Best Employee Onboarding Software in 2026
Because Day 1 shouldn't involve hunting for login credentials for three hours
By Toolradar Editorial Team · Updated
For SMBs, BambooHR offers the best balance of usability and features. Rippling wins if you want IT provisioning and HR in one platform. Enterprise? Workday is the standard but requires significant investment. Sapling is a great mid-market option with strong customization.
Good onboarding software makes new hires feel expected. Bad onboarding software—or no software—makes them feel like an afterthought. It's often their first real impression of how your company operates.
Most HR platforms now include onboarding as a feature, which raises the question: do you need a dedicated tool or just better use of what you have? The answer depends on your hiring volume and how much of onboarding happens outside HR.
What It Is
Employee onboarding software automates and organizes everything that needs to happen when someone joins: document collection, task assignments for IT and facilities, training schedules, introductions, and the inevitable forms.
Better tools extend beyond HR paperwork to coordinate the full experience: manager check-ins, buddy programs, equipment provisioning, and measuring how onboarding is actually going.
Why It Matters
Employees who have positive onboarding experiences are 69% more likely to stay three years. First impressions matter, and the chaos of hunting for basics—email setup, benefit enrollment, team introductions—creates unnecessary stress.
From an operational standpoint, manual onboarding doesn't scale. When you're hiring 50+ people a year, you can't rely on managers remembering every step. Consistency and automation reduce dropped balls.
Key Features to Look For
E-signatures for offer letters, tax forms, and policies. Eliminate paper and track completion.
Assign tasks to HR, IT, managers, and new hires. Automated reminders keep things on track.
Connect with your identity provider and IT systems to auto-create accounts and assign equipment.
A personalized new hire portal with everything they need—who they're meeting, what to read, where to go.
Guides and prompts for managers to run effective first weeks. Most onboarding failures are manager failures.
Track completion rates, time-to-productivity, and new hire sentiment. Measure to improve.
What to Consider
Evaluation Checklist
Pricing Overview
BambooHR Core/Pro — small companies, 25-200 employees
Rippling or Sapling — growing companies needing HR + IT automation
Workday or SAP SuccessFactors — complex orgs with global compliance
Top Picks
Based on features, user feedback, and value for money.
Small to mid-sized companies (25-500 employees) wanting an all-in-one HR solution
Tech companies wanting seamless HR-to-IT automation for onboarding
Mid-market companies (200-2,000 employees) with complex, multi-department onboarding
Large enterprises (1,000+ employees) already on or considering Workday HCM
Mistakes to Avoid
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Focusing only on Day 1 — research shows onboarding should extend through the first 90 days minimum. Companies with 90-day programs see 62% higher new-hire productivity
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Treating onboarding as an HR-only process — HR handles paperwork, but IT sets up accounts, managers set expectations, and teams build relationships. All need task assignments
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One-size-fits-all workflows — a sales rep needs CRM training and quota ramp-up; an engineer needs codebase access and architecture reviews. Build role-specific paths
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Skipping preboarding entirely — the 2-4 weeks between offer acceptance and start date is prime time for paperwork, welcome content, and reducing Day 1 anxiety
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Measuring completion instead of effectiveness — 100% form completion doesn't mean the hire is productive. Track time-to-productivity and 90-day retention instead
Expert Tips
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Send a manager welcome note before Day 1 — a personal message from their direct manager reduces new hire anxiety more than any corporate welcome video
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Assign an onboarding buddy separate from their manager — peers answer the questions people are too nervous to ask their boss ('where do people actually eat lunch?')
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Front-load relationship building — schedule 15-minute 'meet the team' one-on-ones in the first two weeks. New hires who build 5+ relationships in week 1 are 2.5x more likely to feel engaged
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Build in milestone check-ins — Day 7 (settling in), Day 30 (first wins), Day 60 (deeper contribution), Day 90 (full ramp). Structured feedback prevents silent struggles
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Survey new hires at Day 7 and Day 30 while the experience is fresh — waiting until exit interviews means the feedback comes too late to help
Red Flags to Watch For
- !No preboarding capability — if new hires can't complete paperwork before Day 1, you're wasting their first day on admin
- !No IT provisioning integration — if HR and IT systems don't talk, accounts and equipment fall through the cracks every time
- !Onboarding workflows can't be customized by role/department — a one-size-fits-all onboarding frustrates both sales reps and engineers
- !No manager task assignments — onboarding fails when managers don't have structured guidance for the first 90 days
The Bottom Line
BambooHR (~$10-22/employee/month) is the best choice for SMBs wanting intuitive HR + onboarding. Rippling (from $8/user/month base) is unmatched for IT-heavy onboarding where automatic account provisioning matters. Workday ($100+/employee/year) is the enterprise standard but requires significant implementation investment. The tool only works if the process works — design the 90-day experience first, then automate it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need dedicated onboarding software or does my HRIS include it?
Most modern HRIS platforms include basic onboarding. Dedicated tools offer deeper workflows, better customization, and stronger multi-department coordination. If you're hiring frequently and onboarding is complex, dedicated tools earn their keep.
How early should preboarding start?
Start as soon as the offer is signed. Send welcome materials, collect paperwork, and share what to expect. The goal is eliminating anxiety and administrative burden from their first day.
How do I measure onboarding effectiveness?
Combine completion metrics (tasks done, time to complete) with sentiment (new hire surveys) and outcomes (time to productivity, 90-day retention). No single metric tells the whole story.
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