11 Best Small Business HR Software in 2024 [TOP SELECTIVE ONLY]

This article gives you a researched list of the top HR software suitable for small businesses. Select the best Small Business HR Software:

As the name suggests, Human Resources is the administrative part of a business that looks after the ‘humans’ associated with the business operations. These ‘humans’ are the workforce of a business.

The role of the Human Resources department of a business includes finding and hiring the top talents for the business, making the onboarding process smooth and easy, so as to increase employee retention, training employees, performance management, keeping track of time and attendance, paying on time, and more.

All of these roles are a crucial part of the business and need to be done with utmost care. Thus, HR software has been introduced, which makes the HR processes automated and more efficient.

Small Business HR Management Software – Review

In this article, we will talk about the best HR software for small businesses and how they make HR processes easier with their features. You can also go through the comparison chart so that you can get a clear idea of the best software for your business.

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List of Best Small Business HR Software

Popular HR management software for small businesses: 

1. Paychex
2. BambooHR
3. ADP
4. Rippling
5. Gusto
6. Paylocity
7. OnPay
8. GoCo
9. Paycor
10. Zenefits
11. Namely

Comparing the Top HR Software for Small Business

Detailed Reviews:

#1) Paychex

Best for being a scalable and powerful HR management platform.

Paychex is a leading, all-in-one small business HR management software. Features offered by Paychex include payroll, HR, time and attendance, 401(k) and retirement planning, and employee benefits.

You can get an HR and payroll solution according to your business size, location, and industry. Plus, the platform also offers you HR outsourcing and advisory services.

Deployment: On Cloud, SaaS, Web, Mac/Windows desktop, Android/iOS mobile, iPad.
Customer Service: 24/7 customer service is available through email, phone, and chat.
Clients of Paychex: Bolden Insurance Agency, Viticulture Wine Bar, Jewish Community Day School, and more.

Features:

• Tools to process payroll and payroll taxes.
• Tools that help you offer attractive retirement plans to your employees.
• Get tools for recruitment, applicant tracking, and benefits administration.
• Get expert HR advice.

Pros:

• Mobile applications for iOS and Android devices.
• Gives you data-driven insights to help you make better business decisions.
• HR outsourcing services.

Cons:

• Paychex would be a much more beneficial product if it offered integration with applications like Quicken and more.

Verdict: Trusted by more than 700,000 businesses from all over the world, Paychex is an all-in-one payroll and HR software. Paychex offers HR solutions based on your business size, which implies that the software is scalable. Plus, it is easy to use and powerful at the same time.

Price: Contact directly to get a price quote.

#2) BambooHR

Best for being affordable and easy to use.

BambooHR is an award-winning HR software that has tools for hiring, onboarding, compensation, managing people’s data and analytics, performance management, and more. The platform currently serves 120 countries and more than 80% of its customers are small to medium-sized businesses.

BambooHR has over 20,000 customers from all over the world, coming from over 50 different industries. The platform helps you transform your business so that it becomes a paperless one.

Deployment: On Cloud, SaaS, Web, Mac/Windows desktop, Android/iOS mobile, iPad.
Customer Service: Available through email, phone, chat, FAQs, and a knowledge base.
Clients of BambooHR: Change.org, Jane, Winshuttle, and more.

Features:

• Integration with over 50 third-party applications, including Papaya Global, Checkr, and more.
• Tools for maintaining employee records.
• Instant HR reporting.
• New hire onboarding, offboarding, and e-signature facilities.

Pros:

• Responsive customer service.
• Mobile applications.
• Easy to use.

Cons:

• The platform should be more scalable. The reporting and onboarding tools are suitable for small businesses only.

Verdict: BambooHR is a highly recommended, all-in-one HR software for small businesses. The range of features offered is praiseworthy, and price and customer service are also the plus points of the platform.

The software is powerful enough to replace your entire HR workforce. It does the job of hiring, onboarding, data and analytics, and more, thus saving much of your costs.

Price: BambooHR offers a free trial. Contact us directly for pricing details.

#3) ADP

Best for powerful automation tools.

ADP is a popular and highly trusted HR and payroll services provider for small businesses.

You get all the features you need for human capital management, including payroll, HR services, workforce management, retirement planning, benefits administration, talent acquisition, and more.

The company has its headquarters in Roseland, New Jersey. Its estimated total revenue is $14.5k Million, and renders its services in 140 countries.

Deployment: On Cloud, SaaS, Web, Android/iOS mobile, iPad.
Customer Service: 24/7 customer service is available through email, phone, chat, FAQs, and a knowledge base.

Clients of ADP: Ascension Health, United Technologies Corporation, Genesis Healthcare, Dollar Thrifty Automotive, and more.

Features:

• Automation tools for payroll, tax calculations, and deductions.
• Expert HR Advisory Services.
• Automatic time and attendance tracking and reporting tools.
• Benefits administration, retirement planning features.

Pros:

• Full HR services outsourcing services.
• Open API for integration with many other applications.
• 2 months of free time and attendance feature.

Cons:

• The learning curve is a bit steep.

Verdict: Having more than 920,000 clients from different industries and businesses of all sizes, ADP is an 80 year old, well-established platform. The platform is scalable and has obtained nice reviews from almost all of its users. The software is highly recommended for businesses of all sizes.

Price: Contact us directly for pricing details.

#4) Rippling

Best for offering 1000+ pre-built courses for HR teams and some powerful automation tools for HR workflows.

Rippling is one of the best HR software for small businesses. The application offers you some powerful automation tools for your daily HR management needs.

The company has offices in San Francisco, Bengaluru, New York, Bellevue, and Beijing. Rippling has customers from many different industries, including healthcare, retail, financial services, marketing and advertising, technology, restaurants, and more.

Deployment: On Cloud, SaaS, Web, Mac/Windows desktop, iOS/Android mobile, iPad.
Customer Service: 24/7 customer service is available through email, phone, and chat.
Clients of Rippling: Superhuman, Trash Butler, Qualio, Beam Dental, and more.

Features:

• Automation tools for HR workflows and onboarding/offboarding.
• Document management and e-signatures facility.
• Payroll and tax filing can be done within minutes.
• Integrated automatic time and attendance tracking.
• Applicant tracking, benefits administration, and more.
• Pre-built compliance courses, sexual harassment training, and more.

Pros:

• Powerful automation tools.
• Scalable platform.

Cons:

• With Rippling, you pay more than what you use in a small business.

Verdict: Customers of Rippling have some nice views about the platform. Highnoon claims that Rippling helped them achieve 10 times faster onboarding, and Compass Coffee claims that there was a 96% reduction in their HR and IT tasks after using Rippling.

Double Good claims they had saved $50k in software costs, with the help of Rippling.

Price: Starts at $8 per user per month.

Further Reading => Have you tried these Small Side Business Ideas

#5) Gusto

Best for full-service payroll.

Founded with the name ZenPayroll, Gusto serves over 200,000 businesses today. Features offered by the platform include payroll, benefits administration, time and attendance, hiring and onboarding, talent management, reporting, and more.

Gusto has been featured in The New York Times, Axios, Fast Company, CNBC, and other leading platforms.

Deployment: On Cloud, SaaS, Web.
Customer Service: Available through email, phone, chat, FAQs, and a knowledge base.
Clients of Gusto: Kids Atelier, Cortex, Heckler Design, Lance CPA Group, and more.

Features:

• Allows you unlimited payroll runs and looks after tax track time.
• Gives you HR advisory services.
• Hiring and onboarding tools including the job posting, document management, e-signatures, applicant tracking, and more.
• Automation tools for data-driven reporting.

Pros:

• Appreciable customer service.
• Easy-to-use platform.
• Integration with Slack, QuickBooks, Xero, and more.

Cons:

• The only thing we think can be improved is customer service. The support team is very nice, but it takes a bit longer to get a response from them over the phone.

Verdict: The customer reviews Gusto and found that over 85% of the customers of the platform are of the view that Gusto is easier to use than its counterparts. The platform is scalable and highly recommended for businesses of all sizes.

Price: Starts at $45 per month.

#6) Paylocity

Best for highly useful mobile applications.

Paylocity is an American company that offers small business HR software. Our software offers you tools for payroll, talent acquisition, HR, workforce management, benefits administration, and more.

It is a powerful, flexible, all-in-one platform that aims to care for its customers.

Deployment: On Cloud, SaaS, Web, Mac/Windows desktop, Android/iOS mobile, iPad
Customer Service: Available through email, phone, chat, FAQs, and knowledge base.
Clients of Paylocity: Air Squared, Milgard, Ritchie Trucking Service, and more.

Features:

• Payroll services, including expense management, tax services, wage garnishments, and more.
• Easy integration with other applications to transfer information and files.
• Human Resources management tools include employee self-service, data management, and analytics, and more.
• Workforce management tools include time and attendance tracking, scheduling, and more.

Pros:

• Highly useful integrations.
• Mobile applications for iOS as well as Android users.

Cons:

• Platform is a bit less user-friendly compared to their alternatives.

Verdict: Paylocity has over 28.5k customers. The set of features that you get is appealing, plus, the price you pay is reasonable. The customer service is nice. The platform is scalable and your employees can access each feature through their personal mobile phones.

Price: Contact us directly for a price quote.

#7) OnPay

Best for full-service payroll.

OnPay is one of the best HR systems for small businesses. 99% of the customers of OnPay have stated that the software has saved much of their time and 98% of them have stated that they would recommend OnPay.

This software offers you full-service payroll services, essential HR tools, employee self-service tools, useful integrations, and more.

Deployment: On Cloud, SaaS, Web, Android/iOS mobile, iPad.
Customer Service: Available through email, phone, and chat.
Clients of OnPay: Artcloud, Cartecay Bike Shop, Futurus, The Hazel Room, and more.

Features:

• Allows you to make unlimited payroll runs and automates the tax filing and payments process.
• Expert HR support.
• Automation tools for the onboarding process and e-signatures facility.
• Employees’ self-service portal.

Pros:

• The first month is free.
• Integration with your favorite applications like QuickBooks, Xero, When I Work, Deputy, Guideline, and more.

Cons:

• No in-built time tracking or scheduling tools.

Verdict: OnPay is affordable HR software for small businesses. They claim to cut up to 50% of your payroll costs, when you shift to OnPay, from other premium payroll companies. Customer service and the ease of use offered by the software.

Price: The first month is free, plus there is no set-up cost. Then you have to pay a $36 per month base fee + $4 per person per month.

#8) GoCo

Best for being a flexible and customizable platform.

GoCo is a modern, user-friendly online HR software small businesses can rely on. The platform integrates with a number of platforms, thus bringing all HR tools to a single, unified place.

Data security, mobile applications, payroll, HR management, onboarding, benefits administration, and other features make the software a highly recommended one.

Deployment: On Cloud, SaaS, Web, Android/iOS mobile, iPad
Customer Service: Available through email, phone, chat, and a knowledge base.
Clients of GoCo: Textbroker, Quota Path, Caliper Foods, and more.

Features:

• Automation tools for the hiring and onboarding process.
• Automatic synchronization with your favorite applications.
• For payroll processing, get integrated with any Payroll application like Execupay, QuickBooks Online, and more.
• Maintains employee records, time offs, benefits, and more.

Pros:

• Integrations with Slack, Execupay, Human Interest, When I Work, and more.
• SOC 2 Certification – Type 1 & 2, ISO 27001, and FISMA-certified data centers to keep your data secure.

Cons:

• Lack of scalability.

Verdict: GoCo is an award-winning HR software, which is suitable for small businesses. The platform is flexible and easy to use. The customer support offered by them. Plus, the learning resources for the HR teams act as a cherry on top.

Price: Starts at $5 per employee per month.

#9) Paycor

Best for global payments and employee training programs.

Paycor is a 32-year-old HR management software for small businesses. The company has offices at more than 25 locations across the United States of America. The software is used by businesses from different industries including healthcare, manufacturing, restaurants, retail, professional services, nonprofits, and education.

Deployment: On Cloud, SaaS, Web, Mac/Windows desktop, Android/iOS mobile, iPad
Customer Service: Available through email, phone, chat, FAQs, and a knowledge base.
Clients of Paycor: Smuttynose Brewing Company, UWC, Camp Woof, Wendy’s, and more.

Features:

• Pay your global employees.
• Hiring tools include video interviewing and background screening.
• Time and attendance tracking and scheduling tools.
• Benefits administration tools, employee training programs, and more.

Pros:

• Mobile-friendly platform.
• Easy to use.

Cons:

• The only issue we found with Paycor is their billing system. They charge you unexpected fees most of the time.

Verdict: Paycor is an award-winning platform with more than 2 million users.

The platform offers you different plans according to your business size and requirements. The software is SOC 2 Type 2, AICPA certified, thus rendering it standard data security.

Price: Contact us directly for a price quote.

#10) Zenefits

Best for being a time-savvy HR management platform.

Built with the mission of empowering small businesses that contribute a major part of the US economy, Zenefits is today one of the best small business HR software. The platform is SOC II certified, offers TLS and AES-256-bit encryption to your data, and guarantees more than 99.9% uptime.

Deployment: On Cloud, SaaS, Web, Android/iOS mobile, Mac/Windows desktop.
Customer Service: Available through email, phone, chat, FAQs, and a knowledge base.
Clients of Zenefits: Strada, Fireclay Tile, Heal Accounting, YLabs, and more.

Features:

• Performance management tools include goal setting and tracking, one-on-one meetings, and more.
• Talent acquisition tools
• Advanced payroll features include wage garnishments, direct deposit, multiple schedules, pay rates, general ledger reporting, and more.
• Time tracking benefits management and more features.

Pros:

• Seamless synchronization across platforms for HR, payroll, benefits, time tracking, etc.
• Get HR advisory services.
• A free trial is available.

Cons:

• You need to pay extra charges, per employee, to run payroll.

Verdict: Trusted by more than 10,000 businesses and nonprofits, Zenefits is undoubtedly a popular platform for HR and payroll services.

More than 50 tech partners have integrated with Zenefits and over 400,000 HR employees have been empowered, due to this platform.

Price: Prices are as follows:

• Essentials: $8 per employee per month
• Growth: $14 per employee per month
• Zen: $21 per employee per month
• Enterprise: Contact sales for a price quote.

#11) Namely

Best for being a flexible and easy-to-use platform.

Namely is a 10-year-old platform, founded in New York City and the software is built for small to mid-sized businesses. Solutions offered by Namely include HR, talent acquisition, benefits administration, payroll and time tracking, reporting and analytics, and more.

Deployment: On Cloud, SaaS, Web, Android/iOS mobile
Customer Service: Available through email, phone, chat, FAQs, and a knowledge base.
Clients of Namely: Archer Malmo, Vita Coco, ExecOnline, and more.

Features:

• Keeps record of all data
• Onboarding, e-signatures tools
• Time tracking tools
• Mobile applications for iOS and Android users

Pros:

• User-friendly platform
• Open API for integrations

Cons:

• Lack of scalability

Verdict: Namely is a user-friendly small business HR software that serves more than 1200 mid-sized businesses today.

Overall, experience with the software is satisfactory. The platform is intuitive and their development team is constantly working on updates so that the software can, at all times, deliver what its users want.

Price: Contact us directly for a price quote.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Since small businesses need to spend much time on growth and other important aspects, and the HR processes demand a lot of time, going for a small business HR management software would always prove to be a fruitful option, as it will save time and costs and will definitely increase efficiency in operations.

Some of the best HR software for small businesses are BambooHR, Paychex, ADP, Rippling, Gusto, Paylocity, OnPay, and GoCo.

This software offers you tools for the digital transformation of the HR processes including hiring, onboarding, offboarding, talent management, performance management, payroll, taxes, time and attendance, collaboration, and more.

Research Process:

• Time Taken to Research this Article: We spent 13 hours researching and writing this article so you can get a useful summarized list of tools with a comparison of each for your quick review.
• Total Tools Researched Online: 22
• Top Tools Shortlisted for Review: 11