| Best for |
SMEs and startups wanting broad HR, Estonian statutory payroll and recruiting without licence fees |
US startups prioritising full-service payroll, tax and benefits |
Growing teams wanting a polished, dedicated core HRIS |
Fast-scaling teams combining HR, IT, devices, apps and payroll |
Distributed teams hiring employees and contractors internationally |
Budget-conscious SMEs and existing Zoho customers |
Teams wanting modular HR inside a broader ERP suite |
| Ideal team |
Small and growing teams |
Typically 1-50 |
Typically 10-200 |
Typically 20-500+ |
Any size; global-first |
5-200+ |
Small to mid-market |
| Starting price |
Free, every listed feature |
$49/month + $6/person |
Core from $10/employee/month |
From $8/user/month + $40 base fee |
$49/contractor or $599/EOR employee monthly |
Free for 5 users; paid from $1.25/user/month annually |
One App Free; all-app plans from $24.90/user/month annually |
| Free option |
All available features |
No permanent free plan |
Trial; no permanent free plan |
Demo and custom quote |
Free demo; no general free plan |
Permanent free plan for 5 users |
One App Free and Community edition |
| Open source |
✓Yes · MIT |
✕No public open-source edition |
✕No · proprietary |
✕No public open-source edition |
✕No public open-source edition |
✕No public open-source edition |
◐Community: LGPLv3; Enterprise: proprietary |
| Payroll / global |
Pay runs and payslips with line-item breakdowns; shift scheduling, location-aware time-clock check-in and automatic attendance; expense claims, advances and travel requests; employee self-service portal. |
Strong US payroll; international contractor payments are an add-on |
Payroll and benefits are subscribed services; limited global employment scope |
US and global payroll options with deep workforce automation |
EOR, contractors and payroll across 130+ countries |
Multi-language HR; payroll is a separate Zoho product |
Broad modular HR/ERP with regional configuration |
| Limitations |
Granular RBAC hardening and live provider adapters remain on the roadmap. Deeper statutory payroll, including TÖR and TSD exports plus holiday and incapacity pay calculations, also remains on the roadmap. |
Primarily US-focused; deeper HR features require higher plans |
Per-employee pricing; advanced capabilities and services increase total cost |
Required platform plus modular products can raise cost and setup effort |
EOR and contractor compliance fees add up; core HR is not the main differentiator |
Advanced attendance, performance and talent features sit in higher tiers |
A complete HR stack spans multiple apps; API/customisation require the paid Custom plan |