5 Best Employee Benefits Administration Software for Small Businesses in 2021

If you are like some small businesses, you may not have a dedicated human resources (HR) department. So putting together employee benefits plans that will attract high-quality employees likely falls on your shoulders. But finding benefits administration software to fit your unique needs can be a challenge. To help save you time, we’ve done the research for you and provided our picks for the best employee benefits administration software.

Benefit administration software is commonly used by HR departments, allowing HR managers to administer employee benefits packages. Organizations can identify the best benefit options that provide the most value to employees and reduce costs overall while using such software.

Gusto is our choice for best benefits management software for small businesses. With the Gusto platform, you’ll get full-service payroll, benefits administration, workers comp, an employee self-service portal, and unlimited support via phone, email, and chat. Using the online portal, employees can enroll, add dependents, and ask questions about their plans. And with benefits in sync with your payroll, paycheck deductions are automatic.

Namely is an all-in-one human resources platform and our choice for best benefits software for small businesses with a minimum of 50 employees. It offers a complete HR solution, which includes payroll, time-tracking features, onboarding, and performance management.

With the benefit administrative system, you can offer your employees a broad range of benefits, including life, disability, and accident insurance; medical and dental insurance; 401(k) plans; wellness programs; HSA and FSA accounts; and more. Plus, benefits are ACA and COBRA compliant.

Namely doesn’t publish pricing on its website, so we reached out to the company for a price quote. A rep responded that due to the complexity of the product, specific details are needed to provide a customized quote. We recommend contacting the company directly to get an accurate quote for your business.

BambooHR, an online human resources information system (HRIS), is our choice for small businesses that need a powerful benefit tracking tool. Its software enables you to track benefit plans based on 12 different benefit types for employee groups. You can also track historical information, including enrollment, coverage, and cost, for ACA reporting.

BambooHR doesn’t publish pricing on its website, so we reached out to the company for a quote. BambooHR explained that its pricing is tailored to the needs of the client and didn’t share any exact pricing information. BambooHR offers employee recognition programs, learning and development, and performance management as add-ons.

ClearCompany is our choice for small-business owners who are looking for a talent management platform. It offers a full suite of services, including applicant tracking, recruiting and onboarding, performance and goal management, and benefits administration.

The ClearCompany platform supports small businesses with a minimum of 100 employees. With the self-service portal, employees can easily enroll and manage their benefits, make changes to their family status, and access a variety of educational tools. With this software, you can provide your employees with medical, life, and disability insurance; wellness management; and HSA and FSA options.

Pricing isn’t listed on ClearCompany’s website, but you can request a quote by filling out a form. To give you an idea of what the general costs are, we contacted the company and learned that the full platform of services is a minimum of $12,000 for 100 employees. It is important to note that ClearCompany won’t provide benefits administration as a stand-alone service—you must invest in its full platform of services.

For small businesses with a few employees, we favor Zenefits. The Essentials plan starts at $8 per month per employee and includes a core HR program, complete with hiring, onboarding, and employee documents. To get compensation and performance management, you’ll want the Growth plan, which costs $14 per month per employee, or try the Zen plan for $21 per month per employee if you’d like built-in well-being assessments.

If you work with a Zenefits broker, benefits administration is included free in the monthly base price for all of the above plans. If you’d rather use your own broker, you can add benefits administration to any plan for $5 per month per employee.

Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) is an HR platform with workforce planning, recruiting, and talent management capabilities. With its employee benefits system, you can create a package for your employees that includes medical insurance, dental insurance, FSAs and HSAs, life insurance, retirement plans, and more. But to get pricing information, you’ll have to contact its sales department and request a quote.

ADP Workforce Now is an HR software application designed for midsize businesses. It offers payroll, talent management, time and attendance tracking, and employee benefits management—all in one platform. Small-business owners with existing systems, such as Xero, QuickBooks, and Concur, can integrate with ADP Workforce Now. You can offer your employees health plans, FSA accounts, 401(k) plans, commuter benefits, and more. Request a demo and price quote on its site.

Depending on your needs, there are a variety of useful features for benefits administration software. For example, employee self-service portals lets employees easily enroll in a plan, access their benefits, get answers to questions, and update personal information.

But how important are employee benefits plans to plan participants? Well, in an Aflac report, small-business employees say that a benefits package directly affects their happiness and satisfaction. In the survey of more than 300 employees, 88% say a good benefits package contributes to their overall job satisfaction.³

Not yet sold on the value of a benefits package? Here’s another statistic that packs a bit of a punch. According to the same survey, 48% of small-business employees say they would possibly consider a lower paying job with better benefits.⁴

Benefits administration software can help you provide a great benefits package for your employees. We think Gusto is the best choice for most small businesses, but depending on your requirements, you may find that another company will more closely fit your needs.

If you’d like to learn more about the importance of offering benefits, read “Top 5 Reasons to Offer Employee Benefits.”

Disclaimer

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.