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10 Best HRIS Systems of 2023 for Core HR Functions

Top 10 Best HRIS Systems List

Here’s my shortlist of the best HRIS systems out there to streamline core HR functions. To help you find a good fit, I’ve provided a detailed summary of each system below:

  1. 1. Deel — Best all-in-one HRIS for international teams
  2. 2. monday.com — Best HR tool for creating custom HR processes and workflows
  3. 3. Factorial — Best HRIS system for small businesses
  4. 4. Kallidus Sapling — Best HRIS for a distributed workforce
  5. 5. Trinet — Best HRIS system for extra customer support and HR consulting services
  6. 6. Rippling — Best online HRIS for USA and Canada-based companies with a robust list of third-party integrations
  7. 7. Insperity — Best HRIS with payroll, benefits, and performance management
  8. 8. Justworks — Best HRIS with 24/7 HR expert support
  9. 9. Cezanne HR — Best HR software for global, multi-lingual organizations
  10. 10. Zenefits — Best HRIS system for benefits management and group insurance

A good human resource information system (HRIS) is worth its weight in gold. It will improve the efficiency of your internal HR processes via automatic workflows, reduced data entry, and more. In a nutshell, it will make your day-to-day work life less complicated and stressful. How can I be so sure? Because I've been in an HR role before and after implementing one, and it was a game-changer for us.

The trouble is, there are many different options to choose from. Picking the right HRIS for your business depends on what your current pinch points are, and the dynamics of your workforce. 

In this article, I'll help you compare and evaluate the best HRIS systems on the market. I’ll explain the value of each HR software solution and how it can help your organization.

What is an HRIS?

An HRIS (or human resources information system) is a type of HR software that organizes your employee data. Their main purpose is to integrate core HR functions into one interconnected piece of software, bringing HR professionals out of their filing cabinets and into the modern world of digital HR. They're an essential piece of software that HR pros rely on to get their jobs done, with an employee-facing component (called employee self-service) as well. For more details, scroll down to my FAQs section below.

Overviews of the Best HRIS Systems

Below you'll find a brief description of each of my top HRIS selections. To help you in your selection process I've explained each system's best use case and noteworthy features. I've also included screenshots to give you a snapshot of their user interface too.

1

Deel

Best all-in-one HRIS for international teams

Deel is a global HRIS solution for international teams. It eliminates borders from your talent pool, supporting over 150 countries where you can hire, manage, and pay any contractor or employee.

Why I picked Deel: Their HRIS platform gives you a comprehensive overview of benefits, perks, and salary expenses. You can compare different country costs and see what benefits and withholdings are required. You can set up employees with local health insurance, pension plans, or stipends. Payroll deductions and withholdings are automatically calculated, allowing you to simply schedule a mass payment in one click.

For employees, Deel works as the employer of record, handling full payroll and benefits so you don’t need to open up a foreign entity. Deel’s full-featured user interface gives you features such as contract management, expense reimbursements, and off-cycle adjustments. Their automated onboarding is a great time saver, and the analytics are helpful in keeping track of your HR data.

For contractors, Deel helps you avoid contractor misclassification with legal-reviewed contracts and provides multiple withdrawal options. The platform provides a polished and consistent payment experience, using major payment providers like Wise, PayPal, Payoneer, and Revolut to offer withdrawals in the currency of the contractor’s choice, including cryptocurrency.

Deel Standout Features and Integrations:

Compared to other HRIS offerings, Deel stands out with global payroll, global mobility support, integrated Slack tools, and advanced integrations. Their global mobility service helps companies with visa sponsorship, allowing them to bring in candidates from abroad. The Slack plugins can be used to create an accessible organizational chart, provide self-service PTO management, and even track applicant referrals. They also provide 24/7 client support and live chat. Deel is also fully compliant with SOC2 and ISO 27001 security standards.

Integrations are available with major HR, ATS, and accounting platforms, including Ashby, BambooHR, Expensify, Greenhouse, Hibob, Netsuite, Okta, OneLogin, Quickbooks, SCIM, Xero, Workday, and Workable. In addition, Deel's Open API solution allows developers to build their own connections with the Deel platform as needed.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.6 698

Free demo available

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

2

monday.com

Best HR tool for creating custom HR processes and workflows

monday.com isn't a true HRIS platform, however, it certainly allows HR teams to customize and run many HR processes and workflows from within their work operating system. monday.com also includes a variety of dedicated HR templates for getting started.

Why I picked monday.com: Their software has many practical applications for HR teams. Hiring managers can use it to oversee their recruitment pipelines and track applicants with embedded forms that record all relevant contact details automatically. As candidates go through the hiring process, team members can update the status of their application so that there’s a real-time source of truth for all open positions.

monday.com also includes a pre-made template for employee onboarding, which includes all of the employee training sessions and reading material newcomers need in their first weeks on the job. The onboarding template also uses no-code automations to notify relevant team members of their tasks to properly welcome the new hire. Another great feature is the vacation tracker, which allows employees to schedule vacation time.

monday.com Standout Features and Integrations:

Standout features for monday.com are definitely the system's flexibility and ability to be customized as needed. You can build data dashboards easily using their drag-and-drop technology. They also have 20+ column types, hundreds of third-party apps, and loads of useful widgets you can add to capture the processes that matter to you. Their software also makes it easy to collaborate through in-app commenting, which cuts down on a lot of unnecessary email threads.

Integrations are available natively with over 40 popular tools like Adobe Creative Cloud, Dropbox, Google Calendar, LinkedIn, OneDrive, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Zoom. In addition, their API is available to connect any other tool without a pre-built integration, or you can access more software integrations by connecting a paid Zapier account.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 8065

14-day free trial + freemium plan available

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

3

Factorial

Best HRIS system for small businesses

Factorial is a comprehensive, all-in-one human resources information system. The system offers core modules covering talent management, payroll, a time-off manager, a document manager, and an org chart generator.

Why I picked Factorial: I included them in this list since they're a good option for small businesses looking to gain a lot of features at an affordable price. Their HR management tools cover all the main items you need for proper workforce management, including time-tracking and shift management tools for hourly employees. In addition, their HRIS includes talent acquisition tools to help you source new talent, and onboarding workflows to help you welcome them and create a positive employee experience from day one.

Factorial Standout Features and Integrations:

With the help of Factorial, you can manage employees' absences, annual leave, and sick days. You can monitor compensation and offer tailored plans to different types of employees. You can also track employee performance and goals & OKR (objectives and key results), so you can develop your best team members and ensure you achieve your organizational goals as well.

Their employee self-serve functionalities allow staff to sign and submit documents electronically, submit time-off requests, and check their pay statements. The portal also helps managers communicate with team members and share resources.

Integrations are available with popular platforms such as Breezy HR, Gmail, Greenhouse, Indeed, Okta, Sage, Slack, Teamtailor, Zapier, Zucchetti, and many others. They also have an API in case you want to set up custom integrations as well.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.5 72

14-day free trial

From $6.50/employee/month

4

Kallidus Sapling

Best HRIS for a distributed workforce

Sapling, which recently joined forces with Kallidus, is a people operations platform best suited for mid-sized businesses with distributed international offices. The tool can automate workflows for onboarding, offboarding, and using people data across existing systems.

Why I picked Kallidus Sapling: I really appreciate the ability to create auto-assigned workflows and alerts, which can be customized for different locations, departments, or employee types. For example, you can build automated workflows for recruitment and onboarding, and automatically assign people workflows based on location, department, and employment status. This is a useful feature for companies with distributed teams as it helps HR managers regulate processes across all work locations and departments.

Kallidus Sapling Standout Features and Integrations:

Standout 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.

Your HR team members can easily store and manage people data and create color-coded org charts to visualize different departments or teams. End-users can also create individual profiles with customized prompts to support your company culture. Their system also comes with pre-built reports to analyze any type of data stored in the system.

Integrations are available with 40+ software systems, including applicant tracking systems, payroll software, time tracking software, and more. The tool also has an API and webhooks available for further integration options.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.3 384

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

5

Trinet

Best HRIS system for extra customer support and HR consulting services

Trinet's cloud-based HRIS software is designed to support your core HR needs including payroll processing, time and attendance tracking, benefits enrollment, and workforce analytics operations. Businesses of various sizes can benefit from bringing their HR operations into a single platform. If needed, you can also use Trinet for additional customer support and HR consulting services too.

Why I picked Trinet: In addition to their software, Trinet also offers additional guidance on HR-related issues such as compliance and risk management. This is a very valuable service, especially for smaller organizations with no in-house legal expertise. Instead, you can use Trinet to protect your organization from employer liabilities like wrongful termination lawsuits, discrimination and harassment claims, and unlawful retaliation.

Trinet Standout Features and Integrations:

Trinet's payroll capabilities include handling complex payroll regulations in several countries, making it a suitable choice for globally operating companies. Tax withholdings and employee benefits can also be managed through the system. One of the software's unique features is its compensation benchmarking database, which provides salary data on over 15,000 job titles and 225 industries.

Employee goals can be set and tracked through the software, and connected with broader business objectives. Managers and employees can use the system to document ongoing feedback exchanges and performance discussions. When annual reviews come around, this information can be used and managers can either select from the system's existing performance review templates or create their own structure.

Integrations are available with BambooHR, Carta, Greenhouse Software, Lattice, Oracle NetSuite, QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, and Xero.

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

6

Rippling

Best online HRIS for USA and Canada-based companies with a robust list of third-party integrations

Rippling is an online HRIS system with features like payroll, time and attendance, learning management, benefits, talent management, PEO, pulse surveys, and workforce analytics. By connecting every business system to one source of truth for employee data, businesses can automate all of the manual work they normally need to do to make employee changes.

Why I picked Rippling: Their software stands out because they built app and device management (basic IT) into their HR platform, which is appropriate for the modern, online, all-digital workforce. You can remotely manage and protect employees’ devices (laptops, smartphones, tablets) as well as easily manage workforce apps like Google Workspace, Slack, and Office 365.

Rippling Standout Features and Integrations:

With robust data collection and custom field capabilities, companies can collect and store any employee information within Rippling. HR teams can then use the data across Rippling to automate access to apps and create policy rules (PTO, overtime, benefits), and more. Rippling can also reflect any organization’s approval processes with advanced approval chains for hiring, terminations, and salary changes.

Rippling’s role-based permission system allows you to automatically give other people—like managers and junior admins—access to specific Rippling services, as well as customers’ third-party apps, based on their department or level. Users can also precisely control what information they can view and change in Rippling—from salary to SSN to device OS. Smart rules allow admins to automatically provision new accounts and policies when employees get promoted or change departments.

Rippling integrates with 500+ apps so instead of entering and managing employee data in 500+ systems, users can enter data in Rippling once and see it updated everywhere. Key integrations include 1Password, Asana, Atlassian, BrightHire, Checkr, Databricks, DocuSign, Dropbox, GitHub, Google Workspace, LinkedIn, Microsoft 365, Netsuite, QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, Slack, Typeform, Zendesk, Zoom, Upwork, and hundreds more.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.8 1133

Free demo available

From $8/user/month (EOR pricing upon request)

7

Insperity

Best HRIS with payroll, benefits, and performance management

Insperity is both a human capital management (HCM) software as well as an HR service provider. The company offers consulting to support you with implementing and making the most out of their software platform. The platform can facilitate hiring, onboarding, talent management, payroll processing, and benefits administration.

Employees can input their personal information and keep it up-to-date through their self-serve portal to the system. This portal can also be used to access paystubs and tax documents. The software can also store important employer documents like an employee handbook and policies, serving as a source of truth for all staff members. Employee training and performance management can also be facilitated through the platform, keeping a documented history of employee development and goals achievement.

The software has a public API and API dashboard that can be used to configure custom integrations with your existing tech stack. Pricing is available upon request.

Pricing upon request

8

Justworks

Best HRIS with 24/7 HR expert support

Justworks is a user-friendly and comprehensive HR software that simplifies employee data management for businesses. It can serve as a centralized platform for HR professionals to store, organize, and manage employee information efficiently, and provides access to a 24/7 HR expert support team.

Why I picked Justworks: I included Justworks in this list because they offer more than just software. If you need it, you can also lean on them for their more advanced HR offerings such as their professional employer organization (PEO) service, payroll service, or compliance monitoring support, which are all included in their Basic plan. Their customer support team is also available to you 24/7 by phone, email, chat, Slack, or SMS too.

Justworks Standout Features and Integrations:

Justworks' self-service portal empowers employees to take control of their data—they can update personal information, access pay stubs and tax forms, and enroll in benefits, all of which reduce the administrative burden on HR professionals. The platform also provides a centralized repository for storing and sharing important files, such as employment contracts, performance reviews, and training materials. This feature eliminates the need for physical paperwork and ensures data security.

HR experts can extract valuable insights from employee data with reporting and analytics capabilities. The platform provides pre-built reports and customizable dashboards, enabling HR professionals to monitor trends, track key metrics, and make data-driven decisions. And by leveraging the 24/7 support team, admins can maximize the value they get out of the platform with expert guidance for building the perfect reporting dashboard.

Integrations include QuickBooks, Greenhouse, Xero, Slack, Vanguard, Fidelity, Citi Bike, and E-Verify.

Free demo available

From $59/user/month

9

Cezanne HR

Best HR software for global, multi-lingual organizations

Cezanne HR is a cloud-based HR software solution that is used in over 100 countries. Their comprehensive platform includes core HR features such as people management, onboarding and employee lifecycle support, intuitive employee self-service features, absence management, time tracking, and recruitment tools including an applicant tracking system (ATS).

Why I picked Cezanne HR: This platform is a great fit for multinational companies as it includes global capabilities at its core, like country-specific compliance information, configuration options based on regions, and the ability to use multiple currencies. It also supports free language translations from English to Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, German, French, Turkish, and Romanian to help growing companies standardize their HR portal processes in new countries.

Cezanne HR Standout Features and Integrations:

Their modern performance management module supports continuous performance improvement through check-ins, 360-degree feedback, and multi-stage goal setting. On top of all that, they also have built-in tools to visualize your talent pools, map out career development plans, and support succession planning. Also, since the design team behind Cezanne HR is UK-based, you can rest assured that their system is GDPR compliant (UK & EEA) too.

Integrations are available with single sign-on (SSO) applications, and other solution partners in niche areas like compensation planning, employee engagement, expense management, and learning management. Cezanne HR doesn't include payroll functions, however, it does integrate with common payroll systems and organize information in the format your payroll team will need.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
3.5 10

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

10

Zenefits

Best HRIS system for benefits management and group insurance

The Zenefits platform helps to alleviate common HR headaches by integrating core HR functions with payroll, employee benefits, and time-off tracking, all within one system.

Why I picked Zenefits: Where Zenefits really shines is in its benefits management capabilities. Through their Zenefits Health Insurance Marketplace, you can review different insurance plans to find the best option for your business. Once you’re ready, you can request a quote for group insurance through one of their certified insurance brokers, who will also help you administer your benefits plan - a service that’s included for free no matter which pricing plan you choose.

If you already have an insurance broker you’re working with, you have the option to integrate them into your platform too, for an additional monthly fee. Another neat feature worth mentioning is that employees can use their Zenefits commuter benefits card to pay for rides booked through UberPOOL, depending on how you configure your system.

Zenefits Standout Features and Integrations:

When it comes to standout features, their automated onboarding process comes to mind first. It supports offer letters, background checks, e-signing digital documents, and employee self-onboarding. In their higher service tiers, modules are also available for compensation management, performance management, and several in-depth employee engagement tools.

Integrations are available with 45+ applications including Google Suite, Office 356, Slack, Salesforce, Expensify, Bonusly, BetterWorks, Zapier, and many others.

They also offer add-ons for full payroll services, HR and payroll advisory services, and the insurance broker option noted above.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.1 436

14-day free trial

From $10/user/month

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The 10 Best HRIS Systems Comparison Chart

This comparison chart summarizes basic details about each of my top HRIS 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 that satisfies your budget and business needs.

Tool Free Option Price
1
Deel

Best all-in-one HRIS for international teams

Free demo available

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

Best HR tool for creating custom HR processes and workflows

14-day free trial + freemium plan available

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

Best HRIS system for small businesses

14-day free trial

From $6.50/employee/month Visit Website
4
Kallidus Sapling

Best HRIS for a distributed workforce

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Visit Website
5
Trinet

Best HRIS system for extra customer support and HR consulting services

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Visit Website
6
Rippling

Best online HRIS for USA and Canada-based companies with a robust list of third-party integrations

Free demo available

From $8/user/month (EOR pricing upon request) Visit Website
7
Insperity

Best HRIS with payroll, benefits, and performance management

Not available

Pricing upon request Visit Website
8
Justworks

Best HRIS with 24/7 HR expert support

Free demo available

From $59/user/month Visit Website
9
Cezanne HR

Best HR software for global, multi-lingual organizations

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Visit Website
10
Zenefits

Best HRIS system for benefits management and group insurance

14-day free trial

From $10/user/month Visit Website

Other HRIS Software Options

Here are a few more options that didn’t make the best HRIS systems list. If you need additional suggestions for managing your HR tasks, check these out:

  1. bob

    Best HRIS system for employee engagement

  2. Built For Teams

    Best HRIS for ease of use & quick onboarding

  3. Eddy

    Best HRIS system for easy customized onboarding

  4. Sage HR

    Best HRIS for its employee lifecycle supporting features and mobile capabilities

  5. Homebase

    Best HRIS tool for employee scheduling & time/clock records

  6. Papaya Global

    Best automated SaaS HRIS providing an end-to-end solution for your global workforce

  7. Oyster HR

    Best HRIS platform for international recruiting and payroll management

  8. IntelliHR

    Best HRIS software for performance & people analytics

  9. UZIO

    Best HRIS platform for payroll & benefits integration

  10. Freshteam

    Best HRIS with applicant tracking

How I Selected the Best Human Resource Information Systems

I'm happy to explain my process if you're curious how I put together this list.

To start with, I built myself a long list of popular HRIS systems with a wide range of features and positive user ratings. For the next step, I dug into each system using the selection criteria below to further hone my selections.

I also drew on my years of personal experience using HRIS software on a daily basis to pinpoint the features that will save you time and make your HR processes more efficient.

Selection Criteria

Here's a summary of the main evaluation and selection criteria I used to create this top 10 list of the best HRIS solutions. If you're considering an HR system that's not on my list, I recommend using these criteria in your own evaluation process too.

User Interface & User Experience

The user interface (UI) of your HRIS is important because it will have a big impact on how your employees react to using the new system. That's why I selected systems with visually attractive, clean, and colourful user interfaces that will make everyone's interactions with the system more engaging. I also assessed the way each HRIS organized their menus, and how their employee information was organized within individual employee records to ensure a good user experience (UX) too.

Usability

While usability does go hand-in-hand with UI and UX, I prefer to evaluate it separately. To ensure ease of use, I chose systems that are simple, straightforward, and intuitive to use. That will go a long way toward ensuring users at all levels can complete tasks independently. Based on my own personal experience, having a user-friendly employee self-service portal can really cut down on the number of questions your HR department has to field on a regular basis.

Core HR Features

Aside from the obvious management of employee records, I looked for HR platforms that offered a wide range of core HR features. With more key functions rolled into one system, you'll get a better return on your investment. The most important core features for an HRIS are customizable dashboards, incorporated payroll solutions, recruiting tools, an applicant tracking system, and employee onboarding workflows. More advanced features that gained bonus points include tools for talent management, employee retention, and performance reviews.

Reporting and Analytics

An HRIS system will be far less useful if you can't create detailed reports or run analytics on your data. It may seem like an obvious feature that every system includes. However, in my experience, sometimes systems say they offer reporting and analytics, but when you dig into it, you can't customize the reports to meet your own unique business needs. Before you invest in any type of HR software, ensure their reports are customizable to your own needs.

Software Integrations

Integrations are crucial to consider as they link systems together that offer different functionalities, still tied to your same employee data set. The desired effect is this: when you update your employee data in one system, it will automatically update in any other integrated systems that are pulling from the same data.

That's why I sought out HRIS systems that integrate with other common tools HR professionals use on a daily basis. Key integrations to look for include payroll solutions (if not part of the HRIS already), document management systems, single sign-on applications, and work operating systems (i.e., Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace).

Value for Price

Let's be honest. Often it all comes down to price. That's why I selected HRIS systems that offer a reasonable price per employee, with transparent details on how much it costs to scale up to a bigger plan in the future. I also tried to pick systems that offer free trials or demos. That way, you can get a hands-on sense of the system's ease of use before you commit to a contract.

HRIS FAQs

Here are some frequently asked questions and answers about employee information systems. These FAQ will clear up a few things that HR professionals often ask about HRIS.

Other HR Software Reviews

Keen to see what other types of HR management systems are out there? Look no further! Here are some helpful links to show you what else is out there and point you in the right direction:

Final Thoughts

I hope this article got you one step closer to finding the right HRIS for you. If you've looked into all of these and you're not sure you can handle it, perhaps an HRIS Analyst could help?

Looking for software specifically for the recruitment process? My list of the 10 Best Recruiting Software will definitely have what you need.

If employee scheduling is your main concern, read our list of the 10 Best Employee Shift Scheduling Software. We even have a list of Open Source Employee Scheduling Software if you want something you can really customize.

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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. When away from her desk, she can usually be found outside tending to her ever-expanding garden.