There is a growing number of online recruiting tools out there to help startups manage their employees without hiring full-time HR experts.

You can choose from a wide variety of options: there are different apps for increasing productivity, tracking projects or managing payroll. If you have a specific HR task you want to get covered, chances are you will find some online tool out there to make your job easier.

Let’s have a look at a few that will help you in managing small to mid-sized teams in the US:

Apptivo

Apptivo is a CRM (customer relationship management system) but its wide range of features makes it a great tool for team management as well. If you sign up for the free trial, you get a handful of online tools for recording employee info, managing recruitment, vacation tracking and team communication.

It’s being a CRM means it might be missing some more specific HR functionalities, but it makes up for this shortcoming with its numerous other business features.

It’s highly customizable and affordable, too, starting at just $8.33 per month per user. Or, alternatively, sign up for the free trial and see if it’s a good fit for you.

Zenefits

Zenefits is a HR software for US startups and small to midsized businesses with special focus on managing employee perks and benefits. It has a very intuitive interface and easy-to-understand instructions for setup. You can also integrate it with existing benefit plans with just a few clicks.

Zenefits is free, and it makes most of its profits from collecting brokerage fees from referring companies to medical and other employee benefits providers, so it’s no surprise benefits management and administration is a big part of the features they offer.

Bamboo HR

Bamboo HR is an online recruitment tool with a great interface. Its clutter free and intuitive design makes it one of the top HR apps out there. It also offers API integration which means that it’s very easy to set up and connect to any existing tech vendor systems you’re currently using.

Bamboo HR has a very straightforward dashboard with modules for employee data, time-off tracking, reports and mobile apps. It also has a performance review with stripped-down reporting function to make it more straightforward. It’s not free as Zenefits, and it lacks some of the benefits administration features Zenefits has to offer, but you can just sign up for both and see if you can make them both work for you.

Harvest

Harvest is a time-tracking software which allows you to track employee hours, manage projects and monitor expenses. You can set the harvest timer when you are starting different projects, and let it run in the background. It has an app for ios and android as well, so you can track time through different platforms.

Furthermore, you can manage team time and timesheets and create invoices based on work time. It has real-time reports of the times tracked and Harvest Forecast helps to plan team project schedules.

It is also quite affordable, with a free plan for 1 user, 4 clients, and 2 projects and from $12/month for a solo plan for 1 user, unlimited clients, projects, and invoicing.

Time tracking can actually be very useful if it’s not a timesheet related activity and you are doing it to help you become more productive. It is always surprising to see what percentage of your time is taken up by different types of tasks during the week.

Productivity doesn’t mean working a lot, it means working on the right things at the right times. And if you can actually combine employee management with time tracking, the results might be a game changer.

Toggl

Toggl is another time tracking software that lets you manage projects, track time and boost your productivity. It has a very simple one-click time tracking system and you can reach the start (‘Toggl”) button from various platforms and apps. It has a Chrome extension as well and it can be integrated with a number of project management apps (like Trello).

It has a great user interface overall and it is designed to manage teams with its project-based reporting suite. Your employees can download the reports as professional pdfs and submit them instead of filling out timesheets.

Toggle comes with a Pomodoro timer as well, which will notify you after every 25 minutes to stop working and take a 5-minute break.For those who regularly tend to get absorbed in their work and loose track of time, the Pomodoro technique might be just the thing they need. This way you can avoid burnout and get more done with a steady but continuous work pace.

Gusto

If it comes to payroll in the US, Gusto is the right choice for you. It’s a cloud-based payroll solution and offers all the features you need to manage monthly payment for your team at an affordable price.

Gusto has a very well-designed and straightforward user interface. After providing some information and a brief set-up, you can automate payrolls, calculate and pay taxes automatically. It can be integrated with multiple accounting software.

Gusto offers a free trial so go and see for yourself if they offer what you need to manage your team’s finances.

Paychex Flex

This is a payroll management system like Gusto, with additional HR functionalities. One of its differentiating features is that it has 24/7 live phone support and the help of an actual person can be very useful when managing payroll and taxes.

After signing up, you will get your own specialist who will assist you whenever you need help. They take you through the setup process personally and help you whenever you have questions. This can make a huge difference when tackling tax issues.

Paychex flex is very robust and scalable but it is also more expensive than it’s competitors.

UltiPro HR

UltiPro is a comprehensive payroll, human resources (HR) and talent management system that offers employee management services for all your HR needs.

It includes hiring management, on-boarding, payroll, benefits administration, real-time reporting, performance reviews and more.

One of the most appealing things about UltiPro is that it lets you tackle the most complex calculations with ease. This is the ultimate tool for a company that has a complex payroll.

Bottom Line

These are some of the top online recruiting tools out there that can make your job easier when it comes to recruiting and employee management. All of them have different features for specific needs, and the best way to see what suits you the best is to sign up for a trial and compare them.

How are you managing your HR processes? Do you have any experiences with any of these tools? Is there anything you tried and worked for you?

This post was written on behalf on Millennium Search.