.png)
Explore the top 10 HRIS systems for mid-sized companies with OutSail: From Ceridian's Core HR strengths to Rippling's innovative HR/IT integration, find the perfect fit for your needs
.png)
When companies are shopping for a new HRIS system, they often begin by building a shortlist
Adding names to a shortlist is easy, but what becomes challenging is how to efficiently narrow the list down. Most HR teams are too strapped for time to sit on 10-15 introductory calls just to find the best HRIS systems.
We believe the key to finding the best HRIS systems is identifying the technology provider whose strengths align most with your biggest needs. So, below we've listed 10 different HRIS systems for mid-sized buyers, and what types of organizations see the most success on their platforms.
Overview: Dayforce is a powerful, full-suite Human Capital Management (HCM) platform that brings together payroll, HR, benefits administration, talent acquisition, onboarding, performance management, and learning into a single application. One of Dayforce's standout features is its continuous calculation engine, which provides real-time payroll insights and reduces payroll errors. The platform excels in workforce management, with robust tools for time and attendance tracking, labor forecasting, and complex compliance support, particularly around taxation and labor laws.
Best For: Mid-sized to large enterprises seeking a unified system with advanced workforce and payroll capabilities.
Average Customer Size: 400-5,000 employees
Typical Price Point: $24–31 PEPM
Overview: UKG Pro is a comprehensive and highly configurable HCM suite that supports payroll, HR, benefits, talent management, and workforce planning. It is especially appreciated for its strong reporting and analytics powered by AI and its user-friendly interface. The acquisition of global payroll provider Immedis has expanded its international capabilities. However, UKG Pro's legacy architecture can make implementation and customization more complex compared to newer solutions. Still, for enterprises with intricate HR needs, UKG Pro offers unmatched depth.
Best For: Enterprises needing highly customizable solutions and global capabilities.
Average Customer Size: 1,000+ employees
Typical Price Point: $32–41 PEPM
.png)
Overview: Paycor has rapidly evolved from a payroll-centric solution to a holistic HCM platform, bolstered by strategic acquisitions in applicant tracking, performance management, and employee engagement. It caters especially well to verticals like healthcare, nonprofit, and food service, offering tailored compliance and scheduling tools. Paycor stands out with its intuitive UI, ease of implementation, and cost-effectiveness . The platform’s recent acquisition by Paychex introduces some ambiguity about its long-term innovation path, though it currently retains its independent operations and product roadmap.
Best For: Growing mid-sized businesses in compliance-heavy industries seeking cost-effective HCM functionality.
Average Customer Size: 50–500 employees
Typical Price Point: $21–28 PEPM
.png)
Overview: BambooHR is a well-loved HRIS among small to mid-sized companies, known for its clean user interface, ease of use, and focus on the employee experience. It offers a core HR suite, including time-off tracking, performance management, and onboarding, and integrates seamlessly with many third-party payroll and benefits systems. BambooHR owns a payroll platform (Trax), but it’s often used as a people management hub alongside other payroll tools. Its mobile app and intuitive workflows make it highly popular for teams seeking agility and simplicity.
Best For: Small to mid-sized companies focused on people experience and ease of use.
Average Customer Size: 20-300 employees
Typical Price Point: $14-24 PEPM
Overview: Paycom offers a unified HCM platform built entirely in-house, which enables seamless data flow across modules including payroll, HR, benefits, talent acquisition, and performance. Known for its administrative simplicity, Paycom allows HR teams and employees to handle tasks independently through its user-friendly self-service interface. Its reporting features and compliance tools are strong, making it a trusted partner for businesses wanting to reduce manual processes and enhance operational efficiency.
Best For: Mid-sized companies seeking full automation and reduced administrative workload.
Average Customer Size: 50-750 employees
Typical Price Point: $26-35 PEPM
Overview: Rippling is a modern HRIS designed with both HR and IT teams in mind. Besides standard HR functions—like payroll, time tracking, onboarding, and benefits—Rippling also allows for IT asset management and app provisioning. Its ability to integrate with over 500 tools, including Slack, Salesforce, and Google Workspace, gives businesses a central platform for managing both people and devices. Rippling’s intuitive UI, smart automation, and fast implementation make it ideal for modern and distributed workforces.
Best For: Tech-savvy, fast-scaling businesses and distributed teams.
Average Customer Size: 25–350 employees
Typical Price Point: $22–30 PEPM
Overview: ADP Workforce Now is a trusted name in HCM with deep roots in payroll and tax services. It provides an all-in-one HR suite, covering HR, payroll, talent, benefits, and time management. With ADP’s decades of compliance experience, it is especially strong in helping businesses meet tax, labor law, and reporting requirements. Its “Comp Services” allow automation and offloading of administrative tasks. Though not the most modern UI, its reliability and compliance capabilities make it a go-to for risk-averse organizations.
Best For: Mid-market organizations prioritizing compliance, reliability, and expert support.
Average Customer Size: 75–1,000 employees
Typical Price Point: $23-30 PEPM
Overview: UKG Ready is tailored for mid-sized businesses with a large hourly workforce. Formerly Kronos Workforce Ready, this platform offers excellent tools for scheduling, time tracking, and attendance, with robust compliance and reporting capabilities. It combines core HR functions with workforce management, helping companies manage labor costs and stay compliant with labor regulations. UKG Ready also benefits from UKG’s strong support and service culture.
Best For: Businesses with hourly employees and complex scheduling needs.
Average Customer Size: 150-1,500 employees
Typical Price Point: $23-31 PEPM
Overview: Paylocity delivers a full HCM suite including payroll, benefits, performance, and talent management, with strong usability and mobile capabilities. It’s particularly popular in the mid-market due to its customer-centric approach and ability to scale. Paylocity supports integrations with global systems and includes modern tools for employee communication, engagement, and collaboration. Clients praise its clean UI, responsive support, and functional breadth.
Best For: Mid-sized companies looking for user-friendly tools and scalability.
Average Customer Size: 50-750 employees
Typical Price Point: $26-33 PEPM
Overview: Hibob (also known as Bob) is designed with modern, global, and culture-first companies in mind. It stands out for its sleek interface, social feed, and strong focus on employee engagement and performance. HiBob supports global organizations with multi-currency and multi-language capabilities, as well as customizable workflows and robust integrations. It’s a great option for companies looking to drive engagement, transparency, and a strong internal culture.
Best For: Culture-driven, global mid-sized organizations with a people-first mindset.
Average Customer Size: 50-750 employees
Typical Price Point: $19-28 PEPM
An employee self-service portal is a tool that gives employees the ability to access their own employee data and employee files in a Human Capital Management system.
Employees can make changes to their profile, such as adding dependents or changing their addresses.
Employees can also use the HRIS software to view important employment information, such as previous pay stubs, time-off balances and pay rates.
The payroll module is responsible for calculating the correct pay for employees based on their hours worked, benefit selections and tax deductions
When the HRIS software processes payroll, it automatically deducts taxes from an employee's gross pay. The HRIS software will then take responsibility for payroll management by transferring funds to the appropriate tax authorities on behalf of your company.
Additionally, HRIS software can provide payroll management reports that can be easily accessed by both management and employees to track wages as well as other important information such as deductions and benefits offered during a given period of time. To help facilitate this process even further, most HRIS systems offer tools such as direct deposit, mobile wallets and pay stubs that allow you to manage all areas of your company's human resources with ease
Blog: The Best Payroll Systems to Integrate with NetSuite
Benefits enrollment and benefits administration is a core functions of a Human Resource Management System. HR professionals use it to gather employee input on their benefits options, assess the employees’ needs, and enroll them in appropriate plans.
Common employee benefits include health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, long-term disability insurance, and retirement plans. Employees will enter the Benefits Administration module during open enrollment and their new hire orientation to pick the right plans for their needs.
A good benefits administration tool will use employee data to provide decision support to help an employee pick the right benefits package; for example, it could suggest that a high-deductible health plan might be better than a low-deductible one if you have chronic health issues or are planning to start a family soon.
A good system will also integrate with insurance carriers and payroll systems so that employees are paid properly by taking into account any deductions related to their coverage (such as contributions towards COBRA payments).
Employee database - The HRIS software serves as the single system of truth for businesses and is where they store all employee information. To be truly effective, it should allow employees to access their own personnel files at any time. Additionally, it should also allow managers and executives access to information about their subordinates so they can manage them effectively while giving HR professionals the ability to see a full picture of their department's work history and demographics.
Org chart - Finally, an employee database should have an org chart feature so you can see which employees report to which managers. This makes it easy to manage your staff without having to go through several layers of bureaucracy just because there's no centralized system in place with this type of functionality built-in already (which there usually isn't).
In addition to HRIS software system features such as automation and data-sharing, compliance tracking is also important. A strong HRIS will ensure that you are tracking all fields that are required by law. This means reviewing your compliance reports on a regular basis and making adjustments if necessary. Examples of compliance reports include ACA (Affordable Care Act) reports and EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) reports.
The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) should manage the entire recruitment process, from creating new job openings to closing the hiring process. Recruitment tends to be the initial step in the talent management journey
A good applicant tracking system should also be able to store resumes and cover letters, and it should create a new profile for applicants.
Recruiters should be able to create their own hiring experience with custom stages, and they can use this system to organize interviews by helping candidates get scheduled and by organizing managers to interview the candidates.
The Applicant Tracking System can generate an offer letter that can be signed by both parties.
Performance management and evaluations are formal processes that allow managers and employees to review their previous work and discuss their performance. A performance management review process will typically ask an employee to discuss their own performance, while the manager also reviews the employee's work. The manager will offer suggestions for how the employee can improve based on this evaluation of past work.
Some companies use more frequent reviews, such as quarterly or even weekly, rather than having annual reviews only once per year. Employees often like having regular check-ins about their performance because it helps them understand how they're doing in relation to what's expected from them by the company.
A great HRIS system will help you manage your employees' time and attendance.
You can track their hours, approve time-off requests, manage accruals, track compliance with state and federal laws, and more.
Dashboards are a popular feature of modern HRIS systems, and they’re used for many different reasons. They provide real-time information that can be used to monitor and measure performance, as well as provide insights into how the company is performing.
Dashboards also make it easy to show how the company is doing against its goals. For example, if you have a goal of improving attendance rates, then your dashboard could show your current average attendance rate along with historical data so you can see whether or not that goal is being met.
Reports are another key feature within an HRIS system. Many companies rely on reports in order to file taxes or file compliance reports more quickly than they would otherwise be able to do manually (or with less accurate results).
Key features to consider include payroll management, benefits administration, employee self-service portals, compliance tracking, recruiting and applicant tracking, performance management, time and attendance management, dashboards, and reporting tools.
Advantages include streamlining HR processes, improving data accuracy, enhancing employee self-service capabilities, ensuring compliance with regulations, facilitating better decision-making through analytics and reporting, and supporting organizational growth.
To choose the right HRIS system, consider factors such as your organization's specific needs and goals, budget, scalability, ease of use, integration capabilities with existing systems, level of customer support, and vendor reputation.
Pricing models vary depending on the vendor and the features included. Typical pricing models for mid-sized companies may include a per-employee per-month (PEPM) pricing structure or annual subscriptions based on the number of employees and the features required.
An HRIS system automates payroll processes, calculates employee wages, deductions, and taxes, generates paychecks or direct deposits, and ensures compliance with tax regulations. It also provides payroll management reports for tracking and auditing purposes
