TriNet vs Built for Teams

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Our analysts compared TriNet vs Built for Teams based on data from our 400+ point analysis of HR Management Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Product Basics

TriNet is a cloud-based HR solution that’s ideal for small and medium-sized businesses, focusing on payroll, benefits and compliance.

Acquired by TriNet in February 2022, Zenefits was previously recognized for its all-in-one approach to HR, emphasizing benefits administration and employee management. The platform supports onboarding new employees, tracking time and attendance, managing payroll and monitoring performance.

After running through the demo, I felt that navigation was particularly well-suited for beginners. Its simple layout streamlines administrative tasks without needing extensive HR expertise.

An issue a lot of workplaces face is handling employee burnout. Many users mention how easy it is to submit PTO, helping their employees take the time off they need without needing admin approval.

Another common HR challenge is benefits enrollment. With so many plan options, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. On top of that, employees often have limited time to make decisions, which can lead to rushed choices or forgetting to enroll at all. TriNet addresses these challenges by providing tools like automated notifications and detailed cost breakdowns to simplify the enrollment process.

Users appreciate the user-friendly interface and automated processes, which lessen the manual workload for HR teams. Some consider it basic, but most value its straightforward design. In contrast, opinions vary on customer support wait times.

There are three pricing plans: Essentials $8 annually or $10 monthly, Growth $16 annually or $20 monthly, and Zen $27 annually or $33 monthly, all charged per user. For exact pricing information, we recommend requesting a quote from their website.

Overall, TriNet helps manage payroll, benefits and employee performance with tools like time tracking, automated payroll and employee engagement surveys.

What else can it do? Let’s take a closer look.


TriNet at a Glance

Support Options
  • Phone and email
  • Training videos
  • Help Center
  • Chat
Top Modules/Functions and Our Analyst Score
  • Time and attendance (100)
  • Document management (98)
  • Payroll management (95)
Strengths
  • User-friendly design
  • Easy benefits enrollment
  • Automation options
Limitations
  • Mixed reviews on customer support wait times.
  • Basic functionality may lack depth for advanced users.
Mobile Access Yes. (2.2 rating on Google Play)

Industry Specialties

Serves all industries, including but not limited to:

  • Healthcare
  • Technology
  • Manufacturing
  • Professional Services
  • Retail

Pricing Plans

Feature/Functionality

Essentials

Growth

Zen

Price

$8 annually, $10 monthly

$16 annually, $20 monthly

$27 annually, $33 monthly

Core HR Included

Yes

Yes

Yes

Benefits

Yes

Yes

Yes

Recruiting

Yes

Yes

Yes

Time and Attendance

Yes

Yes

Yes

HR Advisory Desk

Yes

Yes

Yes

People Analytics

No

Yes

Yes

Real-time Comparison Salary Data

No

Yes

Yes

Custom Compensation Benchmark Options

No

Yes

Yes

Goal Management

No

Yes

Yes

Employee Engagement Surveys

No

No

Yes

People Hub

No

No

Included

Payroll Tax Filing

Add-On

Add-On

Included

General Ledger

Add-On

Add-On

Included

Contractor payments

Add-On

Add-On

Included

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Built for Teams provides small to mid-sized companies with robust employee management solutions in a web-based environment. It provides modules that support PTO tracking, recruiting, record keeping and more. Its inclusions let managers and stakeholders hire and retain a successful workforce with analytics tools that provide valuable insights for educated decision making.

It gives employees an accessible source of information to make requests and check personal data like PTO. Managers can leverage organizational charts to gain clear visibility into all of their employees.
read more...
$8 Monthly
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$1/User, Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
Small 
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Medium 
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Large 
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Small 
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Medium 
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Large 
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Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Reduce Busy Work: Create approval workflows to make daily tasks more efficient. These workflows can be applied to any employee changes, including promotions, terminations and new hires. Automating these processes saves time and reduces administrative overhead. A couple of fully supported features that further cut down on manual work include ACA eligibility calculations and real-time data synchronization, according to our Express App.
  • Get Intelligent Insights: Access reports smoothly, from executives to administrators—with customizable permissions for security. Get real-time data through prebuilt reports on turnover, compensation, equal opportunity and more, plus create custom reports for your key KPIs.
    • TriNet fully supports timesheet management, custom fields, and charts and visualizations for data-driven decision-making.
  • Empower Employees: Let your employees take the reins with employee self-service (ESS) tools to manage their information, including viewing pay stubs and updating benefits elections.
    • New hires can self-enroll in benefits like healthcare and 401k during onboarding or later on.
    • Employees can update their personal info, such as family details, marital status updates, birthdays and work permits.
    • Self-service leave requests are moderately supported.
  • Provide Mobile Access: Check benefits, view pay stubs, access the company directory, clock in and out, and close tasks on the go. Admins can also cross off performance reviews, payroll and time off tasks right from their phones via mobile apps for iOS and Android devices.
    • Simplify PTO: View and request time off in a few steps on the mobile app.
  • Ensure Compliance: Ensure ACA compliance with built-in explanations, tailored configuration suggestions, e-filing, compliance status visibility, offboarding features and ERISA data storage.
  • Connect to Popular Platforms: Use third-party apps for ATS, productivity, 401(k), expense management, employee engagement, learning and development, and accounting (just to name a few). Apps include G Suite, Slack, OnPay and Salesforce.
  • Access TriNet Perks: Provide your employees access to discounts and corporate rates on brands like Costco, AMC Theaters, Disneyland, PODS, and Columbia Sportswear.
read more...
  • Improved Organization: Built for Teams includes robust organizational charts that give managers valuable visibility into everyone working at the business. Users can also benefit from numerous scheduling and PTO request features to keep track of who is working when. 
  • Hire the Best: This suite gives hiring managers the tools needed to find, hire and maintain the best-in-class employees for a stable and productive working environment. Search by certification, skill set, availability and more for the best matches. 
  • Better Strategic Decision Making: Built for Teams gives users the ability to set up strategic hiring plans and successions to ensure that you’re never left in a tough spot when you lose an employee. Ramp up your hiring in conjunction with other business processes or slow it down when a good point is reached. 
  • Boost Process Accuracy: Users can actively manage salaries, employee position statuses and hiring plans for consistent and accurate hiring practices. A historical record of all changes to these processes is automatically kept by the system for increased accountability and accuracy. 
  • Easy to Access and Intuitive: Built for Teams focuses on providing users with an accessible and simple platform. Users can easily edit single employees, teams or whole departments with drag-and-drop support. Everything is easily accessible via web browser and supports interactive charts with zoom, pan and navigation features. 
  • Quick and Easy Approvals: Managers can receive automatic notifications when someone requests time off. These notifications include information on who else has requested the day off, a full request summary and a quick link to approve or deny the request. Optional alerts can also be set to notify employees that their leave request was accepted or denied. 
read more...
  • Payroll: Log on, go to your payroll overview, and you'll see tasks you need to complete at the top. Click open payroll and review and approve your next pay run. There are also indicators that let you know if anything looks off to prevent payroll errors.
    • Pay Cycle Tracking: Monitor pay cycles and important dates categorized by employee groups (exempt vs non-exempt) with downloadable calendar views.
    • Advanced Issue Notifications: Receive indicators for potential payroll issues prior to final approval, with advanced filters for insights (location, department, job code).
    • Reimbursements: Make reimbursements easy. Choose the type (like driving) and enter the amount right on the platform.
  • Integrations: Integrate with popular accounting software platforms like Xero and QuickBooks.
  • Benefits Administration: Offer standard medical, dental and vision benefits, along with life and disability insurance. Additionally, there are commuter benefits, COBRA administration, workers comp, FSA and HSA. Filter from hundreds of providers for easy comparison and manage their information from a dashboard.
    • Transparent Pricing: Know where your money's going with monthly cost breakdowns that lay out all the details, from dental to life insurance.
  • Time Management: Keep an eye on clock-in/out times and hours worked with real-time dashboards. Set up customizable PTO policies, streamline workflows, view calendars, approve requests with a click and let employees manage their sick days/time-off requests.
  • TimeKeeper iPad App: Protect against fraud and time theft by taking pictures of employees when they check in or out.
  • Performance Management: Leverage goal management, meetings, action items and performance tracking. Run peer and 360-degree reviews using prebuilt templates and customizable questions.
  • Document Management: Centralize employee documents, create custom folders and specify which employees have access.
  • Recruiting and Hiring: Handle all your hiring tasks digitally, fast track completing offer letters with templates and run background checks.
    • Job Post Sharing: Share job listings on free job boards and social media, or boost them on paid channels with just a few clicks.
    • Automated Communication: Send automated texts, emails and notifications to prevent candidates from getting stuck in one step of the hiring process.
    • Candidate Profiles: Click on a candidate's name to access their profile, where you can view their resume, scorecard, assessments, emails, and documents all in one place. Easily reject or advance candidates with just a click from their profile.
    • Seamless Hiring: Once you select a candidate for hire, simply choose their start date and hit "hire." Celebrate when they’re officially onboarded.
  • Onboarding: New hire info syncs across the suite, so you won't have to enter it twice (or worry about double entry). New employees can also manage their part of the process to keep everything accurate and on time.
    • Employee Progress Dashboard: Track who’s completed enrollment and send reminders or invitations to new hires.
  • Compliance Assistant: Use this built-in tool to track federal HR deadlines and set custom reminders. You’ll find detailed explanations of compliance deadlines that could affect your business and sync reminders with your personal calendar. There are also resources to provide a better understanding of regulatory requirements, including ACA, COBRA, EEOC and I-9 compliance.
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  • Customizable Org Charts: Built for Teams includes flexible organizational charts that display the hierarchy of the entire organization. Each employee in the chart comes with easy to access information, including department, contact info, location, schedule, a personal bio and more. Team members can be color-coded for more in-depth organization. 
  • Chart Metrics: Users can leverage organizational charts to view open positions, hiring progress, headcounts and the overall span of control. This information, along with the entire chart itself, can be printed, published through a company’s intranet and shared with employees. 
  • Applicant Tracking: Managers can gain instant visibility into critical hiring processes. Users can see hiring progress for open positions, how many people have applied to a certain position, how many days a position has been open and more. 
  • PTO Tracking:  Users can completely customize their leave and PTO request settings to include things like sick, personal and holidays leave. Users can create an unlimited amount of these settings. The system can also carry over unused time, blackout days, waiting periods and more. This feature also supports the automatic increase of rates based on tenure. 
  • Time Off Requests: Employees can easily submit requests for time off from mobile, desktop and the Slack application. They can also see their remaining hourly balances, transaction histories and request statuses. Company calendars ensure that there are no conflicts with multiple people asking for the same day off. 
  • Slack Integration: Built for Teams features integration with Slack that allows employees to easily submit requests from the application itself. Users can also see their current balances and PTO accounts. 
  • Automation and Reporting: Users can leverage automation to cut down on time-intensive manual entry that allows managers to focus on more important tasks. Reporting features track and displays time off requests, balances and employee statistics. 
read more...

Product Ranking

#25

among all
HR Management Software

#208

among all
HR Management Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

72
we're gathering data
34
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85
we're gathering data
57
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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

TriNet
Built for Teams
+ Add Product + Add Product
Applicant Tracking And Recruiting Benefits Management Compensation Management Document Management Employee Engagement Employee Onboarding And Administration Employee Self Service Learning Management Payroll Management Performance Management Platform Capabilities Reporting And Dashboard Succession Management Time And Attendance Management Workforce Management 34 85 57 98 69 78 73 34 95 47 50 79 14 100 49 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

TriNet
Built for Teams
+ Add Product + Add Product
Availability And Scalability Deployment Options Integrations And Extensibility Mobile Platform Security 100 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Vendor Qualification Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 1503 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 1222 reviews
82%
of users recommend this product

TriNet has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 82% when considering 1503 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

94%
of users recommend this product

Built for Teams has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 94% when considering 1222 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

5.0 (14)
n/a
4.0 (460)
4.6 (58)
n/a
4.74 (573)
4.2 (822)
4.7 (572)
4.0 (3)
n/a
3.7 (204)
3.9 (19)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated TriNet and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Time and Attendance Management and Training.

Time and Attendance Management Award
Training Award

Built for Teams stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Ease of Use: Many users find the platform simple to navigate, making it easy to view paychecks, track time and attendance, manage payroll, and administer benefits.
Automation: Payroll and benefits processes are largely automated, reducing manual tasks and improving efficiency.
Customer Support: The support team is often praised for being professional, friendly and helpful. There are various support options available, including chat and phone and the ability to track case submissions.
Smooth Benefits Enrollment: Most users like its insurance options (especially with it being all integrated right into the platform), including re-enrollment options, multiple language support and mobile enrollment. Overall, the majority found the process hassle-free.
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Centralized Employee Database: Built for Teams offers a centralized location to store and manage employee data, including contact information, emergency contacts, job titles, and more. This eliminates the need for paper files or multiple spreadsheets, making it easier to keep track of employee information and ensure accuracy.
Streamlined Onboarding: The platform simplifies the onboarding process for new hires by providing a structured framework for collecting necessary information, assigning tasks, and tracking progress. This ensures a smooth and efficient onboarding experience for both new employees and HR staff.
Time-Off Management: Built for Teams includes tools for managing employee time off, including vacation, sick leave, and personal days. Employees can easily request time off through the platform, and managers can approve or deny requests with a few clicks. The system also tracks accruals and balances, ensuring that employees are using their time off appropriately.
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Basic Functionality: Users find the platform design on the basic side, which can be a double-edged sword. While it simplifies navigation, it may feel less intuitive.
Customer Support Wait Times: Some users reported long wait times and the need to connect with multiple support representatives. There are designated support representatives, but the availability depends on the plan you opt for.
Integration Challenges: There have been difficulties linking multiple companies within the platform, complicating things like time-off approvals.
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Limited Customization: Users have expressed frustration over the platform's limited ability to tailor the system to their specific needs, particularly when it comes to complex workflows and unique organizational structures.
Reporting Functionality: Generating comprehensive reports, especially for performance management or identifying trends, has proven to be cumbersome for some users due to the platform's reporting limitations.
Mobile App Experience: The mobile app has received mixed reviews, with some users finding it less intuitive and feature-rich compared to the desktop version, impacting accessibility and ease of use.
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In HR, you're responsible for a lot of paperwork for core functions like recruiting, tax filing, payroll and performance management (just to name a few). Trying to keep every document organized and secure the old-fashioned way might feel like managing the Smithsonian.;TriNet can alleviate your document management woes by keeping everything in one place in the cloud.Its platform includes HR management and administration tools, recruiting, payroll and benefits. Overall, I found the design practical and simple. It didn't leave me guessing where to find things.;Manage access to folders and documents, create custom folders and specify which employees have access. In the upper right corner, you'll find your profile along with an arrow that reveals menu options. The top right also features your inbox, notifications, help and a handy search bar.It has separate tabs for worker and company documents. Creating folders to stay organized is easy with the bright orange "Create New Folder" option. Each document allows you to hover over it, where you can click the pencil icon to edit or the trash can icon to delete.Manage employees’ benefits eligibility, view benefit costs and change enrollment details. Scroll down and see everything covered under your plan, from dental and vision to life insurance. To get employees on board, set your open enrollment dates and automate notifications.;Customize email invites, preview the employee experience and ensure no one misses enrollment – once it’s open, they’ll see it as a task at the top of their dashboard.;There’s no guessing when it comes to employee costs, the company contribution and total because it’s laid out clearly in the monthly cost breakdown. Plus, when enrollment time rolls around, there’s a start renewal link, side-by-side plan comparisons and a quoting tool.;My favorite feature is the step-by-step guide because even if you’ve gone through the labyrinth of benefits enrollment seemingly a hundred times, there’s still a lot of ground to cover, which makes setting everything up less overwhelming. Make your enrollment setup unforgettable with benefits checklists that ensure employees don’t miss important options.The payroll module is reasonably straightforward. The layout is on the simple side, featuring main menu optionhs including Overviews, People, Timeline, Reports, Taxes, Forms and Settings.;Just like conveniently passing by a coffee shop on your way to work, essentially every payroll task you have to check off is connected and easy to find. Manage employee notifications, download payroll reports and approve payroll — all in one place.;The candidate landing page is simple. It shows the person’s name to the very left; on the right, you can view their contact info (there’s a phone icon and email icon), location, workflow status, source (like your career page) and the date they applied.So, what happens after clicking a candidate's name? You get directed to their profile and, from there, view their resume, scorecard, assessments, emails and documents. There are options at the top to reject or advance candidates. Once they move to hiring, you select their start date and press hire candidate, and ta-da — you’re greeted with virtual confetti.;I like that there are conveniently automated communication options like sending text messages. It's especially helpful if you’re hiring multiple people and don’t want to lose track of candidates or get anyone stuck in one of the hiring steps.;While everyone learns things at their own pace, from my perspective, I found TriNet a good fit for beginners.;

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Is Built for Teams actually built for teams? User reviews from the last year suggest that while Built for Teams offers a solid foundation for HR processes, it may not be the most robust or feature-rich compared to competitors like BambooHR or Namely. Users appreciate the platform's intuitive design and ease of use, particularly for core HR functions like managing employee data, tracking time off, and approving requests. The shared calendar feature, allowing employees to visualize leave time, is frequently cited as a major plus. However, some users find the reporting functionality limited and crave more customization options. Others express a desire for more advanced features, such as performance management tools with in-depth feedback mechanisms or more sophisticated compensation management capabilities. Essentially, Built for Teams seems best suited for smaller organizations or those with relatively straightforward HR needs. Its strength lies in simplifying core HR tasks and centralizing employee information. However, companies with complex requirements or a desire for granular control over HR processes might find Built for Teams lacking. They may be better served exploring alternatives that offer a broader and deeper range of functionalities.

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Screenshots

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