How We Evaluate Software

HR Compared publishes comparisons and buying guides for HR leaders, ops managers, and growing teams choosing HR software. This page explains exactly how we reach our conclusions — and, just as important, what we do not claim to do.

The short version

Our reviews are analysis-based. We study product documentation, verify published pricing directly on vendor pricing pages, and compare published product specifications. We do not run laboratory benchmarks, and we do not pretend to. When a claim in our guides comes from a third party, we say so.

What we actually do

Every guide on this site follows the same four-step process:

1. Feature & spec analysis. We read the vendor's own documentation, feature lists, and changelogs to establish what each product actually does — as opposed to what its marketing page implies.
2. Pricing. We publish the vendor's listed prices as they appear on the vendor's own pricing page when a guide is written, and we note billing tiers, minimum seats, and hidden costs (onboarding fees, add-ons, price-per-feature traps). Prices move constantly, so treat every figure as indicative and confirm it with the vendor before you buy.
3. Documented limits and trade-offs. We read the vendor's own documentation, stated limits and changelog history, and we quote published independent lab results where the category has them, naming the lab and the test period. We do not scrape or aggregate G2, Capterra or TrustRadius scores, and we do not run hands-on lab tests ourselves. Where a guide quotes a third party, it says so.
4. Category comparison. Finally, we line the finalists up side by side — features, real costs, user sentiment, and fit for specific team sizes — and explain who each tool is right for, not just which one is "best."

Our scoring dimensions

When a guide includes scores, they are weighted as follows:

Dimension	Weight	What we look at
Core HR features	25%	Payroll, benefits admin, onboarding, time tracking, performance management
Pricing transparency	20%	Per-employee pricing, hidden fees, base vs PEPM, add-on costs
Ease of use	15%	Admin UX, employee self-service, mobile experience
Compliance & integrations	15%	State/federal compliance, payroll tax filings, ATS/HRIS integrations
User satisfaction	15%	Vendor-published case studies and publicly documented product limitations
Support & reliability	10%	Support channels by tier, SLAs, public status-page history

Where our data comes from

• Vendor documentation, pricing pages, and changelogs
• Published documentation
• Public compliance disclosures (SOC 2, HIPAA, state payroll certifications)
• Vendor status pages and security disclosures

What we don't do

• We don't run live payroll or process real tax filings. Our coverage is analysis-based.
• We don't claim to have administered live HR systems for specific companies. Our content is grounded in documented features and published specifications.
• We don't accept paid placements or "review fees" from vendors. No vendor sees a review before it publishes.
• We don't collect our own user reviews. We do not publish user-satisfaction scores, because we have no first-party survey data to base them on.

How affiliate links interact with our ratings

Some links on this site are affiliate links: if you buy through one, the vendor pays us a commission at no extra cost to you. Commission rates never influence scores or rankings — our full affiliate disclosure explains the details, including how we handle products we have no financial relationship with.

Updates & corrections

Pricing and features change constantly. We re-check every guide at least quarterly, and sooner when a vendor ships a major release or price change. If you spot an error, email corrections@hrcompared.com — verified corrections are published within five business days, with a note.