Top 8 Free HR Software Solutions of 2024

Managing payroll, recruitment, and employee records can feel like herding cats. 

It does, after all, include dealing with unpredictable variables and catering to needy demands.

And with limited budgets, investing in high-priced human resource (HR) software might seem out of your power. But guess what? You don’t need to be a billionaire to manage your HR department efficiently because free HR software has arrived to save the day

These tools offer a surprising range of features, from applicant tracking to performance management, without charging you anything. Whether you work at a small startup or a growing business, these platforms can simplify your HR processes and improve employee satisfaction.

This list will break down the best eight free HR software solutions of 2024, giving you the inside scoop on their strengths, weaknesses, and best-fit scenarios. We'll help you find the perfect tool to handle tasks like employee onboarding, time tracking, and benefits administration.

How did we select and evaluate the best HR software?

At G2, we rank software solutions using a proprietary algorithm that considers customer satisfaction and market presence based on authentic user reviews. Our market research analysts and writers spend weeks testing solutions against multiple criteria set for a software category. We give you unbiased software evaluations _ that's the G2 difference! We didn’t accept payment or exchange links for product placements in this list. Please read our G2 Research Scoring Methodology for more details.

Top 8 free HR software platforms of 2024

The free HR software list below contains real user reviews from the best core HR software category page. Please note that in the context of this list, software that requires payment after a free trial is considered free. 

To be included in this category, a solution must:

• Store employee information and documents in a central database
• Allow users to customize employee profiles with individual data fields
• Easily export and import employee data for reporting purposes
• Integration with third-party HR applications where additional employee information can be retrieved

This data was pulled from G2 in 2024. Some reviews may have been edited for clarity. 

1. BambooHR

BambooHR brings all your employee, payroll, time, and benefit information together to give you the data accuracy, security, and coordination you need. With a single data source, you can automate key functions. You can also collect and track signatures electronically to simplify your people operations in a fast, organized, environmentally conscious, and painless way for everyone involved. 

This talent management tool helps you tap into workflows at every stage of the employee lifecycle to keep your organization running smoothly. 

What users like best:

“Ability to make notes on employees that are not viewable by the employee, a place to access all necessary documents about an employee, easily track time off requests, see important information like contact info and birthday info, providing an org chart to see how everyone interacts across the org, and so much more. I do like the product! It's also all so easy to use.”

- Bamboo HR Review, Rachel W. 

What users dislike:

“The documents are not as easy to use as expected and can be repetitive for less tech-savvy users. The advanced programming interface (API) would benefit from a little more effort in temporality monitoring. It could use the ability to generate default startup settings for new employees. This would default certain rights and time off for employees. “

- Bamboo HR Review, Alexander A.

2. Keka

Keka facilitates people. From automating your personnel procedures to cultivating an involved, motivated company culture, it becomes possible using Keka. It transforms your business from excellent to exceptional through accurate payroll calculations, well-defined salary structures, and employee data management. By working more effectively, you and your team can create a high-performance culture by adapting, evolving, and scaling. Suitable for small or medium organizations, Keka leads the HR tech industry.

What users like best:

“Keka is an all-in-one platform for managing HR and payroll-related information. All the employees' information is stored here, making it easy and hassle-free to navigate and use. It has information about the organization, such as the organization tree and employee- and team-related information. It's best for automated salary slips and tracking attendance and leaves.”

- Keka Review, Aishwarya J.

What users dislike:

“The only thing I don't like about Keka is its user interface; its website has some bugs. When I try to view a document, it doesn't allow me to zoom in.”

- Keka Review, Rohit T.

3. greytHR

greytHR’s cloud-based payroll software and HR solution provide productivity tools to small and midsize businesses for better people management, simplified HR procedures, and professional HR service delivery. The employee portal for managers and employee self-service increases staff engagement and helps save time overall.

What users like best:

“greytHR is a far-reaching HR and finance-the-board programming intended to work on HR processes for organizations, everything being equal. The product offers a scope of elements, including leave management, worker self-administration, finance handling, and consistency on the board.”

- greytHR Review, Sonu M. 

What users dislike:

“The page logs out automatically if it is unused for some time. It will look the same, and we won’t know the page is timed out until we try to check it. We will then have to refresh the page to log in again. This could be improved.”

- greytHR Review, Madhuri M.

4. Gusto

Gusto is a comprehensive HR platform that optimizes your business operations. Gusto simplifies complex HR tasks with features like automated payroll processing, intuitive time tracking, and seamless benefits administration. Plus, its user-friendly interface and expert compliance support ensure your business stays compliant and focused on growing your team.

What users like best:

“I've used various HR/Payroll platforms, and Gusto is by far the most user-friendly, hassle-free, aesthetically pleasing one to date. I love that, as a small business, we can choose which plan and add-ons apply to us, making it affordable and uniquely customizable. So far, customer support has been easy to reach and quick to respond, which is great when I work under limited hours. I would recommend Gusto to anyone looking to switch HR platforms, especially small businesses.”

- Gusto Review, Amanda O. 

What users dislike:

“Customer support has sometimes been a challenge. Their training database certainly has a lot of articles, but if you can't find what you need and need to reach out to their support email, it can take quite some time to hear back. A dedicated rep should, in my opinion, come with the mid-level package. I've also found as of recently, their tax setup hasn't been synced perfectly with filing timely.

We'd love to see Gusto take a much more hands-on approach to helping their customers in this area since few small businesses have the time or resources to track down fiddly tax stuff.”

- Gusto Review, Jessica Y.

5. Breathe

Breathe is the go-to HR management solution for UK and Australian SMEs to move their HR processes online. It helps manage employee data, absences, recruitment, performance, and time and attendance. Its intuitive interface simplifies HR tasks, making it a popular choice for businesses seeking efficiency.

What users like best:

“I like that it's extremely easy to use and clear. The notifications are very helpful. For example, when an employee is leaving, it emails you with key information, such as annual leave remaining. You can save a whole host of information about employees, and it's brilliant value for money for a small business like ours! (5 employees!) It also has an app that can manage employee absence on the go if needed. Setting employees up and rolling out across the company was easy. The help section is great, and I get a reply from customer support very quickly if I ever have a question."

- Breathe Review, Sonia C.

What users dislike:

"There's no way of automating notifications to non-HR users of other staff absences. It would be great if line managers could be notified in advance and on the day of their staff absences. We're a small company, so it's not too difficult to email and let staff know, but it wastes time when it could be an automated process."

- Breathe Review, Gabi C.

6. Personio

Personio is an all-in-one HR management software platform that upgrades HR tasks like payroll, benefits, talent, and workforce management. With its focus on automation and integration, Personio helps businesses improve efficiency and reduce administrative burdens. It's built for small and medium-sized companies with 10 to 2,000 employees and makes HR processes transparent and effective. 

What users like best:

"Our employees enjoy using Personio as it is intuitive and modern, with a pleasant look and feel. As Head of People, I use the platform for all things HR and Recruitment, which has worked well for us as a company of around 45-50 employees. Creating multiple workflows and automating emails and processes saves much manual time. Customer support is also very responsive and helpful."

- Personio Review, Jules F.

What users dislike:

"Difficulties in adding bulk data from multiple resources is the only bottleneck of Personio and needed to be quickly addressed for improved product functionality in this regard."

- Personio Review, Olivia T.

7. Paycor

Paycor modernizes your people's operations with features like automated payroll processing, intuitive time and attendance tracking, and seamless benefits administration. It simplifies complex HR tasks. Plus, its commitment to compliance and data security ensures your business stays protected and focused on growth.

What users like best:

“It is much more user-friendly than other payroll systems I have used. I have more options and can utilize more features. On another payroll system, we had to enter everything manually; in this one, it remembers things, and you can set recurring bonuses and other payments, so you don't have to add them every time you run a payroll manually.”

- Paycor Review, Jackie K. 

What users dislike:

“We were forced to switch to Paycor after they acquired our previous payroll provider. The implementation process was rushed, and we had limited input during that time, which did not meet our needs. Now, our payroll processing takes longer, our G/L upload is still not functional after six months, and our Workers Comp reports and provider feeds are also incomplete. For every error Paycor has made regarding our employees, they refuse to take responsibility. Their support staff often lacked understanding of our system configuration, leading to frustration and a lack of progress. We are highly dissatisfied and seeking a new payroll provider.”

- Paycor Review, Yvonne C.

8. GoCo

GoCo is an easy-to-use, modern management system that automates HR processes like payroll delivery, employee onboarding, PTO, and benefits administration. From onboarding to performance management, GoCo has everything you need to run HR in a single, easy-to-use solution. It’s also a highly secure platform for storing and sending confidential HR documents.

What users like best:

“GoCo is a user-friendly platform with clear instructions for onboarding. I really like the onboarding workflow that it provides for our new employees. In addition, GoCo has many partners they can recommend to you for benefits and other lines of coverage. It's a versatile tool without becoming too robust or confusing to navigate and administer, making it a perfect fit for our small team.

Compared to other HRIS, the cost is less risky, allowing you to see if it fits your organization well. GoCo also provides great resources outside the HRIS platform, with HR-focused webinars and a blog that stays relevant to the times.”

- GoCo Review, Michelle L.O.

What users dislike:

“Some advanced features are complicated and take a decent amount of time and effort to learn and become comfortable enough to be useful. We have had several issues with API integrations with benefit carriers. A decent amount of set-up parameters were not discussed in detail during implementation, creating some headaches later. Not all the features work as pristinely as marketed, but well enough for the cost of GoCo.”

- GoCo Review, Angie H.

Comparison of the best free HR software 

If you feel overwhelmed by the wealth of information about free HR software, this comparison table will help you with all the important aspects:

Frequently asked questions about free HR software

Q. Is free HR software secure?

Security should be a top priority when you’re looking for HR software. While some free options offer basic security measures, research the provider's security protocols and data protection practices.

Q. How easy is it to implement free HR software?

Free HR software is generally designed to be user-friendly and easy to implement. However, the complexity might vary depending on the size of your organization and the specific features you need.

Q. How do I choose the best free HR software for my business?

When selecting free HR software, consider factors like your company's size, your specific HR needs, the software's features, user reviews, and data security

Q. What are the limitations of free HR software?

Free HR software typically can have limitations with user capacity and data storage. Payroll, benefits administration, performance management, and other advanced functionalities might be restricted or unavailable.  

Beyond the free tier

If you’re considering an HR management suite or some combination of those, explore the market and the plethora of options available. Don’t hesitate to test these or other HR systems that offer a trial or demo version. More and more often nowadays, you can get a robust HR product at little or no cost without sacrificing quality or features.

But even if you do wind up dishing out some dough for your HR team’s software, remember: they’re well worth it!

We hope this list of the best free HR software helps you find the right solution!

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