HR Software for Small Business — Without the HR Department
In most small companies HR is a second job someone already has. Growee gives that person one place for records, leave, timesheets, documents and e-signature, plus client invoicing and expenses. Payroll stays with your payroll provider.
Where Growee fits, and where it does not
Growee is general HR software, not a payroll platform. No payroll runs, no payroll tax filings, and it never files a Form I-9 or W-4 for you; it keeps the signed copies on the employee record. Gusto covers the payroll case (as of August 2026). Growee holds the rest: records, leave, timesheets, documents with expiration dates and e-signature, plus client invoicing and expenses on the paid plan.
Three things this actually replaces
Usually a spreadsheet, a shared Drive folder, and last year's Word file.
One record per person, instead of a spreadsheet
Position, work email, start date, department, status and the documents that belong to them, in one list. Adding someone takes a minute, and a leaver keeps their file after the laptop goes back.
- Filter by status, position, department, start date or contract type
- An org chart built from the same records
- Role-based permissions decide who can view or edit sensitive fields like salary
Time and leave for the whole team, in one place
Hours go in day by day against a project or task, in a day or week view per person, with approval. Leave runs in the same place, and the presence sheet is generated from approved leave, national holidays and weekends instead of kept as a second spreadsheet.
- Request, approve, reject or cancel leave, with balances by year and leave type
- A planner with national holidays, weekends and personal leave together
- Time reports by week, month, quarter or year, and by project, task or team
Public holidays for 99 countries come from the dataset behind our national holidays pages: check United States, England or Germany for 2026. See leave management →
Contracts from templates, signed without a printer
Offer letters, contracts, annexes and policy acknowledgements start as document templates that fill themselves from the employee's data, not as last year's Word file. The signed copy stays on the record.
- Document types you define, with tags, filters and expiration alerts by email before the date passes
- Templates can auto-generate when someone is hired, scoped to the contract types they apply to
- E-signature by link, no account for the signer, and the signed file keeps a fingerprint tied to its contents
E-signature is on the paid plan; documents, templates and expiration alerts are not. See document management →
Growee vs Gusto vs Zoho People
Start with the row that decides most of it: Gusto runs payroll and Growee does not. Every cell states only what each vendor publishes on its own pages, with the plan tier named.
Gusto figures are from gusto.com/product/hr and gusto.com/pricing (as of August 2026): Simple $49/mo + $6 per person, Plus $80/mo + $12, Premium $180/mo + $22, billed month-to-month — "Gusto is month-to-month. Cancel anytime." HR features are bundled into those payroll plans; there is no HR-only SKU. Zoho People figures are from zoho.com/people and zoho.com/people/zohopeople-pricing.html, US region (as of August 2026), and are the billed-annually per-user rates the page shows by default: Essential HR $1.25, Professional $2, Premium $3, Enterprise $4.50 per user/month, five-user minimum on every paid plan, local taxes added on top, and payroll sold separately as Zoho Payroll. Cells marked "not published" mean we could not find the claim on that vendor's own pages — not that the feature is absent. Growee figures reflect our live plans: free for up to 3 people, then €2 per person per month (€20 per person per year).
Explore the pieces
Employee management
One record per person, org chart included.
See employee managementLeave management
Requests, balances, planner.
See leave managementDocument management
Templates and expiration alerts.
See document managementE-signature
Sign by link in the browser.
See e-signatureBambooHR alternative
The best-known small-business HRIS, compared.
See the comparisonPricing
Published, per person.
See pricingSmall business HR software: common questions
What is the best HR software for small business?
If the reason you are shopping is payroll, buy a payroll platform: Gusto bundles HR into its payroll plans from $49 per month plus $6 per person (as of August 2026). If you already live in the Zoho suite, Zoho People is the cheapest published per-seat option, from $1.25 per user per month billed annually (as of August 2026). Growee fits the company that already pays someone for payroll and wants records, leave, timesheets, documents, reviews, invoicing and expenses in one tool, at €2 per person per month.
Is there free HR software for small business?
Growee is free for up to 3 people, no credit card: employee records and org chart, leave tracking with planner and approvals, custom leave policies, automatic national holidays, time tracking with timesheet approval, projects, document management and templates, goals, feedback and evaluations. Invoicing, expenses, e-signature and REST API access are on the paid plan. Zoho People also publishes a free edition at $0 per user (as of August 2026); Gusto publishes no free plan (as of August 2026).
How much does HR software cost for a small business?
Gusto charges a base fee plus a per-person fee, from $49 plus $6 on Simple, with payroll included (as of August 2026). Zoho People charges per user per month billed annually, from $1.25 on Essential HR, with a five-user minimum on every paid plan (as of August 2026). Growee has no base fee and no seat minimum: free for up to 3 people, then €2 per person per month or €20 per person per year.
One place for the HR half of a small business
Keep your payroll provider. Move records, leave, timesheets and documents into one place. Free for up to 3 people, no credit card.
No credit card required · Free for up to 3 people · Keep your payroll provider