Zenefits Review 2024: Is Zenefits A Good Payroll & HR Software Option?
With its intuitive interface, employee-friendly mobile app, and focus on simple compliance, Zenefits is a solid contender in the world of online payroll systems.
-
WRITTEN & RESEARCHED BY
Senior Staff Writer
Last updated onUpdated
-
REVIEWED BY
Lead Staff Writer
Advertiser Disclosure: Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity.
Zenefits
| Total Rating | 4.2 |
|---|---|
| Pricing3.3 | |
| Ease Of Use4.5 | |
| Features4.4 | |
| Customer Service4.0 | |
| User Reviews3.9 | |
Payroll Processing Time
2-4 DaysPricing
Starts at $10/month per employee ($8/month billed annually) + $6/month per employeeBusiness Size
Small-large businesses with 1+ usersZenefits At A Glance
- Zenefits is cloud-based human capital management (HR) and benefits administration (BA) systems for small to large-sized businesses.
- With its robust feature set, including a mobile app, employee management, payroll processing, compliance support, and much more, Zenefits is a solid contender for small businesses that are growing.
- Zenefits is best for businesses with complex payroll needs. Businesses with simpler needs may be happier with a more affordable, simpler alternative.
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
Table of Contents
What Is 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
| Pricing3.3 |
|---|
| Software Plans 4.5 |
| Pricing Transparency 3.0 |
| Pricing Customization 3.0 |
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 Plans | Price | When To Use |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $10/month per employee ($8/month billed annually) | If you need strong HR and employee management tools for your small business |
| Growth | $20/month per employee ($16/month billed annually) | If you need dedicated HR and hiring tools to manage your business growth |
| Zen | $33/month per employee ($27/month billed annually) | If you need compliance support and enhanced employee management tools with payroll included |
| Payroll Add-On | $6/month per employee | If you want to add payroll services to Zenefits' Essentials or Growth 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 Extra Costs | Price |
|---|---|
| Payroll | $6/month per employee |
| Advisory Services | $8/month per employee |
| Benefits Administration (Using Your Own Broker) | $5/month per employee |
| Recruiting | Starting at $62/month ($35/month billed annually) |
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?
| Ease Of Use4.5 |
|---|
| Set Up 4.6 |
| Software Reliability 5.0 |
| Everyday Use 5.0 |
| Integrations 4.0 |
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
| Features4.4 |
|---|
| Payroll Processing 3.6 |
| Employee Management & PTO 5.0 |
| Time Tracking 3.8 |
| Payroll Tax Support 4.5 |
| Reporting & Tax Forms 4.6 |
| Onboarding & HR 5.0 |
| Benefits Administration 4.7 |
| Niche Features 5.0 |
With a solid 4.4/5 star rating, Zenefits is a feature-rich payroll software option. The software performed well overall, but lost points because it offers limited payroll processing deadline options, lacks support for auto-scheduling payroll runs, has limited time tracking integration options, and could stand to flesh out some of its available 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.
Payroll Processing
Although Zenefits only offers payroll as an add-on service, its features are on the same level as other top payroll software contenders.
Here’s a look at Zenefits’ most notable payroll features:
- Unlimited payroll runs
- Direct deposit
- Multiple pay rates and schedules
- Mobile pay stub access
- Garnishments
- General ledger reporting
- Tips reporting
- Automatic salary changes
- Time and attendance sync
- Deductions
- Off-cycle payroll
- Payroll run reminders
- Bulk editing
- Pay contractors and employees
- Create custom payroll codes
- Payroll reports
- State and federal payroll tax filing
- New-hire reporting
- Payroll compliance tools
Employee Management & PTO
Zenefits has many features to help you manage your employees and contractors from a single interface. Additionally, the software allows you to manage time off for your employees with just a few clicks.
Zenefits employee management and PTO features include:
- Lifetime employee account access
- Employee directory and company org chart
- Employee mobile app
- Set and manage PTO policies
- PTO balance calculator
- Secure document storage
Time Tracking
Keeping track of hours worked is essential to running payroll. Any great payroll solution has a quality time-tracking feature that integrates well with other time-tracking programs, and Zenefits is no different.
The software’s time-tracking features include:
- Create and manage work schedules
- PTO support
- Blackout certain dates
- Monitor clocking
- New schedule alerts
- Employee clocking via mobile app or desktop
- Geolocation and geofencing
- Timecard fraud protection
- Break and time off compliance tools
Payroll Tax Support
Zenefits is a full-service payroll, which means that it will calculate, withhold, and pay the IRS its share of taxes. The company will also expertly handle employee and contractor tax forms.
Here’s a look at the tax support features you can expect from Zenefits:
- 1099 filing
- W-2 filing
- Form 940 and 941 filing
- Auto-calculation, filing, and paying federal and state payroll taxes
- Unemployment tax payments
- Set tax deposit schedules
- e-Signing
- Employee access to tax forms
Reporting
Zenefits calls its reporting system “Business Intelligence.” This system contains a ton of built-in reports based on various business categories, including time and attendance, payroll, HR, and more.
The following features are a part of Zenefits’ reporting system:
- 57 built-in reports
- Report customization
Benefits Administration
If you already work with a broker, there is an extra fee to facilitate the union of your benefits administration with the program. If you do not yet offer benefits, Zenefits can set you up with a broker — if you opt for an annual subscription plan.
Here’s what you can expect from Zenefits’ benefits administration features:
- Zenefits benefits marketplace
- Health, vision, and dental insurance (all states except Hawaii)
- HSAs and FSAs
- 401(k) retirement accounts
- Life insurance
- Disability insurance
- Supplemental benefits
Zenefits Customer Service
| Customer Service4.0 |
|---|
| Personal Support 4.2 |
| Self-Service 3.8 |
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 Support | Availability |
|---|---|
| Phone Support | |
| Email Support | |
| Support Tickets | |
| Live Chat | |
| Dedicated Support Representative | |
| Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
| Videos & Tutorials | |
| Company Blog | |
| Social Media |
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
| User Reviews3.9 |
|---|
| Customer Feedback 4.0 |
| Review Site Aggregate 3.8 |
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
| Zenefits | Gusto | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $70/month for basic payroll | From $40/month + $6/employee to $80/month + $12/employee |
| Business Size | Small to enterprise-sized businesses | Small to large-sized businesses |
| Number Of States Supported | 50 | 50 |
| Payroll Processing Time | 2-4 day | Next-day to 4 day |
| Quality Of Features | Good | Excellent |
| Quality Of Support | Fair | Good |
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?
| Zenefits Review Summary | |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Starting at $10/month per employee ($8/month billed annually) + $6/month per employee |
| Choose If You Need |
|
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.
Zenefits FAQs
Davina Ward
Senior Staff Writer
Davina joined Merchant Maverick in 2022, covering small business payroll and accounting. She began writing for small businesses in 2018 and has since gained expertise in the SaaS industry. She earned her Bachelor’s of Arts in English Literature from SUNY Geneseo in 2018. She currently resides in New York.
View Davina Ward's professional experience on LinkedIn.
Latest posts by Davina Ward (see all)
- Homebase Payroll Review - December 18, 2023
- OnPay Payroll Review - December 1, 2023
- Payroll Software Cost Guide - November 3, 2023
- How To Choose Payroll Software For Your Small Business - November 3, 2023
- What Are The Different Types Of Payroll Software? - November 3, 2023
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 |
|---|
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 |
|---|
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.
