Best Employee Management Software 2025: Which Is Best for You?

The best employee management software is Rippling, thanks to its all-in-one functionality for payroll, time tracking, benefits, scheduling, recruiting, and performance management. On top of that, Rippling offers international payment features, so you’ll be able to pay your employees even if they aren’t in the US.

It’s certainly not the only employee management software out there, though. Connecteam, for example, is a top-tier option with a stellar mobile app for employee management on the go, while Deel can get you started with employee management at a notably lower price, even offering a free plan for up to 200 users.

In this guide, you’ll learn about all your options when it comes to employee management software, including which kind of features you can expect and how much you’re going to have to pay.

In this guide:

• Best Employee Management Software
• How to Choose the Best Employee Management Software
• How Did We Compare Employee Management Software?
• Verdict: What Is the Best Employee Management Software?

Best Employee Management Software

Below, you’ll find the best employee management software providers on the market. Make sure to click the links to go to in-depth reviews that cover all the features and pricing of each option.

1. Rippling – Best for international businesses
2. Connecteam – Best for on-the-go employee management
3. BambooHR – Best for AI-powered employee management
4. Gusto – Best for regulation compliance
5. Deel – Best for affordable employee management 

1. Rippling – Best for International Businesses

• Starting price: Custom
• Free plan: No

We found Rippling to be the best solution for employee management for one specific reason: it does it all. The platform offers functionality for virtually all employee management functions, including payroll, benefits, onboarding, offboarding, recruiting, time tracking, scheduling, employee education, performance management, compliance, and employer of record (EOR) services.

Rippling is a particularly excellent choice for global businesses, because it offers international payment solutions that are quick and efficient. You don’t have to wait hours (or even days) for transfers or conversions, you can quickly pay international employees in their preferred currency without hassle. Plus, with automated international compliance, you won’t have to worry about incurring fines for improper payments.

Rippling provides helpful reports, so you can see exactly how your team spends. Source: Rippling

One of the less-desirable aspects of Rippling, however, is the lack of transparent pricing – although, that’s not entirely uncommon when it comes to this kind of platform, with BambooHR having a similar situation. Beyond that, though, all of the Rippling functionalities that make it an all-in-one solution are sold separately, so you’ll likely incur quite a cost for access to everything from payroll and benefits to onboarding and time tracking.

Still, if you’re a larger business with a budget to match, and you really need all that functionality, Rippling is a clear choice to keep everything organized in one place, particularly for international businesses.

Rippling pricing

Unfortunately, Rippling does not provide publicly available pricing, so there’s no way to know for sure how much the employee management software platform will cost your business without reaching out to the sales team for more information.

One big downside of Rippling is that, not only does it not have a free forever plan, but it also doesn’t offer a free trial of any kind, so you’ll have to settle for a demo to see how the platform works before you make a decision.

It is worth noting, however, that while Rippling does provide a lot of functionality, many of these specific systems will individually cost extra. Payroll is its own platform, as are time tracking, benefits, scheduling, and many others. All that to say, this platform is not ideal if you’re trying to keep costs low.

2. Connecteam – Best for On-the-Go Employee Management

• Starting price: $29/month
• Free plan: Yes

If you and your team are regularly on the go and you need a mobile app that can handle employee management without a full-on computer, Connecteam is almost certainly going to be your best option. The platform comes with a comprehensive mobile app for both employees and managers, which is far from a given in this industry, with both Gusto and Deel missing this crucial option.

The app can do a lot, including schedule shifts, track hours, assign tasks, train and onboard new hires, and facilitate team communication with internal messaging. On top of that, the mobile app allows for thorough employee tracking through GPS with the Breadcrumbs feature, so you can see exactly how far along they are in a particular job.

The Connecteam interface on both the desktop and mobile app is comprehensive and easy to use. Source: Connecteam

The Connecteam app obviously isn’t perfect, though. A huge downside is that there is no offline functionality whatsoever, so if you find yourself somewhere without an internet connection, you’re out of luck. Certainly not a dealbreaker, but if your on-the-go business is taking you to rural areas, it could cause some problems.

Beyond that, Connecteam also only allows for up to 30 users before charging extra, which makes it a better choice for small businesses to keep costs low. The additional charges aren’t too expensive, though, so if you need to expand, you won’t be left out in the cold.

Connecteam pricing

Connecteam offers four pricing plans for Operations, Communications, and Human Resources, each with the same name and pricing across all three different categories. Each plan allows for up to 30 users, with additional costs for additional users after that. Here’s how those pricing plans shake out:

• Basic – $29 per month ($0.50 per month for each extra user)
• Advanced – $49 per month ($1.50 per month for each extra user)
• Expert – $99 per month ($3 per month for each extra user)
• Enterprise – Custom

On top of that, Connecteam offers a free forever plan for up to 10 users, giving small businesses access to all employee management features, even the ones reserved for the most expensive plans, as long as you don’t exceed the 10 user limit. You’ll also be able to take advantage of the 14-day free trial for any of the paid plans.

3. BambooHR – Best for AI-Powered Employee Management

• Starting price: Custom
• Free plan: No

AI can make a big impact on how efficient and productive your employee management efforts are, and BambooHR utilizes some serious helpful features in that vein. From an AI chatbot – dubbed Ask BambooHR – that can answer questions for employees and managers alike, to AI topic summaries that can help you get valuable insights from employee satisfaction surverys, BambooHR aims to make employee management a bit more automated to save you time for larger projects.

On top of that, BambooHR is a seriously easy-to-use platform, even for beginners. The interface proves simple to navigate for even the most novice of users, with a social-media-style functionality that will be at least somewhat familiar to pretty much anyone who uses it.

The Ask BambooHR chat can help answer questions for employees and managers alike. Source: BambooHR

A lot of the ease of use from BambooHR is driven by its lack of customization. The platform is simple to navigate because there aren’t a lot of options to tailor BambooHR to your specific needs with custom reports and templates.

It’s good that BambooHR is easy to use, too, because its support availability isn’t too robust. There is no 24/7 coverage, with representatives only available during the week (Monday to Friday). Still, none of the company’s support is outsourced, so you will get help from someone on the team and in the office.

BambooHR pricing

Like Rippling, BambooHR does not provide publicly available pricing unfortunately, so you will have to reach out to the sales team to get an accurate quote of what the employee management software will cost for your particular business. However, the system does offer two different paid plans to choose from, even if the price isn’t available.

The Core plan offers basic employee management features, like benefits, time off, hiring, onboarding, and data reporting tools, while the Advanced plan adds performance management tools and an employee community system to streamline team communication.

BambooHR also offers a 30-day free trial, which will give you more than enough time to test out the platform and get a feel for whether or not it’s a good fit for your business.

4. Gusto – Best for Regulation Compliance

• Starting price: $49/month
• Free plan: No

If you work in an industry that requires a lot of compliance, employee management can be a bit of a hassle. Fortunately, Gusto is a platform that is aimed at providing a lot of assistance with that to keep you as compliant as necessary. For one, the platform is automatically compliant with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

On top of that, Gusto provides users with compliance alerts to inform them of whether or not they are operating within the given regulations. However, it’s worth noting that this feature is not available at all on the most affordable Simple plan from Gusto, and you’ll have to pay extra to get access on the slightly more expensive Plus plan.

The Gusto 401 (k) feature makes it easy to check retirement savings for your team. Source: Gusto

US-based companies will find Gusto a top-tier option for employee management, but international companies will need to look elsewhere. Gusto does not offer any international payment options, so you’ll be stuck with dollars and US-based employees only.

Additionally, you’ll want to be sure that your team isn’t on the move too much, as Gusto does not provide a manager-facing mobile app, so you’ll have to get all your employee management work done on a laptop or desktop computer.

Gusto pricing

Gusto offers three different pricing plans, although the first is exclusively a payroll software to manage the payment of your employees. On top of that, Gusto requires an additional fee per employee on the platform, so you’ll have to pay a bit extra to get started. Here’s how those pricing plans match up:

• Simple – $49 per month (plus $6 per month per employee)
• Plus – $80 per month (plus $12 per month per employee)
• Premium – $180 per month (plus $22 per month per employee)

As of April 2025, Gusto is running a special deal for the Plus and Premium plans that will get you 25% off for the first three months. That means you’ll be able to get access to the Plus plan for only $60 per month and only $9 per month per employee.

On top of that, Gusto offers a Contractor Only plan aimed at businesses that will be paying contractors. This plan only costs $35 per month plus $6 per contractor per month, but as of April 2025, there is a deal that will allow you access to the system for free for the first six months.

5. Deel – Best for Affordable Employee Management

• Starting price: $19/month
• Free plan: Yes

If you’re looking to save a bit of money on your employee management system, you’ve found it. Deel is clearly the best option when it comes to affordability, offering a range of low-cost plans that can help you manage everything from payroll to benefits or employer of record (EOR).

Deel’s software analytics dashboard provides insightful data to inform your decisions. Source: Deel

Additionally, Deel offers a free forever plan that allows for basic employee management features are as many as 200 employees before requiring payment. You’ll be able to track expenses, manage time-off, create directories, access insightful dashboards, sign documents, and automate processes like onboarding and offboarding.

Deel pricing

Deel pricing is a lot like Rippling, in that it offers its various functionalities at different price points, so you can pick and choose which ones you need to save a bit of money. The difference, of course, is that Deel actually lists the prices, which Rippling makes you reach out to the sales team to learn more.

Here are some of the Deel systems and how much they cost:

• US Payroll – $19 per month
• Global Payroll – $29 per month
• Engage – $20 per month
• Contractor – $49 per month
• Employer of Record (EOR) – $599 per month

Another huge pro for Deel when it comes to affordability is that it offers a free forever plan that provides basic employee management functionality for up to 200 users. It’s naturally a bit limited, but at that price, it’s hard to argue with the value there.

What to Consider When Choosing Employee Management Software

Now that you know about some of the best employee management software providers on the market, you’ll want to make a clear decision for your business. Still, there are a lot of factors to consider, and you’ll want to make sure that you’ve established what you’re looking for before you make a financial commitment to the software of your choice.

Below, we’ve outlined some of the important criteria to consider when it comes to choosing employee management software for your business.

• Functionality – Employee management software comes in many shapes and sizes, so it’s important to distinguish exactly what you need it for, from payroll and benefits to onboarding and time tracking.
• Compliance – Some businesses may be dealing with a lot of sensitive data, which is why you’ll want to be sure that your employee management software complies with necessary regulations before committing.
• Business size – You’ll find that employee management software can often be geared towards enterprise-level businesses or small startups, rarely both, so you’ll want to look for a solution that fits the size of your business.
• Location – Due to labor regulations, employee management software can look very different from country to country, so if you’re an international business, you’ll want to ensure that your software can handle those shifts.
• Budget – The cost range of employee management software is substantial, ranging from free to hundreds of dollars a month, so establishing a clear budget beforehand can help inform your decision.

Check out our HR software guide for more information

How Did We Compare the Best Employee Management Software?