Overview

Happy HR spans recruitment, onboarding, performance, safety, training, surveys and asset management, with employee records, time-off management and time tracking among its core capabilities. Free rostering and timesheet management add practical coverage for employers coordinating schedules as well as HR administration.

The maker is headquartered in Essendon West, Victoria, Australia, and was founded in 2014. Happy HR says it is trusted by thousands of Australian businesses; its pricing page states that the platform is ISO 27001 certified.

Key features

Recruitment and employee management

The free recruitment software includes job advertising, candidate matching and talent-pool management. That gives a business a way to start using Happy HR for hiring without buying a paid HR plan, though the free trial requires at least one employee and lasts 30 days. For ongoing management, the mix of records, leave, onboarding, performance and time tracking is useful to employers who want several employee processes under one roof.

Support and integrations

Plans include 15 minutes of dedicated HR support per month: enough for focused questions, but a limited allowance for employers needing regular guidance. Pro adds a dedicated qualified HR consultant, which is more appropriate for businesses wanting that ongoing connection. Integrations with accounting, rostering, ERP and other app partners can help connect HR work to adjacent business systems.

Optional payroll and learning

Payroll and learning are separate products rather than included parts of the headline HR plans. Payroll choices range from standard payroll to outsourced weekly, fortnightly or monthly processing; the Payroll + tier adds a pay-conditions engine, compliant awards, rostering and a time-and-attendance kiosk. The learning management system includes compliance courses, an AI course builder, learning pathways, skill mapping and reporting. These options broaden the platform, but their additional charges and separately quoted setup costs should be included in a budget.

Pricing

Free recruitment and paid HR plans

The free recruitment software costs $0 and includes job advertising, candidate matching and talent-pool management. Happy HR also describes a 30-day free trial with no credit card required. It is a low-commitment way to try recruitment, not a permanent free tier for the broader HR platform.

Self-guided and Pro are each priced at $12.00 USD per month, plus GST, on a 12-month subscription term, with a minimum of 10 employees. The starting price is also stated as $8 +GST per employee per month; longer 24- and 36-month terms save more. Pro carries a one-time setup fee of $1,899 +GST, covering account configuration, an HR audit, position descriptions, and manager and employee training.

Self-guided is the more economical of the two paid choices in setup terms, while Pro is the fit for businesses that value the dedicated qualified HR consultant and structured setup. Both require a 10-employee minimum and a term commitment, so they are less suitable for very small employers or anyone unwilling to commit for a year or more.

Payroll and learning add-ons

Payroll Standard is $4.00 USD per month plus GST and includes flexible payroll, employee self-service, timesheets, reporting and ATO electronic lodgements. Payroll + is $6.00 USD per month plus GST and adds the pay-conditions engine, compliant awards, rostering and time-and-attendance kiosk. Setup is quoted separately for both.

Outsourced payroll is priced by frequency: Premium weekly is $19.95 USD per month, fortnightly is $14.95 USD per month, and monthly is $9.95 USD per month, all plus GST, with setup quoted separately. The Learning Management System is $4.00 USD per month plus GST and includes compliance courses, an AI course builder, learning pathways, skill mapping, and reporting and analytics. The Course Library is also $4.00 USD per month plus GST. These extras let customers choose narrower services, but they add to the cost of the core HR subscription.

Platforms

Happy HR runs on the web and has Android and iOS mobile apps. Its cloud-based delivery suits teams that need access beyond a single office, while businesses requiring desktop or self-hosted options should look elsewhere.

Who it's for

Happy HR is a strong candidate for Australian employers that want recruitment, employee administration, rostering and timesheets in one cloud platform, and are prepared to meet the 10-employee minimum for paid plans. Pro is better suited to businesses that want dedicated HR consulting and a guided setup. Smaller teams can begin with free recruitment, but businesses that only need a lightweight knowledge base or a single HR function may find the wider platform and paid-plan commitments unnecessary.

Pros and cons

Pros: Broad employee-lifecycle coverage brings recruitment, onboarding, performance, safety, training, surveys and asset management together.
Pros: Free recruitment software and free rostering and timesheet management give employers useful starting capabilities without a paid HR plan.
Pros: Payroll and learning options, plus integrations with accounting, rostering and ERP partners, extend its reach across related work.
Cons: Paid HR plans require at least 10 employees and a 12-, 24- or 36-month term, limiting flexibility for smaller or cautious buyers.
Cons: Pro's $1,899 +GST setup fee and separately charged payroll and learning products can raise the total cost materially.
Cons: Included HR support is limited to 15 minutes per month outside Pro's dedicated consultant offering.

Alternatives

For a directory of HR Software, compare other options if Happy HR's minimum team size or term commitments do not suit. Readers looking for a HR Knowledge Base Software shortlist may prefer a narrower tool if documentation, rather than employee lifecycle management, is their priority.

Jostle is worth considering when internal communications and employee recognition matter more than a broad HR suite; its Bronze plan includes news, an activity feed, recognition, discussions, email digest and mobile apps. Choose XWiki instead if you want a free on-premises community edition and can accept community support without guarantees. KBPublisher offers a free, open-source, on-premise community edition with unlimited staff users, end users, articles and files, making it more suitable for a self-hosted knowledge base. Slite is a paid alternative with no free plan and a yearly-billed Basic plan at $10.00 USD per month. CompassDocs has a free, self-hosted community edition with unlimited users and documents under AGPL-3.0. Wiki.js is a free, AGPL-licensed self-hosted option. Blink is a paid alternative whose Core plan focuses on internal communications, real-time collaboration and a knowledge hub. Zunoy has a free forever plan for up to seven employees, a closer fit for very small teams seeking a free workforce tool.

Verdict

Choose Happy HR if your Australian business wants recruitment and broad employee-management coverage in one cloud platform, with payroll and learning available as add-ons. Its free recruitment offer lowers the barrier to starting, but the 10-employee floor, multiyear term options and Pro setup fee make the paid suite a poor fit for very small employers or buyers who need a flexible, low-cost single-purpose tool.

	Happy HR	Zealys
Free plan	Yes
Free trial	Yes
Platforms	Android, iOS, Web	Android, iOS, Web
Free plan	Yes
Paid from	$836/user/mo
Employee records	Yes	Yes
Time-off management	Yes	Yes
Employee onboarding	Yes	Yes
Performance management	Yes	Yes
Time tracking	Yes	Yes
Mobile apps	Yes	Yes

Happy HR vs Zealys

Happy HR

Zealys