CharlieHR vs Paylocity

A detailed comparison of CharlieHR and Paylocity. See how they stack up on features, pricing, and user ratings.

At a Glance

CharlieHR Paylocity
Rating 4.7/5 4.4/5
Starting Price $5/mo N/A
Free Trial Yes No
Free Plan Yes No
Features 9 9
Best For SMB Mid-Market

CharlieHR

Simple, affordable HR software designed for small UK and European businesses with 2-200 employees, covering time off, onboarding, and people management.

Rating 4.7/5
Best for SMB
Free trial Yes
Free plan Yes
Start Free Trial →

Paylocity

Cloud HCM and payroll platform for mid-sized organisations with modern social collaboration tools, on-demand pay, expense management, and workforce analytics capabilities.

Rating 4.4/5
Best for Mid-Market
Free trial No
Free plan No
Visit Paylocity →

Feature Comparison

Feature CharlieHR Paylocity
Workflow Automation
Reporting Dashboard
EEO/OFCCP Compliance
GDPR Compliance
API Access
HRIS Integration
Slack Integration
Zapier Integration
Mobile App

Pricing Comparison

CharlieHR

Free Free
Team $5/mo

Paylocity

Platform Custom

Integrations

Both tools integrate with

Slack Zapier

Only CharlieHR

Gmail Google Workspace Xero

Only Paylocity

Azure AD Google Calendar Microsoft 365 Microsoft Teams Okta Outlook Outlook Calendar Salesforce

Pros & Cons

CharlieHR

Pros

  • +Extremely simple setup — most teams are running within a day
  • +Free plan available for very small teams (up to 2 users)
  • +Clean, modern interface designed for non-HR people
  • +Affordable per-employee pricing for UK and European SMBs

Cons

  • -No payroll module — you need a separate payroll provider
  • -Limited API and integrations compared to larger platforms
  • -Feature depth is shallow — not suitable for 200+ employee companies
  • -Performance reviews are basic compared to Lattice or HiBob

Paylocity

Pros

  • +Modern HR platform with strong payroll
  • +Community and social features for employees
  • +Good mobile app experience
  • +Data insights and workforce analytics

Cons

  • -Pricing not transparent
  • -Better suited for mid-market than SMB
  • -Some features feel like add-ons rather than core
  • -Implementation timeline can be long

Which Should You Choose?

Choose CharlieHR if:

  • • Your company is SMB size
  • • You want to start with a free plan
  • • You want to try before committing (free trial available)
  • • Higher user ratings matter to you (4.7 vs 4.4)
  • • Extremely simple setup — most teams are running within a day
Try CharlieHR Free

Choose Paylocity if:

  • • Your company is Mid-Market size
  • • Modern HR platform with strong payroll
Visit Paylocity

How we evaluate tools

Our ratings combine verified user reviews from G2 and Capterra with hands-on feature analysis. Pricing is checked against official sources. We may earn a commission through affiliate links, but this never influences our rankings or recommendations. Read our full methodology.