Top Free Core HR Software
Check out our list of free Core HR Software. Products featured on this list are the ones that offer a free trial version. As with most free versions, there are limitations, typically time or features.
If you'd like to see more products and to evaluate additional feature options, compare all Core HR Software to ensure you get the right product.
BambooHR is the No. 1 Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company providing online HR Software for small and medium businesses that have outgrown spreadsheets. BambooHR’s cloud-based system is an intuitive, affordable way for growing companies to track and manage essential employee information in a personalized Human Resources Information System (HRIS). Now HR managers have more time for meaningful work, executives get accurate, timely reports and employees can self-service their time off, using a conv
Rippling makes it easy to manage your company's Payroll, Benefits, HR, and IT—all in one, modern platform. It brings all of your employee systems and data together, and helps automate your busy work. Take onboarding, for example. With Rippling, you can just click a button, and in 90 seconds set up a new hires’ payroll, health insurance, 401K, work computer, and third-party apps — like Slack, Zoom, and Office 365 — 100% online and paperlessly. And that's just one reason why Rippling is The #1 R
Gusto is a modern, online people platform that helps small businesses take care of their teams. On top of full-service payroll, Gusto offers health insurance, 401(k)s, expert HR, and team management tools. Today, Gusto offices in Denver, San Francisco, and New York serve more than 100,000 businesses nationwide.
GoCo is Modern HR, Benefits, and Payroll, built for flexibility and ease-of-use. With GoCo, you can automate your HR workflow and streamline onboarding, PTO, payroll, and benefits administration. GoCo is a secure, compliant hub for sending, digitally signing, and organizing your sensitive HR documents and data. And it works flexibly with the apps, payroll, and benefits broker you're working with today. Try it free!
Personio is the holistic HR software for small and medium-sized companies with up to 2,000 employees. The software provider, founded in 2015, based in Munich, London, Madrid and Dublin, has set itself the goal of making HR processes faster, clearer and more efficient. In turn, this allows HR managers to take the time to focus on the most valuable assets in any successful company: the employees. With this goal in mind, Personio is developing an all-in-one software solution for recruitment process
Everyone's Favorite - All-in-One - Social HR Software for everything from Hire to Retire. Take care of your most important asset - your Human Resource. Ranked as #1 Global HR Software, WebHR is the first true Social HR Software to connect & engage your employees. First HR Software to introduce AI into HR. Payroll / Benefits / ATS / Time & Attendance / PTO / Employees Self Service / Performance / Goals / ... you name it, WebHR has it.
It's time to switch from an ERP system to a system of Employee Engagement. Zoho People is an online HRIS which lets you maintain your employee database, manage your workforce and ensures consistency in all your HR Processes. Reduce your HR staff’s workload instantly!
Sage HR (formerly CakeHR) is an award-winning, centralized Human Resource management solution that simplifies HR. It is especially created to turn talent into an asset for small and medium businesses. Sage HR balances cost with features offering a set of functionalities that companies actually use. It leads with its easy navigation and streamlined user interface. Pop-ups and modals are designed to reduce overwhelm. Employees get a clear birds-eye view of their tasks, goals, leave balance a
Designed for small to mid-sized businesses, PeopleHR provides a platform for all key HR functions, including applicant tracking, personnel tracking, performance review, and more. The system includes an employee-tracking database, that allows users to create new employee records, fill in key contact information, and store documents. PeopleHR includes unlimited document storage, so users can attach as much paperwork as necessary to each employee profile. Within the applicant tracking module of Pe
PurelyHR is the ultimate leave management software for small to medium-sized businesses looking to change the world. Not only do our core modules allow you to track your staff’s leave requests and approvals, they also streamline your companies diverse time off policies and hierarchies. In the past year, we’ve introduced additional modules like our Time Clock and Timesheet software and most recently our e-signature platform for warnings and other important HR-related documents. PurelyHR prides it
Fingercheck is the modern workforce solution that transforms the way small businesses work through automation of everyday HR tasks. Charging only a fraction of what others do, we let small business owners easily process payroll while also manage hiring, employee onboarding, time tracking, and benefits and insurance policies. We allow small businesses to think big by empowering owners and employees to better communicate, connect, and work more efficiently.
247HRM automates all HR functions from induction to exit including: Talent & Performance Management Compensation Management & Statutory Compliance Paid time off Time & Attendance Management Expense management Training Management Manpower & Salary budgeting Exit Management Skill and Succession Planning other core HR functions. 247HRM is built for the smartphone to allow employees easy access to its platform. It also includes Android & IOS apps. Webservices, API calls al
Staff Squared brings a whole new meaning to 'HR', making it much easier and more time efficient to manage your employee data and files, onboarding, absence management and much more in one, simple to use web-based platform. You and your team will love using Staff Squared as it will take you away from all that time spent buried in manual processes. Not to mention, our unique goals system will ensure that you are better connected with your team than ever before. Other features you don't want to m
Grove HR is the best free HR platform that helps SMBs digitize their HR operation so that they can create attractive digital employee experience. Based on both desktop and mobile, it provides a full employee lifecycle solution from recruitment, onboarding, to managing employee records. You can track your applicants via customized hiring stages, collaborate with your team, manage employee info and documents, approve/request time-off, create onboarding flow, and get real-time reports. Everything
intelliHR is a People Management and Analytics platform that empowers HR to work strategically, not just administratively. We’ve built all the tools you need to manage your HR into a single easy-to-use platform so that you can centralise performance management, employee engagement, core Human Resources processes and HR analytics all in the one place. * Engage and look after your employees with a suite of listening tools including eNPS, happiness and wellbeing surveys that make gathering feedba
Sage People empowers leading midsize organizations to build great workforce experiences that truly engage and inspire their people. Dramatically reducing processes through smart automation, using actionable insights to drive decision-making, and enabling organizations to easily adapt to drive workforce agility and business resilience, Sage People is the HR and People system of choice for organizations whose business success relies on their people's success.
At Breathe, we offer time-saving software that helps SMEs put their people first. So far, we’ve created two easy-to-use systems–one to simplify HR admin and the other to manage staff rotas. Developed in-house, both systems are designed for businesses with up to 250 employees and are super-simple to use. Ditch the spreadsheets and time-consuming paperwork and discover a better way of managing your people. Start your 14-day trial today and see how Breathe’s intuitive products can help. Product
Established in 2005 in Secaucus, New Jersey, OrangeHRM is one of the pioneers in developing Human Resources Management Software. Offering choice and flexibility, the system is easily scalable and affordable. The company today, serves over 4.2 Million users in over 100 countries the world over. The state of the art software also supports between 25 to 25,000 employees and is the leading HR Management Software for Start-up's, SME's as well as Large Transnational and Multinational organizations
greytHR automates key areas of HR like leave, attendance and payroll management. It's an HR and Payroll software for Indian businesses as it reduces and simplifies work by delivering fast and accurate results.
Factorial is a powerful HR free tool that will help you to automate the HR department of your company. Some of its features are the Time Off manager, Time Off manager, Benefits for employees, Organizational chart generator, Document manager, Fixed, variable and flexible compensation manager and the Employee Portal.
A cloud-based HR software that makes all HR processes easy. Onboard new hires, store company documents, book and manage time off, run productive reviews and get professional HR advice. An easy, holistic system for managing your People needs.
Collage is Canada's leading bilingual HR, Payroll and Benefits management platform built specifically for the needs of SMBs. Platform features include employee record keeping, new hire onboarding, benefits administration, time off tracking, recruiting (ATS), performance reviews, HR reporting, and full-service payroll management. Collage also digitizes group benefits by syncing with any insurance provider in Canada.
HR Partner is a modern, easy-to-use HRIS designed for small and mid-sized companies. It takes the pain out of vacation management, recruiting, onboarding and employee records. HR Partner also includes an employee self-service portal to give your team a seamless experience.
VAIRKKO is a modular training management software suite offering solutions for every need of the training management process from training and certification tracking to distributing learning with tests/quizzes to observational checklists and more!
ZenHR is a cloud-based Human Resources Management System (HRMS) that is specifically designed to serve everyone from SME to Enterprise customers in the MENA market. ZenHR is completely localized to the MENA market, including all labor laws, expat regulations, and social security & tax laws. ZenHR helps HR departments and employees reach a state of Zen by offering state of the art cloud-based HR software solutions that provide value across all stages of HR from the 'Acquire' stage to the 'Re
UZIO is a SaaS-based HR, Benefits, and Payroll software platform for small to all sized businesses. UZIO helps HR teams manage costs and enhance employee experience by helping them go digital in all aspects of their daily operations. UZIO automates the paper-based administrative tasks that often overwhelm HR reps, centralizes HR, payroll, and benefits functionalities, and increases overall efficiency. UZIO Payroll: UZIO’s cloud-based payroll software integrates seamlessly with the rest of you
Gecko HRM is not your old fashioned HR system. It is an advance platform focusing on process automation, talent management and employee engagement. Product Features: I. Workforce Administration: • Employee 360, • Organizational Structure, • Leave Management, • Travel Orders, • Offboarding, • Document Generator II. Talent Management: • Recruiting & Onboarding, • Performance Management, • 360° Reviews, • Training Administration, • Succession Planning, • Compensation & Rewards III. Emplo
sumHR is an HR Management Software which transforms an HR representative into an HR hero. sumHR helps Small and Medium businesses to move past paperwork, spreadsheets, and outdated software. With sumHR, create a tasteful employee experience, track attendance, and leaves, define and manage goals, generate and schedule reports, and so much more. We're on a mission to improve the impact of HR teams in organizations globally. Let us take care of the mundane. We’ve got your back from A to Z with our
HRSoftware.me is a cloud-based HRIS and E-Signature solution combined that is ridiculously easy to use and enhances company communications and culture while handling many of the ever increasing HR Compliance regulations, laws, restrictions, document requirements and notifications required by law. Employees can login to their own dashboard answering their own questions about benefits, requesting time off and HR Related questions. They can also update their own information. And all employee updat
ALL YOUR PEOPLE MANAGEMENT NEEDS UNDER ONE ROOF. With StaffCircle you can build a high performing team no matter the location. Performance Management, Communications & Culture and HR software. Use all, or switch on only the modules that you want to work with your existing system. StaffCircle uniquely combines performance management and employee engagement into one cloud platform that measurably improves workplace culture, automates processes to deliver greater operational efficiency. Our
Top 10 Free Core HR Software in 2021
- BambooHR
- Rippling
- Gusto Payroll
- GoCo
- Personio
- WebHR
- Zoho People
- CakeHR
- People HR
- PurelyHR
Learn More About Core HR Software
What is Core HR Software?
Core HR software provides human resource administrators with a centralized system of record with which they can maintain, track, and update employee records. Data contained within these systems can originate from a variety of HR functions and be input manually or automatically through integrations with other HR software such as payroll, benefits administration, performance management, onboarding, or compensation management systems.
Core HR software provides a broad range of HR-related functionality. As businesses grow, the demand on their HR departments grows with them, and the many responsibilities of HR teams become difficult to handle without the help of a software solution. Because the role of an HR team is one with a lot of range, it often makes sense to have one tool which can handle many of the functions necessary rather than one tool for each function of an HR team.
HR departments and personnel manage benefits administration, recruiting, workforce management, time tracking, and more. Core HR software provides functionality for all of these solutions or offers integrations to pertinent software. The ability to manage tasks relating to all of these areas of business within one tool is crucial for boosting the efficiency of an HR team.
Another significant component of human resource management is the preparation of reports examining workforce trends such as benefits usage, turnover, retention, and employee performance. These reports facilitate the analysis of employee data and help shape HR policies. Reporting tools built into core HR systems can streamline this process by using stored employee records to automate report generation.
Although not intrinsic to all core HR products, these built-in reporting tools or integrations with third-party applications help HR departments analyze workforce trends and gauge organizational key performance indicators (KPIs). These reporting capabilities simplify the delivery of actionable human resource insights to key stakeholders.
The depth and complexity of reports made with core HR systems is dependant on the amount of employee data present. Integrating a core HR solution with other HR systems increases the amount of information available for reports. Core HR systems that are not integrated with other applications only offer information on employee headcount, demographics, and longevity with the company. Organizations with a fully integrated core HR system can analyze employee retention, onboarding efficacy, payroll trends, performance levels, and compensation structures. Administrators can then track how these factors affect corporate budgets and compliance with federal and state regulations.
Some core HR products also allow employees to generate personalized reports through their self-service portal. These reports can include information in the form of historical pay stubs, PTO balances, benefits usage, performance goals, and training progress. These can be used as periodic reference points for employees to use as benchmarks for their own performance. For more advanced reporting capabilities, industry professionals often look to HR analytics software that operates on top of the core HR system and provides more robust analytics.
Key Benefits of Core HR Software
- More effectively standardize and process payroll, compensation packages, and benefits plans
- Automate and track recruiting, onboarding, and employee performance
- Centralize company employment information, PTO, and other information relevant to employees
- Generate and automate reporting of HR data trends
- Reduce effort spent by HR administrators on individual employee selections
Why Use Core HR Software?
When a business starts out and only has a handful of employees, the notion of spending money on HR software seems farfetched. However, as a business grows, human resources management becomes a crucial part of a business’ success. Today, there are more core HR software offerings than ever, and modern, cloud-based systems are available at a much more affordable price than the traditional, on-premises behemoths of days past.
The maintenance of employee information is an important component of human resource management that, if managed poorly, can occupy a disproportionate amount of administrators’ time. To ease this process, core HR software offers multiple features that help administrators retain and organize workforce data. Additionally, core HR products include self-service capabilities that enable employees as end users to access and edit their information stored in the system.
HR professionals use core HR systems to store and update employee information when necessary, such as in the case of employee promotions or significant life events. Employee records are typically created when an individual is first hired and can extend to beyond retirement. Relevant information normally included in a standard core HR system includes employee demographics, contact information, and position details. Many core HR products also allow HR administrators to store onboarding paperwork within the system for centralized accessibility. HR departments can extend the functionality of their core HR system by integrating it with other HR applications such as corporate LMS and workforce management software.
Employee access — Core HR software also often enables employees to view their own personal information, making it easier for them to change things like benefit elections. This is a huge benefit for employees, as they are not left asking questions about things like payroll or benefits. It also helps save time for the HR professional, since they do not have to manually look up information or make changes for employees.
Compliance — Core HR software can be incredibly helpful for an HR department when it comes to record keeping and compliance. HR regulations are constantly changing, be it health care reform, tax codes, or labor laws. Core HR software can help the person in charge of HR stay on top of these changes, as well as manage employee data so that any necessary changes can be made easily.
Implementation — Since these software products are becoming more accessible and affordable, organizations are rightly turning to them sooner. Depending on the complexity of the tool, implementation is possible to be done in-house in a relatively quick timeframe. This wasn’t always the case in the past. Businesses often required consultants to come in and configure the tool for the business. Now that this isn’t the norm, it’s wise for small and growing businesses to consider a core HR tool.
Who Uses Core HR Software?
HR departments, personnel, and team members of everything from small businesses to enterprise-sized companies use core HR software to maintain accurate employee records.
Small businesses — Small businesses often have one person dedicated to taking care of all HR-related duties, and sometimes that is just a portion of this person’s job function. As a business grows, this can become overwhelming for someone, especially without the aid of a core HR tool. If an HR department doesn’t grow at the same pace of its business’ workforce, either via tools or manpower, errors and disorganization are likely to follow.
Kinds of Core HR Software
Core HR helps HR departments and personnel manage basic HR processes. This HR technology might provide the following HR solutions:
People management — Core HR software helps HR departments and personnel manage employee records.
Workforce management — Core HR technology maintains all HR administrative data and can be used to manage employee rostering, time and attendance, and scheduling.
Payroll — Core HR technology can integrate payroll features to streamline accurate payroll reporting and compliance.
Core HR Software Features
Organization management — Core HR software arranges employees in an organizational structure that can be used throughout the application for reporting, permissions, etc.
Self-service portal — Self-service portals offered by core HR products allow employees to reference and update their information without relying on HR administrators for assistance. Information, such as available paid time off (PTO), payroll details, and onboarding and training materials, is all accessible to employees through core HR self-service options. HR administrators can often customize permission levels for different HR information within the core HR system, preventing employees from accessing private information through their portal.
Time, attendance, and PTO — Core HR often includes features that track time, attendance, paid time off, sick time, scheduling, and more.
Salary structures — Core HR provides functioning that manages position descriptions and pay grades/structures for each role.
Expense management — Core HR features might include functionality for employees to submit expense reports and track reimbursements.
Compliance — This solution helps protect risk areas by ensuring compliance standards are met through tracking and reporting.
Benefits administration — Core HR enables employees to manage their benefit plans by viewing them and making changes during open enrollment and for life event changes. Employers can report and manage payroll deductions based on selected plan options.
Customization — Core HR software lets administrators customize to accommodate their unique processes. This feature includes the ability to create custom objects, fields, rules, calculations, and views.
Application programming interface (API) integration — APIs specify how the application communicates with other software. APIs typically enable integration of data, logic, objects, etc., with other software applications.
Internationalization — Enables users to view and transact business with the same content in multiple languages and currencies.
User, role, and access management — The ability to grant access to select data, features, objects, etc., based on the users, user roles, and groups.
Reporting — Enables reporting of all data contained within the system. It typically contains standard reports as well as the ability to create ad-hoc reports.
Dashboards — An easy to read, often single page, real-time user interface shows a graphical presentation of the current status and historical trends of an organization’s key performance indicators (KPIs) to enable instantaneous and informed decisions to be made at a glance.
