Best Affordable HR Software (2026): Top 10 Compared

Zoho People is the HR application in the Zoho suite. It holds the employee database and runs leave, attendance, onboarding, performance and self-service processes, and Zoho also sells it within the People Plus bundle alongside Recruit, Expense and other Zoho applications. The pricing page shows a free edition, described as forever free, for up to three users; the page displays the earlier limit of five struck through. The free edition covers employee database management, time-off management, vacation planning and document management.

Four paid tiers follow, each priced per user per month with a five-user minimum. Essential HR is $1.25 on yearly billing or $1.50 monthly and adds onboarding and offboarding, HR reports and the Zia assistant. Professional, at $2 yearly or $2.50 monthly, adds attendance, timesheets and roster management. Premium, at $3 yearly or $3.50 monthly, adds performance, compensation and engagement tools with advanced analytics. Enterprise is $4.50 yearly or $5 monthly. The page states that yearly billing saves more than 20 percent and that a 30-day trial of paid features falls back to the free plan when it ends.

The fit is strongest for small companies that want to start without cost and add modules later inside one product.

Connecteam is a mobile-first workforce application aimed at teams that work away from a desk. It sells three hubs: Operations for time clock and scheduling, Communications for chat and updates, and HR & Skills for people processes. The pricing page states that the Small Business Plan includes all hubs and features free for up to 10 users, with a full feature list on the page.

Above that, each hub is priced separately with a flat fee for the first 30 users and a per-user charge after. The HR & Skills Hub covers time off, courses, quizzes, documents, recognition, rewards, celebrations, timeline, hiring, onboarding and org chart. Basic is $29 per month for the first 30 users on yearly billing or $35 monthly, plus $0.50 or $0.60 per additional user. Advanced is $49 yearly or $59 monthly, with $1.50 or $1.80 per extra user, and adds e-sign documents, unlimited courses and documents, and time-off carryover rules. Expert is $99 yearly or $119 monthly. Yearly billing saves 18 percent.

The fit is strongest for hourly teams that also need scheduling and time tracking, because a buyer can combine hubs as needs grow.

TalentHR is a cloud HR information system for small businesses that integrates with the TalentLMS learning platform. It keeps employee records, time off and documents in one place, and adds onboarding, applicant tracking and workflow tools. The pricing page lists three plans in US dollars and states there are no hidden costs.

The Free plan costs nothing for up to 10 users, with no time limit. Its feature list includes the employee database, time-off tracking, file management with expiration tracking, reports, onboarding and offboarding task lists, benefits management and applicant tracking. Essential is $2 per user per month on annual billing or $2.40 monthly. Premium is $4 per user per month annually or $4.80 monthly and adds tools such as performance management, goal setting, custom fields, document signing and employee surveys, plus AI features for job descriptions and CV summaries. The FAQ states that new accounts get a 14-day trial of Premium, that paid plans require a minimum of 15 users, and that changes are made in increments of five users. All plans include email support with a one-business-day response guarantee.

The fit is strongest for offices under 10 people, or companies of 15 or more that need performance tools at a low per-user rate.

Homebase is a scheduling, time-tracking and team management product for hourly workforces, with point-of-sale integration and tip management aimed at shift-based businesses. Its HR features build on that base: time-off controls, onboarding, labour cost management and HR compliance appear in the higher tiers. Pricing is set per location rather than per employee.

The Basic plan is $0 per month for one location with up to 10 employees and includes basic scheduling, basic time tracking and point-of-sale integration. Essentials is $30 per location per month with unlimited employees and adds advanced scheduling, advanced time tracking and team communication. Plus is listed at $70 per location per month and adds an AI scheduling assistant, PTO and time-off controls, and departments and permissions; the page was offering Plus free for six months with payroll at the time of checking. All-in-One is $120 per location per month and adds employee onboarding, labour cost management and HR and compliance tools. Payroll is an add-on at a $49 monthly base fee plus $6 per employee after an introductory period, and the page also lists add-ons for tip management, task lists and background checks.

The fit is strongest for a single shop or restaurant that needs scheduling first and wants HR features later.

Sesame HR is an HR platform that sells time management, talent management and finance tools as modules within four plans. The pricing page states that customers can add or switch modules when needed and pay only for what they use, and that more than 20,000 companies use the product. It also states ISO 27001 certification.

The plans are priced per employee per month, with a note that annual billing saves 20 percent. Essential is $3.75 and covers time tracking, time off and holidays, and shifts, positioned for compliant clock-ins and leave management. Connect is $4.25 and adds tasks, recruitment and internal communication. Growth is $6.25 and adds culture and engagement tools and performance management, with enterprise-level time tracking and time off. Scale is $7.00 and adds single sign-on and API access for organisations that need more control over data and security. A custom plan is also available. Each plan card states that a minimum amount applies, but the page does not give the figure, and its comparison table shows different per-plan figures from the plan cards, so buyers should confirm the quote.

The fit is strongest for companies whose first HR need is time and attendance compliance, with performance and recruitment added later.

Factorial is a Barcelona-based HR platform for small and mid-sized companies. Its pricing page states that Factorial starts at $8 per month per user and that each plan is tailored to the modules a company selects, with a quote request rather than a public tier table.

All plans include Factorial Core, which the page lists as the employee directory, onboarding and offboarding, payslip distribution, bulk document sending, legal e-signature, custom notifications and fillable PDFs. Buyers then choose modules across four areas. Time management covers time off, time tracking with geolocation and QR codes, and shift management. Talent management covers 360-degree performance reviews, recruitment with AI CV parsing, engagement surveys and training. Finance covers project time and expenses, expense management with document reading, and procurement. IT covers SaaS licence management, device inventory, mobile device management and endpoint security. The FAQ section addresses upgrades, tax, payment options and cancellation, but the extracted page does not state billing cadence.

The fit is strongest for companies that want a published starting rate today and expect to add modules such as performance or expenses as headcount grows. Budget-led buyers should request the quote for the exact module mix before comparing it with fixed-tier products.

Deel HR is the HR information system inside Deel's global payroll and employment platform. The product page describes one worker profile that carries HR, payroll, contractors and employer-of-record employment, so hiring in a new country is a configuration rather than a separate system. The page states that more than 40,000 companies use Deel.

The product page FAQ states that Deel HR comes in three levels. Core starts at $5 per employee per month and covers worker profiles, the org chart, time off, job architecture, workflows, approvals, anonymous reporting and people analytics. Advanced adds performance, goals, learning and surveys. Elite adds workforce planning and compensation management, with salary insights for more than 150 countries. Recruiting is an add-on. The page states that every level runs on the same data, so moving up a level is not a migration. Rates for Advanced and Elite are not published on the page, and Deel's general pricing page lists payroll, contractor and employer-of-record bundles at separate per-worker prices.

The fit is strongest for companies with staff in several countries that want HR records on the same platform as payroll. A single-country team may not use the global features it is built around.

greytHR is an HR and payroll platform priced for Indian companies. Its pricing page lists three plans in rupees, with a monthly base price that includes the first 50 employees and a per-employee charge above that.

Essential is ₹2,495 per month and ₹45 per employee above 50. It covers complete payroll processing, leave management with unlimited leave types, employee self-onboarding and exit, and a helpdesk. Expense management, single sign-on and API access, recruitment and an alumni portal are add-ons. Growth is ₹4,495 per month and ₹85 per employee above 50, and adds advanced attendance and shift management, overtime, permissions, geo-fencing and a confirmation workflow. Premium is quoted by sales and includes performance management, advanced expense management, timesheets and multi-company support, which the page states saves about 30 percent against Growth plus add-ons. Add-ons such as performance management are priced at ₹35 to ₹45 per user per month. The FAQ states that annual subscriptions are available, that there is no cancellation fee or lock-in period, and that a seven-day free trial needs no upfront payment.

The fit is strongest for Indian companies that want payroll and HR from one vendor at a fixed monthly entry price.

OrangeHRM sells two editions of its human resource management system. Starter is the open-source edition, which the pricing page describes as completely free and open-source HR software. Advanced is the commercial edition, offered with a 30-day free trial.

The Starter repository on GitHub states that the software is distributed under the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later, and links a download, prerequisites for installation on Linux and Windows, a web installer guide, an upgrade guide for 5.x versions and a help portal with user guides and tutorials. A Docker image is published, and the repository links an open-source mobile app. Support for Starter runs through a community forum rather than a paid support desk. Because Starter is self-hosted, the buyer provides the server, security, backups and upgrades.

The pricing page FAQ states that Advanced operates on a per-employee per-month basis, but no rate is published; buyers complete a quote form and are contacted by a consultant. The company also sells a scheduling product, Rostero, and a library of connectors.

The fit is strongest for organisations with in-house technical staff that want an HR record without licence fees, and that may move to the commercial edition later.

Frappe HR is an open-source HR and payroll product built on the low-code Frappe Framework and released under the AGPL-3.0 licence. The product page lists recruitment, employee lifecycle, shifts and attendance, leave, expenses, performance, payroll, payroll tax and reports, and a mobile app, with Indian payroll features such as tax regimes, EPF, professional tax and ESI. It states integrated accounting with ERPNext and connections to biometric devices and banks.

The pricing page states that the software is free and that the cost has two components, hosting and implementation. Frappe Cloud hosts a single site on shared servers from $5 per month, with managed upgrades and backups, and a dedicated virtual machine from $20 per month. Hosting is charged for what is used, not per user. The page estimates that self-hosting starts at around $40 per month for a VPS before email, security and backup services. Teams can set the product up from the documentation, buy a partner starter pack for migration, or hire a partner for a custom implementation.

The fit is strongest for companies that want HR and payroll in one open-source system with a monthly cost that does not grow with headcount, and that can configure the product or pay a partner to do so.