TriNet vs Personio

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Our analysts compared TriNet vs Personio 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.

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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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Personio is a comprehensive software solution designed to streamline HR management tasks, including recruitment, payroll, and employee data management. It is particularly well-suited for small to medium-sized enterprises seeking to enhance their HR processes with a user-friendly and efficient platform. The software's intuitive interface and robust functionality make it an attractive option for businesses aiming to optimize their human resources operations without the complexity often associated with larger systems.

Key benefits of using Personio include improved organizational efficiency, reduced administrative burden, and enhanced data accuracy. Popular features encompass applicant tracking, performance reviews, and time tracking, all integrated into a cohesive system. Users frequently commend its ease of use and the seamless integration of various HR functions, which contribute to a more streamlined workflow.

In terms of pricing, Personio typically operates on a subscription model, with costs varying based on the number of employees and selected features. This flexible pricing structure allows businesses to scale the service according to their specific needs, ensuring cost-effectiveness. Compared to similar products, Personio is often praised for its balance of functionality and simplicity, making it a preferred choice for many organizations.

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$8 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
$3/User, Monthly
Get a free price quote
Tailored to your specific needs
Small 
i
Medium 
i
Large 
i
Small 
i
Medium 
i
Large 
i
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.
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  • Data Security: All personnel data and analytics are secure from theft and tampering, in compliance with EU General Data Protection Regulation. 
  • Accessibility: Employees can apply for absences on the go and have them approved by managers. 
  • Tailor-Made Plan: Access a detailed project plan customized according to business requirements to make the best use of all capabilities quickly. 
  • Automation: Allow automation of various core HR processes and enable the automatic flow of salary, hourly wages and bonuses to payroll. 
  • Time Saving: With efficient HR processes and an overview for all employees’ performance, save time to improve productivity by focusing on more pressing matters. 
  • Deliver on Time: Ensure timely delivery of tasks and minimal missed deadlines with automated reminders to employees and executives for tasks and to-dos. 
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  • 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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  • Payroll: Access all personal data in a centralized location. Employees can also make changes to their master data to ensure accuracy. 
  • Performance Management: Record performance, define qualitative or quantitative individual goals and document them. Results from linked goals and bonuses can be shared automatically with payroll. 
  • On-boarding: View onboarding tasks centrally and send automatic reminders for tasks. Minimize the effort for coordination with automated onboarding. 
  • Digital Personnel File: Store and access all personnel data in compliance with laws and regulations in a centralized database. Set access rights defining who can view and change personnel data. 
  • Time Tracking: Records and calculates working hours accurately with supervisor confirmation. Also evaluates working hours using reports and reminds executives of outstanding permits. 
  • Employee Self Service: Allow employees to: 
    •  View and update their personnel data, working hours and absences. 
    •  Request vacation. 
    •  Access an overview of payslips, remaining vacation time and job references. 
  • Reporting and Analytics: Enable smarter decision-making and strategize personnel processes and planning based on predefined or customized reports. 
  • Integrations: Improve efficiency by connecting with third-party applications like DateV, askDante, Boomr, Circula and more. 
  • Workflows: Simplify the approval process and save time by using templates. Also allows electronic signature for documents. 
read more...

Product Ranking

#25

among all
HR Management Software

#361

among all
HR Management Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

72
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85
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57
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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

TriNet
Personio
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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
Personio
+ 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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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 1503 reviews
Great User Sentiment 396 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.

87%
of users recommend this product

Personio has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 87% when considering 396 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

5.0 (14)
n/a
4.0 (460)
4.4 (134)
n/a
4.31 (131)
4.2 (822)
4.4 (128)
4.0 (3)
n/a
3.7 (204)
4.25 (3)

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

we're gathering data

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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Intuitive Interface: Many users praise Personio for its user-friendly interface, finding it easy to navigate and use for tasks like managing employee data, tracking absences, and generating reports.
Automation Capabilities: Personio's automation features are a big plus for users, as they streamline tasks such as onboarding new hires, managing approvals, and tracking time off, freeing up HR staff to focus on more strategic initiatives.
Comprehensive Reporting: Users appreciate the detailed reports generated by Personio, which provide valuable insights into workforce data, such as employee turnover, performance trends, and compensation analysis.
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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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Reporting limitations: Users express frustration with the limited reporting functionalities, particularly the inability to generate comprehensive reports without exporting data to other tools.
Complex user interface: Some users find the platform's interface difficult to navigate, especially when trying to locate specific functionalities or complete tasks quickly.
Customer support challenges: There are reports of delayed response times and difficulties in getting support for technical issues, leading to frustration among users who require prompt assistance.
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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 Personio the personal touch your business needs to manage its people? User reviews from the last year suggest that Personio is a user-friendly HR software with a wide range of features, making it a popular choice for businesses of all sizes. Reviewers praise its ease of use, flexibility, and customer support. Some users highlight the software's ability to integrate with other business systems, simplifying data management and saving time. Others appreciate the comprehensive nature of Personio, covering most aspects of HR, from recruitment and onboarding to payroll and performance management. This all-in-one approach makes it a valuable tool for streamlining HR processes and improving efficiency. However, some users point out that Personio's pricing can be a bit steep, especially for smaller businesses. Despite this, many believe the software's extensive features and functionality justify the investment for most organizations. Personio seems best suited for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) looking for a comprehensive and user-friendly HR solution. Its ability to centralize and automate various HR tasks, coupled with its strong customer support, makes it a valuable asset for businesses seeking to optimize their HR operations and free up time for more strategic initiatives.

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