HR and payroll software keeps employee records, time off, documents, reviews and pay in one place, from small-team HR tools to enterprise HCM suites. Employee files hold some of a company's most sensitive personal data, so many European employers prefer a vendor run from Europe that keeps that data in the EU. The strongest European options are Personio (Germany) for European SMEs replacing spreadsheets and separate HR tools, Factorial (Spain) for SMEs wanting HR, time and expenses in one tool and PayFit (France) for French small businesses running their own payroll.
Best first. Headcount and founding year come from LeadWave's database; prices, hosting and G2 ratings from each company's own pages and G2, checked in November 2026.
| Alternative | Headquarters | Founded | Employees | G2 rating | Free plan | Paid plans from | Your data | Open source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Personio | Munich, Germany | 2015 | 1,077 | — | No | — | — | No |
2 Factorial | Barcelona, Spain | 2016 | — | 4.4 (105 reviews) | No | €8/user/month | In Europe | No |
3 PayFit | Paris, France | 2015 | 655 | 3.9 (20 reviews) | No | €26/employee/month | In Europe | No |
4 SAP SuccessFactors | Walldorf, Germany | 1972 | — | 4.2 (1,001 reviews) | No | — | EU region available | No |
5 Cegid | Lyon, France | 1983 | 3,934 | 4.2 (30 reviews) | No | — | — | No |
6 Lucca | Paris, France | — | — | — | No | — | In Europe | No |
7 SD Worx | Antwerp, Belgium | 1945 | — | — | No | — | — | No |
8 Zucchetti | Lodi, Italy | 1978 | — | — | No | — | — | No |
9 Kenjo | Berlin, Germany | 2017 | 65 | 4.8 (7 reviews) | No | €6/employee/month | In Europe | No |
10 Sesame HR | Valencia, Spain | — | — | — | No | €4.75/employee/month | — | No |
11 Sympa | Espoo, Finland | 2005 | 170 | 2.8 (7 reviews) | No | — | — | No |
12 CatalystOne | Oslo, Norway | 2004 | 221 | 4.4 (8 reviews) | No | — | In Europe | No |
13 HRworks | Freiburg, Germany | 1998 | 51–200 | — | No | — | In Europe | No |
14 Leapsome | Berlin, Germany | 2016 | 56 | 4.8 (2,528 reviews) | No | €7/employee/month | — | No |
15 Humaans | London, United Kingdom | 2020 | 11 | 4.8 (111 reviews) | No | — | In Europe | No |
16 Zelt | London, United Kingdom | 2020 | 14 | 4.6 (279 reviews) | No | £5/month | In Europe | No |
17 CharlieHR | London, United Kingdom | 2016 | 56 | 4.6 (55 reviews) | No | £21/account/month | In Europe | No |
18 Nmbrs | Amsterdam, Netherlands | — | — | — | No | €71/account/month | In Europe | No |
19 Employes | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 2018 | — | — | No | €29.95/account/month | In Europe | No |
20 Boundless | Dublin, Ireland | 2019 | — | — | No | €175/employee/month | — | No |
21 WorkMotion | Berlin, Germany | 2020 | 146 | 4.5 (424 reviews) | No | €29/contractor/month | — | No |
Each page ranks the European options for that tool's users and says how each one compares.
All-in-one HR software for mid-size companies
HR platform for small and mid-size companies covering employee records, absence, recruiting, performance reviews and payroll, used in around 70 countries. Prices are quoted on request.
HR, time, payroll and expenses for SMEs
HR software for small and mid-size companies covering time tracking, time off, performance, recruiting, payroll, expenses and IT asset management. Prices vary by country.
Payroll and HR for small French businesses
Automates payslips, payroll calculations and social declarations, with time off, expenses and employee records alongside. Built mainly for French small and mid-size businesses.
Enterprise sales CRM from Germany's SAP
SAP's cloud HCM suite for large and multinational employers, covering core HR, payroll, recruiting, learning and performance. Prices on request.
HR, finance and retail software from Lyon
French business software group. Its Cegid HR suite, formerly Talentsoft, covers core HR, recruiting, talent management and learning for mid-size and large employers.
Modular HR and expense apps
Suite of HR apps for time off, expenses, payment cards, employee files and payroll preparation, bought module by module. Sold in France, Spain, Germany and Switzerland.
Payroll and HR software and services across Europe
Belgian provider of payroll, HR and time-tracking software and outsourced payroll, serving employers of all sizes across Europe. Prices on request.
HR, payroll and time tracking from Italy
Italy's largest software group, selling HR, payroll, time-and-attendance and workforce planning software alongside ERP and retail systems. Prices on request.
HR, time tracking and shift planning for SMEs
HR software for small and mid-size companies with employee records, time tracking, shift planning, payroll preparation and performance reviews. Sold mainly in Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Austria.
Time tracking and HR for small and mid-size firms
Spanish HR software that started with time tracking and now covers absences, shifts, employee files, payroll preparation and performance. Priced per employee with a 15-employee minimum.
Configurable core HR for Nordic organisations
Finnish HR system for mid-size and large organisations, built around a configurable employee database, workflows, reporting and integrations. One price per employee per month.
Core HR, performance and engagement from Norway
Norwegian HCM for mid-size organisations covering core HR, performance management and pulse surveys. Swedish investor Neqst has been a part-owner since 2017. Prices on request.
HR software for German mid-size companies
German cloud HR system covering personnel files, absence, time tracking and travel expenses for mid-size companies. Billed monthly with no minimum term, for at least 20 users.
Performance, engagement and HRIS in one platform
People platform known for performance reviews, goals, engagement surveys and learning, now with an HRIS for records, absence, time tracking and payroll exports. Priced per employee per module.
HRIS for fast-growing tech companies
HR platform for scale-ups that keeps employee data, onboarding, time off, documents, performance and compensation in one place, with an API and many integrations. Prices on request.
HR, payroll, devices and apps in one place
UK platform that combines HR, payroll, expenses, benefits, device management and app access for growing companies. The Core plan needs at least 20 seats.
Simple HR software for UK small businesses
HR software for UK startups and small businesses covering onboarding, time off, performance reviews and employee files, with an optional HR advice service. Payroll is not available yet.
Payroll and HR for Dutch companies and accountants
Dutch payroll and HR software used by employers and by accounting firms that run payroll for clients. Billed monthly by employee package, with no long contract.
Online payroll and HR for Dutch employers
Dutch payroll software with collective labour agreements and tax filings built in, plus HR features and expense claims. Part of the Shine group since July 2025.
Employer of record for hiring abroad
Employer-of-record service that legally employs staff for you in countries where you have no company, handling contracts, payroll, taxes and benefits.
Employer of record and contractor payments
Berlin service for hiring abroad: employer of record in over 160 countries, help with direct hiring through your own entity, and contractor management with payments.
LeadWave's database has 186 companies headquartered in Europe that our HR list matches, most of them in the United Kingdom (58), Germany (27), France (20), the Netherlands (12) and Spain (8). Here are the 15 largest; all 186, with their CEOs' contacts, are in the Europe SaaS companies list.
| Company | Country | Employees | Funding | CEO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Cegidcegid.com | France | 3,934 | — | Pascal Houillon |
| 2Personiopersonio.com | Germany | 1,077 | $524.2M | Hanno Renner |
3 Mercansmercans.com | United Kingdom | 900 | — | Raed Alhelo |
4 CloudPaycloudpay.net | United Kingdom | 710 | $117.5M | Paul Bartlett |
| 5PayFitpayfit.com | France | 655 | $208.4M | Firmin Zocchetto |
6 Factorialfactorialhr.com | Spain | 353 | $20M | Jordi Romero |
7 Quinyx ABquinyx.com | Sweden | 201–500 | $103.3M | Erik Fjellborg |
8 Staffbasestaffbase.com | Germany | 201–500 | — | Martin Böhringer |
9 Poppulopoppulo.com | Ireland | 309 | $34.7M | Andrew O'Shaughnessy |
10 LumAppslumapps.com | France | 264 | $102M | Sébastien Ricard |
11 Talmundotalmundo.com | Netherlands | 250 | $2.1M | Walter Leicher |
| 12CatalystOne Solutionscatalystone.com | Norway | 221 | $5M | Avtar Jasser |
13 Perkboxperkbox.com | United Kingdom | 192 | $29.7M | Saurav Chopra |
| 14Sympasympa.com | Finland | 170 | $4.8M | Keijo Karjalainen |
15 Amityamity.co | United Kingdom | 161 | $28.7M | Korawad Chearavanont |
Showing the 15 largest of 186. Headcount is the latest known figure.
A company counts as European if it's headquartered in Europe: the EU, the EEA, Switzerland, the UK, or elsewhere in geographic Europe, never Russia or Belarus. Headquarters means where it's run from, not a registered office. Companies founded in Europe but headquartered elsewhere today are listed separately, and a non-European owner is always named.
Each company was checked against its own legal notice, pricing page and data-processing terms, and its G2 page. The order weighs how fully each one replaces the US leaders, its track record and its ratings. No company paid to be listed or ranked.
Personio (Germany) for European SMEs replacing spreadsheets and separate HR tools, Factorial (Spain) for SMEs wanting HR, time and expenses in one tool and PayFit (France) for French small businesses running their own payroll. Each is headquartered in Europe; the table compares their hosting, prices and G2 ratings.
Factorial, PayFit, Lucca, Kenjo, CatalystOne, HRworks, Humaans, Zelt, CharlieHR, Nmbrs and Employes store customer data in Europe by default. Being European doesn't make a tool GDPR compliant on its own: check its data processing agreement too.
LeadWave's database lists 186 European HR software companies, most of them in United Kingdom (58) and Germany (27). All of them, with their CEOs' contacts, are in our list of 4,000+ European SaaS companies.
PayFit runs payroll for French small businesses, Employes and Nmbrs for Dutch employers and Zelt for UK companies. SD Worx and Zucchetti handle payroll for larger employers. Personio, Factorial and Kenjo add payroll or payroll preparation to their HR tools.
Kenjo (AWS in Frankfurt), Lucca (OVH in Roubaix and Frankfurt), PayFit (AWS in France), HRworks (AWS in Dublin), Employes (AWS in Frankfurt and Ireland), Nmbrs (Azure in the EU), Humaans (Google Cloud in the EU) and CatalystOne (Azure in Sweden and Norway) say so on their own sites. CharlieHR stores data in the EEA; Zelt and Breathe host in the UK.
Yes. An employer of record legally employs your staff in a country where you have no company and runs their payroll. Boundless, run from Dublin, starts at €175 per employee a month, and WorkMotion from Berlin at €499. Deel and Oyster, two well-known providers, are US companies.
