Google Suite, 360Learning, Jira, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zapier and others. They also have an iOS and Android mobile app.