| Functionality | 6 <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> | 7 <p>Plumm is a feature-rich HRIS with mental health at its core. It combines recruiting, payroll and more in one integrated platform, and offers some additional nifty features such as access to 1-1 therapy and coaching, and an AI mental health chatbot.</p><p>However, it falls short on some table-stake features. For instance, adding a custom field requires contacting Plumm's technical team, and the platform lacks integration with Google or Outlook Calendar to view time-off, which can be a significant limitation for many teams.</p> |
| Ease of Use | 8 <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> | 7 <p>Plumm is generally a user-friendly platform. Key information and functionality can be easily located, and Plumm guides you through more key processes e.g. setting up a performance review cycle. However, with Plumm's rich functionality, there is a learning curve that needs to be overcome by HR admins.</p> |
| Look and feel | 8 <p>CharlieHR's interface is simple and colourful, with acceptable page load times.</p> | 6 <p>Plumm features a modern and visually appealing design, complete with icons and subtle animations that enhance the user experience. However, its page load times can be slower than other HR systems, at times taking up to 3-4 seconds.</p> |
| Customisability | 3 <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> | 6 <p>Most aspects of Plumm is highly customisable.</p><p><br></p><p>While most aspects of the platform is customizable, you are unable to add custom fields to employee profiles directly from the platform; you have to contact Plumm's tech team to add custom fields for you.</p> |
| Ease of Setup | 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 (<10 minutes). Users are also able to fully customize the platform within 1-2 business days.</p> | 6 <p>Plumm does offer a free trial but gaining access requires talking to sales once. It takes 10-30mins to complete basic setup (entering company information, adding employees). Fully customizing and setting up the platform takes approximately 1 week with the help from an expert, due to its rich functionality.</p> |
| Customer Support | 8 <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> | 8 <p>Plumm's customer support is good. The AI chatbot can explain features and provide step-by-step instructions on how to execute different tasks. Plumm also provides video tutorials on how to use different features on the platform. Customer support agents are also quick to respond to email queries (<6 business hours).</p> |
| Integratability | 5 <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> | 2 <p>Plumm only offers 3 pre-built integrations: Slack, Microsoft Teams and Okta. It doesn't even integrate with Google/ Microsoft Calendar so you can view your team's time-off requests. Disappointingly, it also lacks an API for users to build custom integrations.</p> |
| Ease of Migration | 9 <p>Export of key data is available via self-serve, and a full account export is readily available on request.</p> | 5 <p>Users can export most data fields from the platform.</p> |
