Looking for an HRIS system? Find out what are the best HRIS systems for small, midsize, and enterprise businesses in 2022.
If you’re on the hunt for an HRIS system, you might find yourself lost in the process. Between a myriad of options on the market, it’s hard to choose the best HRIS system for your organization.
As providers of people analytics software that is used together with an HRIS, our customers often ask us: What is the best HRIS system on the market? To that, our answer is always the same: the best HRIS is the one that works best for you.
This article is part of our series on creating an optimal HR tech stack. It will be part of our “People Ops Guide for CHROs” e-book that’s in preparation. Sign up to be the first to find out once the guide is out.
How to choose the best HRIS for your business
When choosing your HRIS, you are not only choosing a tool where you will keep your employee data related to legislation, onboarding, offboarding, potentially performance management, etc., but you are also laying the ground for people analytics as this will be your central data storage.
Depending on how you keep track of your data in HRIS, you will be able to uncover HR metrics related to DEI, turnover, leadership, talent management, compensation & benefits, etc. That is why you need to consider multiple criteria and ask the right questions to the vendors you will vet to become your future provider.
Every company is different and has specific needs that need to be covered. In this case, the one-size-fits-all approach is impossible to apply. Therefore, you have to look for the HRIS that works best for your organization. Here are the most important factors to include in your selection process.
- How big is your company?
- What are your growth plans?
- In how many countries does your company operate?
- What is your budget?
- What companies are using the HRIS you’re considering?
- Does it cover the most important features you need?
To dig deeper, you can read our post on the top criteria for choosing the best HRIS for your organization.
However, some established market leaders have proved themselves valuable and highly rated among their users. In this article, we bring you an overview of 14 leading HRIS systems to help you choose the best one for your organization, including tips on the features you should focus on in your search.
14 best HRIS systems
Here is our selection of the best HRIS systems on the market today. We based our research on user reviews from G2, Capterra, and SelectSoftware Reviews, as well as on our customers’ input. In this list, you will find software suited to companies of all sizes.
HRIS systems for small to mid-sized companies
BambooHR
BambooHR has become a “gold standard” when it comes to HRIS systems for mid-sized businesses. It covers core administrative HR functions extremely well and is a well-recognized market leader in HRIS for small to midsize businesses.
While it also features ATS and performance management, BambooHR’s true power comes from great APIs and customer support. This combination makes it easy for users to connect BambooHR with tools that are specialized in specific areas of HR, like candidate tracking or payroll.
Best/unique features: great coverage of core HRIS functions, integration capabilities (API), customer support
Best suited for: small to mid-sized businesses
Notable customers: SoundCloud, Foursquare, Reddit
G2 rating: 4.4/5
Pricing starts at: $4.95 per employee per month
Notable integrations: Leapsome, Sparkhire, Lattice, Greenhouse, Workable, Officevibe, Pento, Slack, ClickTime, Orgnostic
Some metrics you can track with Orgnostic’s people analytics software (see all):
HiBob
HiBob is an HRIS that has swept the HR tech market with its steep growth and superb UI. It is best suited for organizations operating in Europe and the Middle East.
HiBob covers all the core HR functions, and its users mostly praise reporting, privacy and data security policies, and self-service capabilities. However, there are also complaints in regards to HiBob’s scalability – users mostly agree that it is best suited for mid-sized companies based in a single location.
Although this HRIS system doesn’t feature pricing models on their website, its customers say that its price is higher than the average for vendors serving same-sized organizations.
Best/unique features: great UI and UX, ready-to-go features without complex setup
Best suited for: small to mid-sized businesses
Notable customers: Fiverr, SmartRecruiters, Lunar
G2 rating: 4.3/5
Pricing starts at: custom
Notable integrations: BreezyHR, JobVite, Zapier, Okta, GSuite, 360 Learning, Deel, Paylocity, Jira Cloud, MS Teams, Orgnostic
Some metrics you can track with Orgnostic’s people analytics software (see all):
Rippling
Rippling is among the best-rated HRIS systems on the market. Its features include payroll, time and attendance, talent management, benefits management, and PEO services. With a great payroll function, it’s favored by HRs looking to have this important feature incorporated in their HRIS.
An interesting addition to Rippling’s offering is the suite of IT products. App management module handles employees’ secure connection with the organization’s apps and device management makes it easy to set up and manage employees’ devices remotely.
Best/unique features: substantial coverage of payroll functionalities, device management
Best suited for: small to mid-sized businesses
Notable customers: Superhuman, ClickUp, Highnoon
G2 rating: 4.8/5
Pricing starts at: $8 per user per month
Notable integrations: Github, Google Workspace, Greenhouse, Jira, Slack
Humaans
Humaans is an exciting UK-based HR startup that raised $5 million in seed funding in 2021. Its attractive UI and design are turning a lot of heads with young startups in Europe.
Although we are yet to see how Humaans evolve, they are, for now, very popular with distributed teams that grow fast. User-friendliness, good-looking and frequent updates are the most mentioned advantages among its users.
Best/unique features: onboarding features, API and integration capabilities, great UI/UX
Best suited for: small to mid-sized businesses
Notable customers: ChartMogul, Pento, Pleo
G2 rating: 4.8/5
Pricing starts at: €6 per seat per month
Notable integrations: Google Calendar, Slack, Lattice, CultureAmp, Assembly, DocuSign, Workable, Lever, Zapier, Pento
Gusto
Gusto was built around payroll functionality similar to Rippling. Both solutions also partner with brokers to offer employee benefits and eliminate the need for additional payroll tools.
However, Gusto’s reviews suggest that their HRIS is best suited for small businesses with up to 50 employees. Customers say it offers comprehensive features for such small teams, but becomes difficult to manage once organizations start to scale.
Best/unique features: full-service payroll, comprehensive features, user-friendly
Best suited for: small businesses
Notable customers: iMedicare, eAlchemy, Club Pilates
G2 rating: 4.3/5
Pricing starts at: $6 per person per month
Notable integrations: 15Five, Asana, Bonusly, Box, Clover, Dropbox, JazzHR, Livestorm, Monday.com, Salesforce, Shopify
Personio
Personio is an HRIS system that is predominantly present in continental Europe and German-speaking areas. Users commend the fast implementation process and responsive customer service.
Personio supports core HR functionalities in addition to preliminary payroll, recruitment module, and basic performance management. Although user reviews mention minor dislikes about the tool, they do applaud Personio for frequent improvements and updates.
Best/unique features: well-structured implementation process, helpful customer service
Best suited for: small to mid-sized businesses
Notable customers: Lush, About You, Premier Inn
G2 rating: 4.4/5
Pricing starts at: €2,88 per month per employeeNotable integrations: DATEV, Slack, Culture Amp, Circula, Greenhouse, Google Calendar, Google SSO, Lattice, LinkedIn, Orgnostic
Some metrics you can track with Orgnostic‘s people analytics software (see all):
Factorial
Factorial is an HRIS system that mostly covers the Spanish-speaking market in Europe and Latin America. Their best-rated features include organizational management and time & attendance modules.
Most users mention how it helps them save valuable time by automating repetitive tasks. However, some users would like it to be more flexible since it gets harder to manage when organizations scale.
Best/unique features: great time, attendance & PTO module, easy setup
Best suited for: small to mid-sized businesses
Notable customers: Fever, CoverWallet, Crisalix
G2 rating: 4.4/5
Pricing starts at: $3.5 per month per employee
Notable integrations: Slack, Greenhouse, Workable, Google Calendar, Zapier
PeopleHR
People HR is another HRIS system for small to mid-sized businesses whose simple user interface is its main selling point. People HR are mainly serving UK clients.
Its customers praise it for simplicity and good performance management. However, there are some complaints when it comes to customer service and forms customization.
Best/unique features: simple user interface, mobile app
Best suited for: small to mid-sized businesses
Notable customers: Ministry of Sound, Circle IT, Austin Fraser
G2 rating: 4.2/5
Pricing starts at: £4 per employee per month
Notable integrations: ADP, Glassdoor, Word and Excel, Okta, Find My Shift, Pay Fit, Orgnostic
Some metrics you can track with Orgnostic’s people analytics software (see all):
SageHR
Sage HR’s HRIS solution includes core HR functionalities, leave management, performance, shift scheduling, expense management, and recruitment.
Companies using Sage HR span across different industries. Users report that it covers all the basic HR functions they need and only mention smaller complaints like occasional bugs with calendar functionality.
Best/unique features: integrations, self-service capabilities
Best suited for: mid-sized businesses
Notable customers: Skyscanner, Huddle, Keoghs
G2 rating: 4.3/5
Pricing starts at: $4.5 per employee per month
Notable integrations: G Suite, Slack, Single Sign On, Zapier
HRIS systems for mid-sized to enterprise companies
UKG Ready (ex Kronos)
UKG Ready is an HRIS solution that came to be by merging two HR software providers in 2020 – Kronos and Ultimate Software. With over 70 years in the business, UKG is serving a lot of HR functionalities under one umbrella, which makes it particularly useful for larger businesses.
This HRIS is US-centric and serves a large customer base. Since the merger, we see that their customers have observed improvements in its core functions. However, users still report poor integrations and a lack of customizability.
Best/unique features: customizable reports, user-friendly timekeeping system
Best suited for: enterprise businesses
Notable customers: Tesla, Marriott, Yamaha
G2 rating: 4.0/5
Pricing starts at: custom
Notable integrations: Salesforce, Cornerstone, iCIMS, JobVite, Equifax, Quickbooks
ADP Workforce Now
ADP started out as a payroll solution and is now a certified giant in the HRIS world. They serve enterprises and have a large customer base in the US.
ADP is one of the best-known HRIS systems for enterprise companies today. The reviews reveal that ADP is user-friendly, which is not very common for such large systems. Also, reviews mention the lack of customization options as one of its drawbacks.
Best/unique features: payroll, user-friendly
Best suited for: enterprise businesses
Notable customers: Hyatt, Coca-Cola, Consumer Packaged Goods
G2 rating: 4.1/5
Pricing starts at: $59 per month plus $4 per employee per month
Notable integrations: Wave, Xero, Workday, 7Shifts, Lever, Sapling, SAP Litmos, Zip Recruiter, Decisely, FinFit, MS Teams
Workday
Just like BambooHR for small to mid-sized businesses, Workday is sort of a go-to HRIS solution for enterprise businesses. Their compensation management and benefits administration are beloved by their customers.
Most complaints from customers include long waiting times for customer service and steep prices for any extra modules that companies want to add on.
Best/unique features: compensation management, benefits administration
Best suited for: enterprise businesses
Notable customers: Netflix, Target, FedEx
G2 rating: 4.0/5
Pricing starts at: custom
Notable integrations: Achievers, Adobe, Beamery, BetterUp, Cisive, Cority, DocuSign, Gallup, HireVue, Indeed, LinkedIn
SuccessFactors
SAP SuccessFactors are an enterprise-serving HRIS solution from SAP’s portfolio of products. As such, SuccessFactors very easily fit into the systems of organizations that already use SAP.
There is a myriad of modules to add to the core SAP SF products, making it easier to introduce new areas to cover (like recognition or performance).
User reviews reveal that user experience is not SuccessFactors’ strongest suit as well as its poor reporting capabilities.
Best/unique features: easy to implement with SAP portfolio
Best suited for: enterprise businesses
Notable customers: Kmart, Vodafone, Kärcher
G2 rating: 3.8/5
Pricing starts at: customNotable integrations: SAP ERP suite of apps
Cornerstone
Just like Gusto and Rippling started as payroll solutions, Cornerstone was a learning management system first and an HRIS system second.
To this day, Cornerstone is more popular as a learning platform that allows employees across companies to acquire new skills or improve current ones. As such, they are a popular HRIS solution for organizations that have had their touchpoint with their LMS first.
This includes organizations that have large hard engineering departments with a lot of junior employees – like aviatics, robotics, etc.
Best/unique features: great integration with Cornerstone LMS, competency management
Best suited for: mid-sized to large businesses
Notable customers: Canon, Siemens, Ups
G2 rating: 3.7/5
Pricing starts at: customNotable integrations: MS Teams, e-days, Salesforce, Coursera for Business, Accurate Background Check
Conclusion: the best HRIS is the one that works best for you
Some of the HRIS systems that we mentioned are better suited to small to mid-sized businesses, while others traditionally serve enterprise customers. This should be your first clue in choosing the best HRIS for your organization.
After pinning down your business needs and reviewing different software, we advise that you create a matrix for evaluation of providers based on these criteria and compare them to each other. Remember, you need to choose the HRIS system that covers the most important features for your current and future needs.
Most HRIS vendors cover basic HR functions pretty well and offer additional modules like performance management or recruitment to their portfolio.
Word of advice: don’t make your decision based on the add-ons, but the core functionalities.
Look for the combination of excellent HR core functionalities and good integration capabilities. Why? Because with such a system, you will easily connect the data from your HRIS system with other HR software specialized for non-core HR, like recruitment or performance management.