DutyDuke vs Sense HR

DutyDuke is a free, open-source HR management platform for small and mid-sized companies. It runs on the web or through self-hosting. Employee profiles can contain skills, education, employment history, documents, equipment, benefits, feedback, salary history, and absence records. Leave tools handle requests, approvals, calendar views, and iCal export. Company documents support version and deadline tracking, while equipment records cover inventory and assignments. Additional functions include benefit plans, performance feedback sessions, and PDF exports of employee profiles as CVs. Employees have self-service access, with role-based permissions and API access. Email notifications use configurable SMTP, including production setups pointing to Amazon SES, SendGrid, or Mailgun. Documentation describes field-level encryption, JWT authentication, and role-based access control. Self-registration is unavailable: the initial owner account must be created with a command-line script.

Sense HR combines HR administration, recruitment, and time tracking for entire workforces, including staff without desks or company laptops. Core tools cover employee records, documents and e-signatures, holidays and absence, and onboarding, alongside more than 100 workflows and automations. Its applicant-tracking system supports vacancy publishing, application tracking, candidate screening and ranking, shortlists, and hiring. Staff can clock in through the mobile app, Sense Clock hardware, or biometric methods, while managers check timesheets before payroll. The iOS and Android employee app is included on every plan and supports clock-in, leave requests, payslips, onboarding, and document signing. Sense HR lists more than 50 connectors, three native payroll integrations, and an open API with webhooks; named connections include Sage Payroll, Xero, Brightpay, Microsoft 365, Slack, Google Calendar, Microsoft Teams, and Hireful. The maker says it holds ISO 27001:2022 certification, hosts live data in Microsoft Azure UK South, and keeps geo-redundant UK backups. Pricing starts at £2/user/mo, with a 14-day trial requiring no card.