Zenefits (which begins at $5 per user per month) has only been in existence since 2013, and in that short time, it's won our Editors' Choice award for both benefits administration (BA) and human resources (HR) software.
It's one of the best-designed HR software solutions for startups and small businesses.
It brings an impressive set of functionalities, including intuitive administration features and the ability to add on services as needed.
Zenefits complements its solution with access to help from actual human advisers.
In terms of BA, Zenefits remains the most complete solution for most small to midsize businesses (SMBs) and our Editors' Choice along with Rippling.
BambooHR received the Editors' Choice for overall HR application.
This is the first time we've also reviewed the solution's capabilities as a payroll service.
While Zenefits' payroll app—it's an add-on to the main product—is quite good, we didn't feel it was as well-suited to small businesses as our Editors' Choice for payroll, Gusto.
The Zenefits option would be better used by larger companies because of its emphasis on an advanced approach to benefits and general HR, its access to payroll and navigation tools, and its generous capacity.
Deep Benefits Administration
While it has other HR features, Zenefits' BA functionality is much more in-depth than other more general HR products such as BambooHR.
Veteran users of Zenefits won't be disappointed.
It incorporates all of the elements of its previous version, including the HR app directory and partner integrations.
By adding features such as Plan Building and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Zenefits has strengthened an already impressive platform.
In other new developments since we last tested it, Zenefits has now partnered with Checkr to provide easy access to an effective online background check service.
The company has also forged partnerships with Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Slack, which allows all of these systems to share information.
Versions and Pricing
Zenefits' version and pricing schemes are complicated.
First, you should know that no matter how many active employees you have, you'll be required to pay for five (Workful has a similar policy).
You'll choose from among three base HR plans on either a monthly or annual basis.
Essentials ($10 or $8 per month per employee) includes the basic HR Platform plus Time and Attendance, Scheduling, Compliance, mobile access, PTO Tracking, and App Connect (lets you integrate with numerous productivity applications).
Growth ($18 or $14 per month per employee) adds Compensation Management and Performance Management, which help you make compensation decisions and perform a variety of employee reviews.
Finally, the Zen level ($27 or $21 per month per employee) offers multiple ways to assess, track, and improve employee well-being.
A free 14-day trial is available.
To add payroll capabilities to your HR base, you'll pay $6 per month per active employee.
An additional fee of $5 per month per employee will be added if you're going to bring in your own benefits broker; this service is free if you use Zenefits' own broker.
Rippling has similar pricing here.
And for $8 per month per employee, you can take advantage of the company's Advisory Services, which gives you access to the site's HR and payroll experts, who can help you with compliance issues and guide you as you work toward using Zenefits more effectively.
Custom pricing is available for larger companies.
If you compare Zenefits' pricing with that of our payroll Editors' Choice, Gusto, you'll find that it would be fairly economical for some companies.
Paying five employees (the minimum) in Zenefits would cost you $70 per month if you chose the low-end Essentials HR base.
Gusto would cost $69 per month for five employees and the Core platform.
Of course, you'd have to subscribe to Gusto's Complete HR platform to get tools comparable to what Zenefits offers in its Essentials base, which would cost $99 per month.
On the other hand, if you just have one or two employees, Gusto would cost slightly less.
The most expensive of the payroll services we tested is QuickBooks Payroll; its regular price would make it $100 per month for five employees, and it doesn't offer as much in the way of HR tools.
Based on price alone, Patriot Software is the least expensive ($50 per month for five employees), but it charges extra for some basic features that competitors offer free.
Rippling, our other BA Editors' Choice, does not have a tiered pricing structure.
Its base cost is $35 per month plus $5 per month (paid annually) or $7 per month (paid monthly) per employee.
Flexible Functions
The Zenefits UI is well mapped, with easy-to-understand instructions for completing basic HR tasks, and provides a quick way to connect with existing benefits plans, including medical, dental, vision, long and short-term disability, and 401(k) retirement savings providers.
If you're starting a business and don't have providers, then you can fill out Microsoft Excel worksheets, get quotes, sign up, and get started.
Zenefits seems to understand the needs of startups and small businesses with full-time, part-time, and hourly workers.
Included applications streamline the hiring of independent contractors and make setting up paid time off (PTO) policies and stock options quick and easy.
Various included BA tools suit the startup model, and the option to add on functionality on a per-user, per-month basis gives businesses flexibility.
In terms of business size, Zenefits is designed to scale from two employees to 2,000.
The site added a host of new features that help to propel it closer to the top of its category.
The 40-plus integrations that were enabled throughout the platform at launch include productivity, payroll and accounting, expense reporting apps, stock options, performance management, recruiting, and employee engagement apps.
The solution's automated workflow dynamically updates all relevant documents and integrated apps, whether that's Expensify, Google G-Suite, Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce, Slack, or Intuit QuickBooks.
So, even though you're using independent applications within the Zenefits hierarchy, all information is ported to anything connected to your system.
Zenefits clearly also thought about security measures when designing its updated app.
A key feature here is that it builds in multifactor authentication (MFA).
By clicking the four-line menu button and then Security Settings, you can select two-factor authentication (2FA), which means anyone logging in to the system will need to provide additional verification via email or text.
Creating Employee Records
In Zenefits, setting up an administrator account is easy.
You just enter a password, put in your company information, and you'll get an email confirmation.
Click the link and then you'll be directed to the Welcome page, where you will see a well-organized main dashboard with clearly labeled buttons for specific employees and Zenefits-enabled applications like Time Off, Hiring, or Benefits Administration.
We clicked on Training from the Quick Links section at right to view some helpful video tutorials.
The navigation was intuitive.
All Zenefits users log on to the same dashboard.
You can use the Settings Administrators and Managers tabs to set up who can see what so, for example, managers can approve vacation requests for people in their department but not see disciplinary actions for employees who aren't direct reports.
We were impressed with the simplicity of the process when adding employee records.
We easily added records for five employees by clicking the Hiring Tab and selecting Hire or Add an Employee Now.
It's an intuitive process of entering, name, title, hire date, and employee type.
After setting up an employee and entering the individual's salary information, you can choose to run a background check via partnered service Checkr.
You can invite new employees to Zenefits via email or later via a link.
You can edit a record for an employee by clicking on the circular icon with the initials and then selecting the pencil to Edit Basic Info.
When you're deleting a record, the system builds in a smart measure to ensure that you're not a robot by making you retype the employee's first name before the record is deleted.
There are links to other functions like time-off tracking and performance management.
For employees, you easily can attach and view documents like an offer letter, I-9 employment eligibility form, W-4 tax form, and performance appraisal.
Zenefits runs off of a single database, so all the information that new employees add automatically populates other functions in the software, saving the duplicate entries for which older HR systems were known and for which they were disliked.
Before new hires start, they also can upload work eligibility documents such as a driver's license or green card.
The exception here are partnered systems not integral to Zenefits.
So, for example, if company owners want to run a background check, they'll need to pay extra since that runs through Checkr.
A standard check is $25 plus county record fees ranging from 75 cents to $65, and a premium check to search everywhere a new hires lived in the past seven years costs $35 plus county fees.
Once new hires complete their profile, an admin or manager adds in hire date, salary, and other relevant information.
A manager can use the Employees View tab to see newcomers in an employee directory or organization chart, or filter worker data by status, job title, department, or other parameters.
Similar employee record management processes apply to recruits, employee promotions, terminations, and basically any employee-related event that you'd like to track within a human resources management system.
Best-in-Class Benefits
Zenefits' HR software also includes a paid time off (PTO) module, commuter benefits programs, and 401(k) retirement savings plans through several partners.
Zenefits takes care of termination benefits (aka, continuation of health coverage) with Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) benefits and unemployment insurance.
Zenefits automates benefits during employee onboarding and automatically calculates deductions each pay period.
Zenefits really stands out in BA, where it earns our Editors' Choice in the category.
It earns high marks with the comprehensiveness and variety of its options plus a ton of management features for both employers and employees.
For employers, Zenefits lets managers shop for plans and design custom benefits packages and monitor employee enrollment and renewal statuses.
On the employee side, Zenefits simplifies administration with a self-service benefits portal.
Employees can update their benefits coverage and personal information, and view and print medical insurance cards online.
The Zenefits mobile apps also allow employees to pull up a digital version of their benefits information for quick use at appointments—an extremely useful mobile feature not offered by vendors in this roundup like BambooHR or even Deputy.
The all-in-one debit card can combine Health Savings Account (HSA), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), and commuter benefits into a single card.
Zenefits is also ACA-compliant, as we've mentioned.
Beyond basic medical, dental, and vision insurance, it offers benefits modules for options including workers' compensation, and property and casualty insurance for businesses.
Plus, it also offers a key feature for startups: the ability to issue and manage stock options through a partnership with eShares (a fairly common perk for a newly launched startup that is aiming to recruit top talent).
To access the Benefits administration features, you click the Benefits administration icon from the main dashboard.
Then you get a page of information about all the features in the Benefits Administration section.
If your company already has benefits providers, then use the Medical/Dental/Vision Existing tab from the main dashboard to link to existing policies and renewal dates.
You'll be directed to appoint a primary broker, which generates form emails to carriers that you sign and the company submits on your behalf; getting approved takes an estimated four to eight weeks.
Wide Plan Selection
If you don't already have coverage, Zenefits makes it easy to get quotes from dozens of medical, dental, vision, life, and short-term and long-term disability insurance carriers.
Just download and fill out a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, upload the form, and Zenefits takes care of the rest.
Click the Quotes Requested button, and then you enter the number of employees that work at your company, where your headquarters are located, and what type of insurance you're looking for.
After you enter this info, you get a message that Zenefits will be in touch with more info.
You then receive quotes back from a broker.
You can choose to enter these plan details yourself into the Zenefits platform, depending on your comfort with the software, or use the Plan Building feature to have Zenefits upload it for you.
The benefits administration section is organized under sections for Overview, Benefits, Company, Employees, and Fulfillment.
Over the last year, Zenefits has added some EDI capabilities, which enable transactions between multiple vendors' databases.
The service costs $1 per employee per month.
Zenefits wanted to provide a way to transmit data to carriers without error.
So if you submit a change like if someone in your family had a baby, that data would go directly to the carrier.
The company also said it recently launched a Plan Building service in which for $2,000 for each group renewal it designs medical, dental, and vision plans with rate tables and contribution schemes.
Companies designing their own open enrollment rather than using one of Zenefits Certified Broker Partners would opt for the Plan Building service.
Zenefits can then launch the open enrollment experience on the company's behalf.
When we looked at an employee account, we saw a cleanly organized layout of options, including Personal Information, Org Chart, Medical, Dental, and Vision.
The Medical Overview tab leads to an informative layout with a view of Benefits Summary with a breakdown of information like copay, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximum.
It also includes contact info for the benefits point person.
Then you can view a screen showing a list of everyone from the...
