KiwiHR vs Paylocity

KiwiHR and Paylocity approach HR technology from opposite ends. KiwiHR is reliable, focused, and perfect for growing companies. Paylocity is a massive, unified suite covering HR, Finance, and IT. This comparison is Simplicity vs. Scope, but reliability is the critical deciding factor.

KiwiHR
KiwiHR

Intuitive HRIS for growing teams.

Ciroapp review
4.1
#6 in Human Resources Management System

We found that this modular platform excels at simplifying core HR tasks like tracking leave and managing personnel files. Users frequently highlight the platform's intuitive interface and highly responsive support team as key strengths. Overall, we recommend it for small to mid-sized companies seeking to centralize their essential HR administration easily and efficiently.

Pros

  • Very user-friendly interface for both admins and employees.
  • Exceptional customer service that is reactive and solves issues fast.
  • Efficiently centralizes employee records and automates leave tracking.
  • Flexible, month-to-month subscription options are available.

Cons

  • Low 3.0 aggregate TrustScore suggests underlying issues not captured in positive feedback.
  • Specific advanced reporting functions, like combined yearly leave reports for tax purposes, were requested by users.
Pricing
$1/mo
Free trialYes
Money-back
Best for
Small to mid-sized teams (up to 250 employees) needing reliable Core HR., Companies prioritizing ease of use and rapid implementation., Organizations needing strong ATS functionality with AI recruitment tools.
Paylocity
Paylocity

Strong Platform, Severely Lacking Support.

Ciroapp review
2.1
#9 in Human Resources Management System

Paylocity offers a highly comprehensive platform uniting HR, Finance, and IT capabilities, which is flexible and modular for various business needs. We noted the powerful feature set, but external feedback consistently highlights serious execution failures in critical areas like customer service and implementation quality. Overall, we recommend approaching Paylocity cautiously due to significant, recurring issues with tax accuracy and client support responsiveness.

Pros

  • Unified platform covering core HR, Finance, and IT management functions.
  • Flexible, modular pricing allows businesses to select only necessary solutions.
  • Comprehensive features including global payroll support and integrated expense management.
  • Supports 24/7 access through a dedicated employee self-service mobile application.

Cons

  • Critically poor and highly non-responsive customer service and support teams.
  • Implementation and onboarding processes are reportedly slow, complicated, and tedious.
  • Frequent reports of high error rates in quarterly payroll and state tax filings (up to 30%).
  • Lack of consistent, properly trained, or dedicated account representatives.
Pricing
Not explicitly stated
Free trial
Money-back
Best for
Enterprise organizations needing a unified HR, Finance, and IT solution., Businesses highly focused on advanced corporate spend management and AP automation., Companies that require extensive developer APIs for complex system integration.
Quick verdict
Choose KiwiHR if you run a small-to-midsize business and need straightforward Core HR functions and reliable employee self-service.
Choose Paylocity if your organization requires a single, unified platform spanning HR, Finance, and IT management functions.

AboutKiwiHR

This powerful modular solution covers the entire employee journey in one centralized system. It is a simple Core HR solution built right alongside built-in performance management capabilities. You can start with the modules you truly need and easily add components as your team grows. This helps you unify recruitment, essential HR management, and talent development in one cohesive location. ✅

AboutPaylocity

Paylocity is designed as the ultimate platform for today's workforce. It unifies essential business functions—HR, Finance, and IT—to empower your internal teams. The flexible solutions enable smarter decisions, fuel growth, and inspire confident leadership. Paylocity proudly supports businesses across the board, from small teams (1-99 employees) up through midsize and large enterprises (500+). Paylocity helps transform your workforce and ensures employees access everything daily, often right within the dedicated app. 💡

Highlights

Quick winners by category at a glance.
Ease of Use
Users consistently praise KiwiHR’s simple, intuitive administrator and employee experience. It focuses on reducing HR complexity.
Feature Set
Paylocity offers dramatically deeper functionality, spanning dedicated Financial Management and IT Solutions modules.
Value for Money
KiwiHR provides public, modular pricing and positive feedback on excellent core value for SMEs needing reliable HR.
Customer Support
KiwiHR support is highly praised as reactive and quick to solve issues; Paylocity users report zero support access.
Integration Options
Paylocity offers robust APIs and developer tools for deep syncing across complex, enterprise-level systems.
Scalability
Paylocity is built for enterprise complexity, offering IT asset management and advanced controls necessary for 500+ staff.

Feature Comparison

Compare key features side by side
Core Focus
KiwiHR:HR, ATS, Performance
Paylocity:HR, Finance, IT
Tie
Target Company Size
KiwiHR:Small to Mid-Sized
Paylocity:1 to 500+ (Enterprise Capable)
Tie
Public Pricing
KiwiHR:Yes (€83 – €1,374/month base)
Paylocity:No (Custom Quote Only)
KiwiHR
Free Trial Available
KiwiHR:
Paylocity:
KiwiHR
Unified HR, Finance, IT Platform
KiwiHR:
Paylocity:
Paylocity
Automated Expense Management
KiwiHR:Yes (Basic tracking)
Paylocity:Yes (AI-powered, Corporate Cards)
Tie
Accounts Payable Automation
KiwiHR:No
Paylocity:Yes (Touchless invoice processing)
Paylocity
Asset Management (IT Devices)
KiwiHR:No
Paylocity:Yes (Track devices, CDW integration)
Paylocity
Custom API/Developer Access
KiwiHR:Yes (In high tiers)
Paylocity:Yes (Robust APIs available)
Tie
Whistleblowing Functionality
KiwiHR:
Paylocity:
KiwiHR
AI Integration
KiwiHR:Emails, feedback writing, fairness tools
Paylocity:Expense reports, automation, forecasting
Tie
Dedicated Onboarding Support
KiwiHR:Yes (In highest tier)
Paylocity:Yes (Customized implementation)
Tie
Global Payroll Support
KiwiHR:Localized support, 100+ countries
Paylocity:Global support, 100+ countries
Tie
Personnel Files Centralization
KiwiHR:
Paylocity:
Tie
360° Employee Feedback
KiwiHR:
Paylocity:
Tie
SSO Support
KiwiHR:
Paylocity:
Tie
Feature Comparison Summary
3
KiwiHR
10
Ties
3
Paylocity

Features Overview

We highlight the main differences and pick a winner for each feature.

Scope & Breadth

Paylocity is a unified HR, Finance, and IT enterprise suite. KiwiHR focuses smartly on Core HR functions and reliability.

Paylocity

KiwiHR maintains a modular system covering HRIS, ATS, and Performance Management. This keeps the user experience focused and easier to navigate. Paylocity's scope is massive, integrating Payroll, Finance solutions, and even deep IT management tools. This unification is ideal for large, multi-departmental companies. Paylocity is a true enterprise suite spanning multiple departments and functions. KiwiHR is a focused, high-quality People Decision Platform for growing teams. If you only need great HR, the additional complexity of Paylocity might be unnecessary overhead.

Pricing Transparency

KiwiHR publishes clear pricing publicly for easy budgeting. Paylocity forces all potential customers into a custom quote process.

KiwiHR

KiwiHR clearly publishes starting base prices from €83/month to €1,374/month. They use transparent, published pricing that reliably scales by employee headcount. Paylocity utilizes a strictly custom quote-based model for all solutions. You must speak with their sales team to even estimate your potential subscription cost. KiwiHR allows easy budget planning and offers an 18-day free trial. Paylocity requires deep commitment to sales just to learn the price. This transparency makes KiwiHR instantly more attractive for budget-conscious small and midsize businesses.

Ease of Use / UX

KiwiHR is highly praised for being intuitive and simple for everyone. Paylocity's complexity results in a steep, often frustrating learning curve.

KiwiHR

Users describe KiwiHR as exceptionally easy to use for both administrators and employees alike. It successfully minimizes manual administrative burden. Paylocity, despite its modern look, is reported to have significant glitches and system timeouts. This complexity causes lost work, especially in timesheet entry. KiwiHR’s focus on Core HR functions translates to higher efficiency and user satisfaction. Paylocity's massive depth introduces unavoidable operational friction. For high employee adoption and lower training time, KiwiHR is the clear choice for a smoother experience.

Core Payroll Reliability

KiwiHR successfully handles payroll support and data preparation reliably. Paylocity has widespread reports of inconsistent and late direct deposits.

KiwiHR

KiwiHR provides robust HR reports and centralized data necessary for smooth external payroll processing. The system accurately manages time, attendance, and expense data. Paylocity users report severe, critically timed failures with core payroll execution. Direct deposits are often late or inconsistent, causing employee financial strain. Reliability in fundamental HR tasks is one of KiwiHR’s strongest points. Paylocity's fundamental user-reported execution issues are critical dealbreakers. Critical failures on pay timing mean Paylocity cannot be relied upon easily for this essential function.

Financial Management Depth

Paylocity offers revolutionary financial tools beyond HR, like AP automation. KiwiHR only provides basic expense management and payroll data support.

Paylocity

KiwiHR’s Core HRIS Manage module includes basic tools limited to employee expense tracking. It focuses on gathering data needed for payroll processing. Paylocity transforms spend management with corporate cards and Guided Procurement features. They also offer touchless invoice processing for Accounts Payable automation. Paylocity covers true finance and accounting functions deeply across the organization. KiwiHR handles only necessary employee-side HR financial transactions. If you need a unified system to manage corporate cards and procurement, Paylocity provides massive functional depth.

Customer Support Quality

KiwiHR receives high praise for its responsive, human customer support. Paylocity is widely criticized for having virtually non-existent support access.

KiwiHR

KiwiHR users consistently praise the support team as reactive, helpful, and fast at solving issues. You receive live chat and localized support. Paylocity reviewers frequently state that no human support is available to call when needed. They cite long wait times and high account manager turnover as major issues. KiwiHR clearly excels at providing proactive, helpful partnership to its users. Paylocity's alleged support failures actively undermine its extensive feature set. Effective support is vital for HR tools, giving KiwiHR a huge advantage in daily operations management.

Scalability (SME vs Enterprise)

KiwiHR scales well up to mid-market size, while Paylocity is explicitly built for complex enterprise multi-department needs.

Paylocity

KiwiHR is modular and ideal for growing businesses scaling from 50 to a few hundred employees. It offers flexibility and value for money in the SME space. Paylocity is designed for Enterprise organizations (500+ employees) that need vast scale and control. It offers secure SSO and IT asset management. KiwiHR focuses on scaling HR processes efficiently and simply for SMEs. Paylocity caters to large organizational complexity across multiple departments. If your company has over 500 staff needing unified IT and Finance integration, Paylocity has the architecture.

Our Verdict

Objective guidance based on features, pricing, and user fit.

This comparison is a clear win for reliability; KiwiHR excels at execution, but Paylocity provides superior scope. If you run a growing business, pick KiwiHR immediately for far less operational stress. Its modular system and clear €83/month starting price make budgeting simple. KiwiHR’s superpower is making Core HR administration pain-free and manageable. It centralizes employee records and automates leave tracking with dependable accuracy. Its support team is highly rated, ensuring quick resolution if you hit any bumps. KiwiHR is the safe, dependable choice for teams wanting to move away from messy spreadsheets. Paylocity's superpower is its massive, unified platform linking HR, Finance, and IT systems. It offers deep Financial Management, including corporate cards and Accounts Payable automation. For a large enterprise focusing on centralized spend management, Paylocity has unparalleled feature depth. The deciding factor is non-negotiable payroll reliability and support access. Paylocity’s widespread complaints about glitchy systems and late direct deposits are unacceptable. Choose KiwiHR if you value dependability and responsive support for your employees above all else. Pick KiwiHR for peace of mind, ease of use, and expert support for teams under 500. Choose Paylocity only if your enterprise strictly requires the unified HR/Finance/IT scope, acknowledging significant operational risks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better for small teams: KiwiHR or Paylocity?

KiwiHR is better for small teams and growing SMEs due to its simplicity and transparency. It offers modular plans that perfectly fit Core HR needs. Paylocity's custom quoting and vast scope are often unnecessary for smaller organizations.

Is Paylocity worth the extra cost over KiwiHR’s transparent pricing?

Paylocity is worth the cost only if you absolutely need its advanced unified features in Finance and IT management. KiwiHR provides much better core HR value for SMEs. KiwiHR also offers clear public pricing while Paylocity requires a custom quote.

Does KiwiHR have IT Asset Management like Paylocity?

No, KiwiHR is focused strictly on HR, ATS, and Performance modules. Paylocity includes dedicated IT solutions for tracking employee devices and managing secure access control. KiwiHR excels in workforce management, not device management.

Which has better customer support: KiwiHR or Paylocity?

KiwiHR has significantly better support, rated highly for being fast, reactive, and localized. Users widely criticize Paylocity for non-existent support and high account manager turnover, making KiwiHR the clear winner.

Is core payroll processing reliable with Paylocity?

Reviews suggest Paylocity struggles significantly with core payroll reliability and execution. Many reports detail inconsistent and late employee direct transfers. KiwiHR is reported to handle essential payroll administrative support accurately.

Can KiwiHR handle both HR and recruiting tasks?

Yes, KiwiHR offers integrated, modular solutions for Core HRIS Manage and Applicant Tracking System (ATS). You can manage the entire employee journey from application through performance reviews seamlessly in one interface.

Ready to Choose?

Both tools have their strengths. Choose based on your specific needs.