Best Human Resource Software 2021

Justworks Competitors & Alternatives

Are you considering purchasing Justworks to manage your human resource management needs? Before making the purchase, it’s best to learn about Justworks’ top competitors. The six best alternatives are listed below, along with details on their features and pricing.

Justworks is one of the most popular human resource solutions on the market today. That market, however, is competitive. Therefore, we recommend comparing Justworks against its top competitors before purchasing.

There are many excellent competitors in the human resource space that are worth considering. Most of Justworks’s top competitors offer similarly or less robust features at more affordable prices. Some, however, fall short in both of these categories.

Software CompanyAnalyst RatingFeaturesUsabilityPricingCustomer Support
Justworks939.510810
Zenefits959.59.59.59.5
Gusto92910107.5
Zoho People908.59108
BambooHR8998.589
Sage HR8998.57.59.5
ADP RUN8388.588.5

Throughout this article, we’ll provide an overview of the main Justworks competitors and alternatives, which are:

In this guide, we examine Justworks’s features and pricing, and compare these factors against competitors. To gain a better understanding of Justworks as a solution, you can read our in-depth Justworks review.

All of the information in this article is based upon research, discussions with small business owners, and dozens of hours spent hand-testing the leader human resource software platforms. To learn more about our research and reviews, read about our unbiased review process.

Table of Contents

Justworks Features

Before we compare Justworks against its competitors, it’s important to understand the features included in Justworks. Justworks offers features geared more towards human resource management and payroll rather than applicant tracking.

The seven most important features that Justworks offers are described in the table below. Justworks’ compliance support and unlimited payroll are its strongest features.

FeatureDescription
Employee OnboardingJustworks’ employee onboarding guides customers through setting up payroll and benefits, as well as sending documents to new hires. Justworks also allows you to set permissions upon onboarding new employees. This is a feature alternative tools do not offer.
PayrollPayroll is one of Justworks’ specialties. It is designed to be user-friendly and take a multitude of employee types into consideration. You can run a number of off-cycle payments for hourly, salaried, and other contingent workers.
Time TrackingTime tracking in Justworks is helpful for newer businesses. You can track and approve employee hours, as well as create unlimited paid-time-off (PTO) policies.
Compliance SupportCompliance support in Justworks is very robust. You are notified of required documents and changing compliance laws much like Gusto and Zenefits. Justworks, however, comes with complimentary training courses that are automatically compliant with the state that your company is registered in.
BenefitsJustworks supports benefits in all 50 states unlike Gusto and Zenefits. Additionally, setting up benefits with Justworks is easy to do. Justworks supports a number of medical, dental, and vision plans.
Expense ManagementJustworks’ expense management is one of its weaker features. You can only reimburse employees and contractors, but employees cannot upload their receipts or track the reimbursements they require.
Analytics and ReportingJustworks’ analytics and custom report features are strong, but not as user-friendly as Gusto or Zoho People. You cannot live preview your custom reports before you export them in Justworks like you can in alternative solutions.

Justworks Competitor Overview: Features

Below is a chart that compares each platform’s features and affordability. They differ primarily based on how affordable each platform is and how wide their breadth of features is.

For example, solutions like ADP RUN are built more for payroll rather than human resource management. This is limiting for businesses interested in recruiting features or performance management. This contrasts with Justworks, which is the one of the most robust all-in-one solutions we’ve evaluated.

Human Resource Competitors Feature Chart

Justworks Competitor Overview: Pricing

Justworks’ pricing starts at $49 per month per employee. There are no subscription add-ons. Compared to its competitors’ pricing, Justworks generally falls in the more expensive range of human resource tools.

Here are the prices of Justworks and its top competitors with additional pricing details:

Software VendorStarting Monthly PriceFree TrialPricing Details
Justworks$49Yes
  • 15% off if your company has 25 to 99 employees
Zenefits$10 per userYes
  • Free for up to five employees
  • Additional $1.50 per month per user for base plan
Gusto$39No
  • Additional $6 per month per user
Zoho PeopleFreeNo
  • None
BambooHR$99Yes
  • $99 for up to 12 users
  • Additional $8.25 per month per user for base plan
Sage HR$5.50 per userYes
  • None
ADP RUNCustomNo
  • None

Top Justworks Competitors

Below are one-to-one comparisons between Justworks and the top alternatives. Justworks is best for customers who want the most powerful all-in-one human resource solution for their business and don’t prioritize budget. We’ve ranked Justworks’s top six competitors based on their features, pricing, and usability.

#1: Zenefits

Zenefits is Justworks’ closest competitor in regards to its target user-base and features. Although both solutions share a similar breadth of features, Zenefits is more affordable than Justworks.

We do, however, believe that Justworks is slightly more accessible for newer businesses. Justworks’ training courses are also effective for staying compliant with federal and state laws. Finally, note that Zenefits does not support benefits management in Hawaii while Justworks supports all 50 states.

For more details, read our in-depth analysis of Justworks vs. Zenefits.

You'll prefer Justworks if:

  • Zenefits does not offer benefits in your state
  • You want to offer free training courses for your employees
  • You are a newer business in need of a user-friendly HR product
You'll prefer Zenefits if:

  • Zenefits supports benefits in your state
  • You are in need of an affordable human resource software solution
  • You want to automatically onboard new employees onto your software systems


#2: Gusto

Gusto is a competitor to Justworks designed primarily for payroll. Gusto’s biggest drawback in comparison to Justworks is its lack of benefits management in 11 states. Otherwise, we believe it is a viable alternative for businesses primarily interested in affordable payroll.

For more details, read our in-depth analysis of Justworks vs. Gusto.

You'll prefer Justworks if:

  • Gusto does not offer benefits in your state
  • You want to offer free training courses for your employees
  • You are a newer business in need of a user-friendly HR product
You'll prefer Gusto if:

  • Gusto supports benefits in your state
  • You are in need of an affordable payroll solution
  • You want to create customizable reports for employee and company analysis


#3: Zoho People

Zoho People is an alternative to Justworks designed more so for recruiting. Zoho People is more comparable to BambooHR and Sage HR rather than Justworks.

Still, we analyzed that it is the best software solution for businesses interested in affordable recruiting features such as job post distribution and interview pipelines.

You'll prefer Justworks if:

  • You do not require recruiting features in your HR software
  • You want to offer free training courses for your employees
  • You are a newer business in need of a user-friendly HR product
You'll prefer Zoho People if:

  • You leverage HR software mainly for recruiting features
  • You want a more affordable HR software solution
  • You do not require robust performance management features


#4: BambooHR

BambooHR is more similar to Zoho People than Justworks in regards to its features. This is because it focuses less on user-friendly payroll and benefits management and more on recruiting features.

We feel that if recruiting features are important for your business, BambooHR could work as an alternative to Justworks. However, Zoho People is considerably more affordable.

You'll prefer Justworks if:

  • You do not require recruiting features in your HR software
  • You want to offer free training courses for your employees
  • You are a newer business in need of a user-friendly HR product
You'll prefer BambooHR if:

  • You require a solution to create and distribute job posts
  • You only need to track benefits for your company instead of selecting them
  • You do not need a robust custom report creator


#5: Sage HR

Sage HR is a more affordable, yet less user-friendly alternative to Justworks. Its strong points are its workflow automations and its performance management.

Ultimately, however, we feel that Justworks assists businesses in accomplishing essential HR tasks much easier than Sage HR.

You'll prefer Justworks if:

  • You do not require recruiting features in your HR software
  • You want to offer free training courses for your employees
  • You are a newer business in need of a user-friendly HR product
You'll prefer Sage HR if:

  • You leverage HR software mainly for recruiting features
  • You want a more affordable HR software solution
  • You are in need of robust performance management features


#6: ADP RUN

ADP RUN is an alternative to Justworks dedicated primarily for payroll. ADP RUN’s biggest drawbacks were its user interface and lack of expense management features. Justworks offers both essential and robust HR features in a more accessible manner than ADP RUN.

For more details, read our in-depth analysis of Justworks vs. ADP RUN.

You'll prefer Justworks if:

  • You want to offer free training courses for your employees
  • You require expense management features like reimbursements
  • You are a newer business in need of a user-friendly HR product
You'll prefer ADP RUN if:

  • You want to create customizable reports for employee and company analysis
  • You require onboarding assistance for new hires and payroll
  • You want to purchase business coverage services such as general liability insurance


Bottom Line

Justworks is a robust all-in-one human resource software solution that can run unlimited payroll, assist in benefits management in all 50 states, and keep both your company and employees compliant with state and federal laws. Additionally, it is one of the most user-friendly solutions that we’ve analyzed in the HR category.

These strengths earned Justworks the second highest rating of all products in our human resource category. In general, it is more advanced and more expensive than most alternatives.

Before you make your purchase, we also suggest comparing Justworks to other highly rated platforms:

  • Zenefits is best for businesses in need of software similar to Justworks, and want more app integrations and software onboarding assistance.
  • Zoho People is ideal for businesses that need greater expense management features than Justworks offers.
  • Gusto is best for businesses in need of a more affordable payroll solution.
Yousef Fatehpour

Yousef Fatehpour is a Junior Research Analyst at SoftwarePundit. He graduated from University of California, San Diego, where he studied Human Centered Design and Communications. His work at UCSD's Design Lab emphasized UX research and product management.

Yousef's primary areas of interest are software design, user journeys, and how user experience is handled across software markets. Yousef also has experience in product design and multimedia content production. You can connect with Yousef on LinkedIn.

Yousef is an expert in several software categories including:

  • SMS marketing software
  • Document management software
  • Human resource software
  • Applicant tracking software
  • Design software

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