5 Must-Have HR Tools for Startups

Human resources are the core of every business, handling everything from hiring to leave management, retention, and often even payroll. Because of their diverse needs, HR software can get complicated — and fast!  

Startups don’t need all the bells and whistles, they need straightforward, affordable tools that help them work efficiently. To help you find what you need, we’ve compiled a list of the five best HR software, perfect for startups and growing teams. 

What We Consider When Ranking Software for Startups

The internet is full of options and opinions on different software. Here’s how we cut through the noise to determine the best HR tools for startups: 

Pricing: We’re looking for affordable solutions with tiered plans and options that cater to small businesses or startups. 

Scalability: Entry-level software can be limited. We’re only considering software that can grow as your business does. 

Ease of use: No time for headaches or complex onboarding, we want simple and effective solutions.

Integrations: Software doesn’t work in a silo. The tools we recommend need to play nice with the tools you already know and love.

5 Best HR Software for Startups

Vacation Tracker for Leave Management

Managing leave requests can be one of HR managers’ most time-consuming and challenging tasks—but not anymore! Meet Vacation Tracker: a simple yet powerful tool designed to help HR teams and managers effortlessly track PTO.

How does Vacation Tracker work?

Vacation Tracker simplifies leave management by integrating intuitively with platforms you’re already familiar with, like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, and email. But before playing around with its integrations, I started by configuring my organization’s settings from the web application.  

As an admin, I had full control over the setup, including departments, leave types, and leave policies.  

Creating multiple locations was straightforward. I customized the time zones and imported public holidays. I was able to quickly add different leave types such as Sick Leave, Vacation Days, and Work-from-Home and customize the leave policies for each location.  

I liked that I was able to get very granular, altering the quotas, accrual types, and carryover rules based on each region’s laws and regulations. This made compliance feel uncomplicated—set it and forget it! 

With the leave policies now set, my team was able to start requesting leave. I tested the Slack integration and liked how team members could type /vacation to request leave, edit a request, and even see their balance or upcoming leaves.  

PTO is just as easy to request through Microsoft Teams by typing “Request Leave” into the Vacation Tracker chat. Managers get a notification right in Slack or Teams that they can instantly approve or deny.  

Vacation Tracker keeps track of employees’ leave balances, handling all the complex calculations. This saves everybody’s time by not needing to refer to HR but instead always having up-to-date and accurate info at hand. 

On top of that, the Vacation Tracker dashboard really gave a very nice overview of the upcoming time off, showing all scheduled leaves right in an easy-to-read calendar format. Different colors represent different leave types, so I was able to instantly tell who is on vacation, taking a personal day, or working from home. Users can click on their profile to see detailed information on their leave balances and managers can quickly respond to requests.  

This is one of those HR software that strikes the right balance between simplicity and scalability. With in-depth reports and plenty of add-ons, I’ve only just touched the surface of the tool’s capabilities. 

What’s new in Vacation Tracker

Blackout periods are now visible in the Vacation Tracker calendar, making it easier for teams to plan PTO and understand company policies. Calendar syncing has also been improved, resulting in automatic updates in the shared calendar when leave is deleted, edited, or canceled in the app.  

What users are saying

“After swapping everything over from our previous PTO tracker, we have been able to keep track of all of our employees’ PTO time easily. Instead of needing to ask how much PTO they have available, they can check for themselves. We are a law firm, so the employees don’t have a lot of time, but with Vacation Tracker, we can easily request leave using Slack, which our employees have been quick to pick up on.” - G2 review, 2024 

“The Slack integration is so clean, and none of our employees ever have any trouble requesting time off. Everything is very intuitive, which we found difficult to find in this space before finding Vacation Tracker!” - G2 review, 2024 

Vacation Tracker is the ultimate leave management software for startups and growing teams. Give it a try and see what it’s all about with a free 7-day trial! 

Easy PTO tracking, right at your fingertips.

Automate leave policies, improve visibility and plan better

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No credit card required. Instant set-up.

Clickup for HR Project Management  

ClickUp is an all-in-one productivity and project management platform that centralizes documents, organizes tasks, and promotes collaboration. With features to organize all HR processes, HR teams can track recruitment, maintain employee records, automate reminders, and keep tabs on goals across departments. 

How does Clickup work?

Clickup is a highly customizable tool that can be tailored to each person or department’s needs. I decided to start by importing some of their templates for tasks like onboarding, performance reviews, and hiring. I liked that the templates came with a video explaining how to use them. 

The hiring workflow template was a standout for me. It crafted a complete recruitment pipeline that I can tailor to my needs. Instead of juggling spreadsheets or scattered notes, I can track every candidate’s progress in one place, with custom statuses and automated reminders so no step is missed.   

The docs section is great for centralizing important documents like job proposals or employee handbooks. This feature makes it easy to find, share, and update important files within the team. You can even link Docs directly to workflows, keeping all relevant materials tied to their processes so nothing gets lost in the shuffle. 

ClickUp is an ideal HR software for startups that need project management support. However, it can feel a little overwhelming because it is so customizable and robust. This is not a plug-and-play type of software; Prepare for a mild learning curve! 

What’s new in Clickup

ClickUp’s latest release introduces an enhanced Zoom integration, where users can instantly launch meetings via the /zoom command, schedule sessions directly from the search bar, and access recordings and transcripts in the Task view. Additionally, users can now receive ClickUp notifications in Slack, enabling real-time alerts for comments, task activities, and mentions. 

What users are saying 

“Almost all of the processes I have in place (as someone working in HR) run through ClickUp. I’ve become way more organized since getting into the system.” - G2 review, 2023 

“ClickUp is keeping me organized with tasks and projects while also allowing me to remain flexible and agile when it comes to plans and priorities changing. In my role (exec assistant and HR admin) I wear a lot of hats and basically act as a catch all for nearly all areas of the business while also managing the tasks and priorities of our company’s most senior leaders. ClickUp allows me to keep myself and everyone else organized and on track while saving a ton of time in the process.”  - G2 review, 2023 

Slack for Communication 

Slack is an app that has been around for quite some time but in recent years, has become indispensable for remote and hybrid teams. This go-to communication tool has especially become popular amongst startups and small businesses. 

How does Slack work?

Slack functions as a messaging platform where users can create channels for specific topics, departments, or projects, keeping conversations organized. In addition to standard messaging, Slack supports file sharing, video and voice calls, and thousands of integrations, allowing you to bring all your tools together in one place. 

As an admin, I’m able to create a workspace within seconds, copy-paste my team’s emails, or invite my contact list to join and start setting up. I was able to create channels and add colleagues to relevant project spaces, allowing my teammates to do the same. 

Conversations can now start!  

Teammates can share ideas and documents, reply to messages in what Slack calls Threads, and start Huddles for quick discussions. 

While there are many integrations and features available on the free plan, paid plans of Slack allow HR to automate repetitive tasks, including sending reminders for performance reviews, compliance training, or benefits enrollment. 

Integrations supercharge Slack, allowing teams to perform a multitude of tasks from within this single workspace. Examples of this include managing PTO through Vacation Tracker’s seamless Slack integration. I recommend exploring the Slack Marketplace for more fun tools you can use to streamline your workload. 

What’s new in Slack 

Templates is a new feature that bundles canvases, lists, and workflows together within channels. Teams will now find it way easier to create channels tailored toward certain processes, be it project management or onboarding, without necessarily needing to build them from scratch. HRs might particularly benefit from the Employee Onboarding template which organizes all the new information new hires might need in one place. 

What users are saying

“Slack is straightforward to use. Using it since 2020 has been the best means of professional communication between clients, management, colleagues & HR. Slack is a pro time saver for me" - G2 review, 2023 

“Slack makes it easy to communicate with your coworkers and management, especially when you are fully remote. It’s important to have communication with each other. When we have questions about a prospect, meeting, or even something that involves HR issues, all we have to do is shoot a message over to HR or management. For example, benefits, payroll, PTO, insurance, timesheets, etc.”  - G2 review, 2022 

Donut for Employee Recognition 

HR departments handle a lot of serious tasks, like recruitment and performance management, but they’re also in charge of culture. Donut is a great HR software for startups focused on team building and bringing teams together through virtual or in-person coffee chats, automated birthday and anniversary messages, and fun games, bringing light-hearted moments to what might otherwise be a more serious workday. 

How does Donut Work?

Donut integrates right into the platform of your choosing, from Slack to Teams, Zoom, and even Figjam. I added Donut to Slack and then immediately started setting up channels from a list of free and pre-set options. 

As an Admin, I started by setting up a birthdays and anniversaries channel. Larger companies can sync Donut up with their HRIS to automatically import these key dates, otherwise, Donut prompts team members to manually add in this info.  

Admins are also able to set up fun team-building and morale-boosting activities, like a virtual water cooler where teammates are prompted with a question and share their responses with the team. Today’s question opened the floor for some recognition!  

The app’s main feature encourages colleagues to get together virtually, or in person, for a coffee (and donut)! The setup was simple: I chose the new hire roulette option, pairing new hires with more seasoned colleagues. I got to select the pairing frequency, customize the welcome message, and launch it within minutes. The app syncs with employees’ calendars to help find times when they’re both available and sets up a video call! Once employees start connecting, admins can monitor engagement with rich analytics in the reporting tab. For any startup eager to foster a connected, collaborative team environment, Donut is worth trying out. 

What’s new in Donut

Admins can now add attachments to automated Journey messages, like videos and PDFs. This makes the content much more enriching. For example, new hires could receive a welcome message equipped with a handbook and training materials.  

What users are saying 

“As an HR professional Donut is a great add-on to Slack. We are a small HR team, and Donut enables us to strengthen relationships across teams.” - G2 Review, 2019 

“Employees in a small business should not feel isolated. Donut allows us to match Slack users so that every single employee can meet one another and grab a cup of coffee (or tea…). As a global company it is allowing us to build a culture around our people.” - G2 Review, 2019 

BreezyHR for Applicant Tracking 

BreezyHR is an easy-to-use recruitment tool for startups that helps centralize all your job postings and candidates. Teams can quickly evaluate applicants, share insight, and keep track of the entire hiring process.  

How does BreezyHR work? 

BreezyHR was a breeze to use. After quickly creating an account on their online application, I was immediately able to create a job posting and personalize the application to my liking. Admins can create questionnaires to further filter out applicants and only see those that are a good match. 

The scorecards feature is a great way to help teams evaluate candidates based on relevant skills, keep track of their thoughts, and align as a team. I was able to create a scorecard with items pertinent to the position I created.  

Applicants are sorted in Kanban boards to keep track of where they are in the pipeline. Users can add notes summarizing their discussions or explaining why a candidate was eliminated. Breezy makes setting up interviews super easy by integrating with Zoom, Google Meets, and Microsoft Teams to create a meeting without leaving the platform. 

This tool provides an excellent structure for the entire recruitment process, helping teams stay organized. I love that I can create tasks for myself to do things like send our assessments or follow up with candidates. Plus, the report section gives me a better understanding of the entire process including how much traffic our postings are getting and how long positions take to fill. 

What’s new in BreezyHR

Breezy’s latest product update allows users to have diverse feedback on candidates thanks to multiple scorecards. Teams can rate candidates by various relevant skills including cultural fit, technical skills, or communication, and compare insights to come to a consensus.  

What users are saying

“Breezy HR addresses the challenge of managing the hiring process efficiently. It simplifies job posting, candidate tracking, and interview scheduling through an intuitive interface.” - G2, 2024 

“I love that you can easily create applicant pipelines that are customizable and automatically move applicants through the stages of recruitment. I love having the team scorecard options to easily rate applicants as a group and help remove the bias from hiring practices.” - G2, 2024 

Selecting the Right HR Software for Your Startup

Finding the best HR software for your startup streamlines processes and sets your team up for success. By focusing on your immediate needs without losing track of your long-term growth objectives and integration needs, you can choose a solution that supports both your people and your goals. Take advantage of free trials to explore your options and make an informed decision.

Claudia

Claudia is an experienced marketer with a passion for writing and creating engaging content that connects with readers.