The Most Cost-Effective HR Tech in 2019

If you're interested in new HR software but want to find the best value and most cost-effective option, partner with companies like these, who can deliver a great service at a competitive price

Brett Ungashick
OutSail HRIS Advisor
July 4, 2023
user comparing HRIS systems

[Updated on 8/26/2020]

With the tight labor market and growing importance of talent above all else, HR has begun to be viewed as much more than a cost center, and instead, as one of the core investment areas for any successful business.

However, this transition is still happening at an uneven pace, and there are still many HR leaders who do not have unlimited financial resources to accomplish their talent goals. For those leaders, making strong, cost-effective software decisions can be some of the most important choices they make.

Below are some of the most cost-effective solutions in the SMB HR technology space. Note: cost-effective does not mean lowest price, but instead is looking for the best combination of ROI and competitive price.

ATS: JazzHR

For companies that do not have an ATS in place, the amount of manual tracking that HR leaders have to manage in a recruitment process can become unbearable. They often have to check email aliases for new candidates, track the interview stages in a spreadsheet and build offer letters from scratch.

JazzHR offers a modern, full-featured ATS platform for less than $350 / month. For that price, employers can have: their jobs distributed throughout the web, simple candidate tracking, automated communication to candidates and hiring managers and digital offer letters.

HRIS: BambooHR

One tried and true way to make your dollar go further in an HR technology purchase is to try and bundle as much functionality as possible with a single vendor. Unfortunately, many vendors that operate in this budget-conscious space often can't deliver a modern user experience, a strong service model and a wide breadth of functionality.

Thankfully, there is BambooHR which offers functionality across recruiting, onboarding, HRIS, time & attendance, performance and surveys, all at a market competitive price. Not only does Bamboo have the breadth that budget conscious buyers need, but they also provide a great user experience for admins and employees, as well as a responsive customer support team.

Culture: Bob

For modern employers, it's not enough to have an HR system that tracks and automates HR workflows. Modern companies are looking for tools that will help them understand and engage with their culture in meaningful ways that can drive longer tenures and happier employees.

In the past few years, there have been a lot of innovations in this area, with new companies creating smart, easy-to-use tools across: performance management, employee engagement, surveys, peer-to-peer recognition, and more. However, investing in a standalone tool for each area of need can get expensive quickly.

Thankfully, Bob has gone the furthest in bundling these employee-centric tools into a modern HRIS. Bob can be a true system of record complete with onboarding and time & attendance modules, but they really differentiate by putting employee engagement and development at the heart of their platform.

Learning: Coassemble

For an HR team that has limited resources, keeping up with training and compliance can be a really challenging task. Staying complaint means knowing exactly when employee trainings and certifications need to be renewed, communicating those deadlines to employees, following up with them until they take the training and then getting confirmation of the courses completion.

Coassemble offers a modern and intuitive learning platform, for as little as $150 / month, that can streamline the administration and tracking of learning for employers. They offer quite a few workflow integrations and automations to create a set-it-and-forget-it experience for admins, and also make it incredibly simple for admins to create new courses.

Rewards: Wishlist

Creating a rewards program can go a long way in helping employees feel valued at their jobs. However, most rewards programs can either deliver a low ROI (expensive gifts that don't really move the needle) or can be very time-intensive (thoughtful acts of gratitude that are hard to scale).

Wishlist does a great job of threading the needle between being easy-to-administer for HR, while also delivering buzz-worthy rewards to employees. Wishlist helps companies reward their employees with experiences (brewery tours, sky diving, spa day, etc.) rather than gift cards, and their concierge team manages all of the logistics required to make sure your employees have a great time redeeming their rewards.

Reports
2024 HRIS 
Landscape Report
Read OutSail's 2024 HRIS Report with write-ups on 30+ leading vendors
Thank you! You can download your report at this link
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Services
Unsure about your software needs?
Use our HRIS Requirements Builder to quickly identify your must-have & nice-to-haves
Brett Ungashick
OutSail HRIS Advisor
Accelerate your HRIS selection process with free support
Thank you! Our team will reach out to you shortly
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Meet the Author

Brett Ungashick
OutSail HRIS Advisor
Brett Ungashick, the friendly face behind OutSail, started his career at LinkedIn, selling HR software. This experience sparked an idea, leading him to create OutSail in 2018. Based in Denver, OutSail simplifies the HR software selection process, and Brett's hands-on approach has already helped over 1,000 companies, including SalesLoft, Hudl and DoorDash. He's a go-to guy for all things HR Tech, supporting companies in every industry and across 20+ countries. When he's not demystifying HR tech, you'll find Brett enjoying a round of golf or skiing down Colorado's slopes, always happy to chat about work or play.

FAQ

Everything you need to know about OutSail
What is OutSail?
OutSail is the first-ever broker of HR Software. We offer market insights, evaluation tools & advisory services to help organizations research, evaluate and select the right HR software. And best of all - OutSail is free!
How is OutSail free?
OutSail is free due to our one-of-a-kind software broker model. When a company makes a purchase through OutSail, the winning vendor owes us a small fee for making the introduction.

No Hidden Fees - You don't pay for our services and the vendors don't pass our costs along either
Vendor Agnostic - OutSail partners with 220+ HR Tech vendors including every market leader
What are the benefits of OutSail?
1.) Market Insights: Access the industry's most trusted data. Read user reviews of every leading HRIS vendor. Access verified pricing data. Use proprietary tools to sort & filter by your selection criteria.
2.) Evaluation Tools: Access to project plans & timelines. Customize your own scorecard tools. Leverage expert-generated demo questions. Collaborate with your team
3.) Advisory Services: Work with HRIS industry experts. Assistance during proposal review and guidance for negotiations. Implementation readiness
What if I'm a broker, consultant or vendor?
We love partnering with brokers & consultants and bringing innovative vendors to our customers. Follow those links to learn more about how we can partner together and bring OutSail's benefits to your customers.

The Future of Software Buying

See why modern buyers prefer OutSail's broker model when buying their next HRIS