The Best HR Software For Small Businesses

As a more payroll-centric company, Gusto is a great option for small business owners who might need simple but not sophisticated HR solutions. The interface is user-friendly on both the employee and administrative sides. If payroll is your company’s biggest headache, Gusto’s system is the best choice. With payroll as its central focus, Gusto is best for small businesses that find their most time-consuming HR task is payroll but might be interested in adding a few additional services.

Gusto’s Simple Plan offers basic payroll and costs $40/month plus $6/month per person, while the Plus Plan offer HR tools and support and costs $80/month plus $12/month per person and comes equipped with multiple tools for payroll and HR.

While the HR options are limited, Gusto does cover onboarding employees with a seamless online program and helping your business stay compliant. Gusto offers the following HR services:

• Employee directory and surveys
• Custom employee handbook
• HR and compliance support
• Software provisioning
• E-sign documents

Additional HR tools and support are available on upgraded plans.

With similar pricing to Gusto but more HR options with its core package, Zenefits is likely to be an asset for small businesses with advanced hiring/performance review/termination requirements. Zenefits is loaded with HR features and offers competitive pricing, which is why it’s one of our top picks for HR software.

Zenefits has three pricing plans. Pricing starts at $8/month per employee for the Essentials plan up to $21/month per employee for the top-tier Zen plan. The more expensive the plan, the more advanced features you can access, including performance management and employee engagement surveys.

Payroll is not included in any of the plans and will cost an extra $6/month per employee. Additional add-ons include advisory services for $8/month per employee and the ability to use your own broker to manage employees for $5/month per employee.

Zenefits core features included with all plans include:

• Offer letters
• Background checks
• Self-onboarding with a mobile app
• Employee directory and company organization chart
• Automated workflows
• Time-off requests/tracking
• Numerous reporting options
• Document management
• Compliance services

All plans also include time and scheduling, integrations, and access to the Zenefits mobile app. More expensive plans include these advanced features:

• Compensation management
• Performance management
• Well-being
• Employee engagement surveys
• People Hub

If a small business needs a comprehensive human resources management system, BambooHR has all the foundational requirements to manage your employees. It aims to make HR easy and intuitive, even if a company doesn’t have a specific HR department/team; its functionality for HR on the administrative end is designed for the novice/DIY small business owner.

The functionality of BambooHR’s platform leads the competition with its ease of use, intuitive interface for both employees and administrators, and customization abilities.This award-winning software is loaded with advanced features to help simplify the HR process throughout the employee lifecycle.

BambooHR has two plans but unfortunately does not offer pricing details online. Instead, the company requests that you get a personalized price quote by phone or through its website. A general price range provided by customers that have used this software is $6-$8/month per employee.

BambooHR offers two different plans: Essentials and Advantage.

Both plans include the following:

• Time-off management
• Employee directory and company organization chart
• Employee records
• Benefits tracking
• Document storage
• Standard workflow and approvals
• Standard reporting

Upgrading to the Advantage plan gives you access to more features, such as:

• Onboarding/offboarding
• Application tracking systems
• Full company branding/customization
• Training tracking
• Webinar library
• Customization options

BambooHR includes time tracking and performance management programs as add-ons. For payroll, the company partners with TraxPayroll to sync up data related to benefits, PTO, and compensation.

Paycor is a great one-stop shop for a small business’s HR and payroll requirements. The company focuses on ease of use and streamlining its interface and is fully committed to listening to clients and adapting/updating its software to respond to feedback.

Paycor’s basic packages do not include time management software, employee scheduling software, recruiting and application tracking, benefits administration, and learning modules. A small business with fewer than ten employees might not need some of these extras, however, and can find good value in the product for its foundational capabilities.

The options at this price point make Paycor a contender for small businesses looking for a simple platform at a competitive cost.

For businesses with fewer than 40 employees, Paycor offers three pricing plans that range from $99/month to $199/month. The more expensive the plan, the more features you can access.

For businesses with 40+ employees, custom packages are available. Contact Paycor to learn more and get a price quote.

All plans have full-service payroll as a foundation and not an add-on. All plans also include the following:

• Tax filing
• Reporting
• Self-service garnishments and child support
• Paycor Mobile

If you upgrade to one of the higher tier packages, you can also access features, including:

• Online onboarding with assistance
• Full-service payroll
• HR support center with 1:1 guidance
• Hiring wizard
• Advanced analytics

ADP is a giant in the payroll and HR industry and, as such, it has an incredibly rich feature set with everything you business might need. ADP thrives when it comes to employee management and payroll and is especially good when it comes to new-hire onboarding. ADP is also a good choice if you need contractor hiring and access to multiple integrations.

ADP’s pricing is frustratingly not transparent and you’ll have to call to get a quote depending on exactly what services you need. It also may not be the best option for very small businesses but ADP can likely tailor make a plan for you depending on your needs.

As mentioned, ADP does not advertise its prices on its website. While it does have four tiers, you’ll have to speak to a representative and tell them exactly what services you’re looking for in order to get an accurate quote. But ADP does have options for smaller businesses as well that might not need ADP’s entire payroll suite.

While ADP thrives in the world of payroll, its HR offerings are also robust and can help out nearly any-sized business. Here’s what you can expect:

• New-hire reporting
• Self-managed new-hire onboarding
• Employee discounts
• Employee access portal
• Contractor hiring through WorkMarket integration

At higher tiers, you also get access to other features, including:

• ZipRecruiter
• Background checks
• Employee handbook tool
• HR help desk
• Employee tracking
• Training toolkit
• Company training courses
• Harassment prevention courses