In a nutshell, Human Resource Software Tools automate, streamline, and improve human resources operations and processes of an organization. The benefits of using the most suitable HR Tool are extensive. The 7 main benefits are improved productivity, time-saving, error reductions, better decision making, improved communication, saved money and improved quality of new hires. There are many types of HR Tools that can be used for different and specific goals. On an overall basis HR Tools can be grouped into 3 main HR categories, being (i) Recruiting HR Tools, (ii) Administrative HR Tools, and (iii) Human Capital Management HR Tools.

The only problem is that there are a lot of HR Tools out there and are all screaming for your attention. There are more than 81 million sites that have something to say about Human Resource Information Systems. Luckily, not all of them are actual HR Application vendors, but you get the idea right?

So which HR Tools are successful in providing the applications and features you need and how can you find them? You can do a google search and search for the Best HR Tools, but then you get hundreds of “Best of Lists” in front of you, so that doesn’t help a lot either unless you want to spend a full day going through all those lists. Well, that is exactly what we did! We searched for 50 “Best of Lists” highlighting the most recommended HR Tools, then we selected and combined the 13 most valuable “Best of Lists” and earmarked and ranked what HR Tools keep up appearing on most of those recently published lists. From a total of 125 HR Software Tools compared, reviewed and ranked, here is the Top 20 of Most Recommended HR Tools around that appear on most of the “Best of Lists”.

As we are a small business ourselves, we use/have used quite a number of the listed tools ourselves for optimizing our blog and our Consultants 500 platform, on which you can also find and search for Recruiting & HR Experts. If you are a Recruiting or HR Expert yourself, you can always create a free profile on our Platform if you want to. It only takes a few minutes and no credit card is needed for opening doors to new opportunities. It’s all up to you. See here how it works.

Top 20 of Best HR Tools
Most Recommended

#1. BambooHR / Twitter
Listed 12 out of 13 times. Serving more than 10,000 customers and 1,000,000 employees, BambooHR is the leading software provider powering the strategic evolution of HR in small and medium businesses. BambooHR’s cloud-based system is an intuitive, affordable way for growing companies to manage essential employee information in a personalized Human Resources Information System (HRIS). Its software sets HR free to do great work and be more strategic, which helps the entire organization do the same.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: BambooHR
Guide: BambooHR
Their Blog
Pricing: Quote-Based
User Reviews


#2. Zoho People / Twitter
Listed 4 out of 13 times. With Zoho People, users streamline both your data collection and secure storage with their employee database management system. They can set up their organization and maintain all the employee records in one central location. It is a simple yet comprehensive and flexible system to manage all HR processes.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: Zoho People
Guide: Zoho People
Their Blog
Pricing: Free Trial & Monthly Per Employee (From EUR 0.83)
User Reviews


#3. Gusto HR / Twitter
Listed 7 out of 13 times. Gusto’s mission is to create a world where work empowers a better life. By making the most complicated business tasks simple and personal, Gusto is reimagining payroll, benefits, and HR for modern companies. Gusto serves over 60,000 companies nationwide and has offices in San Francisco and Denver.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: Gusto
Guide: Gusto
Their Blog
Pricing: Free Trial & Monthly Per Employee (From USD 6)
User Reviews


#4. Zenefits / Twitter
Listed 7 out of 13 times. Zenefits is one of the leading all-in-one Digital HR platforms for small and medium businesses. Designed as a single source of truth for managing the modern workforce, Zenefits delivers the most complete, all-mobile HR experience by tightly integrating its own powerful applications with dozens of best-of-breed providers on the Zenefits platform.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: Zenefits
Guide: Zenefits
Their Blog
Pricing: Monthly Per Employee (From USD 8)
User Reviews


#5. Deputy / Twitter
Listed 4 out of 13 times. Deputy is the ultimate, all-in-one workforce management solution that simplifies employee scheduling, timesheets, tasking, and communication. It aims to help businesses save time and money by eliminating manual processes and paper-based systems. In their place, they empower managers and employees to work faster and smarter with intelligent work scheduling, timesheet management, and communication tools.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: Deputy
Guide: Deputy
Their Blog
Pricing: Free Trial & Monthly Per Employee (From USD 2)
User Reviews


#6. Namely / Twitter
Listed 6 out of 13 times. Namely is the HR, Payroll, and Benefits platform that enables users to manage all of their HR data in one place, with personalized service to help companies get better, faster. Namely is used by some of the world’s most innovative and exciting companies in media, technology, commerce, and more.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: Namely
Guide: Namely
Their Blog
User Reviews


#7. Ceridian Dayforce / Twitter
Listed 5 out of 13 times. Dayforce is a global human capital management platform that transforms the employee experience. It unifies data from across the entire employee lifecycle to enable better decision-making at every level. Dayforce is a comprehensive cloud platform that combines HR, payroll, benefits, workforce management, and talent management in a single application. Our scalable platform is built with a single, flexible rules engine combined with real-time updates and calculations that help address complex regulatory requirements.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: Dayforce
Guide: Dayforce
Their Blog
User Reviews


#8. Cezanne HR / Twitter
Listed 4 out of 13 times. Cezanne HR is leading the way in delivering smart Cloud HR software solutions to mid-sized and growing businesses, both international and domestic, at a cost unthinkable just a few years ago. Cezanne’s HR systems are quick to deploy, easy to manage and packed full of features that save time and help everyone work together more productively and successfully.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: Cesanne HR
Guide: Cesanne HR
Their Blog
Pricing: Monthly Per Employee (From EUR 1.25)
User Reviews


#9. UltiPro / Twitter
Listed 6 out of 13 times. Ultimate Software’s UltiPro cloud solution for HR, payroll, and talent management is designed to improve the employee experience. Built with an inherent focus on people, UltiPro helps organizations implement smart people-management strategies to develop highly productive and satisfied workforces. Employees can easily access and manage their personal, pay, and benefits information within UltiPro, and HR administrators can rapidly calculate and process payroll with accuracy.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: UltiPro
Guide: UltiPro
Their Blog
User Reviews


#10. ClearCompany / Twitter
Listed 5 out of 13 times. ClearCompany is an award-winning Talent Management Software provider and the only HR software provider that unifies Recruiting, Onboarding, Performance Management, and Goal Tracking.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: ClearCompany
Guide: ClearCompany
Their Blog
Pricing: Quote-Based
User Reviews


#11. ADP Workforce Now / Twitter
Listed 7 out of 13 times. ADP Workforce Now is a cloud-based platform for HR management software, where you can easily manage all of your HR functions — payroll, time, benefits, HR management, and talent. It delivers the versatility of an easy-to-use solution that scales with you — and the convenience of an all-in-one platform that seamlessly integrates with all your favorite systems. Discover how smarter HR software fits you.

Handy Resources:
Features: ADP Workforce Now
Guide: ADP Workforce Now
Their Blog
User Reviews


#12. Kronos Workforce Ready / Twitter
Listed 7 out of 13 times. The Kronos Workforce Ready suite combines the power of workforce management and human capital management (HCM) in one unified cloud platform to help you manage your entire workforce from pre-hire to retire — whether they’re salaried, hourly, full time, or part-time.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: Kronos Workforce Ready
Guide: Kronos Workforce Ready
Their Blog
User Reviews


#13. SAP SuccessFactors / Twitter
Listed 6 out of 13 times. SAP SuccessFactors human capital management suite delivers leading onboarding, social business and collaboration tools, a learning management system (LMS), performance management, recruiting software, applicant tracking software, succession planning, talent management, and HR analytics

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: SAP SuccessFactors
Guide: SAP SuccessFactors
Their Blog
User Reviews


#14. Workday HCM / Twitter
Listed 5 out of 13 times. Workday HCM provides complete visibility into your global workforce and the ability to manage the full worker lifecycle—from staffing to compensation to career growth—using a single human capital management system.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: Workday HCM
Their Blog
User Reviews


#15. APS OnLine / Twitter
Listed 4 out of 13 times. APS helps small and midsize businesses harness the power of the cloud to improve workforce management and mitigate compliance risk so you can grow and succeed. We’re proud of the software we develop and how we help our customers achieve their goals by decreasing their labor costs, streamlining inefficient processes, and improving engagement with their employees.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: APS OnLine
Guide: APS OnLine
Their Blog
Pricing: Quote-Based
User Reviews


#16. Paycor Perform / Twitter
Listed 5 out of 13 times. Paycor streamlines and modernizes practically every aspect of people management, from the way your company recruits, onboards and develops people to the way you pay them, retain them and build a company culture. It is known for delivering modern, intuitive recruiting, HR and payroll solutions, but what makes us legendary is our singular focus on helping business leaders, entrepreneurs and HR professionals make a real difference in their organizations.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: Paycor Perform
Guide: Paycor Perform
Their Blog
User Reviews


#17. Sage Business Cloud People / Twitter
Listed 3 out of 13 times. Sage Business Cloud People is a leading global HR and people management system that transforms how companies attract, manage, and retain their workforce. Designed specifically for medium-sized and multinational organizations (from 200 to 5000 employees).

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: Sage Business Cloud People
Guide: Sage Business Cloud People
Their Blog
User Reviews


#18. Zoho Recruit / Twitter
Listed 3 out of 13 times. Zoho Recruit is both powerful recruiting software and a cutting-edge applicant tracking system that streamlines your hiring process. Source best talent faster, track resumes and interviews efficiently, and never miss on a great hire.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: Zoho Recruit
Guide: Zoho Recruit
Their Blog
Pricing: Free & Monthly Membership (From EUR 22.5)
User Reviews


#19. PeopleSoft HCM / Twitter
Listed 4 out of 13 times. Oracle’s PeopleSoft is an industry-leading, proven, functionally deep, full suite of integrated applications. PeopleSoft applications are designed to address your most complex business requirements and enable your organization.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: PeopleSoft HCM
Guide: PeopleSoft HCM
Their Blog
Pricing: Licence per Employee (From USD 52)
User Reviews


#20. ADP Vantage HCM / Twitter
Listed 4 out of 13 times. All-in-one, open-architecture solution for strategic human capital management — talent, payroll, time and benefits — for large multinational businesses.

Handy Resources:
Features Overview: ADP Vantage HCM
Guide: ADP Vantage HCM
Their Blog
User Reviews

What Do the Software Review Sites
Say About the Top 5 HR Tools

The massive number of different Software Applications in the market has created a whole new industry, which is the industry of the Software Review Sites. These sites are dedicated to grouping software into categories that you can search to identify the application for your business needs and see then see what customers have to say about these applications. In the HR Software Tools category, for instance, more than 62 totally different HR Software Tools exist, and each of them supports a different aspect of the overall HR process.

We have identified the most trustful, and therefore not surprisingly the market leaders, in the software comparison industry which provide unbiased information and reviews. These sites have also been used as a source for our research. This is what the top review sites have to say about the top 5 of Best HR Tools.

As can be seen, Bamboo HR is a clear favorite.

Best HR Books
for Further Learning

Books about Human Resources and Management offer a great way of learning more in-depth aspects of HR and Management and at a much lower price than taking, for example, a specialist HR or Management Course. By reading a book, you consume a huge amount of research in a relatively short amount of time, and it is one of the best ways to improve your Human Resources / Management knowledge and skills. These Human Resources Management Books keep up appearing on all the “Best of Lists” resulting in “The 20 Best HR Books Recommended most Times,” and here are the top 5:

  1. First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently | by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
  2. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t | by Jim Collins
  3. Why Employees Don’t Do What They’re Supposed To Do And What You Can Do About It  | by Ferdinand Fournies
  4. Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead | by Sheryl Sandberg
  5. Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead | by Laszlo Bock

Best Applicant Tracking Systems
Most Recommended

Human Resources Management and Recruiting is a time consuming and complex process. Applicant Tracking Systems automate, streamline, and improve the Recruiting process. The benefits of using a suitable Applicant Tracking System are extensive. Therefore, these Applicant Tracking Systems might also interest you as we did another research for Applicant Tracking Systems in the same way as we did for Best HR Tools.  These Top 20 of Best Applicant Tracking Systems keep appearing on all lists of Best ATS-Systems, and here are the top 5:

  1. Oracle Taleo Cloud Service / Twitter
  2. Zoho Recruit / Twitter
  3. Jobvite / Twitter
  4. iCims Talent Acquisition / Twitter
  5. Greenhouse / Twitter

Best HR Blogs
to Follow

Human resource management is basically the optimal approach to effectively manage the people in a business or organization in such a way that they help their business gain a competitive advantage. It is designed to maximize employee performance in service of an employer’s strategic objectives.

Therefore a lot of aspects come into play when determining your optimal Human Resources strategy. Blogs about Human Resources are an ideal source for staying up to date on the latest developments and learn new insights into all sorts of relevant HR topics. A good HR blog offers in-depth analyses, how-to guides, industry trends, handy statistics insights, strategy papers, the best tools for the HR professional and much more.

These HR Blogs keep up appearing on all the “Best of Lists” resulting in “The 20 Best HR Blogs Recommended most Times”, and here are the top 5:

  1. HR Bartender / Twitter
  2. TLNT / Twitter
  3. Evil HR Lady / Twitter
  4. HR Examiner / Twitter
  5. HRZone / Twitter

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More than 75% of potential Clients who look for HR Services start a Web Search to find the best HR Specialist for the issue to be solved. Because the internet is by far the leading channel where potential buyers start their journey, it is critical that your business can be easily found on the internet. Creating a profile on our Platform is free and opens the door to new opportunities, it can be done in only a few minutes and without any credit card.

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How we Established the Final
Top 20 of Best HR Tools

  • We made a list of 50 posts that were recently published about “Best HR Tools” to use.
  • From this list of 50 posts, we selected the top 20 that seem most valuable to our readers and users.
  • We combined the 20  lists of “Best HR Tools” and earmarked all individual tools that were on those lists.
  • When a tool was ranked as number 1, it got 1 point, and when it was ranked 2nd, it got 2 points, etc.
  • When no particular ranking was applied to a certain list, then each listed tool got the same points.
  • To be included in the final list a tool should be listed for a minimal number of times.
  • More weight was assigned to tools that were explicitly listed more times than other tools.
  • All lists were summed up, and the HR Tool with the lowest number was ranked 1, 2, 3, etc.
  • This resulted in the final “Top 20 of Best HR Tools” that have been recommended most times by all types of HR Experts. 

Sources Used for
Best HR Tools

The 13 “Best of Lists” used for researching what the Best HR Tools are:

  1. 15 Popular HR Management Software Solutions: Which One Is The Best?
  2. Best HR Software Comparison
  3. Human Resources Software
  4. Human Resource Software
  5. The Best HR Software for 2019
  6. The 52 Best Mobile Apps for Human Resource (HR) Managers
  7. Best HR Management Suites Software
  8. Find & Compare HRMS Software
  9. Human Resources (HR) Software
  10. 20 Best HR Software Solutions of 2019
  11. HR Management Software
  12. What is the best HR software?
  13. The 20 Best HR Software Programs on the Market