Running a small business is already challenging. While small businesses are more focused on profits, they need all the help they can get in other areas as well. By purchasing HR software, you’ll definitely have to worry less about management and recruiting. HR software for small businesses can help digitize and administer your HR processes more efficiently, manage performance, and increase productivity. Don’t miss out on useful tools that can help you run your small business more smoothly.
We’ve compiled a list of the top 8 best HR software for small businesses available on the market right now along with the pros and cons of each to help you choose the one best for you.
Top 8 Best HR Software for Small Business
- Rippling – Best overall
- Zenefits – Best for the most advanced set of features
- Gusto – Best for payroll administration
- BambooHR – Best for ease of use
- Paychex – Best for small businesses that want flexible HR solutions
- Bitrix24 – Best for web-based solution for free
- Homebase – Best for employee scheduling and time tracking
- ADP Run – Best for small businesses that are planning to grow
1. Rippling – Best overall
Pricing: Rippling starts at $8/user/month. You can contact Rippling via their website to request a free quote for the services you’d like to use.
Rippling is a great software to streamline all your HR needs. You can choose from a wide variety of HR products to integrate with Rippling. Some key features include an employee database, benefits administration, plan options, onboarding solutions, and time tracking. Rippling also has a great learning management tool with pre-built courses on various topics. If your business is looking for a comprehensive solution, then look no further than Rippling. Rippling is a pretty straightforward and user-friendly platform that is sure to help you manage your business more efficiently especially since it makes incorporating management tools easier.
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly | No automated payroll functionality |
| International payroll abilities | Adding more features increases the cost |
| Integrations with 500+ applications | – |
| Great benefit administration tool | – |
| Quote-based pricing model | – |
| Excellent customer service and support | – |
| Wide range of useful tools | – |
2. Zenefits – Best for the most advanced set of features
Pricing: Zenefits offers three plans at three different price points. The Essentials plan is $8/month/employee, the Growth plan is $14/month/employee, and the Zen plan is $21/month/employee.
While Zenefits is a relatively new software founded in 2013, it has a wide range of functionalities to help small businesses manage all their HR needs. Zenefits offers easy-to-understand, built-in onboarding tools for new employees which include an option for sending offer letters. Other features include time-off tracking, reporting, benefits handling, recruiting, HR compliance, and time and attendance tracking. The benefits administration functionality is significantly more in-depth than other HR software.
| Pros | Cons |
| In-depth benefits administration and plan-building tools | Limited mobile app |
| Easy to use | Small business implementation may be more difficult |
| Comprehensive employee records | – |
| Great employee mobile app | – |
| Integrations | – |
| Excellent business intelligence reporting tools | – |
| Set pricing and plans | – |
3. Gusto – Best for payroll administration
Pricing: Gusto offers three packages that are geared toward different types of businesses. The Core plan is $39/month or $6/month/person and is best for small businesses with simple payroll needs. The Complete plan is $39/month or $12/month/person for businesses with more complex payroll needs. The Concierge plan is $149/month or $12/month/person and is best for businesses with more sophisticated payroll needs. For the Select plan, which is best for growing businesses with a minimum of 25 employees who need premium tools, please contact Gusto’s sales department.
Not only is Gusto affordable, but it also comes packed with a wide range of useful tools. Gusto will help you manage PTO, employee benefits, salary, payroll taxes, and create tax reports. You can also take advantage of their HR experts for compliance and HR questions with Gusto’s Concierge and Select plans. By using Gusto, you’ll be able to automate your companies’ payroll management operations and get rid of tedious manual payment processing.
| Pros | Cons |
| Tax forms and multi-state payroll functions under one roof | Not all plans include advanced HR features |
| AutoPilot payroll | Limited reporting capabilities |
| Automated tax filing and billing | Lacks some features like an activity dashboard, banking info management, and data migration |
| Unlimited payrolls | – |
| Accounting integrations | – |
| Payroll support in all 50 states | – |
| Built-in time tracking | – |
| Easy to use |
4. BambooHR – Best for ease of use
Pricing: BambooHR has two plans, but pricing isn’t readily available on their website. To get a quote, please contact BambooHR via their website.
BambooHR is a cloud-based HR software that is straightforward and easy to use. It has all the tools you need to manage your HR processes and employees. BambooHR features 401K tracking, applicant tracking, benefits tracking, document storage, reporting, training tracking, company branding and customization, and a webinar library.
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy setup | More expensive than other solutions |
| Intuitive user interface | Lacks benefits administration tools compared to other solutions |
| Potential for loads of integrations | Mobile app lacks benefits data |
| Great administration resource | – |
| Comprehensive new hire onboarding details | – |
| Excellent time tracking system on mobile app and desktop | – |
5. Paychex – Best for small businesses that want flexible HR solutions
Pricing: The Paychex Flex Pro plan is $74 weekly plus $3.15 per employee, the Paychex Flex Select plan is $35 weekly plus $2.50 per employee, and the Express Payroll plan is $15 weekly plus $1 per employee. Paychex Flex Select is the most popular plan according to Paychex.
Thousands of clients in Europe and the United States use Paychex’s comprehensive HR and payroll service. Paychex will even help you take care of other tasks such as benefits, compliance, tax, and risk management. Payroll processing, comprehensive HR tools, hiring support, and benefits and insurance administration are some features of Paychex. Paychex is also a licensed insurer, so you can choose to use their insurance services directly rather than having to shop around.
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to navigate | Costly |
| Scalable system | Learning curve |
| Unlimited custom fields | Year-end tax reports for extra price |
| HR and benefits administration functionality | – |
| Flexible HR and payroll plans | – |
| Payroll specialist | – |
| Around-the-clock customer support |
6. Bitrix24 – Best web-based solution for free
Pricing: Bitrix24 is free for an unlimited number of users. However, they also offer paid plans. The Basic plan is $39/month for up to 5 users, the Standard plan is $79/month for up to 50 users, and the Professional plan is $159/month for unlimited users.
Bitrix24 is among the best free web-based solutions. Sure you can decide to purchase a plan, but the free version should provide more than enough HR and payroll management tools for small businesses with smaller HR teams. Features include employee directories, document management, attendance tracking, detailed task management analytics, and advanced customer relationship management.
| Pros | Cons |
| The software is very versatile | Setup can be difficult |
| Partial automation of sales and marketing processes | Learning curve |
| Great communication tools | Cluttered user interface |
| CRM integration | – |
| Excellent management tools | – |
| Unlimited cloud storage | – |
| Scalable | – |
7. Homebase – Best for employee scheduling and time tracking
Pricing: Homebase’s Basic plan for tracking hours and managing schedules is free for 1 location and unlimited employees. The Essentials plan is $14/month/location, the Plus plan is $35/month/location, and the All in One plan is $70/month/location.
Homebase is a great option if you’re looking for employee scheduling and time tracking solutions because these features are free. Other features included in the free plan are job postings and applicant tracking, which competitors usually offer for an extra cost. However, Homebase is scalable, so you can easily upgrade your plan should your business need a more comprehensive set of HR management tools. Homebase features include scheduling, time and attendance tracking, team communication and management, hiring, payroll processing, integrations, and customer support.
| Pros | Cons |
| Free plan is feature-rich | Free plan is limited to one location |
| Excellent time and applicant tracking tools | Lacks employee benefits solutions |
| Great scheduling and job postings tools | Glitch-prone mobile app |
| Reasonably priced paid plans | Some integration issues |
| No hidden fees or set up fees | – |
| Unlimited number of employees | – |
| Easy to use and set up | – |
| Hiring tools included in the free plan | – |
| Intuitive user interface | |
| Comprehensive scheduling features included in the mobile app | – |
| Experienced HR experts | – |
| Responsive customer service | – |
8. ADP Run – Best for small businesses that are planning to grow
Pricing: To request a free quote, please visit ADP’s website.
Nearly 700,000 small businesses use ADP Run. ADP offers HR and payroll services for businesses of all sizes, but the Run service is specifically designed for small businesses with up to 50 workers. If you’re a growing business, you can always choose to upgrade to a more comprehensive ADP solution. With ADP Run, you’ll get access to tools that will help you scale your business. Some useful features include hiring tools, benefits administration, and payment options.
| Pros | Cons |
| No additional fee for calculating and filing payroll taxes | Benefits administration comes at an extra cost |
| Great accounting integrations | Additional fee for processing year-end filings |
| Recruiting tools | No unlimited payroll runs |
| Automatic payroll | – |
| Marketing and legal assistance add-ons | – |
| Automatic reports | – |