Name: Namely alternatives
Brand: CharlieHR
Rating: 4.8 (79 reviews)

Choose if: You're a small business looking to automate your HR processes and save time on admin.

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Choose if: You're mainly looking to automate payroll and hiring_.

Choose if: You're above 150 employees and need advanced reporting features.

Choose if: Your priority is not an advanced HR software, but getting 1-1 support from a consultant.

Choose if: Your company is mainly based in the EU and larger than 150 employees.

Choose if: Your team works in shifts.

Choose if: You only need very basic HR support.

Choose if: You want to offer your team an efficient e-learning platform.

Choose if: You have over 200 team members and are based in the US.

Choose if: Most of your team works in shift or irregular hours.

Introduction

What Namely gets right

Namely's shortcomings

Finding the right alternative to Namely

Important features to consider

Introduction

What Namely gets right

Namely's shortcomings

Finding the right alternative to Namely

Charlie HR

Breathe

People HR

Personio

Sage HR

MyHRtoolkit

Bamboo HR

Important features to consider

Conclusion

Namely is an HR platform for mid-sized companies with 25 - 1000 employees. Whilst the platform offers a range of core HR features, these can be clunky to configure and not updated as regularly as other alternatives.

HR software built for small businesses should:

Offer exceptional customer support
Be regularly updated to reflect changing needs
Be optimised for small UK startups
Be user-friendly to use to encourage everyone in the team to use it

Finding the right HR platform is key to growing your small business successfully. If you’ve not been satisfied with Namely, this page will help you assess the best alternatives to run your startup’s HR admin and craft your company culture.

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What does Namely get right and excel at?

Namely excels in offering everything a company needs to run its HR across the employee life cycle. From payroll, to benefits administration, to HR analytics — the breadth of Namely’s features means you don’t need to invest in multiple tools to operate your HR department.
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Namely includes:

Core HR admin features like onboarding, custom workflows and an employee directory
iOS and Android mobile app
Payroll software and services
API

What are Namely's shortcomings?

Namely offers plenty of core HR features but these aren’t always intuitive to use compared to alternatives. The platform also falls short when it comes to high-quality support.

These are Namely’s weaknesses:

The onboarding process isn’t easy for new joiners
The product is clunky to use and isn’t updated regularly
It lacks quality features for employee engagement
Many features will be redundant if your company in under 50 employees

The onboarding process isn’t easy for new joiners

When new employees first sign up to Namely, the onboarding steps aren’t as clear and automated as other HR software out there. For example, there is no handbook integration to give employees visibility on company policies straight away, and no checklist to keep track of onboarding tasks.

This means some information needs to be manually communicated to new joiners (not ideal if you’re a one-person HR team at a small company!). Alternatives offer onboarding processes designed to ensure new joiners have all the information they need directly from their HR platform.

The product is clunky and not updated regularly

Namely’s platform has lots of features but these don’t always work as smoothly as expected. User reviews note Namely’s Benefits is difficult to use without much training, and the performance review function (where managers can send customised questions to employees for feedback) is challenging to set up.

Customers have also commented on the lack of regular product improvements. If you’re looking for an HR platform that listens to feedback and makes regular improvements, there may be better alternatives for you.

It lacks features for employee engagement

Namely lacks features that focus on improving employee engagement and building a company culture.

Unlike some alternatives, the platform doesn’t offer any surveys or polls to gather employee feedback. It’s not ideal for companies whereby building a company culture alongside core HR is a focus.

It's aimed at mid-sized companies, not startups

Namely’s HR solution is aimed at mid-sized companies with 50 - 1000 employees.

The product is not designed for smaller companies with unique HR needs like having a one-person (or non-existent!) HR team and needing a solution to work seamlessly out the box. Other HR alternatives are focused specifically on the unique challenges faced by small businesses.

Finding the right alternative to Namely for your small business

CharlieHR

Charlie's HR software helps small businesses and startups automate repetitive tasks like tracking time off and onboarding new hires — so they can save hours on HR admin each week.

For those who need truly bespoke guidance, Charlie also offers an on-demand HR advice add-on.

Top features and benefits:

Focuses on the needs of small businesses: Charlie helps you manage essential HR tasks and to shape your company culture. There are no unnecessary or complex features.

Tools optimised for employee engagement: Reviews, Polls and Perks are designed to help you build the right company culture for your business.

Regular product improvements: The platform is continually adapted and customer feedback is always listened to.

Easy to set up and use: You can get Charlie running within minutes and save yourself setup stress. The platform’s intuitive interface makes it easy for employees to use.

Responsive and personalised support: Trust you’ll have the friendly Charlie team on hand for all your questions. There’s also the option for 1:1 HR Advice as an add on for further support.

Why UK-Based small businesses should consider software designed for startups

CharlieHR is ideal for small businesses wanting to run their HR admin without complexity.

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Charlie focuses on the needs of small businesses

Some HR platforms have lots of features that aren’t necessarily needed or easy to use. Charlie is simple, so small businesses with under 100 employees can operate their HR function easily and compliantly.

From onboarding and offboarding to Perks, Polls, and Reviews, you’ve got everything you need to automate your core HR admin tasks and help your team thrive.

Plus, Charlie is itself a small SaaS startup so the team is familiar and empathises with the core challenges of running a small company.

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With Charlie, you can craft a great company culture, from day one

While smooth HR admin is a must-have, CharlieHR also helps you build the company culture your business needs to succeed through its Reviews, Polls, and Perks.

Charlie's Reviews enable real employee growth through impactful conversations, whilst Polls helps you craft your company culture by getting weekly feedback from your team. With Perks, you can also provide your team 30,000+ benefits at no extra charge.

Charlie’s onboarding flow is also designed so employees feel welcomed from Day 1 and have all the information they need to get started directly from the platform; from tailored checklists for every hire, access to your employee handbook, and new starter forms.

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Charlie’s Product team listens to your feedback

Charlie’s platform is continually adapted to best meet the needs of small businesses. Customer feedback is regularly listened to when it comes to both improving current features and shaping future functionality.

In the past few years, for example, Charlie has completely overhauled its performance reviews feature to make it easier for smaller companies to support their team’s growth and progression. We also introduced an HR Advice service to provide small companies with small or no HR teams to make the right decisions when it comes to the People side of the business.

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Charlie is user-friendly and easy set up

CharlieHR’s all-in-one software is easy for 1 person to set up in a day (even if you have no HR department). The configuration process is user-friendly and the platform is intuitive for employees to navigate.

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Responsive and personalised support

If you’re a small or one-person team operating your HR function, getting support when you need it is vital. Charlie prides itself on providing responsive and friendly support if you get stuck at any point!

Charlie offers an additional HR Advice service for expert consulting on building your HR function. This includes access to a dedicated HR consultant and your own bespoke company handbook.

Pricing

Price inclusive of all features: starting at only £5 per month
Bespoke advice package cost per month (10 employees): £299
Ideal for: Small UK businesses

Notable customers

What people say

The success of any company depends on the team that runs it. Charlie doesn’t just save me time – it gives me the headspace I need to support my team and help them to perform at their best.

— Ally Fekaiki, founder of Juno

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CharlieHR

Ideal for:

UK and Australian SMEs.