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CharlieHR vs HiBob - Comparison 2025

CharlieHR vs. HiBob

Last updated on

Reviewed by Steph Leung

Stackfix Product & Operations Lead

SL

HiBob and CharlieHR serve distinctly different market segments within the HRIS space. HiBob is clearly positioned for larger teams (35+ employees) requiring sophisticated HR automation, comprehensive performance management, and deep customization options. Its standout features include native UK payroll, advanced engagement tools, and powerful workflow automation.

CharlieHR, conversely, is better suited to smaller UK teams seeking a simpler HRIS with basic functionality and valuable HR advisory services. While CharlieHR is more affordable and easier to use, HiBob's superior functionality and customization capabilities make it the stronger choice for growing organizations with complex HR needs.

CharlieHR Product Logo

Advantages of CharlieHR

CharlieHR has superior customer support
We appreciate CharlieHR's immediate responses from live human agents during UK business hours, which is a significant advantage over HiBob's more standard ticket-based support system. This is particularly important for teams that need quick resolution to HR-related issues.
CharlieHR is significantly better at providing HR advice
CharlieHR offers direct access to HR professionals for advice on policies and procedures, while HiBob does not provide this service. This is particularly valuable for smaller companies without in-house HR expertise who need guidance on implementing policies or handling sensitive situations.
HiBob Product Logo

Advantages of HiBob

HiBob has richer Functionality

Unlike CharlieHR, HiBob offers advanced features like Compensation Management, Payroll Hub, Headcount Planning, and a dedicated Whistleblowing feature, making it a better fit for medium-sized teams.

HiBob has a much Richer Integrations Ecosystem

While CharlieHR only offers 11 pre-built integrations, HiBob supports a rich ecosystem of pre-built integrations with most relevant third party tools across performance management, payroll, recruiting, etc

HiBob is significantly more powerful at employee engagement
HiBob's engagement functionality is notably superior to CharlieHR, offering a comprehensive social media-like homepage for announcements, celebrations, and shoutouts, plus highly customizable engagement surveys with eNPS capabilities. While CharlieHR only offers basic 5-point scale or open text surveys, HiBob allows for complex survey logic and targeted distribution, making it particularly valuable for larger organizations needing sophisticated employee feedback mechanisms.
HiBob offers far more sophisticated performance management
HiBob's performance management system is substantially more advanced than CharlieHR's basic offering. It includes custom review types, question logic, matrix questions, and flexible group targeting. Unlike CharlieHR's limited open-answer format, HiBob enables comprehensive performance analytics and automated calculations, essential for larger teams requiring detailed performance insights.
HiBob provides superior workflow automation capabilities
HiBob's workflow automation is significantly more sophisticated than CharlieHR's basic notification system. While CharlieHR only offers simple task notifications, HiBob enables complex automation with conditional triggers, automated emails, calendar events, and third-party application actions. This makes it particularly valuable for larger organizations needing to streamline complex HR processes.
HiBob offers native UK payroll functionality
HiBob provides full end-to-end UK payroll functionality, including automatic calculations for pro-rata, overtime, National Insurance, and HMRC. In contrast, CharlieHR only offers payroll through third-party integrations, making HiBob a more comprehensive solution for UK-based companies needing integrated payroll management.

CharlieHR is best for

  • Businesses with 10-25 employees based in the UK
  • Who need core HR functionality like employee information storage, time-off management, and basic performance reviews
  • And values from 1:1 HR advice, particularly if they lack an in-house expert in HR matters.

HiBob is best for

  • Medium to large-sized teams (>35 employees) who need very rich functionality
  • Including Payroll (UK-only) and Applicant Tracking System
  • And/ or who needs a highly customisable HRIS to support complex workflows

CharlieHR is less good for

  • Businesses based outside of the UK looking for a highly customisable HRIS
  • Who need advanced HR features like compensation reviews, expense management, or learning & development tools
  • And/ or who doesn't need to access HR advice

HiBob is less good for

  • Businesses with small teams (<35 employees) based outside the UK
  • Who need direct hardware and software management functionality
  • And/or who need integrated compliance management and HR advisory services

Gallery

CharlieHR logoCharlieHR
CharlieHR screenshot
HiBob logoHiBob
HiBob screenshot

Pricing, features & ratings

CharlieHR logo

CharlieHR

Starting at

$6.72

Converted from GBP

Billed monthly

Pricing calculatorVisit Website
Stackfix Verdict
Functionality
6

Functionality

6/10

<p>CharlieHR offers some of the functionality most SMBs will need. It offers core HR functionality (e.g. store employee info, manage time-off), very basic performance management and survey functionality, and a native applicant tracking system for recruitment.</p><p>It lacks relatively advanced features such as payroll, benefits management, time tracking and compensation reviews.</p>
9

Functionality

9/10

<p>HiBob offers all the functionality most SMBs will need.</p><p>Besides core HR features like storing employee information and managing time off, HiBob also allows you to recruit applicants via a native ATS, run payroll for UK employees, set goals/ OKRs, run performance and compensation reviews and more.</p><p>The only functionality we find missing is the ability to manage employees' hardware and software access.</p>
Ease of Use
8

Ease of Use

8/10

<p>CharlieHR is generally straightforward to navigate, and it will only take a few hours for an average SMB employee to master the key functionalities of the platform.</p><p>However, note that there are a few UX quirks. For example, you're unable to add a custom data field across all employees - you'll have to do this individually in each employee's profile.</p>
6

Ease of Use

6/10

<p>Due to HiBob's extensive customisability, it will take significant time for teams to set up the platform and up skill themselves. Besides that, HiBob is a straightforward platform that is generally easy to navigate and use.</p>
Look and feel
8

Look and feel

8/10

<p>CharlieHR's interface is simple and colourful, with acceptable page load times.</p>
6

Look and feel

6/10

<p>HiBob has a colourful, vibrant layout that is visually acceptable with fast page loading times.</p>
Customisability
3

Customisability

3/10

<p>We find that CharlieHR lacks some common customisability options offered by most HRIS's. For example, you're only able to ask one type of question for employee surveys, you're unable to include upward feedback for performance reviews or set them for specific employee groups only - the list goes on.</p>
9

Customisability

9/10

<p>Many aspects of HiBob is highly customisable, which is helpful for larger teams with complex workflows/ structures.</p><p>You are able to customise data fields, employee groups, set up complex approval chains and even highly customised leave policies that allow you to adjust the decimal places an individual's time-off balance should be rounded off to.</p>
Ease of Setup
10

Ease of Setup

10/10

<p>CharlieHR offers a self-serve free trial without needing to talk to sales. It also takes a short time to complete basic setup (&lt;10 minutes). Users are also able to fully customize the platform within 1-2 business days.</p>
3

Ease of Setup

3/10

<p>HiBob does not offer a free trial and requires speaking to sales before purchasing. Fully customizing and setting up the platform takes &gt;1week and will likely need assistance from an expert.</p>
Customer Support
8

Customer Support

8/10

<p>CharlieHR offers in-app support with live human agents during UK business hours. Our testers usually get a response immediately, and have found the team to be friendly and helpful.</p>
6

Customer Support

6/10

<p>HiBob allows you to contact support by creating a support ticket in-app. Users we've interview mention that support (in-app and via their customer success manager) is of decent quality.</p>
Integratability
5

Integratability

5/10

<p>CharlieHR only offers a handful of pre-built integrations with the most relevant third party software, such as Slack, Xero and Pento for payroll. It also has an API for custom integrations.</p>
8

Integratability

8/10

<p>HiBob has 110+ pre-built integrations with most relevant products across most categories, such as ATS, payroll and accounting. However, it is yet to add integrations with newer leading providers, such as Lattice for Performance Management, and Ben and Goody for Benefits management. It does offer an API for custom integrations.</p>
Ease of Migration
9

Ease of Migration

9/10

<p>Export of key data is available via self-serve, and a full account export is readily available on request.</p>
8

Ease of Migration

8/10

<p><span style="color: rgb(9, 9, 11);">HiBob allows users to export key data data via self-serve. Export of most other data are also available via API or on request.</span></p>
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