# OrangeHRM review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Open-source HR software with a paid Advanced edition Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. OrangeHRM offers a free open-source Starter edition for employee records, leave, reporting, performance, recruitment and time tracking, and a paid Advanced edition that adds onboarding, rosters, training, surveys and more. Advanced is priced per employee per month by quote and can run in the cloud or on premises. - **Category:** HR Software - **Made by:** OrangeHRM (since 2005) - **Website:** https://orangehrm.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you can't host software, as Starter runs on your own server. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, OrangeHRM has a free plan. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Starter is free and open source: HR administration, employee management, leave, reporting, performance, recruitment and time tracking. - **Free trial:** 30-day free trial of Advanced. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Starter | $0 | Open-source edition you host yourself, with core HR, leave, performance, recruitment and time tracking. | | Advanced | Custom | Per employee per month, by quote. Pick and mix modules including onboarding, roster, training and surveys. | Read from https://orangehrm.com/pricing on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with OrangeHRM before buying. ## Key features - **Employee records:** Both editions hold employee profiles and databases, work schedules, an organization chart, a corporate directory and document templates. - **Leave and time tracking:** Leave management and time tracking are in the free Starter edition, and Advanced adds a roster for scheduling. - **Performance and recruitment:** Starter includes performance management and recruitment; Advanced adds 360-degree reviews and individual development plans. - **Advanced HR modules:** Advanced adds onboarding, a request desk, career development, training, surveys, employee voice, discipline and an AI assistant called Citra AI. - **Hosting choice:** The vendor says Advanced is available as a cloud service or on premises with the same capabilities, and Starter can be hosted as you prefer. ## Good for - Technical teams that want to self-host an HR system - Small companies starting on the free edition - Larger firms wanting on-premises HR software ## Worth knowing - Starter has no support from the vendor beyond a user forum, and you host it yourself. - Advanced prices are not published; a quote is requested through a form. - Onboarding, roster, training, surveys, request desk and Citra AI are Advanced only. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. OrangeHRM has a free open-source Starter edition with employee records, leave, performance, recruitment and time tracking. You host it yourself and the only vendor support is a user forum. Onboarding, rosters, training, surveys and the AI assistant are in the paid Advanced edition, which has no published price. - **Value for money: C.** Starter is free but you have to host it on your own server, which makes it a C. Advanced is per employee per month by quote, with no price shown. - **Free plan and trial: B.** Starter is free and open source with core HR, leave, performance, recruitment and time tracking, so one person could live on it. Advanced has a 30-day trial. - **Features: C.** Records, leave and time, performance, recruitment and hosting choice. Onboarding, rosters, training, surveys and the AI assistant are Advanced only. - **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. Starter needs a server and your own install; Advanced is hosted but needs setup. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Web only, with no apps or integrations list on record. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from OrangeHRM's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among HR software - OrangeHRM's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 41 of the 63 other HR software we grade, and level with 8. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 59 of 63) and worst on platforms and integrations (C, above 0). The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/hr-software ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** The plain part of OrangeHRM you could make: employee records, time off, applicant tracking, time tracking and reports. What surrounds it you could not. The 0 things listed below take a company, not a weekend. OrangeHRM is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself. - You could make: Employee records, time off, applicant tracking, time tracking and reports: an app builder makes these well. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** Open source, Employee records, Time off, Applicant tracking, Time tracking, Reports ## Alternatives - [BambooHR](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bamboohr): HR records, hiring, time off and reviews, with US payroll as an add-on. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bamboohr-vs-orangehrm) - [Zoho People](https://toolgpa.com/tools/zoho-people): Low-cost HR records, attendance, shifts and reviews from Zoho. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/orangehrm-vs-zoho-people) - [Factorial](https://toolgpa.com/tools/factorial): HR, time, shifts, expenses and IT for small firms, quoted by module. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/factorial-vs-orangehrm) - [Personio](https://toolgpa.com/tools/personio): European HR platform for records, absences, time and recruiting. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/orangehrm-vs-personio) - [Cezanne HR](https://toolgpa.com/tools/cezanne-hr): Modular HR system for mid-sized organisations, quoted by headcount. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cezanne-hr-vs-orangehrm) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://orangehrm.com/pricing - https://orangehrm.com - https://orangehrm.com/open-source - https://orangehrm.com/about-us/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/orangehrm Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).