Key features

1. Knowledge sharing: create a centralized repository of policies and documents, as well as a team directory that employees can self-serve when they need it.
2. Advanced search: allow users to find employee information they're looking for in seconds with a powerful search functionality.
3. Conditional forms: share dynamic forms to request and allow employees to submit documents or receive feedback about their roles, performance, and more.
4. Approval management: allow employees to apply for leave and managers to approve or reject these requests through the portal.
5. Time tracking: implement a free employee tracking system to share schedules and track work hours to ensure accurate payroll and time spent on projects.
6. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs): turn your web app into a downloadable mobile app in one click with Softr's PWA feature—no extra design work is needed.
7. Enterprise-grade security: protect employee information from security threats. Softr is fully compliant with SOC2 and GDPR. Additionally, allow users to sign in with Google, Email, SMS, or SSO (Enterprise plan).
8. Active user community: an active global user community of Softr builders where you can ask questions, quickly find solutions, learn from each other's experiences, and stay updated with the latest best practices.

Pros and cons

✅ "I appreciate how user-friendly Softr is, allowing me to build applications without needing extensive coding knowledge." - G2 user review.

✅ "The best thing about Softr, in our opinion, is its amazing customer support. I can genuinely say it is the best I have ever experienced." - Robert B. (Small business owner)

❌ "I wish PWA were available for some of the lower tier plans." - Charles H.

Pricing

Softr offers a lifetime free version of the software. With the free plan, you can create and publish one full-fledged employee database app on your custom domain.

You can invite unlimited collaborators to build the app together. And connect with limited but critical data sources such as Airtable, Google Sheets, SmartSuite, and XANO.

For standard connectors, the number of data records is capped at 1,000 per app.

Meanwhile, advanced connectors are capped at 100,000 records per app. Both options are enough for local businesses and growing companies to store thousands of employee records in one go.

Other than that, you get premium plans to scale up as your business grows:

1. Basic: $59 per month ($49 when paid yearly)
2. Professional: $167 per month ($139 when paid yearly)
3. Business: $323 per month ($269 when paid yearly)
4. Enterprise: Custom Pricing

Ease of use

Softr has a powerful yet intuitive interface suitable for small businesses that don't necessarily have an HR or technical team at their disposal. Its drag-and-drop functionality makes it a go-to solution for HR managers looking for simple tools to track employee records.

"Easily the shortest learning curve on any app I've used! It's very intuitive, and when you can't figure something out, the support is excellent, and there is also a great community who are always willing to help." - Brian M., (Director, Small Business with <50 employees)

Key features

1. Use customizable fields to store all employee information in one central location, with easy access and management.
2. Enable custom access levels to give each employee access to editing their personal information while limiting access to sensitive company data.
3. Create automated workflows for employee onboarding, request approvals, data entry, and other HR functions.
4. Choose from a library of 40+ built-in reports for benchmarking your employee turnover against other companies. Get benefit summaries, PTO usage, and more.

Pros and cons

✅ Offers a dedicated mobile app for easy access to employee information,

✅ Excellent reporting capabilities for employee and workforce planning,

❌ Lacks database customization options,

Pricing

BambooHR has a 7-day free trial with unrestricted access to all features. After which, you can choose from its premium plans:

1. Core: Custom pricing
2. Pro: Custom pricing

👀Note: Several modules, such as time tracking, surveys, and performance management, are available as add-ons, meaning you do need to pay more to use them.

Key features

1. Store all employee-related regulatory, formal, and personal files safely in one location, with cloud-based backups and expiration date alerts.
2. Request additional documents from specific employee groups like new hires with a click.
3. Integrate with popular business apps such as Gusto, QuickBooks, Xero, and Paychex, or use Zapier integration to connect with 5,000+ apps.
4. Use the built-in Timeline app to track employee information updates, evaluations and reviews, increments, department changes, and more.

Pros and cons

✅ Easy-to-use interface with a minimal learning curve,

✅ A well-received mobile app that allows employees to access tools and information on the go,

❌ Lacks robust reporting capabilities,

Pricing

If you're a small business with less than ten employees, Connecteam offers a free forever plan that includes everything a small business needs. All prominent features are included, plus, limited access to other vertices such as communication and operations hubs.

As your business scales and headcount increases, you can switch to premium plans:

1. Basic: $35 per month
2. Advanced: $59 per month
3. Expert: $119 per month

Key features

1. Deploy self-serve portals for employees to manage their personal information, apply for leave, and access HR services independently.
2. Leverage NLP-powered search to identify employee profiles based on location, name, job role, or other details.
3. Track and manage employee attendance in-office or on-field with advanced features like facial recognition, IP, geo-location, and overtime details.
4. Integrates with Zoho Analytics to provide hands-on employee reporting and analytics, including read-made reports on hiring vs. attrition trends, employee diversity reports, employee headcount, and more.

Pros and cons

✅ Zia, an AI-powered chatbot, answers employee queries using NLP models and from information in your organizational database, reducing the Q&A load on HR executives.

✅ Dedicated, responsive mobile app for easy access to employee information, request submissions, and attendance marking on the go.

❌ Has too many features and a bit of a learning curve if you’re looking for a simple employee database software.

Pricing

Zoho People offers a generous free plan for freelancers and small businesses. It allows you to add up to 5 users (limits to one administrator) and run basic HR functions for employee databases and time off management. However, the storage limit is capped at 250 MB for the free plan.

Other than that, Zoho People offers tiered pricing, each with a 30-day free trial:

1. Essential: $1.25 per month
2. Professional: $2 per month
3. Premium: $3 per month
4. Enterprise: $4.5 per month
5. People Plus: $9 per month

Key features

1. Create and store employee profiles in a centralized dashboard with options to search and filter employees based on their work experience, education, department, and certifications.
2. Sort employees based on departments and teams, visualize employee profiles on company hierarchy using an easy-to-view organizational chart.
3. Allow both HR and employees to request time off, approvals, and signature requests directly from their employee profile or record.
4. Track and monitor attendance, time-offs, and leave requests using Presence Reports.
5. Build onboarding and offboarding workflows that trigger a preset series of automated activities across different applications.

Pros and cons

✅ Flexible and open-source, allowing complete configuration of the platform.

✅ Well-integrated with other Odoo apps, as well as third-party HR essential apps.

❌ While Odoo is highly customizable, it requires development skills to alter the source code.

Pricing

Odoo lets you use one app from its app ecosystem free of cost. In our case, it's Odoo HR. With the free plan, you can add unlimited users and access all features other than integrating with other Odoo apps.

To scale operations and use all Odoo apps together, you can choose from its paid tiers:

1. Standard: $31.10/user per month
2. Custom: $46.80/user per month

👀Note: If you choose an app that depends on other apps (e.g., HR depends on Employees, Recruitment, and Time Off), you get these required apps for free, too.

Key features

1. Manage your global workforce from one intuitive dashboard and get access to key details such as country, personal information, documents, and more.
2. Manage time-off requests, yearly bonuses, financial benefits, and more from inside the Remofirst platform.
3. Use Country Guides to learn about the taxes, leave, benefits, and more required to hire employees in the countries.
4. Upload employment regulations in 180+ countries and avoid expensive compliance mistakes and penalties.

Pros and cons

✅ Support global payroll and assist with employee visas in 85+ countries.

✅ Reliable customer support.

❌ Most features are behind a paywall or offered as an add-on.

Pricing

Remofirst offers a free tier for startups and small businesses. With the free tier, you can upload and store contracts, maintain employee details via the dashboard, perform identity checks, and allow employees to submit expense reimbursement and time-off requests.

Features such as employee benefits, visa assistance, and Employee of Record (EOR) services are part of the paid plan, starting at $199/person per month. You can also benefit from international payroll services as an add-on, starting at $25/person per month.

Key features

1. Manage employee profiles using unique employee IDs and a centralized employee database with options to access, edit, or delete employee information.
2. A dedicated dashboard to manage time-offs, PTO requests, and approvals.
3. Built-in time tracking features such as clock-in/clock-out and timesheets to track employee hours accurately.
4. Use built-in reporting and analytics tools for employee performance reviews, training, and monitoring career development.
5. Trigger automated email sequences when a request for PTO is raised, approved, or rejected.

Pros and cons

✅ Manage all HR operations from a highly responsive mobile app.

✅ On-premise users can heavily customize the system deployment through access to source code, database, and every layer of the technology stack.

❌ Customizing the platform may require development and coding skills.

Pricing

OrangeHRM has a free Starter Edition—an open-source HR management software. You can either use it in the cloud or download it for self-hosting, making it accessible for small to medium-sized businesses looking for cost-effective HR solutions.

In addition to the free Starter Edition, OrangeHRM offers a 30-day free trial of its more advanced features, which allows users to explore the platform's capabilities without any financial commitment.

This trial provides a hands-on experience to assess whether the software meets specific HR needs before transitioning to a paid version if desired.

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