Automate HR admin and get unlimited HR advice from your dedicated consultant
✅ Free for 14 days
✅ No credit card needed
✅ Cancel any time
Automate HR admin and get unlimited HR advice from your dedicated consultant
Streamline your payroll and get compliance advice tailored to US startups
Get support on employee issues, contracts and policies from this HR consultancy firm
One-off legal support for when you want to ensure you’re compliant
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.
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.
There are 3 main options for startups looking for HR outsourcing services:
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 👇
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:
✅
Tap into HR expertise by phone, email or live chat (and without making a full-time hire):
HR software
HR Advice
💡
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
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.
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.
✅ Free for 14 days
✅ No credit card needed
✅ Cancel any time
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:
✅
Tap into HR expertise by phone, email or live chat (and without making a full-time hire):
HR software
HR Advice
💡
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
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.
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.
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
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:
✅
Get unlimited access to a team of payroll experts:
HR software
HR advice
💡
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.
I love how the benefits, payroll, and the org-chart is there for me in Zenefits. I love how it's so versatile!
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:
✅
Get unlimited access to a team of payroll experts:
HR software
HR advice
💡
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.
Lighter HR has been a great resource for our company. They are professional, prompt and thorough.
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:
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:
Lighter HR has been a great resource for our company. They are professional, prompt and thorough.
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:
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:
Lighter HR has been a great resource for our company. They are professional, prompt and thorough.
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
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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:
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:
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.
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:
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.
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
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.
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
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
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.
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.
Notable Customers: Ridgeview Wine Estate, Lead Tech, Dorset Wildlife Trust
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
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
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.
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!
Notable Customers: ZipRecruiter, Carnival, SoundCloud
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.
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
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.
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.
Notable Customers: YoungMinds, The Alan Turing Institute, Handicare
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.
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:
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:
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.
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.
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.
Assess your own needs as a business before making a decision:
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.