Buk vs Factorial (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Buk grades higher than Factorial: 2.6 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Buk grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Factorial grades higher on features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Factorial
HR, time, shifts, expenses and IT for small firms, quoted by module
From $8/mo
Which one is for you
Pick Buk if
- Fits if you run a Chilean company with under 20 employees
- Works for firms that need the Previred file
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you're outside Chile, as the payroll and tax features are local
- Tight if you pass 20 employees, since Starter stops there
- Watch out: the full platform has no price, only a calculator and a quote form
- Watch out: Starter has self-service support only
Pick Factorial if
- Fits if your staff work shifts and clock in by QR code or location
- Works for firms that want HR, expenses and company devices in one place
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a full price on the page, as only $8 and up is published
- Not for you if you want to try it first, as no trial is on record
- Pricey if you add lots of modules, since each one is quoted on top
- Watch out: monthly plans bill for everyone on staff at the start of each month
- Watch out: the site gives both 12 and 120 customer countries and doesn't list where payroll works
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABukGood | 2.0GPAFactorialFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BBuk Starter is free for up to 20 employees, which sits inside the cheapest quarter. The Basic and Advanced prices aren't shown. | CFactorial starts at $8 a user a month, so a ten-person company pays $80 and up, right on this category's middle. That's for Core, with records, onboarding, payslips and e-signatures; any modules you add are quoted on top. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free plan one small Chilean company could live on, capped at 20 employees, with self-service support only. | FNo free plan, and the trial links on its pages led to a missing page, so no trial is on record. |
| Features | CPayroll, attendance, digital signature, talent, benefits and AI tools. Starter has limited payslip calculation and set document templates. | BRecords, documents and e-signatures, time off, clock-ins by location or QR code, shift planning, hiring, reviews, training, expenses and device management. The whole job, with a fair bit more besides. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Payroll and records take set-up work. | CNo App Store rating on record, and picking modules with sales, then setting up shifts and policies, takes a while. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus a mobile app. No integrations are listed and no desktop app. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Slack, Google Workspace, Zapier, DATEV, Sage 200, Okta and Power BI. No desktop app. |
| Best for | free payroll for small Chilean firms | shift-based teams wanting HR and rotas together |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Buk and Factorial. How we grade
Where they differ
- Buk also covers surveys and payroll.
- Factorial also covers time tracking and shift scheduling.
In commonWebiOSAndroidAI featuresExpense trackingApplicant trackingEmployee recordsTime off
At a glance
| Buk | Factorial | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | Free for up to 20 employees (Buk Starter); full platform quoted on request | $8 per user / month and up, by quote |
| Free plan | Buk Starter: employee records, attendance, bonuses and deductions, payslips, Previred file, payment list, self-service portal, documents, and vacation and permissions, for up to 20 employees. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Buk | Factorial |
| Price read from | buk.cl | factorial.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Buk
- Buk Starter is limited to 20 employees, self-service support and limited payslip calculation.
- The full platform price is not displayed: the pricing page is a build-your-own-plan calculator and a quote button leads to a contact form.
- The Starter page's Basic and Advanced prices are in the page source but hidden from visitors, so they are not recorded here.
- Payroll and tax features such as Previred and DDJJ 1887 are specific to Chile; the site has separate versions for other countries.
Factorial
- Only the $8 starting figure is published; the real price comes in a quote that depends on the modules and the headcount.
- Monthly plans bill for the employees present at the start of each month; annual plans bill extra only in months above the agreed count.
- Offices are in Spain, Germany and Mexico; the about page says both 12 and 120 countries for its customers and does not list where payroll works.
- The free-trial links on its pages lead to a missing page, so a trial could not be confirmed.
Key features
Buk
- Payroll
- Payslip calculation, accounting reports, hourly, daily and weekly pay, bonuses, the DDJJ 1887 tax filing and Previred files for Chile.
- Attendance
- Shifts, permissions, vacations and overtime tracking.
- Digital signature and documents
- Document templates, automatic document generation and signatures backed by the Chilean labor directorate (DT).
- Talent modules
- Performance management, recruitment, training, surveys and recognition, listed in the product menu.
- Benefits and finance
- Benefit management and insurance plans, plus expense reports, supplier payments and collections modules.
- AI tools
- Buk AI, plus Buk Studio and agents for building HR flows and delegating tasks.
Factorial
- Core HR and documents
- Every plan has the employee directory, onboarding and offboarding, payslip distribution, bulk document sending, fillable PDFs and legal e-signatures.
- Time off and time tracking
- Unlimited time-off policies and custom absence types, plus clock-ins by geolocation or QR code with overtime compensation.
- Shift planning
- Build shifts in bulk, set rotating patterns or generate them automatically, and share the schedule with staff.
- Recruiting, reviews and training
- Post jobs to several boards with AI CV parsing, run 360-degree performance reviews, track goals and manage training with certificates.
- Expenses, projects and IT
- Read receipts with OCR, route expenses through multi-step approvals, log hours to projects, and manage devices and SaaS licenses.
- One, the AI assistant
- An AI agent that searches and analyzes company data, builds reports and prepares policies, contracts and payroll documents for review.
Plans
Buk
Buk Starter$0
Free payroll and records for up to 20 employees, with self-service support only, limited payslip calculation and predefined document templates.
Buk BasicCustom
Platform, payroll and digital signature for up to 20 employees, adding custom reports, bulk importers and DT-backed signatures; no price is displayed on the page.
Buk AdvancedCustom
The same modules with no limit on employees; no price is displayed on the page.
Factorial
Tailored plan$8
per user / month and up
Factorial Core (directory, onboarding, payslip delivery, bulk documents, e-signature) plus the modules chosen. Quoted and sold through sales.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Buk or Factorial?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Buk starts at Free for up to 20 employees (Buk Starter); full platform quoted on request, and Factorial starts at $8 per user / month and up, by quote.
Which has a free plan, Buk or Factorial?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Buk has a free plan. Factorial does not.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.