The Difference Between Paid vs Free HR Software

Every business needs some form of HR software. They could use it to monitor employee performance, store employee information or just focus on talent management. Regardless of what a company needs HR software for, they will face a quandary sooner or later.

Whether to opt for paid software or risk using free HR software.

Human resources is rarely a simple job. An HR department juggles everything from time off requests to handling benefits administration. These tasks call for specialised management and employee-focused software.

BrightHR is the smart software that handles every element of HR with ease. BrightHR is adaptable enough to provide essential services. These range from clocking in and out to performance management and annual leave planning.

BrightHR also excels with niche, specialty tools. These include a redundancy navigator tool and a costs of shifts feature.

Some may still question the difference between paid and free human resource software. Questions such as “what’s the best HR software for small businesses in the UK?” might still need answers.

The long and short? Free HR employee database software isn’t as reliable, adaptable or supported as paid HR software. Paid HR software will also feature important tools that free HR software will not.

It’s also hard to say that there are any examples of truly free HR software.

This is to say that sometimes free HR management software isn’t entirely ‘free’. Whether it's HR database software or free software for HR management systems, chances are good that there’ll be a cost for it down the line.

The costs of free HR software

These ‘costs’ aren’t figurative, there are literal price tags to free software. Costs for HR software don’t always come in the form of a one-off payment for the software itself or the activation key. They can come in many different, unexpected forms.

Hidden charges in free HR software

One of the easiest ways to get mixed up is whether there’s a subscription fee. These types of software advertise monthly or annual charges from the beginning of the downloading process, or after a free trial expires.

It should go without saying that this can end up making free HR software cost more than paid HR software with a clear price tag.

Additional HR services cost more

HR software can sometimes require additional services before use. Installation fees and specific software training may be added as mandatory fees to use the service.

Another common tactic used by many businesses are locking important, and useful services (such as payroll) behind an additional payment, or a sudden paywall to add additional users. In the long run, costs like these will make them unfit for those seeking free HR software for small businesses.

HR admin time costs you money

While it’s true that you can get HR software for free, you won’t necessarily be getting everything that you need from the software—and these limits can cost you time, and therefore real money.

You might be tempted to stitch together several free HR software systems together, but if they don’t integrate well and you’re still relying on manual date inputs, this can end up being less useful than one, comprehensive HR software suite.

Why use free HR system software?

Simply put, free software can serve as the perfect introduction to HR software for new businesses or inexperienced users.

An example of this is someone new to HR payroll software or those unaware of what they need within HR software packages. Those seeking free HR software for startups also often make use of these.

Companies will often look to HR software for essential business tasks and little else. This can cover everything from payroll to arranging specific training. Some could argue that free HR management software can handle these minimal requirements.

But, as a business grows, HR will become more important to a company. Using one, or even several, free HR tools will eventually become more a hindrance than any help.

For example, online HR software is often somewhat capable of integrating HR management systems with the cloud. However, free HR cloud software will likely have a fixed storage capacity or will limit accessibility.

As cloud HR software becomes more vital to businesses by the day, relying on free HR software will quickly become detrimental to a business.

Why you get more from paid HR software

While it’s true that you can get HR software for free, you won’t necessarily be getting everything that you need from the software.

Paywalls can prevent you from getting everything you need from HR software. Even stitching together several free HR software systems together can end up being less useful than one good paid piece of HR software.

Paid HR software often offers a more user-friendly HR process. This is because it’s designed to streamline HR tasks and perform well for both large and small-sized businesses. It will also have many more benefits for an HR team. These include securing confidential employee information and saving time with automatic HR processes.

BrightHR proves itself as an adaptable and efficient piece of HR software, capable of providing help and benefits to an HR team and a company in general.

However, BrightHR can tailor help and advice to you.

For help with anything HR related get in touch with HR advice line or download handy templates and guides for HR policies and more from BrightBase.

If you're ready to explore the powerful tools HR software can provide your business, book a free demo today.