- Paycor: Best overall
- Workday: Best for employee growth
- BambooHR: Best for customization
- Rippling: Best for global onboarding
- Zenefits: Best for onboarding on the go
- UKG Pro: Best for interactive onboarding
- ADP Workforce Now: Best for automated workflows
- Namely HR: Best for new hire data
- Freshteam: Best for affordability
- Kallidus: Best for preboarding
An effective onboarding process is essential to help set up new hires for success. While onboarding can be done manually, many teams are turning to onboarding software. The latest software can deliver an engaging experience for new employees while saving you time and hassle. Here are our top picks for the best onboarding software in 2024.
The Best Onboarding Software of 2024
Why You Can Trust Forbes Advisor Small Business
The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content and guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.
We reviewed 25 human resources (HR) management systems using a detailed methodology to help you find the 10 best onboarding software for your small businesses. Our ratings consider factors that include pricing options, customer support and ratings and the variety of general and unique features offered by each provider. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Forbes Advisor Ratings
Company | Forbes Advisor Rating | Starting price | Free trial | Key features | LEARN MORE | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paycor | 5.0 | $149 per month, plus $7 per employee | Yes, 14 days | Compliance support, early employee engagement and tax credit integration | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |||
Workday | 4.6 | Contact for a quote | No | Candidate engagement and marketing, customizable employee journeys, reporting and analytics | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |||
BambooHR | 4.6 | Contact for a quote | Yes | Customizable new hire packet templates, automatic onboarding task notifications | Learn More | On BambooHR's Website | |||
Rippling | 4.6 | $8 per month, per user | No | Offer letter generator, background check, e-signatures | Learn More | On Rippling's Website | |||
Zenefits | 4.5 | $8 per month, per employee | Yes, 14 days | Onboarding mobile app for employees, offer letter templates, automated workflows | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |||
UKG Pro | 4.2 | Must contact for a quote | No | E-signature, mobile app access, personalization, dynamic content uploads | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |||
ADP Workforce Now | 4.1 | Must contact for a quote | No | New hire checklists, digital data transfers and customizable templates | View More | ||||
Namely HR | 4.0 | Must contact for a quote | No (demo only) | New hire data collection, unlimited templates | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |||
Freshteam | 4.0 | Free for up to 50 employees; $119 per month plus $2.40 per employee, per month | Yes, 21 days | New hire welcome kits, automated emails and prebuilt templates | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |||
Kallidus | 4.0 | Must contact for a quote | No | Preboarding, auto-assigning to compliance training, onboarding buddy system | View More |
What Is Onboarding Software?
Onboarding software is a platform that allows you to streamline the new hire onboarding process from sending an offer letter to tax form submissions and setting up access to internally-used software. It often can take care of the time-consuming manual tasks of the onboarding process, improving compliance while saving you time and hassle.
Do You Need Onboarding Software?
Your company most likely needs onboarding software if it hires often and at scale or if you have a one-person HR team who juggles many HR duties. Onboarding software ensures that new employees are going through each necessary step in your onboarding process. You should also use onboarding software if you care about the employee experience, as onboarding software tools help orient the new employee in their first days on the job.
Your HR person or team could onboard new employees themselves without onboarding software. However, this takes time away from other more value-added activities and increases the chances of confusion and missing steps in the onboarding process. The HR person must remember what the new hire needs to do, send them the right documents, receive them through email or some other decentralized means of communication and manually remind new employees to complete tasks.
How To Choose the Best Onboarding Software
When choosing the best onboarding software, taking factors such as cost, flexibility and customization into account is a given. Your software of choice should make it easy to follow onboarding best practices every time you hire a new employee. Let’s consider some specific details that you should weigh in when making a purchasing decision.
Essential Features
- Mobile app access: The onboarding solution should be accessible through a variety of devices.
- E-signature: This feature speeds up the onboarding process by allowing new employees to access, sign and submit required documents from directly within the onboarding software. This eliminates the hassle of printing, scanning and emailing documents.
- Customizable workflows: Make sure the onboarding solution allows you to customize the onboarding experience for your company to ramp up the new hire’s excitement in joining the organization. Employee experience is an important part of the employee life cycle, especially at the beginning.
- Automatic reminders: New employees often forget to complete administrative tasks during their first days on the job. Onboarding software automatically reminds them instead of an HR team member having to reach out.
Software Integrations
Onboarding software should plug a new employee’s data into the tech stack by connecting with payroll, benefits administration, communication tools, such as Slack and other apps they’ll need to perform their job. A bonus for HR employees is the ability to move newly hired candidates from the applicant tracking system or recruiting software into the onboarding flow.
Training and Support
For systems that aren’t as intuitive and require some time to get used to, the onboarding software provider should provide training or ample resources to support customers and their employees in implementation and everyday use. Check out user reviews for the provider to see how responsive and effective their customer service is.
How Much Does Onboarding Software Cost?
The cost of onboarding software varies greatly, from free basic editions to complex plans costing hundreds of dollars per month. Pricing generally depends on the number of employees you have and the majority of providers offer pricing on a custom basis, so pricing isn’t widely available.
Onboarding software is rarely a stand-alone tool and is usually bundled into a broader platform or offered as an add-on. Check the monthly or annual subscription fees as well as any one-time expenses you’ll have to cover. The solution should fit comfortably within your budget.
Methodology
To determine the best onboarding software for small businesses, Forbes Advisor researched the industry and analyzed 25 different companies and plans. We then scored these contenders across five different categories covering 35 separate metrics that were weighted to favor features that small business owners find valuable in a provider. Based on those factors, each onboarding software solution earned a star rating of up to five stars.
Here are the categories we used to rank the providers that made the top of the list.
Pricing – 10%
We looked at whether a solution offers a free trial as well as the affordability of its various packages. Some providers require customers to contact them to receive a custom quote, so companies that offer upfront pricing received higher ratings here than those that require filling out a lead capture form or making a call to a sales department. This accounted for 10% of our weighted scoring.
General Features – 30%
While our reviews mention a number of features you might find useful as you onboard new hires, we focused on automation, digital documentation, onboarding checklists, compliance and mobile apps for on-the-go onboarding. Having access to time and attendance tracking and peer reviews were also essential general features we looked for. We weighted general features at 30% of our total score.
Additional Features – 20%
In addition to general features that the onboarding software should have, we also considered some unique features each offered. This included shift scheduling, engagement tools and integrations with other HR software as well as tax functionality and live customer support. These unique features accounted for 20% of the total score.
Third-party Reviews – 10%
We scoured the internet for reviews from real users and reputable websites to gather their feedback for each software. This entailed ranking both the overall score from customers and the number of reviews for these scores to give a complete picture of reality and reduce bias. These reviews accounted for 10% of the total score.
Expert Score – 30%
When compared to the competition, we gauged all of the above to choose the 10 finalists mentioned in this article. We also ranked additional criteria, such as standout features, ease of use, value for the money and popularity. This final analysis made up 30% of the total score.
Learn how we evaluate HR management systems.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are the top features of onboarding software?
Quality onboarding software includes automated workflows, background checks and employment compliance. It also offers progress reporting so that you and your new hires know where you stand with the process.
Is there any free onboarding software?
Paycor, Freshteam, Zenefits, BambooHR and several other vendors in the market offer free trials of their onboarding software but do not provide free-forever onboarding software. TalentHR offers free-forever onboarding software for up to 25 users.
Why is onboarding important?
Onboarding is important because it makes a lasting impression on new employees and makes a difference in their confidence and excitement for their new role. Onboarding ensures that a new employee gets acquainted with the company policy and culture, set up with the basic conditions of employment, such as payroll and benefits, and also has all the tools necessary to flourish in their new job. The onboarding process can be a deciding factor in employee engagement, retention and time to productivity.
How do I onboard remote employees?
Here are the best practices for onboarding remote employees:
- Get started early, through a preboarding process, to work out any glitches
- Send a welcome email or message
- Deliver tech tools to their home, such as a laptop
- Provide them with access to apps and tools for the job, such as email and social collaboration tools
- Encourage them to start experimenting with the technical tools they’ll use on the job
- Send them the employee handbook for review at any time
- Pair them with an onboarding buddy who’s been with the company for at least three months and is aware of how and how often to engage with the new employee
- Invite them to join employee interest groups or particular channels of communication in the company’s internal communication tool
How can I improve the onboarding process?
You can improve your onboarding process with these tips:
- Send a welcome email or message with a schedule of what to expect on the first day or in the first week
- Provide tools and access before day one
- Provide a checklist with due dates
- Send or schedule task reminders
- Send over necessary documents for signing before day one
- Opt for software with e-signature to ease document management
- Send a welcome package with company swag to drum up excitement
- Match them with an onboarding buddy
- Gather feedback from the new employee and onboarding buddy (if applicable)
- Set up frequent, routine check-ins with manager or team to discuss expectations, processes and company culture
- Give frequent feedback
- Prolong the onboarding process to support the new employee in their first year with the company to boost retention
- Don’t forget employees who need support when transitioning to new roles within the organization
How long does onboarding take?
Onboarding can take anywhere from two weeks to a year. Within the first few weeks, a new employee takes care of the administrative tasks of onboarding, such as getting set up with payroll and benefits. However, onboarding can continue long after a new employee achieves full productivity. This can take the form of relationship-building events for new-hire cohorts or check-ins with their manager, a team member, an onboarding buddy or someone in HR.
The longer the onboarding process takes, the more supported a new employee will feel in their role and greater the chances that the company will retain them long term, so don’t view onboarding as mutually exclusive from job performance and productivity. By contrast, long-term onboarding can help with job performance and productivity.