Free HR Software for Small Business 2026 — Employee Management, Leave Tracking, Onboarding

Published February 27, 2026 • 8 min read

BambooHR charges $200+/month. Gusto starts at $40/month + $6/employee. Rippling at $8/employee. For a 20-person team, HR software can cost $2,000-3,000 per year before you've even processed a single leave request.

Our free HR Bot handles employee databases, leave management, onboarding checklists, and performance reviews — running entirely in your browser with zero cost and zero signup.

All HR Features Included — Free

Employee Database

Add employees with full details: name, email, department, role, start date, and status (Active, On Leave, Terminated). Search and filter your team instantly. No employee limit.

Track department distribution, see who started recently, and maintain a clean organizational record — all stored securely in your browser's localStorage.

Leave Management

Employees can submit leave requests with start/end dates and reason. Managers approve or reject with one click. The calendar view shows who's out on any given day, preventing scheduling conflicts.

The system tracks leave history so you can see patterns and ensure fair distribution of time off across teams.

Onboarding Checklists

Four pre-built onboarding tracks ensure no step gets missed:

General Track

ID badge, office tour, IT setup, benefits enrollment, policy review, emergency contacts, team introductions.

Engineering Track

Dev environment setup, repo access, code review process, CI/CD overview, architecture walkthrough, first PR.

Sales Track

CRM training, product demo certification, call shadow sessions, territory assignment, quota overview, first outreach.

Marketing Track

Brand guidelines review, content calendar access, social accounts setup, analytics training, first campaign brief.

Performance Reviews

Log structured performance reviews with ratings (1-5 scale) and detailed notes. Track each employee's review history over time. Identify top performers and those needing support.

AI Chatbot Assistant

The built-in chatbot answers HR questions instantly:

Connect to the Analytics Dashboard

The HR Bot's data automatically feeds into the Analytics Dashboard. See employee headcount, pending leave requests, and team size alongside your CRM, sales pipeline, and financial metrics — all in one unified view.

Manage Your Team for Free

Employee database. Leave tracking. Onboarding. Performance reviews. All free. All private.

Open HR Bot See All Free Tools

Frequently Asked Questions

Can employees access this themselves?

The current version is designed for HR managers and team leads. It's a single-user tool where one person manages the employee database. Self-service employee portals may be added in a future update.

Does it handle payroll?

This tool focuses on employee management, leave tracking, onboarding, and reviews. For payroll, you'll need a dedicated service. The HR Bot pairs well with the Expense Tracker for tracking payroll expenses.

Is employee data secure?

All data is stored in your browser's localStorage and never leaves your device. There's no server, no cloud storage, and no account to hack. It's the most private HR tool possible.

How many employees can it handle?

There's no artificial limit. localStorage typically supports 5-10MB of data, which is enough for hundreds of employees with full leave and review histories.

Help small businesses ditch expensive HR software!

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