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You may have landed on this page, unsure of what to expect. After all, why would we, CharlieHR (software specialised in small businesses and startups) write a guide about HiBob and Personio?
The reason is pretty simple: we’ve done the research and thought it’d be a shame if we kept it all to ourselves.
That’s why we decided to make it public — so you can compare different options and find the right software for you. So which is best, HiBob or Personio? It’s time to find out.
Naturally, we spend a lot of time researching HR software. Not only that, but we spend hours talking to our customers to find out what they do and don’t like about the software they used to use.
From this, we’ve been able to build a stronger picture of the pros and cons of both Personio and HiBob from the experience of real users. Our guide goes beyond basic internet research to bring you insights from people that have used, and switched from, these HR software tools.
Ready to start comparing the two?
Calling themselves the “People Operating System”, Personio is an excellent choice for scaling up your business.
With its wide range of advanced features as well as core HR features, Personio can fit the needs of many different companies. We’ve found, however, that many human resources professionals who previously used Personio and then switched to Charlie realised one thing: it’s not the best at catering to small businesses and startups.
Looking at the type of companies that use Personio, this makes sense. Between Lush (400 employees), Emma (600 employees), and Premier Inn (600 employees), we’re far from businesses that have just started out. They’re all more established and need software that’s more sophisticated.
But before we write Personio off as a good choice for small business owners, here are some of the main reasons why Personio might work for your business:
These are all, of course, pretty standard when it comes to HR software. Every competitor we’ve researched, however, has got their edge.
For Personio, the main reason to choose this software is if you’re a scaling business and need in-depth recruitment and reporting features.
While both HR tools are similar, some of the features that stood out to us the most about Personio include:
These features can be a good opportunity for your business now and as you grow in the future, allowing you to save time and scale with the help of recruitment, employee management, and performance review tools.
As we mentioned before, we don’t see Personio as the best fit for small businesses looking for a HR management tool. That’s because we’ve had many people switch to Charlie from Personio because of this reason.
Let’s explore some of the reasons why Personio may not be the best all-in-one HR solution for your startup or small business.
One of the main issues people have encountered with Personio is that it’s not especially user-friendly and can be hard to use.
For HR professionals that are used to this type of software, this may not be a problem. For employees in a small business, it can be challenging — meaning extra time spent on assistance, support, and troubleshooting. This means you’re often showing employees how to do something instead of spending your valuable time on useful HR tasks.
Like a lot of small businesses, we really appreciate when software is intuitive and easy to use (and have designed Charlie with this in mind). If this is what you’re looking for too, then Personio might not be the best choice for you.
HR representatives (and wearers of many hats alike) say that Personio offers a great experience and can help streamline daily tasks. However, they’ve also admitted that the setup was complicated and time-consuming. When you’re part of a small business and have a long list of responsibilities, this isn’t ideal.
Not only does Personio require setup assistance (along with a fee), you’ll also need to train your team members on how to use it. You can’t get started on your own, figure it out, and then give people a quick walkthrough on how it works. This puts a strain on your already full work schedule and makes it a difficult choice for busy people responsible for HR.
While Personio used to publicly display pricing for their plans, this information is now hidden behind a demo. This means you can’t know how much you’d pay for the platform until you’ve booked a personal demo with a sales representative.
This process is time-consuming — especially when you’re in the early research stages. You just want a rough idea on the monthly cost and what each plan or package includes. Unfortunately, to get this information you’ll need to sit through a demo.
Personio has streamlined their packages into two simple plans — Core and Core Pro. The features are similar, but with the Pro version you gain unlimited legal entities, document management, and esignature workflows. As a small business, you’re unlikely to need these upgrades.
As a “modern platform for HR”, HiBob has a lot to offer small businesses and startups that are looking for HR software to support them through periods of growth.
Not unlike Personio, HiBob also provides a range of core HR features like:
HiBob has all the features you’d expect in an all-in-one HR platform. There’s one thing that stands out though — the emphasis on company culture.
From top to bottom, HiBob focuses all of its features on creating and sustaining your culture. For some people, that’s ideal. For others, it’s a distraction or not the core focus for your business.
Here’s how HiBob weaves culture throughout every part of the software:
If culture-building and creating an engaging employee experience is top of your list, then HiBob could be a great fit for you.
No HR software is perfect, and what’s ideal for one team might be completely wrong for another. If you’re comparing Personio vs HiBob, it’s always worth considering the potential downsides of both tools.
After speaking to our own customers that have made the switch, here’s what they had to say about the experience of using HiBob as a small business.
You can’t compare HiBob’s pricing, or even see what’s included on various plans, on their website. Like with Personio, this can be especially frustrating for a small business on a budget. You have no way of knowing whether it’s affordable or not.
As well as this, not every feature is included in every plan. You can customise the experience, meaning that the monthly cost could quickly rise higher than you were expecting. When you combine this with the requirement to speak to the sales team to get a quote, it’s easy to see why this isn’t the best approach for small businesses.
While the pricing plans aren’t available online, from speaking to our own customers we were able to get some insight into approximate costs. Some of HiBob’s ex-customers revealed they used to pay around £10 per employee per month in a business with less than 50 employees — but this figure may not reflect current pricing plans.
Although a lot of businesses will appreciate the focus that HiBob puts on culture, some might argue that it deflects from the core purpose of HR software.
Building a great environment to work in is essential if you want to attract and retain talented employees, but you also need to take care of core HR and have procedures and workflows that are easy to navigate.
Many small businesses have found that features focused on culture are not as useful as they thought they would initially be, and end up being a distraction. If this isn’t important to you, there’s likely to be another HR software platform that’s a better fit for your needs and goals.
The last piece of feedback we got from our own customers who had switched from HiBob to Charlie was how time-consuming the software was to set up.
People that previously used the software said that they needed a lot of assistance to set up workflows and that they couldn’t just jump straight into using it.
When you’re busy or when HR is only one of your responsibilities, you don’t always have time to wait or spend time talking to customer support. You need HR software that you can set up yourself, get familiar with, and start customising it in your own time.
As you’ll see from our research, HiBob and Personio are both useful all-in-one HR software tools that appeal to different audiences. They have features that make them unique, which may sway you towards one more than the other.
Considering both the pros and cons, here’s a quick comparison of the two platforms.
One of these HR software platforms might stand out as an obvious winner to you, or you might still be undecided. There’s also a third option to consider — another HR software solution entirely.
If neither Personio or HiBob feels quite right, it might be because they’re not. If you’re a UK-based small business, neither of these HR software giants cater to your needs completely. For something that does, you’ll want
Charlie.
Our goal is to make HR feel effortless. We do that through a streamlined user experience, automation-backed workflows and HR processes, and the functionality you need all in one place. This allows you to focus your attention on the key tasks that require your attention, and automate all those repetitive tasks that don’t.
Simplify your onboarding process, employee engagement surveys, HR document management, time off management, perks and benefits administration, and performance management — all in one place, and all for one affordable monthly fee. Ideal for new HR professionals, people handling HR as part of a wider role, and seasoned HR reps that want an easier way to manage HR tasks.
When the time comes to grow your team, add Charlie Recruit to your plan and get access to our powerful recruitment features and applicant tracking system (ATS) right from within your Charlie dashboard.
Charlie has everything you need, none of the unnecessary features that you don’t, and starts at just £5 per month — perfect for businesses with even the smallest of HR budgets.
Personio and HiBob both offer you plenty of functionality when it comes to core HR, recruitment, and employee management. You may decide one suits your needs better than the other, or maybe you’re not quite sure either is right for you.
If that’s the case, I’d encourage you to check out Charlie. Our HR software was built with small businesses like yours in mind, and has all the features you need to build a solid foundation — whether you’re a new startup, a growing organisation, or an intentionally small business. Take a free trial today to explore everything we have to offer, and discover an easier way to approach human resource management.
