Trinet Zenefits Review

Pros

• Easy to use
• Essential payroll features
• Transparent pricing
• Robust mobile app
• Rich HR feature set
• Great built-in HR features for small businesses

Cons

• Mediocre customer service
• Not for very small businesses
• Integrates poorly with other systems
• Payroll is an add-on service

What Is Trinet Zenefits?

Zenefits is human resources (HR) software with a full suite of employee management, payroll, benefits administration, recruitment, and time-tracking solutions for small to mid-sized businesses.

This cloud-based software boasts an intuitive interface, an employee-friendly mobile app, and a focus on simple compliance, all aimed at creating a powerful HR/BA solution that ranks among the best HR software for small businesses.

Zenefits Pricing

Zenefits’ 3.3/5 star pricing rating was bolstered by the software’s affordability, free trial, and pricing transparency. However, the software’s rating took some hits in the pricing customization options category, as Zenefits Payroll is not available as a standalone product.

Additionally, each of Zenefit’s base plans and add-ons require a five-employee minimum, so while businesses with fewer than five employees can use Zenefits’ services, they’ll be paying for at least five employees by default.

Zenefits has three different base plans and four add-on services with options for annual or monthly subscriptions. If you opt for an annual Zenefits subscription, you’ll pay anywhere from $8-$27/month per employee for Zenefits base plans. Monthly subscription plans for Zenefits range from $10-$33/month per employee.

Here’s a look at Zenefits’ pricing plans:

Zenefits add-on services cost $5-$8/month per employee plus the subscription price of your Zenefits base plan and include payroll, benefits administration (with your own broker), and advisory services. Zenefits’ recruiting services add-on starts at $35/month for annual plans and $62/month for monthly plans.

Zenefits Essentials Plan

The Zenefits Essentials plan costs $10/month/employee for monthly subscribers or $8/month/employee for annual subscribers, and includes:

• Integrations
• Mobile app access
• Hiring and onboarding assistance
• Employee record-keeping
• Employee directory
• Company record-keeping
• Time and scheduling package
• Mobile PTO requests/geotracking
• Compliance alerts
• Access to mobile app for employees

Zenefits Growth Plan

The Zenefits Growth plan costs $20/month/employee for monthly subscribers or $16/month/employee for annual subscribers, and includes everything from the Essentials plan, plus:

• Compensation management
• Custom salary-based reports
• Real-time salary comparison data
• Performance management suite
• A full suite of performance reviews
• Goal setting and tracking
• One-on-one meeting management
• Customizable review forms

Zenefits Zen Plan

The Zenefits Zen plan costs $33/month/employee for monthly subscribers or $27/month/employee for annual subscribers, and includes everything from the Growth plan, plus:

• Well-being management
• Employee-triggered relevant wellness training
• Well-being content
• People Hub (company social networking feed)
• Engagement surveys

Extra Zenefits Costs & Fees

Zenefits’ base pricing doesn’t cover its add-on services, including payroll, advisory services (HR and payroll), and benefits administration. If you opt for any of these additional services, you’ll need to pay anywhere from $5-$8/month per employee. Zenefits also offers a recruiting services add-on that starts at $62/month for monthly subscribers and is discounted to $35/month for annual subscribers.

If your business needs either payroll services or professional HR or payroll advising, it may be worth looking for other payroll software options. Adding these services to Zenefits’ base price can cause the software’s cost to become burdensome, especially for smaller businesses.

Is Zenefits Easy To Use?

Zenefits earned a 4.5/5 star rating in the ease of use category and was carried by its easy set up options for new users, reliability, and integration options. Zenefits only lost points due to its cost for white glove set up and limited time and attendance software integrations.

Zenefits is cloud-based, sleek, sports a social-media coolness, and functions with a simple and intuitive interface. Zenefits has all the capabilities of clunkier HR programs, but it runs very smoothly.

Small business owners with years of HR experience (or those who have SaaS experience) might find Zenefits gets the job done, but it doesn’t give much flexibility around how to use/implement features.

Zenefits Features

Ultimately, Zenefits has all the tools your business needs to run payroll, handle benefits administration, track time, manage payroll taxes, and more. The software’s features are robust and can compete with other options on the market. However, Zenefits may not be a good match for business operations with very complex payroll and HR needs.

HR managers who are used to robust customization might find that there’s a bit more hand-holding, stay-in-the-lines type of management. That’s awesome for small businesses growing into HR or starting to offer benefits and streamlined services, but it may not meet the needs of larger businesses.

Zenefits Customer Service

Zenefits offers good customer support options and earned a 4/5 stars in the category. The software’s rating was helped by its extended customer support hours and its wealth of support options. However, the Zenefits’s rating in this category was hurt by customer complaints and limitations in its self-service options.

Zenefits customer service team is reachable 5 AM-4 PM PST Monday-Friday. Customer service seems to be a recurring customer complaint for Zenefits’ clients. Users have cited lengthy response times and inconsistent troubleshooting support from the Zenefits customer care team.

Zenefits’ customer service options include:

Zenefits stays consistent with other SaaS payroll services in that customers have a hard time finding someone who can answer specific tax questions or problems. It has an A+ Better Business Bureau rating but is not accredited through the site — and the bulk of the complaints are customer-service-related.

Zenefits Integrations

Zenefits has a solid foundation of integrations already available — it partners with top payroll-related apps (such as QuickBooks Time and Truework) — and it has an API available. However, Zenefits lacks a robust selection of time and attendance tracking software integrations compared to other top payroll solutions.

With 43 integrations available for productivity, applicant tracking, performance management, health and wellness, financial, legal, and accounting, Zenefits works hard to incorporate the programs you already love.

Zenefits Reviews

Zenefits was unable to break four stars with a low 3.9/5 star rating in the reviews category. Although the overall sentiment regarding the software is positive, its average 3.8/5 star user rating definitely brought its rating down.

The vast majority of Zenefits’ customer complaints centered around poor customer support and tax issues. Conversely, customers were very satisfied with Zenefits’ features and services.

Zenefits has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and averages solid scores on other review sites. Zenefits replies to every negative review on the BBB, and filing a complaint appears to speed up a solution if you’ve been stuck feeling unsatisfied.

Negative Zenefits Reviews & Complaints

• Poor third-party integrations
• Difficult to terminate contracts
• Poor customer support

 Positive Zenefits Reviews

• Easy to use
• Accessible
• Convenient mobile app
• Feature-rich

Is Zenefits Secure?

Despite the company’s struggles in its early years, Zenefits doesn’t have a history of data breaches.

Here’s a look at Zenefits’ security features:

• Two-factor authentication
• End-to-end encryption
• AWS platform
• SOC II certification
• Regular vulnerability assessments
• In-house data management
• Data backups

Zenefits VS Gusto Comparison

The main, eye-catching features of Zenefits and Gusto are similar, but there are several key differences. Both platforms have easy-to-use interfaces that allow for customizable features and a range of services. Gusto tends to dominate the payroll processing side of the feature battle, whereas Zenefits is in its greatest element with HRMS and HR data connectivity capabilities.

Gusto Is Best For…

• Companies that need to streamline payroll for fewer than 100 employees
• Business owners who need easy-to-reach customer service reps
• Companies that prefer more third-party integration options

Zenefits Is Best For…

• Companies that need to scale their HRMS processes
• Business owners who want an emphasis on mobile app usability
• Companies that don’t need to integrate with many platforms

Final Verdict: Is Zenefits Worth It?

Merchant Maverick’s final verdict is that Zenefits is a really good HR platform with a simple payroll add-on, but it wouldn’t be our first choice until some payroll growing pains are worked out.

For small businesses seeking both payroll and HR features, Zenefits offers a cost-effective and feature-rich option. If sleek usability and an easy-to-navigate system are your top priorities, Zenefits is a decent option. It is easy for both employees and administrators, and everything is in one location. You can sign up for a free demo of Zenefits to see if this HR option is right for your business.

Small businesses that may not be looking for a full HR platform yet could explore other payroll options. Start with learning about the best payroll software for small businesses.

Payroll Software Review Methodology

We research, evaluate, and test each payroll software app that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate granular ratings.

Our exhaustive, 76-point rubric guides the star rating of each payroll provider we review, examining pricing, ease of use, features, customer service, and user reviews. Each section is weighted differently.

• Pricing (10% of the overall rating)
• Ease of Use (20% of the overall rating)
• Features (40% of the overall rating)
• Customer Service (20% of the overall rating)
• User Reviews (10% of the overall rating)

When rating payroll software, we are looking for very specific qualities. The speed and cost of payroll runs and the availability of tax filing services are given high weight, as are the quality and availability of accounting, time-tracking, HR integrations, and user onboarding services. We also look for the presence of client and employee portals, benefits administration, PTO and time management tools, and many more vital features.

Learn more about how we rate payroll software providers.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

Zenefits	Start Trial

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Zenefits for yourself.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

Zenefits	Start Trial

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Zenefits for yourself.