Factorial HR vs HourSquare: which fits your team?
Factorial HR is a modular HR, finance, and IT platform with a published starting price of USD 8 per user per month, a self-serve trial, and a stated fit of 11 to 500+ employees. HourSquare is a self-serve HR platform that is free for now with every module, and runs payroll with tax packs for 24+ countries. Short version: a team that wants corporate cards, device management, and expenses beyond receipt claims alongside HR, or that hires and reviews performance in the same tool, is better served by Factorial. A team that wants HR without stacked modules is better served by HourSquare. The facts are below.
Who this is for: Teams that only need HR and would rather not pay for each module.
- Pricing
- Free for now, every module included
- Free tier
- Free for now, every module, no card to sign up, no trial expiry
- Team size
- Any size, from 1 employee up
- How you buy
- Self-serve signup
- Hosting
- EU-hosted
- Pricing
- USD 8 per user/month (starting price)
- Free tier
- Trial only
- Team size
- 11–500+ employees
- How you buy
- Self-serve signup
- Hosting
- Not published
Vendor facts as published on 2026-09-05. (source)
Choose HourSquare if…
You want every module without a trial that expires. You only need HR, time, and payroll, and want one price rather than stacked modules. You want published payroll coverage (tax packs for 24+ countries) rather than coverage confirmed through reviews. You need to state where your data is hosted, and EU is the answer you want.
Choose Factorial HR if…
You hire regularly and want an ATS and performance goals in the same platform. You want corporate cards, device management, and expenses beyond receipt claims alongside HR. You need a native mobile app or a broad API today. Your payroll country is one Factorial processes natively and you want it from the same vendor. The quoted Factorial plan with your modules fits your budget.
Southern-European and LATAM SMBs that want a self-serve, modular HR platform with local payroll options.
Side by side
Every Factorial HR cell links to the page it was read from. HourSquare cells describe what ships today — nothing on our roadmap counts.
Pricing & buying
People & records
Time off & time
Payroll
Engagement & insight
Access & security
Platform
Vendor facts for Factorial HR were checked on 2026-09-05. If something has changed, email support@hoursquare.com and we will fix it within a day.
About Factorial HR
Barcelona-based modular HR, finance, and IT platform for SMBs with a published entry price and self-serve trial.
Where Factorial HR is genuinely strong
Self-serve signup and trial without card details. Published starting price (USD 8/user/month). Native whistleblowing channel and shift management included as modules. Broad scope beyond HR: expenses, corporate cards, IT inventory, device management. SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001:2022, and ENS High certifications with audit logging.
Where it tends to fall short for our typical buyer
Only a starting price is public; real plans are tailored quotes with modules stacked on top. Payroll country coverage is not clearly published; verification relied on third-party reviews. Data hosting region is not stated on the trust page. Modular pricing can grow quickly as Time, Talent, Finance, and IT modules are added. Product breadth (finance, IT) may exceed what a small HR-only team needs.
Public reviews: G2 4.4/5 (150) (source)
Pricing reality
Factorial publishes a starting price of USD 8 per user per month; full plans are quoted, and Time, Talent, Finance, and IT modules are stacked on top of the core. Its stated fit begins at 11 employees. Third-party reviews describe a 14-day trial without card details, though the vendor pricing page does not state it. HourSquare is free for now with every module included. There is no trial to expire, no minimum seat count, and no annual commitment.
Where Factorial is stronger
- Talent acquisition and performance: an ATS plus goals and OKRs in the Talent module. HourSquare has neither; onboarding starts at the signed contract.
- Scope beyond HR: expenses, corporate cards, IT inventory, and device management. HourSquare covers HR, time, and payroll, plus an Expenses module the company owner switches on: receipt claims with approval, marked paid by finance outside payroll, with no mileage, per diem, or cards.
- Native iOS and Android apps, an integration marketplace, and an API. HourSquare is a responsive web app with a phone layout and no native app, and its public API covers time clocks, employees and time entries.
- Certifications published on a trust center: SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001:2022, and ENS High.
- Self-serve signup with a trial, so you can evaluate it without a sales call, the same way you can with HourSquare.
Where HourSquare is stronger for a self-serve team
- Price: free for now with every module, where Factorial starts at USD 8 per user and positions itself from 11 employees.
- One bundle for all of HR, with no module stacking. Factorial quotes Time, Talent, Finance, and IT separately on top of the core.
- Payroll coverage is published: pay runs, payslips, and payment and accountant exports with tax packs for 24+ countries. Factorial does not clearly publish its payroll country list; third-party reviews cite Spain, Germany, France, the UK, Mexico, and Brazil.
- Hosting is stated: EU. Factorial names AWS and Azure but not the region.
- Setup is self-serve, with no trial clock running.
Migrating from Factorial
Factorial has HR reports and analytics and an API, so a CSV export of your employee directory and time-off data is a reasonable expectation; confirm the exact exports in your account before you cancel. Bring the export to HourSquare and set up people, departments, and leave policies from it. If you ever leave HourSquare, the reports hub and the employee list export CSV and XLSX, and each person's data can be exported or erased from the product.
How to decide
- Count your people. HourSquare is free for now. Factorial positions itself from 11 employees.
- Write down the modules you will use this year. If the list includes recruiting, performance, corporate cards, or device management, Factorial covers them and HourSquare does not. For expenses, HourSquare handles receipt claims, approval, and an Excel export; payment happens outside HourSquare.
- Ask Factorial for the full quote with your modules, and compare it with HourSquare, which is free for now.
- Check payroll. If your country is one Factorial processes, both work; if not, HourSquare publishes its coverage.
- If hosting region matters to you, note that HourSquare states EU and Factorial does not state a region.
Frequently asked
Is Factorial HR pricing published?
Where is Factorial data hosted, and is it GDPR compliant?
How do I switch from Factorial to HourSquare?
Do both have a whistleblowing channel and an audit log?
Other comparisons
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