This article will help you quickly compare and evaluate the best HCM Software within all HR Software.
HCM software is used across most HR departments as it assists in managing their organization as a whole. In this post, you’ll learn how important HCM software is, especially so in employee management and how you can utilize this for your own benefit.
In this post, I’ll share with you a basic human capital definition and highlight a few of the best HCM software options on the market today.
Quickly Compare & Evaluate The 10 Best HCM Software
What tools do you need to streamline your human capital management processes? Here are some of the best HCM tools.
The Best HCM Solutions List
Here’s a shortlist of HCM platforms that made my top 10 list:
- Infor
- Oracle HCM Cloud
- Sage People
- SAP SuccessFactors
- ADP WorkforceNow
- Workday
- Rippling
- Vibe HCM
- Ascentis
- Viventium
- eXo Platform
HCM System FAQ
Have some questions about human resources and human capital management? Need some human capital examples? Start with this handy FAQ.
What Is HCM?
- Human Capital Management (HCM) is a set of standard practices that are implemented within the human resources of an organization. These practices include workforce acquisition, workforce management, and workforce optimization. These practices are invested in an organization to manage and maximize overall business value.
What is the difference between HCM and HRMS?
- The main difference between Human Capital Management (HCM) and Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) is that HCM is more considerate to the management of employees. This includes performance, onboarding, analytics, position control along with other HR services. HRMS, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive HR system. This looks at all the core features in a broader range to include all HRIS software and HCM systems but focuses largely on payroll processing and time and labor management.
What are some HCM software benefits?
- CM software provides valuable resources for any organization. Any HCM platform has many beneficial automated features such as recruiting, managing administrative tasks such as payroll and benefit plans, overseeing employee performance, and training. Human Capital Management Software is designed to manage and maintain a workforce with ease.
What is the best HR software for a small business?
- Small businesses may benefit from free or low-cost HR software like HoneybeeBased (free for up to 3 users), Rippling ($7 per user per month), or
Not looking for HCM software? Check out our other lists of other helpful tools:
- Need something to complement your suite of HCM software? Try the 10 Best HRIS (Human Resource Information Systems).
- Before you need HR, you need to find and attract the staff you want. Try the 10 Best Staffing Software For Staffing & Recruiting.
- Focused on increasing performance for your staff? Try these 10 Performance Management Tools.
HCM Systems Comparison Criteria
What are we looking for when we select HCM software for review? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:
- User Interface (UI): Is it clean and attractive?
- Usability: Is it easy to learn and master? Does the company offer good tech support, user support, tutorials, and training?
- Features & Functionality:
- Advanced Payroll Features – Can the tool handle payroll, deductions, and compliance?
- Recruitment & Onboarding – Do they have tools to attract and retain staff, as well as get them trained on basic systems upon entry?
- Performance and Evaluation – Does the HCM tool offer a modern and useful solution for performance, motivation, productivity, and evaluation in the workplace?
- Analysis and Reporting – Does the tool offer customizable reporting features that can deliver actionable insights?
- Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools? Any pre-built integrations?
- Value for $: How appropriate is the price for the features, capabilities, and use case? Is pricing clear, transparent and flexible?
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Overviews Of The Top 10 HCM Products
Here’s a brief description of each of the HCM software that is featured on this top 10 list.
1. Infor – A cloud-based human capital management software solutions replace complex processes like benefits and absences, HCM analytics, and talent acquisition/onboarding.
Used by over 68,000 organizations worldwide, Infor is a leader in business cloud software products. This tool offers global human resources solutions with features for budgeting and employee relations, workforce management, and HCM analytics.
Infor stands out with their analytical and multicurrency capabilities, with some of the best parts of the software hinging on the information management and reporting capabilities.
As one of the more expensive out-of-the-box options on this list, Infor lost some marks as far as Value for Cost goes in the evaluation criteria explanation that you probably encountered above. Other options are under $10/user, making Incor’s cost rather prohibitive.
Infor starts at $150/user/month and has a free 30-day trial.
2. Oracle HCM Cloud – An HCM cloud with artificial intelligence to recommend roles, suggest learning, and predict which employees might be thinking of leaving the company.
You have probably heard of Oracle, as they are a big name in the software business. Oracle HCM Cloud is their answer to a complete HR solution to engage your workforce and optimize operations that include workforce modeling, an HR help desk, and talent acquisition.
Oracle Integration and Oracle SOA Suite can integrate any SaaS or on-premises HCM application. In addition to application adapters, Oracle offers many other integration options including technology adapters for REST, SOAP, LDAP, FTP, and file-based access. Thus, they scored highly in the Integrations section of the evaluation.
One con to note is that their payroll solutions are supported only for a limited number of countries, which may prove challenging if you have remote workers around the world.
Oracle HCM Cloud starts at $13/user/month and has a free demo.
3. Sage People – Human resources software for small- or mid-sized global organizations with inbuilt tools to acquire, retain, manage, and engage the people within your organization.
Over 10 years, the Sage Business Cloud People system has grown into a respected and progressive company operating in the HRMS sector with a full suite of people analytics tools. Sage People has rated a #1 HR and People management system on Salesforce.
Sage People excels in being quick to implement, out-of-the-box automation, and streamlines and flexible reporting features. Additionally, if you check out their workforce engagement tools, you are bound to find something you love.
Sage People lost a few marks in the UX section of the evaluation criteria. An analysis of organization and navigation finds the tool lacking here and there, as the design feels a bit outdated and could use some modernization or fine-tuning.
Sage People starts at $10/user/month and has a free demo.
4. SAP SuccessFactors – The SAP SuccessFactors Human Experience Management (HXM) Suite is built around a personalized experience with feedback and experience data.
SAP was founded in 1972 in Walldorf, Germany and now has offices around the world. SAP stands for “Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing” and SuccessFactors is one of their many enterprise-grade solutions for employee management and administration.
SAP SuccessFactors has great flexibility in pricing, as you can add or subtract tools as needed. A very basic plan will cost you under $10 per user per month and you can easily scale upwards from there. This scored them well in the Value for Cost evaluation faction.
One con to note is that training can involve quite a bit of work to train on this software, as it has a lot of nooks and crannies to explore. The learning curve may be a bit steep for some, even if the payoff is worth it.
SAP SuccessFactors starts at $8/user/month and has a free trial.
5. ADP WorkforceNow – A flexible, secure and integrated HCM solution that supports the full spectrum of HR needs–from recruitment to retirement and everything in between.
For nearly 70 years, ADP WorkforceNow has been developing business solutions (including HCM and other HR tools) that have now garnered them the honor of being named on FORTUNE Magazine’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” list for 12 consecutive years.
ADP HCM solutions integrate seamlessly with one another, with popular business software applications and with leading payroll, HR and financial systems, including most ERPs (see: ADP Marketplace). This flexibility scored ADP WorkforceNow highly in the evaluation of Integrations.
A critique to consider is reporting may be kind of glitchy; in my experience, there were times when names who should have been removed appeared on a report/analysis document despite prior termination. Some manual intervention can correct this, however.
ADP WorkforceNow starts at $10/user/month and has a free demo.
6. Workday – Workday HCM combines finance solutions, human resources, and business planning in one seamless cloud ERP system that provides robust insight into your business.
Used by Airbnb and Netflix, Workday is a solution for all things finance, human resources, and capital management planning. They were named a leader for 4 years in a row as a part of the “Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud HCM Suites for 1,000+ Employee Enterprises” report.
Workday, as a newer platform on the market, absolutely nailed the user interface with a clean, modern, intuitive layout on both the web browser version and the mobile app. This scored them favorably in the US category of the evaluation criteria section above.
A few negative points of the software are 1) interacting with equity data (note: vesting data in particular) was rather weak and 2) the business processes may come across as a bit disconnected for some users, depending on their experience level with this type of tool.
The workday starts at $100/user/year and has a free demo.
7. Rippling – HR and IT software that helps manage employees’ payroll, benefits, devices, apps, and more—all in one platform that automates your manual work, like onboarding new hires.
Rippling is a modern HCM solution that is built to tackle new hires, deductions, time and PTO, custom reports, and employee changes. They are an employee management platform that G2 Crowd rated as #1 in Core HR and IT and was a PC Mag Editor’s Choice in 2019.
Rippling is very competitively priced and doesn’t skimp on the features, making them a great option for smaller businesses with a tight budget. This ranked them highly in the Value for Cost segment of the evaluation criteria. They also offer a free trial, which is a bonus cost-wise.
One constructive criticism of the tools is that they could improve upon reporting features, where data visibility can be somewhat limited; for example, various levels of permission around viewing compensation info per user would be welcome.
Rippling starts at $7/user/month and has a free trial.
8. Vibe HCM – Used by over 1 million employees worldwide, the Vibe HCM and engagement platform offers tools for HR, talent, recruiting, onboarding, engagement, analytics, and payroll.
Vibe HCM works to automate HR transactions and also provide a lane for HR managers to engage with all their employees through one unified platform that is usable on any device. Their platform has won the Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Award in 2018.
This tool does a few things really well, including providing the picture-perfect amount of features for smallish companies (say, 500 users or less). Additionally, their compensation planning model is top-notch and all sizes of enterprises can benefit.
Customization and flexibility options definitely come with added expense with Vibe HCM and it is difficult to see how this tool could be expanded to work with large scale organizations. Because of these size and function limitations, they lost some marks in the Usability category of the evaluation criteria.
Vibe HCM offers pricing upon request and has a free demo.
9. Ascentis – A full-suite HR technology that lets you add features as you need them, like time and attendance, payroll, HRIS and benefits, talent management, and recruiting tools.
Ascentis offers easy-to-use HCM, HRIS, online payroll, talent management, recruiting and timekeeping solutions. With 35 years in the industry, Ascentis has supported an ongoing commitment to delivering a client-centric service model for mid- to large-size companies.
This HCM software is user friendly, no matter what side of the experience you are on: user or administrator. Ascentis has an accessible and quick customer service team and the system is highly customizable once you get the hang of things. Thus, they evaluated highly in Usability.
A con of this software is that the talent management module aspect of this software is not as seamless and user-friendly as the whole of the rest of the HR solutions; for example, the need for excessive manual data entry may detract from the talent management functions.
Ascentis offers pricing upon request and has a free demo.
10. Viventium – Payroll and HR with products for applicant tracking, onboarding, time and attendance, payroll, business intelligence, and other human resources management.
From applicant tracking to onboarding to time and attendance to payroll to business intelligence to human resources–Viventium provides intuitive software to make it easier to engage your team. Viventium was named a high performer in G2′s Fall 2019 “Best Payroll Software Report.”
This software has a user-friendly interface and real-time updates that make sure to capture every change or addition inputted. The customer service is attentive and training materials are robust enough to answer most questions. This all accounted for their high evaluation in the Usability category.
One downside of this tool is that reporting is not as flexible as it could be and more modification options would be welcome. The filters for different reports can be a bit cumbersome to manage.
Viventium offers pricing upon request and has a free demo.
11. eXo Platform – An all in one digital workplace to connect, engage and reward your employees.
eXo Platform is an all-in-one digital workplace solution that helps you connect, align, and engage your teams around a single interface. It is designed to fit the needs of enterprises of all sizes and industries that are looking to improve the company and peer-to-peer communication, boost collaboration, and manage company knowledge.
eXo Platform has a rich set of features to improve the working experience. Enterprise social networking features such as user profiles, activity streams, and more. Users can easily navigate through the platform and interact with their peers through a built-in chat application and the ability to like, comment on, and share various pieces of content. Collaborative groups where users can communicate, collaborate on projects, and easily find what they are looking for. Document management features that allow users to share content easily through drag and drop, organize content in rich document libraries, and share information with the click of a button in the activity stream or the chat application.
eXo Platform has a number of integrations with third-party applications including Salesforce, Microsoft Office, and Google Suite. Built-in add-ons include eXo Wallet, Gamification, kudos, chat, and more.
Three plans are available: Professional, Enterprise, and Enterprise Unlimited starting from $5/engaged user/month. eXo Platform has a community edition in which users can test the platform’s different features. Additionally, demos are available for free to get more information.
Other HC Management Solutions To Try
Here are a few more that didn’t make the top list. If you need additional suggestions for handy HCM software, check these out.
- StarGarden HCM – a cloud-based HR automation with automated workflows, reporting, and dashboards as well as full-function HRM/HCM.
- Kronos – A single source of truth that can help you hire more strategically, onboard employees faster, drive efficiencies, and deliver a great experience.
- HoneybeeBased – A free HRMS software that contains a web-based employee management system as well as an employee mobile app.
- Purley HR – An HR leave management tool for your small to medium-sized business with time-off management, talent management tools, and employee data management.
- Eddy HR – A complete HR solution with an applicant tracking system (ATS), onboarding, people management, document storage, PTO, payroll, and time tracking.
- ApplicantPRO – With ApplicantPro you can post jobs, push posts to job boards, organize qualified applicants, collaborate with your hiring managers, and send offers.
- Ultimate Software – Ultimate assists with your HR, payroll, benefits; navigate healthcare reform, and remains up to date, in compliance, and on time; and pay-related services.
- iCIMS Talent Acquisition Suite by iCIMS – A unified recruiting platform that has three product suites for recruitment marketing, advanced communications, and hiring.
- Ceridian – Human capital management in the cloud designed to Identify, attract, hire, reward, and develop your team as well as take care of payroll administration.
- Thrive HCM – Login on any device and get real-time information inside a secure, single database with HR, benefits, time management, payroll, and analytics.
- BambooHR – HR software that collects and organizes all the information you gather throughout the employee lifecycle-hiring, onboarding, or building culture.
- Zoho HR – Zoho HR with complete solutions for both in-house recruiters and staffing agencies that helps you source, track, and hire the best candidates.
What Do You Think About This HCM Software?
Have you tried out any human capital management tools listed above? Are there any human capital management tools that you think we have missed but should be on this list? Let us know in the comments.
