Best human capital management (HCM) software in 2024

Zoho’s HCM solution, called Zoho People, is designed to be easy to use, with an intuitive, user-friendly interface that should be welcoming even to novices (and to both you and your employees). It’s also a mobile HCM solution, with Android and iOS apps that allow employees to access vital functions and information on the go.

Value 

Zoho People offers both a free plan as well as a 30-day free trial, so users are able to sample some of its functionality with no commitment or risk. Its subscription plans are relatively well priced, starting at $1.50 per user per month and scaling up to $10 per user per month for the Enterprise plan.

However, the best value for most small businesses will lay somewhere in the middle tiers (there are five HCM plans in total), as they represent the best balance of features and price.

Functionality 

Zoho People includes most of the core functionality you’d expect from a complete HCM platform including time tracking, onboarding, performance management and billing and invoicing, though many of those core features require subscribing to a mid-tier or higher plan.

One glaring omission is payroll processing; Zoho People does integrate separately with Zoho Payroll, but it requires an additional fee separate from People’s pricing model.

Support 

Zoho People offers a number of resources on its website ranging from guides to making the most out of the platform to an employee handbook to help train you and your team on People’s core functionality. You can also contact Zoho People support directly by email.

Designed for large businesses, SAP SuccessFactors is only available to businesses with more than 300 employees, according to a conversation we had with an SAP representative. Additionally, payroll processing is only available to companies with more than 1,000 employees.

With that in mind, if you are operating a large business, SuccessFactors is a complete platform offering a wide variety of HCM solutions and products.

Value 

SAP SuccessFactors’ value is difficult to evaluate because the company obscures its pricing online. SuccessFactors’ offerings are broken into individual services, which are then priced individually, and pricing for many features is undisclosed.

However, SuccessFactors is a fairly comprehensive HCM platform. It offers the prerequisite core features you need to manage your employees and also includes a number of welcome extras and interesting add-ons.

Functionality 

The central pillars of SAP’s HCM platform include HR, payroll, talent acquisition and workforce planning tools. In addition to these essentials, SAP also offers some interesting extras, like AI tools to screen recruits and help improve employee performance. AI can also help with what-ifs affecting your business, do scenario modeling and deliver employee analytics.

There’s also a helpful employee profile interface that includes a spotlight view, allowing you to view employee data like skills and interests.

Support 

SAP has a resources tab on its website where you can read up on HR trends, learn about HR best practices or get insights into the best ways to use SAP’s products. You can also reach the company’s support team by phone, email or live chat.

Paycor is an all-in-one HCM solution that includes everything you need for employee management, through the entire lifecycle. It starts with recruiting and onboarding tools and includes a full suite of payroll tools with a number of options on ways to pay (as well as compensation management), benefits administration and time tracking.

Value 

Paycor also doesn’t surface its pricing online, making it difficult to judge its HCM platform as a value proposition. However, it is a comprehensive platform and also offers a range of plans that are intelligently designed to appeal to businesses of different sizes and with different needs. The basic plan will appeal to new or small businesses that only need basic HR functionality – a number of features are also available as optional add-ons.

Functionality 

Paycor offers virtually everything you need to manage employees. Each of the four HCM plans gives you access to a full toolkit of payroll options and HR services and support, as well as a number of extras like reporting and analytics to track both your business and your employee’s performance.

It’s important to note, however, that some key features aren’t included by default in the four standard plans Paycor offers, but are only available as add-ons. These include benefits, time and scheduling, recruiting and workers comp.

Support 

The resource center on Paycor’s website offers a huge number of articles, webinars and case studies to help you learn more about HR administration and Paycor’s offerings, as well as an HR glossary full of common terms and jargon from both HR specifically and the business world at large. You can also reach out to Paycor support for more information or help with technical issues by phone, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST.

Paycom offers a single source of truth for all your HCM needs by building a number of functions typically split across multiple apps or integrations into a single desktop or mobile app. It also empowers employees with a range of self-service tools, like time tracking and access to payroll and HR info, taking some of the most onerous and repetitive HR tasks off your plate.

Value 

Paycom is another HCM software provider that doesn’t offer details about its pricing structure on its website, though there is a wealth of information about what’s offered through its HCM platform. It also puts a heavy emphasis on the fact that all HCM functionality is available through a single app, indicating that you won’t be upcharged for essential features.

Its HCM offering is also quite feature-rich and includes payroll processing — a feature frequently lacking in basic HCM software or only available as an integration or add-on.

Functionality 

Beyond payroll, Paycom’s HCM app includes personnel management tools like talent acquisitions and talent management tools so you can get the most out of your team. There are also several HR tools like Paycom’s proprietary Direct Data Exchange, which tracks usage of the platform across your employee base to help maximize your ROI.

It also offers complete time and attendance tracking and management to simplify scheduling as well as quickly respond to time-off requests.

Support 

HCM offers an HR and payroll glossary in the resources section of its website, especially helpful given the huge amount of jargon that gets tossed around in the HCM space. There are also education webinars and other training tools. HCM support is available directly by phone or at one of the company’s corporate offices in Oklahoma and Texas.

OmniHR shines in its large number of automations, which reduce manual input and, by extension, the time and resources you spend dealing with HR and HCM tasks. It also offers a highly customizable HCM platform, meaning you can choose which data you want to easily access to every time you log on without having to navigate a ton of nested menus or dig for the information you need.

Value 

While OmniHR doesn’t disclose pricing for its enterprise-grade plan, the core plan matches both the pricing (roughly) and the feature set offered by mid-tier plans at other HCM software providers at $3.45 per employee per month when paid monthly.

The price drops to $3 per employee per month if you pay annually, and OmniHR offers a 14-day free trial if you want to sample the platform before you commit. At that price, the included feature set is a solid value, with relatively few key features paywalled behind the enterprise plan, though a number of features are also only available as paid add-ons regardless of which plan you choose.

Functionality 

The Standard plan gives you access to the customizable employee database, which is a great tool in large part because it allows you to customize what data floats to the top and lets you quickly get critical information at a glance.

It also includes workflow automations, access to OmniHR’s library of integrations, a mobile app and reports and analytics. Unfortunately, core functions like payroll, time off tracking or performance management are only available as à la carte add-ons that cost extra.

Support 

OmniHR publishes a blog on its site that covers everything from internal equity and employee onboarding to incredibly niche topics like Service Incentive Leave in the Philippines. There’s also an FAQ designed to address the most common issues, and you can reach out to OmniHR customer support by email or contact form on the site.

HiBob offers a solid HCM platform that includes most of the important features you’d expect (though it lacks benefits administration), but where it really shines is in its huge catalog of integrations. They not only add missing functionality from the core platform to cover any gaps in HiBob’s software but can add a lot of optional extras rarely seen on closed platforms.

Value 

HiBob requires a custom quote to sign up for its HCM system, so pricing details are unavailable online. HiBob does deliver on the other axis of value.

The base platform includes nearly everything you’d expect from an HCM software company, which is then expanded on by all of the available integrations that you can optionally install after purchase.

Functionality 

HiBob is more of a complete HRIS platform than an HCM provider, which means it delivers all the employee management tools you’d expect from HCM, as well as built-in payroll and analytics, tools for workforce planning and other features that some basic HCM software lacks.

Integrations let you further add employee benefits, so you don’t need to turn to yet another HCM app to fill your HR needs, as well as helpful functionality like growth planning and  management and learning management systems (LMS).

Support 

HiBob has an expansive resources section on its official website. There, you can dive into webinars, check out the company’s blog, get product briefs or read up on HR tools and research findings. HiBob support is also available by support ticket or contact form on the website.

UKG Pro, the company’s HCM solution, puts a focus on workplace culture and bridging the personal and professional divide in an effort to help you foster a positive and supportive environment at your business.

It strives to reach this goal through data and insights about your personnel, both individually and as a holistic workforce. It also leans into AI assistance for tasks like reporting and analytics to help you make decisions based on real, actionable data on your people.

Value 

UKG is another HR and HCM solutions provider that isn’t transparent on pricing and that requires a custom quote to establish cost. The feature set on offer is very solid however, with automated HR tasks, payroll, talent acquisition tools and other vital HCM features.

The AI suite and integrations represent a further value add for UKG Pro, making it a complete HR and HCM platform (and making the decision to split HR and HCM into separate offerings slightly baffling).

Functionality 

Alongside leveraging AI for analytics and reporting, as mentioned above, UKG also deploys it in a number of other ways that benefit users. AI can help you optimize scheduling, classify your internal documents, give you insights into your team and even predict retention or employee fatigue.

It can also be a boon for recruiting, helping you find the best candidates for your business by building interview questions tailored to specific roles or writing stand-out job descriptions.

Support 

UKG offers a number of online resources, like a research and insights page on its site, as well as access to webinars, industry tradeshow and event listings, its People Purpose Blog and workplace resources. UKG support is available through the system/app itself and by phone, contact form and email.

Paylocity is an all-in-one HCM platform that provides everything you need under a single umbrella, including things like payroll processing and benefits administration that are often only available through integrations, paid add-ons or in some cases, aren’t offered at all. Paylocity also focuses on modernizing HR features and incorporating new technologies.

Value 

Like many HCM, HRIS and HR software providers, Paylocity doesn’t provide pricing details for its services online. This makes evaluating value tricky, and makes budgeting ahead for your HCM system challenging for consumers. Paylocity also doesn’t offer a free trial of any kind to allow customers to test its platform before purchase.

That said, in terms of what’s on offer, Paylocity offers a complete HCM solution in a single piece of software, with everything you need to manage your employees’ lifecycles.

Functionality 

Paylocity offers everything you need from an HCM platform. You get core HR functionality, payroll processing, benefits administration, talent management and time and attendance tracking, and Paylocity’s benefits support specifically is best in class.

The company lets employees enroll, access benefits information and manage their accounts from anywhere, and it further eliminates tasks administrators would normally be responsible for through automations. Even the enrollment process is simplified; Paylocity provides a step-by-step, guided process to walk employees through their options and fees.

Support 

Paylocity support offers training programs for its products alongside a resource library that includes a blog, webinars and even podcasts and ebooks covering topical trends in HR and business. You can also contact Paylocity by phone or at its corporate headquarters in Illinois.

Like Paylocity, Uzio is also a truly all-in-one HCM platform that includes everything you need to run HR and manage your employees. However, its pricing structure is unique in that, instead of an overarching HCM (or HRIS or HR) plan, every feature is sold separately.

This could be a boon for businesses that already have another solution and just need individual features or small businesses with limited needs, but the price can add up quickly if you’re looking to use Uzio for all your HCM needs.

Value 

Though Uzio offers a wide array of features, the value proposition is very shaky because you have to pay for each feature and service individually. This means if you want payroll, you’ll need to shell out $55 per month plus $6.50 per month per employee — already a fairly expensive ask. Want HRIS services? They’ll cost you another $4.50 per month per employee.

As you can see, the price can add up fast, especially for larger companies, and there are other HCM software providers that offer full packages for the price of some of Paylocity’s individual features.

Functionality 

Despite its piecemeal pricing structure, Uzio shines in terms of functionality. It is a truly all-in-one platform with HRIS, payroll, benefits, time tracking and everything else you’d expect from a complete HCM solution.

Uzio has also jumped on the AI and machine learning bandwagon, and empowers users to deploy its Uzio AI Copilot to streamline operations and help out with common HR and payroll tasks. AI will continuously learn from interactions and change and adapt accordingly, so the platform should improve as you use it.

Support 

Uzio’s resources hub includes a blog with articles on topics like navigating new laws and regulations, news about company updates and infographics to provide easily digestible data on trends and technologies. You can also connect with Uzio support through a contact form on the website or by phone or email.

Beyond a full complement of HCM tools, Workday’s HCM platform includes a tool called the Workday Skills Cloud, which the company describes as an “open skills intelligence foundation.” That means Workday will use AI and machine learning to help train your employees in new skills or retrain existing skill sets and then help match your personnel to the best roles and opportunities for them inside your organization.

This also extends to candidates — AI will assess applicants and match them to appropriate jobs within your company.

Value 

Workday doesn’t offer any pricing information online, and you’ll need to contact its sales department to get a sense of how much its platform may cost your company, which can be a major pain point for small businesses that are trying to put together a budget and don’t have unlimited time to research various HCM platforms.

On the upside, Workday does offer a lot of solid HCM functionality and much of it makes liberal (and in some cases, innovative) use of AI to make it as powerful and convenient as possible.

Functionality 

Beyond the requisite HR and employee management tools (HR, payroll) and Workday Skills Cloud described above, Workday also uses AI to help keep your people engaged and productive.

It gathers large datasets from your employees and analyzes them to give you actionable feedback, identifies common themes and complaints among your workforce and even assesses academic research to help you tailor employee experience.

Support 

Workday offers a resource section on its site with customer stories and a blog. There’s also a resource center where you can brush up on business strategy and the best ways to utilize Workday to support your business. Workday support is only available to existing customers and the company’s website doesn’t surface what channels are available to contact support.