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10 Best Open Source HR Software For 2023

The Best Open Source HR Software Shortlist

Here’s the list of the best open-source HR solutions that I’ll cover in this article.

  1. 1. monday.com — Best for data visualization
  2. 2. Odoo Employees — Best for ease of use
  3. 3. OrangeHRM — Best personnel information management
  4. 4. Bitrix24 — Best for small businesses
  5. 5. WP ERP — Best Wordpress-based HR software
  6. 6. Open HRMS — Best for tracking KPIs
  7. 7. MintHCM — Best for a holistic approach to HCM
  8. 8. Bazara — Best for HR with talent acquisition.
  9. 9. IceHrm Open Source Edition — Best internal job portal
  10. 10. WaypointHR — Best for compensation management

HR software is an invaluable tool for businesses as they scale and grow their team. But what if the software options available just don't work for your organization's unique needs? Is it possible to customize your software to increase its value?

Enter open source HR software. These solutions are built to be customized, and can help you streamline processes according to your exact needs.

In this article, I’ll be sharing the best open source HR software to help you decide what’s right for you. I'll also be answering some FAQs and explaining my process for choosing my shortlist.

What Is Open Source HR software?

Open source HR software is a practical alternative to proprietary human resources applications. These tools are typically free HR software or offer inexpensive pricing, with a codebase that is maintained by an active online community.

When using open source HR software, you have the freedom to customize the code as you wish, according to your business needs. Instead of being beholden to a specific vendor, you have the freedom to use or adapt the software in any way you wish. 

Overviews Of The 10 Best Open Source HR Software

Here’s a brief description of each of the best open source HR software solutions to showcase each tool’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the interface. 

1

monday.com

Best for data visualization

monday.com’s flexible Work OS platform makes it easy to streamline many different types of data collection processes, depending on what you need. HR teams can use it to efficiently track core HR functions like employee data, leave management requests, performance reviews, recruiting, onboarding, learning and development, and much more. 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 too, including bar and line graphs, pie charts, and Gantt charts.

In terms of their open-source capabilities, users who are feeling adventurous can take advantage of their Developer tool, which enables you to create your own customized processes within monday’s system. Once you’ve completed your app design, you have the option to keep it private, make it public, or share it in the monday apps marketplace. In addition, you can also browse the existing third-party apps in the monday.com app marketplace to see if the feature you’re craving has already been developed.

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 $8/user/month. A free 14-day trial is available too.

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)

2

Odoo Employees

Best for ease of use

Odoo is a full suite of open-source business applications. Odoo HR is a customizable app designed to help human resources with hiring, workforce management, expense management, appraisal management, and other human resource needs.

You can take advantage of the features offered in the Recruitment, Employees, Time Off, and Appraisal modules to create a fully-fledged, integrated HR system. The software is designed for ease of use, too.

Odoo costs from $31/user/month for all their apps. They also offer a 15-day free trial.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4 2

Free to use one app only

From $31/user/month

3

OrangeHRM

Best personnel information management

OrangeHRM is a scalable HRM solution designed to manage the whole employment life cycle, from employee onboarding to termination. Features include time and attendance, candidate recruiting, performance reviews, absence management, and benefits administration. The software can be deployed on-premise or hosted in the cloud.

The user interface is intuitive and easy to follow so that HR managers can get things done faster. In addition, the admin features give a complete 360-degree view of people in the organization, facilitating better strategic decisions.

Employees can take advantage of their own portal and login, allowing them to track benefits and compensation, access training documentation, and view company org charts.

OrangeHRM costs from $6/user/month.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.1 25

Free plan + 30-day free trial

From $6/user/month

4

Bitrix24

Best for small businesses

Bitrix 24 offers a free GR system that includes Intranet, HRIS, workflow, time management, and an employee self-service portal. More than 30 HR tools are included, ranging from employee directories and organization charts to leave requests and absence calendars. Bitrix 24 is available as both cloud-based or on-premise software.

Despite being open-source, the software has the look and feel of professional paid software. It can be set up without the need for specialist IT help. Employees will find the self-service option to be simple to use, too. Bitrix 24 is ideal for startups or smaller businesses.

Bitrix 24 offers a free plan for unlimited storage with up to 5GB of storage.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.1 439

Freemium version available

From $61 /5 users/month

5

WP ERP

Best Wordpress-based HR software

WRP ERP is a versatile open-source HR software that offers many functionalities to meet your company’s needs. It works best if your company uses a WordPress-based system. On top of core HR modules, you can add other modules that you need like employee recruitment, inventory, asset management, and payroll. You can also use WRP ERP to help boost your marketing and promotions efforts through its email marketing module. It also has a workflow management module to help you design workflows to help you and your employees optimize existing processes to make them more efficient.

If your company needs an open-source business software suite, you might want to try WP ERP because it has a wide variety of core modules you can use to manage your business, including HR, CRM, and Accounting modules. Being an open-source software means you have free rein to customize the software if you have specific business needs you want to address. It is also free, so you don’t have to worry about a monthly fee just to use the software. With the help of WP ERP, you can take care of employee needs like leave management and compensations and benefits in a centralized system.

WRP ERP is free software.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 3

Free software

6

Open HRMS

Best for tracking KPIs

This open-source HR management software offers a wide range of features. These include an applicant tracking system, a centralized employee database, and HR processes administration.

The software offers transparent appraisal strategies for employees to increase engagement. The attendance management feature tracks leave and attendance in real-time.

The software is designed to be visually appealing and easy to use. Managers can quickly bring up a view of the core KPIs to stay on top of the most important metrics.

Open HRMS costs from $499/user/month. There is no free version.

Free to use

From $499/month (support package)

7

MintHCM

Best for a holistic approach to HCM

MintHCM is a human capital management (HCM) system that grew out of CRM technology. This unique approach to development has created a unique approach to HR management. Yet due to the open-source nature of the system, there are no limitations on what is possible.

The suite encompasses 16 different HCM-related features. These include recruitment, onboarding, time management, analytics, and employee performance management. Together they offer a coherent, holistic approach to managing people.

Mint HCM is free for 1-10 employees. For larger organizations, a premium version is offered from $4/user/month.

From $4/user/month

8

Bazara

Best for HR with talent acquisition.

Bazara HCM offers a comprehensive range of features and functions for managing human capital. These include employee management, casuals administration, project management, and arbitration. The system also supports performance appraisal, training, and development.

The strength of this suite is its extended scope. In addition to encompassing traditional, core human resource functions, it also incorporates key aspects of talent management. This makes it a great one-stop, open-source HR solution.

Bazara HCM costs from $20/feature/month. There is no free trial.

From $20/feature/month

9

IceHrm Open Source Edition

Best internal job portal

IceHrm is a human resource management system that can be deployed on-premise or hosted in the cloud. It covers all primary HR needs, including leave management, time management, and managing employee data. Other features include timesheets, attendance administration, and travel management.

This application also provides you with an internal job portal. You can post ads directly to job sites and social media. Using the built-in features, it's also possible to create job ads that will get attention.

IceHrm costs from $0.90/user/month. A 45-day trial is available.

45 days free trial

From $0.90/user/month

10

WaypointHR

Best for compensation management

WaypointHR is an open-source human resource management system. A simple 5-step wizard makes it easy to add new employees, while layering features provide multiple ways to view data. Company reports can be created, exported to PDF or printed as required.

The software also optimizes staff utilization through its Redundancy Selection Criteria Matrix. This helps managers to assess, score and rank staff according to skills, attitude and behavior. With the help of this data, HR managers can decide which staff members to retain. This can also help with compensation management around promotions, bonuses, commission, and so on.

WaypointHR is free to use.

Free to use

Need Expert Help Selecting The Right Human Resources (HR) Software?

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

The 10 Best Open Source HR Software Summary

Tool Free Option Price
1
monday.com

Best for data visualization

14-day free trial + freemium plan available

From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats) Visit Website
2
Odoo Employees

Best for ease of use

Free to use one app only

From $31/user/month Visit Website
3
OrangeHRM

Best personnel information management

Free plan + 30-day free trial

From $6/user/month Visit Website
4
Bitrix24

Best for small businesses

Freemium version available

From $61 /5 users/month Visit Website
5
WP ERP

Best Wordpress-based HR software

Free software

Visit Website
6
Open HRMS

Best for tracking KPIs

Free to use

From $499/month (support package) Visit Website
7
MintHCM

Best for a holistic approach to HCM

Not available

From $4/user/month Visit Website
8
Bazara

Best for HR with talent acquisition.

Not available

From $20/feature/month Visit Website
9
IceHrm Open Source Edition

Best internal job portal

45 days free trial

From $0.90/user/month Visit Website
10
WaypointHR

Best for compensation management

Not available

Free to use Visit Website

Other Options

Here’s a few more that didn’t make the top list.

  1. SimpleHRM

    Best free open source HR software

  2. Jorani

    Best leave management software

  3. Sentrifugo

    Best for an employee self-service portal

  4. Homebase

    An open-source solution powered by Datahike. Homebase is a collaborative, real-time relational database that functions from your browser

  5. Dolibarr

    Free, open-source ERP & CRM solution that incorporates Human Relationship Management features for administering employees, expense reports, leave requests, timesheets, and recruitment

  6. ERP Next

    Open-source HRMS software that covers recruiting, onboarding, managing, and appraising employees

  7. ADempiere

    This open-source Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform provides a full suite of applications, including human resources and payroll management

How I Selected the Best Open Source HR Software

Are you wondering how I selected the best open source HR software for this list? I began by taking a look at open source HR software with an abundance of positive user ratings. I explored each platform to gain an understanding of what features they had to offer and what made them different from the competition.

I chose the best of the bunch to finalize my long list. Next, I applied the below evaluation criteria to further compare each of the long list nominees to each other. I drew on my years of experience in HR to pick which solutions were most likely to provide the most value. This is how I arrived at my shortlist.

Selection Criteria

What do I look for when I select the best open source HR platforms? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria: 

  1. User Interface (UI): I look for a clean, easy-to-navigate interface that everyone involved in human resources will understand.
  2. Usability: I expect the software to be as easy to use as any paid, proprietary tool.
  3. Integrations: There should be a range of integrations with popular business software suites.
  4. Value for $: I look for a genuine open-source experience.

People Also Ask

What is the difference between HRIS and HRMS?

Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) are software that offer more basic functions like attendance, time tracking, and payroll processing. Human Resources Management Systems (HRMS) are employee management tools that take functionality a step further by including features like reporting, employee engagement, and performance appraisal.

What are the key features of pen source HR software?

I expect a good open-source HR software tool to offer most—if not all—of the following features:

  1. Payroll & benefits: Managing calculations for regular pay, overtime, taxes, insurance, and related factors.
  2. Employee development & performance: Keeping track of progress and achievements to help plan career growth trajectories. Facilitate learning and professional development.
  3. Managing employee information: Keeping track of employee information relating to contact details, positions, rates, vacations, and benefits. Document management is also an asset.
  4. Applicant tracking system: Storing information about applicants for specific positions, results of interviews, salary expectations, job offers, etc.
  5. Salary & benefits administration: Managing employee salaries and ensuring they receive benefits they are entitled to.
  6. Absence management: Dealing with matters and calculations related to vacations, business trips, absenteeism, and sick leave. 

Covering All Your Bases

Open Source HR software is a fantastic option for automating your human resources functions without breaking the bank. The proof is in the numbers: HR software is a $10 billion dollar industry. Might now be the time to find a tool that can help your organization?

To learn more about managing people with SaaS tools, check out more of our articles on HR software, human resources management, and related topics.

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Related Read: How To Choose HR Software In 5 Easy Steps

By Tim Reitsma

Tim is the co-founder and General Manager of People Managing People, an online publication focused on building a better world of work. He is experienced with people & culture, leadership, business strategy and operations with a focus on building great teams who are excited about their craft and their organization. With over 15 years of leadership experience, Tim has always been guided by his core values: faith, family, curiosity, and fun. He is a coach, mentor, speaker, advisor, and an active volunteer in his community. Tim loves spending time outdoors with his wife and two kids as well as mountain biking in the north shore mountains.