Teams look beyond Factorial when a quote replaces a price list, when the module count grows faster than the need, or when payroll in their country turns out thinner than the menu suggested. Most move to a narrower HR record, a local suite with deeper rules, or a tool priced per business.
Short answer: Looking for a replacement for Factorial? Lucca, Treams and Sage HR come first in our HR software ranking. Our rule for order: vendors outside the big brands go first, and the largest names are not placed in the top three. Start with Lucca if French or Southern European payroll, with modules arriving one at a time. All 10 alternatives below are ranked products from Best HR Software in 2026, and each says where it differs from Factorial.
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Pricing: Per user per month, from $8 published; plans tailored by quote
Established in: Spain
Built for: A Southern European SME that wants HR, time and expenses in one
Not for: A large enterprise with complex org structures
01
Why buyers look past Factorial
01
The price is a starting point
Factorial's pricing page shows a single figure: $8 per user, per month, as the floor, and says plans are tailored through a quote request. It lists no separate tiers and no per-module rates. A finance team that wants to compare three vendors on one sheet has to ask for a quote before it can. Procurement teams that compare vendors by a sheet of numbers will therefore start with a blank cell for this one, and the answer arrives only after a sales conversation.
02
A long module menu to choose from
The base layer called Core holds the staff directory, e-signature, onboarding and payslip handouts. Time off, time tracking, performance, shifts, recruitment, expenses, training, procurement and device management are all selectable on top. Each addition changes the quote, so a company that wanted only absence and records has to decide what to leave out. Teams with a clear short list of needs often find the full menu more than they use, while those who want everything in one place may find that convenience justifies it.
03
Payroll depends on where staff sit
Payroll Management appears in the product menu, yet the pricing page lists no countries for it and the home page gives only examples such as Spain and Germany. Buyers with employees in several countries should ask which ones are covered natively before assuming one system will run every payslip.
Hourly pay rules have to flow straight into payroll for a large employer
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03
What each one does differently
1
Lucca
France · Published
Lucca is a French vendor that sells absence, expenses and reviews as separate modules and publishes indicative per-employee prices, with exact figures by quote. A buyer begins with one module and adds others later, though a full stack ends up costing more than one subscription. The product assumes a French or Southern European payroll context. Its tags point to absence and expenses as the usual starting modules, and the French payroll ecosystem around it is a large part of the appeal.
Switch from Factorial if French or Southern European payroll, with modules arriving one at a time.
Treams is Dutch and concentrates on goals, appraisals, one-to-ones and 360 feedback rather than the HR record. The Flow pack is 6.50 euros and Momentum 9 euros per employee monthly, Compound on request. There is no trial, only a demo, and no payroll. Hosting stays inside the EU and an AFAS integration exists, which matters to Dutch employers who run their administration there.
Switch from Factorial if Review tooling for managers is needed without buying a full suite.
Sage HR is a British modular product with published per-employee monthly prices, and it comes from a company that already handles accounts. Standing alone it is competent rather than distinctive, and the modules add up as you take more of them. Anyone who does not use Sage elsewhere gets little extra from the connection, so weigh it against stand-alone tools before committing.
Switch from Factorial if Sage already keeps the books and one supplier would be tidier.
Kenjo, from Germany, puts rostering and attendance at the centre instead of treating them as extras, and prints its per-employee monthly prices. It targets workforces away from desks, so it is a narrower choice than a general HR suite. The Berlin suite is sold in three plans, two of them with prices on the page, a trial on offer and ten percent off for annual billing.
Switch from Factorial if Rosters and attendance dominate the work of your staff.
Zoho People from India has a free plan covering up to five users, then published per-employee plans, and it also comes bundled in Zoho One. Payroll is a separate Zoho product and only in a few countries. Its focus is low-cost core HR, attendance and leave inside the wider Zoho suite, so the value grows with every other Zoho tool you adopt.
Switch from Factorial if Other Zoho products are in use and a published low price helps.
Keka is an Indian product covering core HR, attendance, leave, performance and payroll with statutory filings, at published per-employee prices by plan. It now handles US payroll in all fifty states as well. A company with staff in Europe would still need a second payroll provider. Companies of fifty to a few thousand people are its usual customers, and the pricing page lists plans by employee instead of hiding them behind a call.
Switch from Factorial if Employees sit in India or the US and payroll should come built in.
Paylocity is an American mid-market platform where payroll with tax filing is the point, alongside benefits, time, recruiting and an employee app. Pricing is quoted and rises with modules. Outside the United States, payroll runs through partner providers. The employee app is one of the parts people actually use, and contracts tend to run for several years, so negotiate the term as carefully as the rate.
Switch from Factorial if American payroll with tax filing is the core requirement.
Darwinbox was built in Hyderabad for employers with thousands of staff across India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. It spans HR, payroll, performance, recruiting and attendance, quoted per organisation. Implementation is a project, and European payroll rules are not its home ground. Buyers usually weigh it against SAP SuccessFactors and Workday, as the regional enterprise option, rather than against small HR tools.
Switch from Factorial if Thousands of frontline workers in Asia or the Middle East need one system.
SAP SuccessFactors is a German enterprise suite whose modules are licensed separately and quoted per organisation. Buyers weigh it against Workday for multinational groups, and the rollout takes the form of a long project. Its talent modules run from recruiting to succession and compensation modelling, and a 30-day basic trial with sample data lets a team look inside first.
Switch from Factorial if SAP already runs elsewhere in the group and HR must follow.
UKG sells separate Pro HCM, Pro Workforce Management and Ready lines, quoted per organisation, so a buyer must first say which one is meant. It fits employers whose hourly pay rules must feed payroll, and no price appears on the pages we could read.
Switch from Factorial if Hourly pay rules have to flow straight into payroll for a large employer.
Kenjo: Rostering sits at the core and the monthly figure per employee is on the page. Attendance records and shift rules sit in the same product.
03
You prefer buying modules one by one
Lucca: Absence, expenses and reviews are separate, with indicative prices shown. A full stack of several modules costs more than one subscription.
04
Managers need appraisal and feedback tooling only
Treams: Flow and Momentum have published prices, and 360 feedback comes with Momentum. It has no payroll and starts with a demo rather than a trial.
05
Accounts already run on Sage
Sage HR: Published per-employee pricing from the same company that does your books. Standalone it is competent rather than distinctive, so the benefit rests on the link to your accounts.
04
When Factorial is still the right choice
Factorial is a reasonable stay when you want HR, time, shifts and IT or finance modules from one Spanish vendor and your payroll country is among the ones it covers. More than 17,000 companies are cited on its home page, and the starting price is low. If the quote fits and payroll is confirmed for your country in writing, switching buys little. Factorial also suits teams that value consolidation: one login for HR, time and IT items means fewer vendor reviews each year, and the home page lists device management and cybersecurity next to people modules.
05
What moving off Factorial involves
01
Check what the quote actually contains
Before you leave, export the list of modules you pay for and mark those staff use weekly. Many teams discover that two or three carry the value, which makes a narrower tool easier to judge.
02
Payroll data needs a clean cut-over date
Move HR records at the start of a pay period and keep the old payslip archive. Payslips distributed through Factorial need downloading before access ends, along with signed documents.
03
Tell staff what changes and when
Employees see payslips, time off and documents in Factorial today. Send one message with the cut-over date, the new login steps and the contact for questions, and keep the old access alive for a short overlap so nobody misses a payslip.
06
Questions about replacing Factorial
7 answers
How much does Factorial cost?
Its pricing page states that plans start at $8 per user per month and are tailored through a quote request. No tier names or per-module prices are listed, and the currency is given only by the dollar sign.
Which modules can I choose?
Time Off, Time Tracking, Performance, Shift Management, Recruitment, Engagement, Project Management, Expenses, Training, Procurement, SaaS Management, IT Inventory, device management and cybersecurity, on top of Core.
Does Factorial run payroll in every country?
The pages we read list Payroll Management but no countries. Ask the vendor which are native and which need a partner, and compare that with where your staff work.
Which choices come with published prices?
Kenjo, Treams, Sage HR, Keka and Zoho People publish pricing in some form. Lucca shows indicative figures, while Darwinbox, UKG and Paylocity quote.
Does anything here suit a company outside Europe?
Keka covers India and the United States, Darwinbox targets Asia and the Middle East, and Paylocity is built for American payroll.
Is there a free plan?
Zoho People has a free plan for up to five users, followed by published per-employee plans. Treams starts with a demo, not a trial.
Which choice is most different from a module menu?
Lucca is the clearest contrast, since you buy absence, expenses or reviews separately and add others later, with indicative prices published and exact figures by quote.
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Sources
Checked 4 November 2026
Factorial pricing: From $8 per user a month, quote-tailored plans, Core and selectable modules, no countries listed for payroll.
Factorial home: More than 17,000 companies, module list, Payroll Management, no hosting location stated.
Treams: Dutch performance tool, Flow 6.50 and Momentum 9 euros per employee, demo.
Kenjo: German HR product, rostering and attendance.
Lucca: French modular HR, absence, expenses and reviews.
Zoho People: Free plan up to five users, Zoho One inclusion.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Checked and edited by Sebastiaan Smits, last on 4 November 2026. The editorial process explains the method.
