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Top 4 HR Outsourcing Services for Startups
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Streamline your payroll and get compliance advice tailored to US startups
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Get support on employee issues, contracts and policies from this HR consultancy firm
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Employment lawyers
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Written by:
Alisa Mistry
Many early-stage startups choose to outsource their HR: when you have just a handful of team members, you don’t need a full Human Resources team.
This is a stage where you want to put solid HR foundations in place — and outsourcing HR tasks allows you to do just that, without having to make a full-time hire.
In this guide, we shortlisted some of the best HR services for startups, so you can pick the best one for your needs.
Shortlisting HR services - our methodology
My name is Alisa, and I work as HR Advisor at CharlieHR, an HR software and advice service for small businesses.
I used my expertise and previous experience working at big HR consulting companies to draft this shortlist; and I also researched other options when it comes to outsourcing HR as a small business.
Of course, I’ve included CharlieHR in the mix — I’m here to promote our offering, but I also genuinely think that small businesses can benefit a lot from our combination of HR software and 1-to-1 HR advice.
What HR services can you outsource?
There are 3 main options for startups looking for HR outsourcing services:
- HR software for small businesses: these are platforms and tools that help you automate time-consuming tasks like calculating holiday allowance, collecting employee records and setting up performance reviews.
- HR consultancy firms: these operate as a sort of call centre where you can get answers to your HR questions. You will talk each time with a different consultant, rather than having a dedicated advisor.
- Employment lawyers or solicitors: when you need one-off support staying compliant
- HR software
- You’ll automate repetitive tasks and calculations — no more manual spreadsheets.
- You’ll still need someone to act as an HR manager and define your policies and processes.
- HR consultancy firms
- You’ll get ‘human’ support with ad-hoc HR projects or if you have any questions.
- You’ll speak to someone different every time you call, with the risk of having to repeat yourself and share the same context over and over again.
- Employment lawyers
- You’ll be safe in the knowledge you are on the right side of the law, especially when it comes to delicate situations such as redundancies.
- This is a costly, one-off service to be used only in emergency situations, not as ongoing HR support.
At Charlie, we combined the best of these HR services into a new solution:
🤖
An HR software platform that saves you hours on HR admin every week
🙋
An HR Advice service, where your dedicated advisor can act as your own HR manager (for a fraction of the cost of hiring someone in-house)
Find out more below 👇
#1
CharlieHR
HR software + expert advice for startups
Charlie gives you all the tools you need to put solid HR foundations in place for your startup, while also reducing your workload.
✅
Automate all your HR tasks with software built specifically for UK startups:
- Collect your employee data in one click, and safely store it in the platform
- Let the system handle your team’s time off requests — no supervision required
- Automate your onboarding process, and save time with each new hire
- Set up efficient and painless performance management cycles in Charlie’s software
- Measure employee engagement by sending automated surveys to your team
- Give your team access to hundreds of perks, at no added cost
✅
Tap into HR expertise by phone, email or live chat (and without making a full-time hire):
- Get a dedicated HR advisor to help you with any HR challenge
- Your advisor will create a bespoke employee handbook for your business
- Access our bank of tried and tested HR templates, contracts and HR policies
- Get the peace of mind of always being compliant with regular compliance checks
Pricing
HR software
- £4 per user per month, inclusive of all features
HR Advice
- £299 per month for unlimited HR support for small businesses
💡
You can choose to get only the software or only the Advice service if you’re not interested in both
💡
No setup fee
💡
Cancel anytime
Startups using Charlie
What people say
We were building our HR processes from scratch while also growing our team. Charlie really facilitated managing this complex process — it transformed it into something quite simple.
— Ben, COO at Fiit
Charlie means I can focus on all the other million jobs as a startup founder and don't have to become an HR professional at the same time.
— Mike McDonald, CTO at Ziva Robotics
Start your 14-day free trial
✅ Free for 14 days
✅ No credit card needed
✅ Cancel any time
#1
CharlieHR
HR software + expert advice for startups
Charlie gives you all the tools you need to put solid HR foundations in place for your startup, while also reducing your workload.
✅
Automate all your HR tasks with software built specifically for UK startups:
- Collect your employee data in one click, and safely store it in the platform
- Let the system handle your team’s time off requests — no supervision required
- Automate your onboarding process, and save time with each new hire
- Set up efficient and painless performance management cycles in Charlie’s software
- Measure employee engagement by sending automated surveys to your team
- Give your team access to hundreds of perks, at no added cost
✅
Tap into HR expertise by phone, email or live chat (and without making a full-time hire):
- Get a dedicated HR advisor to help you with any HR challenge
- Your advisor will create a bespoke employee handbook for your business
- Access our bank of tried and tested HR templates, contracts and HR policies
- Get the peace of mind of always being compliant with regular compliance checks
Pricing
HR software
- £4 per user per month, inclusive of all features
HR Advice
- £299 per month for unlimited HR support for small businesses
💡
You can choose to get only the software or only the Advice service if you’re not interested in both
💡
No setup fee
💡
Cancel anytime
Startups using Charlie
What people say
We were building our HR processes from scratch while also growing our team. Charlie really facilitated managing this complex process — it transformed it into something quite simple.
— Ben, COO at Fiit
Charlie means I can focus on all the other million jobs as a startup founder and don't have to become an HR professional at the same time.
— Mike McDonald, CTO at Ziva Robotics
Automate your HR, all of it
Charlie helps you banish manual and repetitive HR tasks, so you can focus on what really matters.
✅ Free for 14 days
✅ No credit card needed
✅ Cancel any time
#2
CharlieHR
Payroll software + advice for US-based companies
Similarly to Charlie, Zenefits offers an HR advisory service plus an HR platform to streamline your HR basics (with a specific focus on payroll). However, Zenefits is built specifically around the needs of HR departments based in the United States.
✅
Automate your payroll process and other common HR tasks:
- Manage your employee benefits from one, simple platform (US only)
- Sync onboarding with payroll, with deduction calculated automatically
- Let the system adjust payroll data based on time off taken
- Relax as Zenefits calculates and files payroll taxes for you
✅
Get unlimited access to a team of payroll experts:
- Get advice on complex compliance issues
- Ask any questions about US payroll tax
- Understand overtime regulations
Pricing
HR software
- Three different plans depending what features you need, priced respectively at $8, $16 and $21 per employee per month. Payroll and recruiting are add-ons: they come at an extra price on top of your chosen plan.
HR advice
- $8 per employee per month (only available if you are already a software customer)
💡
You will have to pay for minimum 5 employees, even if your team is smaller than that.
💡
You need to be a paying software customer to be able to buy the Advice add-on.
Startups using Zenefits
- Ylab
- Strada
- Alaska Luxury Tours
What people say
I love how the benefits, payroll, and the org-chart is there for me in Zenefits. I love how it's so versatile!
— Jeffrey W., Recruiting Coordinator, review on G2
#2
CharlieHR
Payroll software + advice for US-based companies
Similarly to Charlie, Zenefits offers an HR advisory service plus an HR platform to streamline your HR basics (with a specific focus on payroll). However, Zenefits is built specifically around the needs of HR departments based in the United States.
✅
Automate your payroll process and other common HR tasks:
- Manage your employee benefits from one, simple platform (US only)
- Sync onboarding with payroll, with deduction calculated automatically
- Let the system adjust payroll data based on time off taken
- Relax as Zenefits calculates and files payroll taxes for you
✅
Get unlimited access to a team of payroll experts:
- Get advice from a team of experts on how to deal with employee problems (grievances, harassment, etc.)
- Make the most of specialist training on GDPR applied to HR
- Have an expert build and roll our your HR strategy
- Learn how to deal with poor employee performance
Pricing
HR software
- Three different plans depending what features you need, priced respectively at $8, $16 and $21 per employee per month. Payroll and recruiting are add-ons: they come at an extra price on top of your chosen plan.
HR advice
- $8 per employee per month (only available if you are already a software customer)
💡
You will have to pay for minimum 5 employees, even if your team is smaller than that.
💡
You need to be a paying software customer to be able to buy the Advice add-on.
Startups using Zenefits
- Ylab
- Strada
- Alaska Luxury Tours
What people say
Lighter HR has been a great resource for our company. They are professional, prompt and thorough.
— Jessie L, TrustIndex review
#3
CharlieHR
HR consultancy service
LighterHR is an HR consulting service offering advice on a wide range of HR topics, not only for startups but also for large, enterprise companies. They don’t offer any HR software solutions.
✅
Get access to HR experts to solve complex issues and to lead on special projects:
- Get advice from a team of experts on how to deal with employee problems (grievances, harassment, etc.)
- Make the most of specialist training on GDPR applied to HR
- Have an expert build and roll our your HR strategy
- Learn how to deal with poor employee performance
Pricing
LighterHR don’t state their exact pricing on their website - you’ll need to get a quote from a sales representative. However, they offer the following types of contract:
-
Pay as you go: tell LighterHR what problem you’d like them to solve, and they will charge you by hours worked at the end of the project
- Retained agreement: ongoing support - you choose how many hours you need per month
- Fixed price projects: pick from a list of services that are billed per-project rather than per-hour
Startups using LighterHR
- Grammatik
- Micasa
- Caroline Baker
What people say
Lighter HR has been a great resource for our company. They are professional, prompt and thorough.
— Jessie L, TrustIndex review
#3
CharlieHR
HR consultancy service
LighterHR is an HR consulting service offering advice on a wide range of HR topics, not only for startups but also for large, enterprise companies. They don’t offer any HR software solutions.
✅
Get access to HR experts to solve complex issues and to lead on special projects:
- Get advice from a team of experts on how to deal with employee problems (grievances, harassment, etc.)
- Make the most of specialist training on GDPR applied to HR
- Have an expert build and roll our your HR strategy
- Learn how to deal with poor employee performance
Pricing
LighterHR don’t state their exact pricing on their website - you’ll need to get a quote from a sales representative. However, they offer the following types of contract:
-
Pay as you go: tell LighterHR what problem you’d like them to solve, and they will charge you by hours worked at the end of the project
- Retained agreement: ongoing support - you choose how many hours you need per month
- Fixed price projects: pick from a list of services that are billed per-project rather than per-hour
Startups using LighterHR
- Grammatik
- Micasa
- Caroline Baker
What people say
Lighter HR has been a great resource for our company. They are professional, prompt and thorough.
— Jessie L, TrustIndex review
Automate your HR, all of it
Charlie helps you banish manual and repetitive HR tasks, so you can focus on what really matters.
✅ Free for 14 days
✅ No credit card needed
✅ Cancel any time
#4
Employment law firms
Solicitors specialised in employment law
If you find yourself in a situation where you think you may be in breach of the law, it is advised to get support from a solicitor.
We will not recommend any specific law firm — as that depends on where you are based — but will list some of the most common HR services employment lawyers can help your startup with.
✅
Get the peace of mind of always complying with the law:
- Get a solicitor to draft your employment contracts
- Negotiate salaries and benefits while staying on the right side of the law
- Follow the latest regulation when it comes to making redundancies or implementing a disciplinary process
Pricing
Pricing will vary depending on the services you need - solicitors usually charge per hour. One thing to be aware of is that this type of support can soon build up to thousands of pounds per month, so it’s best used on one-off occasions, especially if you are a startup with a tight budget.
What people say
The guidance we received never really made sense in the context of a small, fast-moving and fast-growing company like ours. There were times we’d be advised to follow a 12-step action plan – and for a company of 10 people, that felt like overkill.
— Ben Branson-Gateley, CEO at CharlieHR
#4
Employment law firms
Solicitors specialised in employment law
If you find yourself in a situation where you think you may be in breach of the law, it is advised to get support from a solicitor.
We will not recommend any specific law firm — as that depends on where you are based — but will list some of the most common HR services employment lawyers can help your startup with.
✅
Get the peace of mind of always complying with the law:
- Get a solicitor to draft your employment contracts
- Negotiate salaries and benefits while staying on the right side of the law
- Follow the latest regulation when it comes to making redundancies or implementing a disciplinary process
Pricing
Pricing will vary depending on the services you need - solicitors usually charge per hour. One thing to be aware of is that this type of support can soon build up to thousands of pounds per month, so it’s best used on one-off occasions, especially if you are a startup with a tight budget.
What people say
The guidance we received never really made sense in the context of a small, fast-moving and fast-growing company like ours. There were times we’d be advised to follow a 12-step action plan – and for a company of 10 people, that felt like overkill.
— Ben Branson-Gateley, CEO at CharlieHR
HR Outsourcing Services for Startups FAQs
Is it cheaper to outsource HR?
Yes, outsourcing HR services is generally cheaper than hiring a full-time HR manager, especially when it comes to HR for startups.
Let’s say you hired a junior HR manager in your HR team with a gross monthly salary of £4,000. That is much more compared to what you would spend for some of these outsourced HR solutions:
-
Charlie’s HR software would only cost you £4/user/month — so, for a 30-people team, that would be £120/month. If you also wanted unlimited access to a dedicated HR advisor, that would cost you £299, for a total monthly cost of £419. That’s £3,621 saved compared to hiring a junior HR person.
- If you went for Zenefits (maybe you have a large part of your business based in the US), you’d spend $16/user/month for the most popular package — for 30 employees that is $480 per month. If you wanted to add the advisory service on top, you’d pay a total of $488 per month.
- According to our research, if you chose an HR consulting service for startups like LighterHR on a retainer basis, you’d spend around £3,000 per month. This of course depends on what you need, but you’d still be below what you’d pay for someone working in-house full time.
- In a similar way, solicitor costs depend on how many hours you need them to work for you. We used to use employment lawyers quite a lot in our first years after founding Charlie, and we used to spend around the same as hiring a full-time HR person.
How do I choose an HR service provider for my startup?
We hope this guide has helped you understand some of the options available to you.
In terms of picking the right one for your business, ask yourself these three questions:
-
Does my startup need one-off or ongoing HR support? If you only need someone to answer one compliance question or help you with a specific project, a solicitor or HR consultancy service will do just that. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a long-term solution to build solid HR foundations and continuously improve your processes and policies, then choose HR software and HR Advice packages like the ones we offer at Charlie.
- What is my budget? HR software like Charlie is a very affordable solution to start saving time on HR admin. On the other hand, HR consultancies and solicitors can be less cost-effective.
- In what country is most of my team based? HR best practices and regulations change massively from country to country. Make sure that, whatever HR service you choose, it specialises in solving the problems of the country you’re based in.
Automate your HR, all of it
Charlie helps you banish manual and repetitive HR tasks, so you can focus on what really matters.
✅ Free for 14 days
✅ No credit card needed
✅ Cancel any time
Choosing an HR software or HRIS platform comes with a lot of pondering, and sometimes, we’d like someone to take us through what such and such can do instead of doing all the research ourselves.
As a Product Manager at CharlieHR, I’ve spent months researching other HR software – including Hibob and its alternatives.
In this guide, I’ll take you through 4 of the best alternatives to Hibob to help you decide whether Hibob is the best fit for your business, or whether you should go for something else.
How did I research Hibob alternatives?
Throughout this research, my method has always been the same when it came to comparing different software. For transparency, here are the elements I used to evaluate each platform:
- The kind of features they offer – if it offers the basics needed by each company and what’s available on top of that
- The company size they’re best for – depending on whether they are the ideal solution for startups, mid-sized companies or big enterprises
- The customer reviews they have – going through hundreds of reviews to understand the downfalls of each software and where they perform best
- The pricing model they offer to customers – if the pricing is directly available on the website or not. At times, gathering information from our customers who switched from one software to Charlie
- The quality of their customer service – if there any recurring complaints about how they support their customers
- The platform’s interface – how complicated or easy the platform is to use, whether it requires training or whether it can be set up straight away
- Their customer base – to better understand what type of company has been successfully using the platform for a while
- How they differ from Hibob – that last point is to ensure you make an informed decision whether you want to move away from using Hibob or are just comparing it with other available solutions
4 Best Alternatives to Hibob
Alternative #1
At Charlie, we’ve built HR software that’s designed for small businesses and startups.
As a product manager, it’s my job to understand what small companies want from HR software, and that’s why I strive to make Charlie the best HR software for them.
Have a look at the top reasons why small businesses and startups choose CharlieHR as an alternative to Hibob:
✅
Affordable: Pay per employee at a transparent price point of £4 per user per month including all features. No set up fee.
✅
Focused on small businesses’ needs: Time off, data storage, onboarding, and performance management — you get exactly what you need to run your business.
✅
Easy to set up and even easier to use: Get Charlie running within minutes and save yourself a lot of set-up stress. The platform's friendly and intuitive interface makes it easy for team members to use.
✅
Responsive and personalised support: You’ll have the Charlie team on hand for all your questions.
Features available:
Automated time off
Get rid of manual spreadsheets and let the process run itself for any type of leave
One-click onboarding
Cut down your workload with a self-service onboarding platform that automates all the admin
Team database
All your documents are saved in one place
Performance reviews
Get the right processes in place to help team members grow
Perks and benefits
Offer your team exciting rewards at tons of famous brands
HR policies
HR experts guide you through your People strategy
Engagement surveys
Keep your finger on the pulse
Reports
Make the right decisions based on your People data
Integrations
For a seamless HR workflow
How Charlie is a good alternative to Hibob
As we researched and interviewed small businesses and startups, we were able to narrow down the needs of our customers. That’s why, in comparison to Hibob, we can guarantee to offer software that focuses on your fundamental needs.
Instead of pretending to solve all of your HR jobs in one go (with features you probably won’t end up using as a small business), we focus on core HR automation features that will save you the most time and effort.
So maybe, in comparison, Hibob looks like it offers a lot more (among out-of-the-box onboarding, compensation management, and anonymous reporting) but our strength lies in the focus we put into solving your overarching problems, better.
So if you’re looking for software that cuts down your workload, saves hours every week on HR admin and stops you from being the bottleneck for queries, we’re it!
✅ Free for 14 days
✅ No credit card needed
✅ Cancel any time
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
"
Pricing
- Pricing inclusive of all features: £4 per employee per month with free 14-day trial
- No set up fee
Notable customers
Alternative #2
Breathe describes itself as software that “puts people first” – it puts a great emphasis on how important it is to build a culture to make sure your business can succeed.
Fit for small to medium-sized businesses, Breathe offers different advantages for those who use it:
✅
Shift and rota orientated: offers a package that’s convenient if your business needs to build a rota system and track employee attendance
✅
Ideal for agencies: allows you to log time which means you can find out how much time has been spent on a specific project to bill a client
✅
Allows to take care of expenses: it’s great to find out how much a particular project has cost you and link expenses to it
Features available:
Leave and absence
Including holiday management, absence management and sickness monitoring
Reporting
HR dashboard and HR reporting available
People Management
A suite of features to understand performance, deal with remote working and payroll
Optional features
(for an extra price)
On top, you can add rota, time and attendance; expenses management; recruitment tracking and a learning platform
How Breathe is a good alternative to Hibob
Breathe is quite sophisticated and offers a lot of options that Hibob doesn’t have at the moment. That includes recruitment as well as training options.
Pricing
- Available in brackets for CoreHR – from £13 per month per employee (1-10 people) and £135 per month per employee (51-100 people)
- Rota, Time & Attendance as well as Learn module comes at an additional cost – the three options for 1 to 10 people would be a total of £25 per month per employee
- Breathe also allows for optional modules to be added onto the price, including additional HR users, recruitment, recruitment pro and expenses
I am new to Breathe and have found it very simple to pick up how to use it. It is a very visual interface which makes it very easy to get around.
— Nicola C. (Mid Market user)
"
Notable Customers: Ridgeview Wine Estate, Lead Tech, Dorset Wildlife Trust
Alternative #3
BambooHR, a US-based company, gives HR people a lot of resources when it comes to dealing with every stage of their growth.
Best for medium-sized companies (more than 250 employees), the myriad of features Bamboo has to offer can sometimes feel overwhelming for smaller businesses, but let’s have a look at what stands out the most:
✅
No need to outsource hiring: the whole experience of hiring can be handled through the platform – no need to get a consultant as everything can be done on Bamboo to find, hire and onboard the best talent
✅
Benefits-orientated: for companies that can afford to put together a good package for their team, Bamboo is the right choice as they can help manage these benefits directly on the platform (dental, medical, etc.)
✅
Stay connected: a modern way to get HR through a mobile app that allows for a mobile workforce
Features available:
HR Data and reporting
To have all your people data in the same place whilst gathering insights through 49 built-in reports
Hiring and onboarding
Get all of the hiring done through one platform from job ad, offer letter, contract sent and onboarding
Payroll, time and benefits
Keep track of hours worked, manage leave as well as benefits and payroll at the same time
Employee performance and employee experience
Allow for a culture of feedback where you can ask questions anonymously, and get performance management right through goals and assessments
How BambooHR is a good alternative to Hibob
Although Bamboo can feel like a lot for smaller companies, it’s a great fit for the same companies targeted by Hibob (medium-sized businesses) and allows for more in-depth reporting – in comparison to Hibob, it gives extra resources for HR people who are looking to go further in their analysis and employee management.
Pricing
- BambooHR offers two plans called Essentials and Advantage – the first one includes the core HR features (employee records, reporting, time off management, mobile app, employee self-service, email support) and if you’d like to add features such as onboarding, offboarding, e-signatures, applicant tracking system, etc, you’ll need to get the Advantage one
- Prices are not available on BambooHR and you will need to book a call with a sales representative to learn more about tailored pricing for your business, however, a former Bamboo customer I interviewed mentioned it started at $8 per month per team member for the Essentials package
- There’s also a lot of optional add ons you can opt in such as payroll, benefits administration, performance management and time tracking
I really enjoy how user-friendly BambooHR is, especially on the employee side. It allowed employees to efficiently update their information, upload documents, and sign them all in one place!
— Yisana T. (Mid Market customer)
"
Notable Customers: ZipRecruiter, Carnival, SoundCloud
Alternative #4
Describing itself as a “modern HR software”, CezanneHR is a great fit for companies in the UK that are medium-sized looking to scale (according to their website, typically 100-3,000 employees).
Cezanne has a lot to offer, and perhaps it’s not completely straightforward to understand it when you land on their homepage, however, let’s have a look at what that entails.
Features available:
Streamline your HR
HR database, self-service, notifications, document management, form builder, hr portals, compliance
Employee engagement
Kudos, own branding, pulse surveys
Onboarding
Task templates and reminders
Absence management
Holidays, TOIL, reporting, sick leave and other absences
Time tracking
Timesheets, clock in and out
Career progression
Talent pools, succession planning, career planning
How Cezanne is a good alternative to Hibob
Cezanne offers more opportunities for teams based in the UK, on the condition that they’re not small businesses. They outplay Hibob as they offer a scalable Cloud-native software platform.
Pricing
- A fixed subscription fee each month. It can be revised every year depending on the modules taken and if your headcount has gone up or down
- Sales representatives are available to build a package tailored to what your business needs
Such great support from the customer service during implementations. Consistent performance is the main reason I chose Cezanne. This will help you to achieve your goal on time without any delay.
— Jeyanthi M. (Mid market customer)
"
Notable Customers: YoungMinds, The Alan Turing Institute, Handicare
So Hibob,... Is it really worth it?
Throughout my research, it was easy to understand where Hibob’s shortcomings were, but also where it could be a great tool. Let’s have a look at both reasons why.
Choosing Hibob over an alternative
Hibob can help you streamline most of your HR and allows you to automate your processes, including basics such as time off, onboarding and documentation.
One thing they excel at (and that not many others address) is focusing on building culture at your business.
Amongst these culture-building features, you can count on:
- Shoutouts and kudos to help team members feel recognised for their work
- Customisable feature names and social-media-like homepage to promote your own branding
- Employee profiles to understand what your team members care about and who they really are
- Short video recording in the software so employees can introduce themselves to their peers
- Pronouns, pronunciation of names in employee profile
- Bob’s Clubs that allow for a remote culture to take place with coworkers, learning more about hobbies and interests
Understanding Hibob’s shortcomings
Of course, understanding what’s best about software also means finding out what its shortcomings are.
When putting together this guide, I was also able to speak to customers of ours who switched from Hibob to Charlie. Below, I compiled the main reasons why they did:
- It’s pricey for under-resourced small businesses
- It offers features that startups don’t need with an extra focus on culture
- It’s complex and time-consuming to set up without adequate support
Expensive for small businesses
Hibob can be expensive for small teams as packages are priced by group size versus per user.
For transparency, this is the information I gathered from someone who joined Charlie after being a Hibob customer: £10 per employee per month along with an implementation fee.
However, according to other former customers, prices can be higher depending on headcount and they often largely vary. The pricing information is not available directly from Hibob’s website as you need to contact a sales representative.
Unnecessary features
There is no doubt Hibob has an impressive range of features — but as a small company, you need to focus on getting the basics done well first.
A 30-person company that used Hibob told us they were drowning in features for a company of their size. Having too many features can be unnecessary, overwhelming and confusing when it comes to knowing what to prioritise.
There’s also no current need in the small business market for features too focused on building culture. One of our customers described it as “feeling like you’re paying for extras no one is going to be using.
Complex and time-consuming to set up with no support
If you’re one person building out HR for your company, you’ll want a platform that can be set up quickly and easily — something you and your team can start using straight away.
Hibob’s setup process is complex and many workflows need customising. This can be manageable if your company has Ops specialists to assist with the setup and ongoing configurations, but Hibob’s implementation is not a one-person job.
This can also become a problem as, according to feedback from previous customers, support can sometimes send customers back to FAQs rather than personally addressing their issues.
Ask yourself these questions before choosing Hibob over an alternative
Assess your own needs as a business before making a decision:
- Is the tool designed for UK small businesses or larger companies?
- How responsive is customer support?
- Which features are most important for helping to run your startup?
- How easy is the setup and configuration process?
- Does the platform offer the best value for money?
I hope this guide was useful to understand whether you want to go for Hibob or an alternative. Perhaps have a look at these comparison guides below to narrow down your search.
