Humaans vs Personio
We give Humaans a 2.0 GPA and Personio a 1.8, out of 4.0. Humaans grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Humaans
HR system of record for growing companies, with AI agents, by quote
Paid
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAHumaansFair | 1.8GPAPersonioWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price is published: Growth, Enterprise and the Athena agents are all sold through sales, and VC-backed firms can get a partner rate. So we can't say what a ten-person company pays, and with no figure to compare, it's a C. | CWe couldn't read a price: Personio's pages turned our reader away, so plans and prices aren't on record and we can't say what a ten-person company pays. With no figure to compare, it's a C. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial on record. You go through sales. | FNo free plan or trial on record. Its pages turned our reader away, so a trial may exist that we couldn't confirm. |
| Features | BA people directory, documents, an org chart, time off, timesheets, onboarding and approval workflows, and pay changes tracked and exported for payroll. The whole job, though reviews are an add-on and it doesn't run payroll itself. | CRecords and documents, time off, working hours, an approvals inbox, recruiting and payroll, with an API and webhooks. The basics are there, but the listing shows no reviews or onboarding, and shifts need a partner app. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record, and wiring it to your payroll providers and other tools is part of the setup. | CNo App Store rating on record. The app covers absences, hours, approvals and documents, and everything else, setup included, happens on the web. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, Okta, Docusign, Lattice, Ashby and Greenhouse, plus an API and webhooks. No phone app, only the browser. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with a public API, webhooks and more than 200 integrations. No desktop app. |
| Best for | venture-backed teams in several countries | European firms wanting HR and payroll 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: Humaans and Personio. How we grade
Where they differ
- Only Personio lists iOS and Android apps.
- Humaans also covers workflow automation, AI agents and reports.
- Personio also covers time tracking and applicant tracking.
In commonWebPublic APIEmployee recordsTime off
At a glance
| Humaans | Personio | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Humaans Inc. | Personio SE & Co. KG |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Humaans
- Venture-backed companies with staff in several countries
- People teams that want a clean system of record linked to other tools
- Companies that keep a separate payroll provider in each country
Personio
- Companies in Europe wanting core HR, payroll and recruiting together
- HR teams that want records, absences and hours in one system
- Companies connecting a separate shift planner or payroll tool
Worth knowing
Humaans
- No prices are published: Growth, Enterprise and Athena are all sold through sales, and VC-backed firms can get a partner rate.
- Performance reviews, the AI companion, headcount planning, DE&I analytics and data tables are add-ons on top of a plan.
- It does not run payroll; it prepares changes for outside payroll providers. Its customers are in 28 countries, with staff in 106.
- There is no app-store app: the mobile version runs in a phone's browser.
Personio
- Prices could not be confirmed: personio.com and its help center answered with a bot check, so plans, prices and any trial are not recorded.
- It presents itself as built for Europe; the pages read do not list the countries where its payroll works.
- The mobile app covers absences, time, approvals and documents; other workflows and set-up need the web app.
- Shift planning comes through partner apps that sync with Personio, where shifts are created and changed.
Key features
Humaans
- People directory and documents
- Employee profiles, an org chart, document storage and custom fields, with permission roles deciding who sees what.
- Absences and timesheets
- Staff request time away and managers approve it from any device, and timesheets log hours for compliance.
- Onboarding and workflow automation
- Automate onboarding and offboarding steps and route employee requests through approvals.
- Payroll-ready exports
- Tracks changes to pay, bank details, addresses and time off for each location, and sends them to payroll providers by export or SFTP.
- Athena AI agents
- Pre-built agents and a natural-language builder triage employee requests, run approvals and automate HR work, with an audit log of every action.
- Integrations and API
- Connects to Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, Okta, Docusign, Carta, Lattice, Ashby and Greenhouse, with an API and webhooks.
Personio
- Employee records and documents
- One place for employee data and HR documents, which staff can open, download or share from the mobile app.
- Absences and time off
- Employees request time off and see their balance, and can check upcoming absences and team availability where the company allows it.
- Working-time tracking
- Staff record and review their hours on the web or phone, and approved times from partner apps can be sent back into Personio.
- Inbox for approvals
- Managers see open requests and tasks in one inbox and approve or decline them, including from the mobile app.
- Recruiting
- Applicants can be passed into Personio's recruiting module through its Recruiting API, alongside core HR and payroll.
- API, webhooks and marketplace
- Custom integrations read employees, attendance, absences and documents through the API, and webhooks push changes in real time.
Plans
Humaans
Pricing could not be confirmed. See humaans.io.
Personio
Pricing could not be confirmed. See personio.com.
