Best onboarding software in 2024

Zoho People is ideal for companies operating on a tight budget. The customizable candidate and employee onboarding system costs less than its rivals and offers document management at cheaper prices for staff who don’t need online access. It also centralizes time off policies, requests and approvals. These features make Zoho People a good pick for businesses wanting to increase efficiency and improve employee experiences.

The onboarding software also supports multi-level approvals on the base plan. Retail and hospitality chains with multiple stakeholders and management levels can quickly integrate new hires into the system through automated workflows. This streamlined approach works well for sectors with high turnover rates.

Not only can you automate candidate onboarding, but you can also transition team members to new job roles. The personalized portals let you assign tasks and define goals. We loved the flexibility of tailoring the onboarding experience to individual positions and using it to improve employee retention rates.

An ultra-low price and robust onboarding tools distinguish Zoho People from competitors. It provides an integrated ecosystem of business apps, supporting startups and small businesses as they grow by offering step-up plans with learning and performance management modules. With premium support options, companies can select service levels to match their needs.

Value 

Zoho People’s free plan serves as a document repository for five or fewer employees, whereas paid plans have a minimum of five users and include onboarding tools. For $1.50 per user per month, the Essential HR package is a deal. Most rivals’ entry-tier subscriptions start at double the price.

We also love the Employee Profiles option for workers who don’t need online account access. It starts at $0.23 per month, and managers or administrators handle forms or paid time off (PTO) on behalf of the employee.

However, Zoho has limited customer service options, so you’re alone during implementation and deployment. This factor could lead to higher initial training costs during rollout phases. You can review the onboarding platform during a 30-day free trial without entering credit card information to see if it would work for your company.

Functionality 

Zoho People packs a lot into its onboarding software. The digital onboarding experience is entirely customizable for candidates or employees. It has an e-signature tool and document repository so new hires can sign tax forms and policy documents before their first day on the job. A checklist guides them through the process.

We appreciated the ability to create objectives for job roles or departments and add those to an onboarding workflow. It’s versatile with multilevel approvals, and managers can identify issues by viewing statuses from the dashboard. However, Zoho People lacks advanced reporting tools and user feedback suggests that the templates provided aren’t very customizable. For in-depth workforce analytics, you might need to increase your budget.

Support 

All Zoho People editions include free classic support. You can call the vendor from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, but Zoho recommends this method for critical requests only. The main support option is email. They aim for an eight-hour response time but say to expect up to 24 hours. Several business users mentioned that customer service wasn’t always available when they needed it or that it took more than a day to reply.

With limited free support and no complimentary implementation services, some companies experience longer deployment times. To alleviate these issues, consider purchasing a premium support plan for the first year. However, this adds $114 monthly or 20% of your license fee (whichever is higher).

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

TriNet is a fantastic option to optimize staff levels and ensure compliance when hiring candidates across state lines. Its workforce analytics tools for small and medium businesses (SMBs) are visually appealing and easy to understand. You can assess labor costs or view trends to make hiring decisions.

TriNet appeals to companies with small HR departments and distributed teams. Onboarding tools offer unique features like automatically classifying remote locations based on the new employee’s home address. The software also integrates with third-party applications, including QuickBooks, Slack and Google, so you can provision new accounts or establish expense reports quickly.

The base plan comes with time-tracking and scheduling functionality which is great for companies looking for an all-in-one HR system. You can add payroll to any plan or select the Zen package for a complete platform with performance, compensation and engagement tools.

Remote employees can onboard through TriNet in about 10 minutes then handle their schedule and track time through the same application. On the back end, AI-enhanced dashboards provide key metrics for data-based hiring and staffing decisions. Although you must go through some hoops to access support, all plans offer 24/7 live chat.

Value 

TriNet charges a per-employee fee that’s higher than those of several rivals for the base plan with onboarding, but it includes scheduling, time tracking and analytics. At the highest tier, TriNet includes three-click payroll processing for a great price, as many of the best payroll services charge higher rates for plans with fewer HR features.

The integrations and automated workflows can save HR teams and employees time, and you can better understand those savings through dashboard and workforce reports. Still, the subscription pricing doesn’t clarify which analytics features come with different plans, and some users mention that they’ve occasionally had unexpected fees.

Functionality 

TriNet’s digital onboarding tools deliver offer letters, compensation and benefit details to new hires. It auto-populates tax documents and lets candidates choose their pay method and benefits. If your company uses Salesforce, Google Workspace or Slack, you can provision login accounts during onboarding.

By managing these processes remotely, companies can onboard distributed team members nationally and quickly get them into new job roles. Since the software centralizes many HR processes, even the smallest HR teams can use TriNet to oversee distributed teams. The workforce analytics and reporting features differentiate TriNet from rivals, allowing leaders to develop insights about staffing demands and workforce separations.

Support

TriNet’s support is provided through an automated system within the HR platform. To see the available options, administrators must log in, type a question or request support. The chat feature returns instant resolutions to fix your issue or a list of topics to select to ensure you’re routed to the right specialist.

HR admins can view training videos, troubleshooting tips and guides through the resource library. While we felt TriNet offered better support options than some competitors, several users said wait times were long or they were transferred multiple times before resolving the issue.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Uzio stands out from its competitors with its unique offering of six modules, each designed to cater to specific HR needs. This makes it an ideal choice for startups aiming to streamline their new hire process and expand their HR capabilities in the future.

The user-friendly system particularly suits small businesses without HR teams. Unlike its competitors, which offer complex all-in-one platforms, Uzio keeps things straightforward. With the HRIS module, you can effortlessly onboard new hires and manage compliance paperwork through an intuitive online portal.

Uzio is for more than just startups. As your company grows and you aim to enhance your competitive edge in hiring, you can add the benefits module or 401(k) integration to your plans. These tools integrate with the onboarding platform, as does Uzio’s full-service payroll solutions, catering to niche industries like the cannabis sector. This scalability ensures that Uzio remains a reliable HR solution as your business expands.

Uzio’s simple approach and à la carte plans mean you don’t pay for features you won’t use or have to go through a complex configuration process. Indeed, you can move right into onboarding new hires. Plus, Uzio provides phone and email support if you run into issues.

Value 

For small teams, every second counts. If you don’t require a comprehensive HR solution but simply need one that covers the fundamentals, Uzio can speed up onboarding, helping new hires finish the process in less than 30 minutes. The ease of deployment and overall time savings benefit startups.

However, Uzio feels half finished in some aspects. The help center needs more articles, and the scheduling module says it’s “coming in May 2024,” whereas the expense module says “coming soon.” Since there isn’t a free trial, you’re taking a leap of faith without knowing if all features are supported or functioning.

Functionality 

Uzio’s HRIS module covers onboarding essentials. It checks all the boxes for onboarding best practices, from compliance forms (I-9 and W-4) to welcome emails. From the employee documents tile, you can create reusable agreements and offer letters and add them to the onboarding flow.

The user interface is clean and easy to navigate, with dropdown boxes where you can select the items for new hires to sign and fields to assign tasks. We loved the follow-up tasks section. In this space, you can add tasks that can be reminders to business owners, such as checking in with new hires at 30 days and six months.

Support 

Uzio doesn’t publish its customer service hours online or mention what type of support it offers for its products. You can reach the vendor by email and Uzio says it responds within 24 hours. It also provides a phone number.

Most business users applaud Uzio for its ease of use, suggesting they can configure and deploy the system without assistance. Still, the limited support documentation and clarity around support services are concerning. We recommend that companies do due diligence by verifying these aspects during a demonstration and thoroughly reading the final terms of service.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Omni HR provides a core platform and six add-on applications, making it a versatile choice for companies with 50 or more employees. According to the vendor, its average client has 50 to 800 workers, but the onboarding platform can support 1,500. 

This solution is ideal for organizations that prefer hands-on implementation support and aren’t looking for instant deployment. All subscriptions include a dedicated account manager. Omni HR guides your staff through the setup process, which takes two to four weeks, although you can speak to sales about fast-tracking the timeframe.

We preferred Omni HR for tracking terminations and offboarding tasks. It ensures businesses handle legal and internal aspects when letting employees go. This functionality isn’t available with all onboarding software.

Since Omni HR is based in Singapore and available during Asia’s business hours (which the vendor doesn’t list on the website), this solution may work better for teams outside the U.S.

With dedicated implementation support and end-to-end lifecycle management tools, Omni HR helps SMBs establish solid onboarding and offboarding workflows. Its low fees for core functionality and affordable add-on packages allow businesses to scale their HR services to support their expanding staff. Plus, you can try it out during a 14-day free trial without providing a credit card.

Value 

For starters, we appreciate that businesses can book a 30-minute demo with Omni HR and trial the software for 14 days without a credit card. Its pricing is also competitive. The core platform costs $3.45 per employee monthly and includes everything needed to onboard and offboard employees. The feature set is more robust than Uzio, and the vendor provides more support than Zoho.

Yet, much of Omni HR is still a work in progress. Very little user documentation exists, as the help center and resources are bare. Most of the website’s FAQ pages are blank or repeat the same information. In some cases, such as with the OKR add-on, you could pay a high fee for a product with limited functionality.

Functionality 

Omni HR’s core platform gives leaders a clear view of onboarding and offboarding progress and flexibility in automating HR processes. The workflow builder is a straightforward yet powerful tool. It can be used to assign and track any HR task, from completing exit interviews to provisioning software.

We loved the offboarding feature. It has dropdown boxes for termination type, reason and who to send direct reports to. You can check a box for rehire eligibility and leave remarks. We like the progress tab across the top, which correlates with the status of the tasks listed below.

Support 

Omni HR offers a higher support level than its rivals. Subscriptions include access to a customer success manager, who can be reached through multiple channels. However, we found some discrepancies across the site regarding available channels. Omni HR lists email, phone, WhatsApp, Slack and Telegram options.

The company responds to most inquiries within the same day, but some wait times are less than 30 minutes during regular business hours in Singapore time. However, this is a 12 to 13 hour time difference for U.S. customers. User feedback praises Omni HR’s customer support and implementation services.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Growing globally isn’t only about completing the proper forms from someone in another country. It’s about connecting them to their team and connecting with them on a deeper level by ensuring your policies and apps reflect their languages and customs. HiBob localizes these factors, allowing new employees to choose how they use the software. 

It also provides a sandbox environment so your team can test new features for seamless rollouts worldwide before deployment. With its advanced capabilities and add-ons like compensation management, Bob is best for mid-sized organizations with an existing HR staff. 

Many fast-growing companies leverage Bob to fill in gaps with HR teams and automate processes for efficiency and productivity improvements. Its global functionality makes it well-suited for rapidly growing remote-first businesses and tech startups. Moreover, HiBob specifically recommends its tools for non-traditional organizational structures, such as multinational corporations or those using agile methodologies. 

HiBob’s exceptional user experience and localization features set it apart from competitors. Businesses can automate the onboarding process without losing the personal touch. Indeed, with Bob, new hires begin building relationships as part of the onboarding journey. While we wish Bob had live chat support, user feedback suggests that customer service resolves problems promptly over email.

Value 

Since Bob doesn’t display pricing or offer estimates based on company sizes, it’s challenging to determine its value. Most onboarding solutions charge per-employee rates and offer annual billing discounts, so it’s concerning when a vendor doesn’t provide an FAQ page explaining its pricing structure and potential discounts.

However, based on our review of the features and terms of service, we found Bob’s usability and functionality extremely beneficial to mid-sized businesses. The core package could significantly improve onboarding experiences and increase retention rates while boosting operational efficiency. Whereas other platforms lose value after onboarding ends, Bob offers ongoing benefits to engage employees throughout the lifecycle.

Functionality 

HiBob has several unique tools that differentiate it from other onboarding software. First, the onboarding flow builder allows admins to design unlimited onboarding flows for new hire roles, departments or regions.

We loved being able to preview the experience before going live and that candidates use a welcome wizard for an immersive experience instead of checking off boxes. With the wizard, you can direct them to the Shoutouts section, where employees can see photos and welcome messages from the team.

HiBob has you covered when hiring international employees or contractors. The software is GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and EU Safe Harbor compliant. It supports over 10 languages and lets businesses automate site-specific processes for onboarding, time-off policies and approvals.

Support 

HiBob offers ticketing support to paid customers. It doesn’t provide an email address, phone number or live chat option. Bob could better explain how it supports its clients. The site suggests that the vendor helps companies migrate data and configure settings, policies and workflows.

But it doesn’t mention estimated implementation timeframes or if this support goes through a series of email threads or one extensive tutorial since there isn’t a knowledge base or help center on the website.

Still, our review of customer feedback determined that clients are generally satisfied with the support they receive from HiBob, except for smaller businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Organizations may not have the HR staff to manage a DIY deployment at this level.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Paycor is a full-service payroll solution with onboarding and recruiting features. Unlike rivals that offer payroll as an add-on, this service comes standard on all Paycor plans. Therefore, it’s the best option for businesses that want to automate payroll or switch payroll providers.

All versions with onboarding also include recruit and hiring tools, making Paycor fantastic for streamlining this process. Indeed, we found that the companies that benefit the most from Paycor leverage the system to automate and improve each step of the recruiting, hiring and onboarding process, including getting them set up in payroll.

The fully connected system allows staff to view pay stubs and request time off from the same app or website they onboarded. Likewise, administrators can generate scorecards to rank candidates and then jump over to the payroll side of the platform to view new hire filing requests. As an all-in-one tool, Paycor isn’t the cheapest onboarding platform but does support more HR processes from the get-go.

Paycor’s extensive feature set and support services differentiate it from other onboarding platforms on our list. Along with comprehensive tutorials and guides, clients can reach support by live chat or phone during weekdays. Its built-in recruiting and payroll software keeps the flow consistent across all onboarding steps and beyond.

Value 

Paycor doesn’t disclose pricing on its website. Other payroll providers with recruiting tools like Gusto have more transparency. However, Paycor offers more customer support than alternatives and a 14-day free trial.

It is also a finished product with a cohesive sales and implementation process. For larger organizations with complex recruiting and onboarding needs, deployment assistance can help your HR team adopt the software better and roll out payroll policies and apps to your team without issues.

Incorporating recruiting, onboarding and payroll tools can deliver substantial returns to your business. You can add performance reviews and other apps to increase functionality further. This scalability increases the value and makes Paycor a good fit for growing organizations.

Functionality 

With Paycor, you can manage high-volume staffing demands and ensure that every new hire gets adequately introduced to your team and fully complies with all tax and state regulations. Its comprehensive feature set automates workflows from generating candidate emails and requests for offer letter approvals on the recruiting side to asking new hires to upload credentials and e-sign tax forms during onboarding.

Candidates, employees and administrators can access these features through mobile apps and web browsers, offering convenient access for individuals inside and outside the office. Users can manage time off requests from the same dashboard and update payroll details.

Support 

Once clients log in, they can reach Paycor support by phone or chat Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST. Administrators can access a resource center when logged in, whereas employees can access a smaller, more-targeted help space. Paycor also offers implementation services, which can greatly alleviate any deployment burdens.

While we appreciate the additional support options Paycor offers, some users report less-than-satisfactory response times and a need for more knowledgeable agents. This could be problematic when dealing with the company that handles your payroll.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

If your organization prioritizes continuous employee development and wants to incorporate training with onboarding programs, Paylocity could be an excellent choice. Many platforms we reviewed offer learning management tools as an add-on, but Paylocity takes a different approach with its talent management software.

With this package, you can centralize job candidate communication, onboarding training and compensation management. It also supports pre-employment assessments and ongoing training objectives. Since employee development programs are crucial to staff retention, this platform can go a long way toward helping you achieve these goals.

The flexible pricing structure means you can use your current payroll system and HR software. Since Paylocity integrates with more than 350 third-party applications, you can connect it to your existing tools to boost efficiency. It’s particularly valuable for connecting to the best productivity and project management platforms, like Smartsheet and Asana.

Paylocity receives higher mobile app ratings than competitors. The feedback suggests that the apps fit organizations with employees who prefer to onboard and handle their tasks on smartphones.

Paylocity offers advanced professional development and onboarding tools for organizations committed to employee improvement. Its talent management software provides interactive learning opportunities and encourages feedback, helping businesses increase retention rates and attract highly qualified job candidates. Paylocity also offers custom implementation support and personalized service to ensure your team can meet its objectives at each phase.

Value 

Paylocity doesn’t post any pricing information online. It offers six modules and charges a monthly price per employee that varies based on your selected features. However, Paylocity notes that the cost per worker doesn’t increase as your company expands.

The potential return on investment is high, with several professionals reporting that employee satisfaction increased after switching to Paylocity for its self-service portal. The learning management program’s centralized candidate communication tools, feedback collection and compensation goals provide additional time savings and data insights.

Functionality 

Paylocity has a comprehensive feature set, but we looked at the onboarding tools available with the talent management module for this review. We appreciated the wizard-driven step-by-step approach to onboarding, which levels up the experience for new hires. By adding interactive training and talent assessments, you can show employees that you’re invested in their future from day one.

The training and learning solutions support remote, in-office and deskless staff. They include built-in templates, or you can upload your own course materials. This module also lets you automate recruiting and define your compensation strategy.

Support 

Although Paylocity isn’t available over live support, you can call them Monday through Friday between 6 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. CST. Your account manager and service team are also available by email. User feedback is evenly split on support times and usefulness.

Paylocity provides better online resources than competitors. Comprehensive guides for most topics are available, so administrators can often find documentation to troubleshoot the issue independently. Still, anytime a vendor handles payroll, we prefer to see higher customer service ratings and more support channels.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Deploying HR software while managing everyday operations is challenging. However, it can be even trickier for small teams or companies with limited resources. GoCo eases this burden by putting a customer success team on your side. It’s the best solution for organizations that prefer guided implementation and training.

All subscriptions provide unlimited access to your account manager and training specialists, and the assistance doesn’t stop after implementation. If your HR team changes, GoCo is there to train new leaders. Plus, the vendor offers live weekly training, and you can view the recorded sessions later.

The onboarding platform is a good fit for small- to mid-sized companies. Many businesses in the consumer goods and construction sectors with under 100 employees mentioned they achieved excellent results with GoCo’s onboarding and HR tools.

Since GoCo integrates with many third-party apps and offers custom plans, you can bring your own payroll solution, such as Paychex Flex, ADP or QuickBooks.

GoCo earns high marks for its modern onboarding platform and dedicated support team. Its implementation services give small teams the boost they need to confidently roll out an HR platform. Although it doesn’t offer a free trial, you can play with a GoCo account on the website that’s preloaded with demo data.

Value 

The monthly starting price of $5 per employee is competitive, especially for unlimited PTO tracking, mobile apps, an AI knowledge base and onboarding tools. GoCo serves as your company directory and document repository, becoming a single source of truth for personnel information.

While GoCo costs more than Zoho People, the training specialists help your staff set the system up correctly and optimize it to maximize operational efficiency. The integrations let your team use their favorite third-party tools and maintain current workflows. In these ways, GoCo could be easier to incorporate into existing processes than alternatives.

Functionality 

Aside from dedicated support, GoCo provides modern workflow automation tools for personalized new hire experiences and unlimited PTO tracking. These features help small businesses standardize their process by creating new hire packets with fillable forms.

Even when things get hectic, your new hires go through the same consistent process, and managers can oversee progress through reports instead of manual actions. Automating and standardizing these tasks ensures operational efficiency without sacrificing employee experiences.

The I-9 and W-4 compliance portion of onboarding walks new hires through eligibility verification, including options for requesting documents. GoCo offers a benefit preview tool and an automated enrollment wizard if you prefer to add more functionality.

Support 

GoCo is hands down the best onboarding software for customer support. No other solution supplies complimentary training and customer service the entire time you subscribe. It provides unlimited access to your manager and specialists by phone and email as soon as you sign up. When you need to schedule a training, GoCo is available, even years down the road.

The company’s business hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST. It also offers the most extensive support database out of all competitors. You can join weekly virtual training events and practice in real time under expert trainers and ask questions during live Q&A sessions. The knowledge base has tons of articles and videos with mini crash courses on a variety of training topics.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Organizations going through structural changes create mounds of paperwork. SAP SuccessFactors can ensure legal obligations are met and make the transition seamless for current staff. The talent management module manages internal transfers as smoothly as new hires, making it ideal for companies going through leadership changes or mergers.

SAP SuccessFactors also provides succession management tools, which you can use alongside onboarding features to strategically shift employees to leadership roles as a succession initiative. Likewise, recent skills and development programs may require team realignment and a period of reorganization. By digitizing the internal transfers, you can stay on top of progress and get everyone into their new roles quickly.

The talent management solution, which includes onboarding, also offers recruiting and performance management features. It is designed for growth-oriented businesses, including companies considering national or global expansion. But it could be less practical for small, regional companies without in-house IT and HR teams.

For corporations focused on expansion, SAP SuccessFactors puts every tool at your disposal. For this guide, we looked at the talent management module specifically, which covers multiple HR processes, from recruiting and onboarding to learning and performance. But you can add payroll, workforce analytics and succession planning features to manage every aspect of your organization’s growth and transformation.

Value 

SAP SuccessFactors can streamline internal and external onboarding processes for medium and large organizations. Businesses already using SAP solutions and firms looking to expand globally benefit from adding the talent management module to their plans. SAP SuccessFactors can meet international payroll requirements and reduce compliance burdens.

But it may be less effective for smaller companies with tight budgets. Although this vendor doesn’t supply pricing information online, user feedback suggests it’s one of the most expensive onboarding options we reviewed. In addition, the service and support plans are more complex so you’ll need to work with a representative to determine if this system is a good value for your organization.

Functionality 

SAP SuccessFactors enables businesses to build engaging experiences that guide new hires and current team members through onboarding and cross-boarding journeys. The mobile-first solutions provide digital forms and collect e-signatures, allowing staff to onboard from their preferred device.

Your company can create a personalized home page with a welcome message greeting new team members. This is a great place to showcase your corporate culture and encourage employees to connect with others.

The talent management module provides access to learning content so you can assign training tasks and resources immediately. With HR dashboards and proactive notifications, managers can stay involved in the progress and jump in when needed to see why there’s a delay or to update leaders.

Support 

SAP SuccessFactors has a wide range of support options. These include scheduled calls with SAP experts and support managers, live chats with remote assistance if needed and video meetings.

You can also try many automated and AI-driven solutions. For instance, SAP offers a machine learning service that answers your problems and has built-in support in your application. Still, you can expect a hefty learning curve for your HR team.

When you meet with SAP, the representatives will review your support and deployment options. This is an excellent time to discuss implementation timelines and training expectations.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Gusto is an all-in-one payroll platform that provides onboarding, HR and benefits management. It is designed for small businesses and is commonly used with teams of one to 50 employees. You can use Gusto even if you don’t have HR staff. It also works for mid-sized companies and those that employ global contractors.

Since Gusto includes health insurance administration and payroll with its plans, you should consider using these services if you want Gusto as your onboarding service provider to get the most value. You can keep your existing broker but manage your plans through your Gusto account or find new coverage with the help of licensed advisors.

While Gusto works with startups, the software costs more than rivals. Most onboarding and HR tools (org charts and employee directories) typically found on base plans require the Plus package. In addition, the best pricing requires annual prepayment. Therefore, we recommend it for companies that can afford to spend more upfront for this plan.

Gusto’s transparent pricing model and single-platform solution streamline onboarding for small teams. It collects and stores payroll forms, gives employees lifetime access to paystubs and helps them select benefits and more during onboarding. Free account setup comes with all subscriptions, and you can reach Gusto by phone or live chat.

Value 

Gusto is reasonably priced compared to other payroll tools but higher than standalone onboarding software. It charges monthly subscription fees starting at $40 plus $6 per person. However, Gusto’s pricing for the base package only covers basic onboarding features, whereas rivals provide employee directories and organization charts at a much lower cost.

Still, stepping up to the next plan could offer more value for businesses needing benefits administration capabilities and payroll. It costs $80 monthly or $60 monthly when billed annually. At this level, Gusto’s HR services shine by adding workforce costing, performance reviews and employee surveys. With this package, you can handle many HR functions from one platform, saving time and money because you won’t need other services or have to switch applications.

Functionality 

While higher-priced Gusto competitors offer wizard-based onboarding experiences, Gusto sticks with a checklist tool. It’s customizable, and your new hires can view, sign and submit documents, including I-9 and W-4 forms. We like the software provisioning option (available with the Plus package), which integrates with several small business customer relationship management (CRM) programs, including Notion, Trello and Smartsheet.

Getting these tasks out of the way eliminates common issues, like needing more information to fill out enrollment forms correctly. It also gives your admin team time to finalize payroll and ensure your newest employee’s first check is deposited without a hitch.

Support 

Gusto support is available by phone, email and chat from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. These options are better than several onboarding solutions but similar to most payroll providers. The vendor also has a robust help center with guides for employees, administrators and managers.

However, user feedback is mixed regarding the helpfulness of Gusto agents. The service is responsive. However, the representatives may not be equipped to handle your questions about payroll or employment taxes. As a result, you may not have your issues resolved on the first call.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.