People analytics software pulls HR, recruiting, pay and collaboration data into one place so leaders can see attrition, headcount cost and team health.
Vendors range from HR reporting platforms to specialists in network analysis, pay equity and workforce planning, and most hide their price behind a demo. This guide ranks eleven on setup effort, real price, exit and independence.
Some vendors pay for visibility. That never touches an entry, the critical parts included, and following a link to a vendor brings us no income. How that works.
In short
What people analytics software does
People analytics software combines workforce data from HR, recruiting, payroll and work tools, defines consistent metrics, and shows leaders why attrition, cost, pay or collaboration patterns change.
Ranking criteria for this people analytics tool list, applied top to bottom: effort to get started, cost in practice, data return, ability to leave, buyer fit. One rule overrides the order: smaller vendors take the first three places when the category offers them, and the best-known brands start at four. For why these five were chosen, and why nothing here gets a numeric score, see how we work.
Sydney network-analysis tool with a free start and monthly self-serve plans
Ranked #1 of 11 in Best People Analytics Software in 2026.
Published pricingAsia-Pacific
Polinode answers a narrow question well: who influences whom, and where silos sit. Active surveys collect relationship data, passive integrations read metadata from Office 365, Google Workspace, Teams and Slack, and every plan handles networks up to 50,000 nodes.
The Lite plan adds an AI chat over network data. The free start has only five public networks and six basic metrics, so serious work means a paid plan or a consultant account.
What stands out
Network analysis
Relationship surveys
EU-hosted servers
Where it costs you
Its feature list names network analysis only, with no headcount or attrition reporting
Organisation plans and trials go through a sales contact, not self-serve
Right for
People analytics leads who need to map collaboration before buying a bigger platform
Wrong for
Finance teams wanting headcount and cost reporting dashboards
AustraliaPublished per user per month, from a free start; organisation plans quoted
Amsterdam-built HR reporting with a data engineer assigned from day one
Ranked #2 of 11 in Best People Analytics Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
Crunchr's pitch is a fast, staffed implementation. A data engineer and a customer success manager are named from the first week, the customer's own effort is described as a few hours weekly, and 250 metric definitions ship from day one.
Hosting is the customer's pick between an EU and a US region, audited by SOC 2 Type 2 every year. A five-minute online tour replaces the first sales call, though prices stay hidden.
What stands out
Core HR reporting
Hosted in EU or US
SOC 2 Type 2
Where it costs you
No price list is published, so cost only appears after a 45 to 60 minute demo
Scope starts with core HR; further sources each start a new project cycle
Right for
European mid-size and large employers wanting reporting live within weeks
Wrong for
Buyers who want a self-serve trial or a visible price
NetherlandsPrice on request after a demo; no price list found
Collaboration analytics from calendar, chat and code logs, with a free tier
Ranked #3 of 11 in Best People Analytics Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Worklytics measures behaviour, not records. It connects to Slack, Teams, Zoom, calendars, GitHub and Jira, aggregates and de-identifies the output, and offers more than 200 prebuilt collaboration metrics on Business.
The free tier is limited to calendar data and 100 users, so it is a test, not a deployment. Extra users beyond the 200 included cost ten dollars each per month, which makes a 1,000-person rollout a quote conversation.
What stands out
Collaboration metrics
Metadata only
AI adoption tracking
Where it costs you
The Business card says three months of data history while the comparison table says twelve
SSO, row-level data and predictive analytics need the quoted Enterprise tier
Right for
IT and people teams measuring AI adoption, meetings and manager behaviour
Wrong for
Teams needing turnover and headcount reports from the HRIS
United StatesPublished: free calendar-only tier, Business billed monthly, Enterprise quoted
Warehouse-style HR data model from former Infohrm founders, in three editions
Ranked #4 of 11 in Best People Analytics Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
One Model sits closest to a data warehouse built for HR. Its integrations list names Workday, SuccessFactors, Qualtrics, Oracle and PeopleSoft, and Greenhouse, with extra sources and insight packs billed as you go on Essentials.
Storyboards turn the model into board views, and forecasting covers hiring, attrition and cost. ISO 27001:2022 and SOC 2 Type II certificates are listed, and the vendor names a data protection officer.
What stands out
Data Mesh
Storyboards
ISO 27001 and SOC 2
Where it costs you
Every edition ends in a quote request and no amount is shown
One AI predictive modelling is listed for the Enterprise edition only
Right for
Large HR analytics teams that want to own a governed data model
Wrong for
Small HR teams without an analyst to configure it
United StatesQuoted per organisation; three editions, each with a quote button
Org chart, headcount plans and pay cycles sharing one living data model
Ranked #5 of 11 in Best People Analytics Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
ChartHop connects ADP, Greenhouse, Workday, SAP and more than 100 other systems into one model of the organisation, then offers HRIS, headcount planning, compensation, performance, goals and engagement on top.
Headcount planning is shared between HR and finance, which is where many spreadsheet processes break. The October 2026 update adds AI-drafted headcount plans. A SOC 2 Type 2 examination by Schellman is stated on the pricing page.
What stands out
Headcount planning
100+ integrations
Modular HCM
Where it costs you
Analytics comes as part of a modular HCM platform, not a stand-alone product
The pricing page is a form, so no amount is visible before contact
Right for
Growth companies wanting org charts, headcount plans and pay cycles together
Wrong for
Enterprises that only need an analytics layer on an existing HRIS
United StatesQuoted after a three-question form; proposal promised within one business day
Seattle pay equity analysis extended into live checks on offers and merit
Ranked #6 of 11 in Best People Analytics Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Syndio treats pay as the only analytics question. Essentials covers equity analysis, gap reporting and transparency compliance across jurisdictions, and the site has a hub for the EU Pay Transparency Directive.
Decisions embeds policy checks into offers, promotions, merit and transfers, and the vendor says its analysis can be delivered inside attorney-client privilege. SOC 2 compliance is stated. Anyone buying general people analytics will need a second product.
What stands out
Pay equity
Pay gap reporting
EU pay transparency
Where it costs you
The predictive module is marked coming soon, not available
No price or trial is shown, only a demo request
Right for
Compensation and legal teams preparing pay gap and transparency reports
Wrong for
Teams asking about attrition, engagement or hiring funnels
Australian-registered Work OS that maps tasks and jobs to plan AI redesign
Ranked #7 of 11 in Best People Analytics Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestAsia-Pacific
Reejig has repositioned from skills data to a Work OS in seven steps: map, analyse, build, run, measure, log and update. The map step builds a context graph of jobs, tasks and workflows.
The company is an Australian proprietary limited company with people in New York, Sydney and Manila, and customer data is stored separately and encrypted at rest. Case figures on the site, such as WPP going from 55,000 to 600, are the vendor's own.
What stands out
Work architecture
Skills and tasks
Workday partnership
Where it costs you
The platform pages list no standard HR dashboards for turnover or headcount
Only a demo booking is offered; no price or trial is visible
Right for
Large employers redesigning jobs and tasks around AI and skills
Wrong for
Teams wanting classic attrition and headcount dashboards today
Labour market data and workforce planning, with HRForecast folded in
Ranked #8 of 11 in Best People Analytics Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
TalentNeuron started as Gartner's labour market data and became independent in 2023 under Leeds Equity Partners. It reads over 7 million job-posting datapoints daily across 200 or more markets, maps internal roles and skills, and models scenarios for headcount, skills and cost.
Data can also arrive by API or Snowflake. Its legal terms come in four national versions: US, UK, Canada and Germany.
What stands out
Labour market data
Scenario planning
Data feeds
Where it costs you
Its core is external labour market data, with internal analysis a smaller part
Strategic consulting is sold next to the software, which raises total cost
Right for
Workforce planners comparing internal skills against outside talent supply and cost
Wrong for
HR teams wanting self-serve dashboards on their own HRIS data
Employee listening suite whose AI agents turn survey signals into actions
Ranked #9 of 11 in Best People Analytics Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
Perceptyx links listening, manager activation and development in one flow. Discover gathers feedback across employee moments, Activate sends actions to leaders, and Develop builds skills.
A Perceptyx Anywhere toolkit and MCP connection bring data to other AI tools. The trust centre lists ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2 Type 2, membership of the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and a FedRAMP Moderate instance for US federal customers.
What stands out
Employee listening
ISO 27001
FedRAMP Moderate
Where it costs you
The company country is not stated on the pages we read
Pricing and trial terms are not shown, only a conversation with an expert
Right for
HR teams whose main question is why engagement and sentiment move
Wrong for
Buyers wanting HRIS-wide headcount and cost reporting dashboards
Not stated by the vendorDemo request; no price list found
Vancouver vendor with 2,000 prebuilt metrics and governed access for AI agents
Ranked #10 of 11 in Best People Analytics Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Visier works in five steps named unify, model, enrich, govern and deliver. More than 2,000 prebuilt metrics are defined as of any date through reorganisations, and benchmark data is included.
A manager sees only their own team's pay, and the same rule holds when an agent asks over MCP. Encryption is AES-256 at rest and TLS 1.2 or later in transit, with SSO, MFA and audit logging of every access.
What stands out
2,000+ metrics
Workforce planning
Agent governance
Where it costs you
No price is published and the pricing page we tried returned an error
Messaging now centres on AI context, which can hide the basic dashboards
Right for
Large enterprises wanting prebuilt metrics plus permission-aware AI access for managers
Wrong for
Small teams needing a self-serve start or a price
CanadaDemo or sales contact only; no pricing page found
Analytics inside the HCM suite, plus Prism for outside data
Ranked #11 of 11 in Best People Analytics Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Workday groups its analytics offer into core reporting, augmented analytics branded People Analytics, Peakon Employee Voice and the Prism data hub for external data.
All of it runs in the Workday platform, so it only suits employers who already hold their HR records there. Anyone on another HRIS should expect a Workday deployment first, since Prism loads outside data into Workday applications.
What stands out
Augmented analytics
Prism data hub
Employee Voice
Where it costs you
Even the packaged deployments take ten to twenty-plus weeks
People analytics software combines workforce data from HR, recruiting, payroll and work tools, defines consistent metrics, and shows leaders why attrition, cost, pay or collaboration patterns change. A feature table will not settle this choice. These steps will.
01
Decide whether you need a published price
The split is 2 published against 9 quoted. If you want to compare numbers first, start with Polinode, Worklytics.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
Jurisdiction is a buying criterion here. The 11 vendors are spread over 5 countries (North America 7, Asia-Pacific 2, Europe 1, Elsewhere 1), and the home country determines which disclosure rules bind them.
Three different jobs hide behind the label: Polinode, Crunchr and Syndio
People analytics software is sold for at least three jobs that rarely overlap. Crunchr and One Model unify HR records and report headcount, attrition and cost. Polinode studies relationships, asking who connects to whom across teams. Syndio looks only at pay equity and decisions on offers and merit.
Worklytics sits in between, reading calendars and chat logs for collaboration and AI adoption. A product that does one job well will look weak against a list written for another. Write down the three questions your board has actually asked this year, and match each to a job before you ask for any demo. Teams usually end up with one reporting product and one specialist beside it.
Name the three questions leadership asked last quarter.
Assign each question to reporting, network analysis, pay or sentiment.
Ask each vendor which of your questions its product does not answer.
Price signals: free starts, monthly fees and demo walls
Pricing in this category splits into three camps. Polinode publishes monthly prices for individuals, from a free start up to a Professional plan, and quotes organisations separately. Worklytics shows a free tier and a Business starting fee, with Enterprise quoted. One Model, ChartHop, Crunchr, Syndio, Reejig, TalentNeuron, Perceptyx and Visier show no amount, and several offer only a demo form.
A published figure helps you test the product cheaply, but it rarely covers your full headcount or every integration. A hidden figure is not necessarily higher, only unknowable until a call. Ask for a total for your employee count, your source systems and the second year, and put it in writing.
Request one written total for your headcount and systems.
Ask what changes in year two and at renewal.
Check which AI assistant or MCP features cost extra.
Time to a first dashboard: who does the setup work
The first ninety days decide whether a platform gets used. Crunchr names a data engineer and a customer success manager from week one and describes your effort as a few hours a week. One Model sells Essentials with prebuilt insight packs and charges further sources as you go. ChartHop connects more than 100 systems and sells modules one by one.
Reejig and TalentNeuron both lean on consulting or expert services, which adds fees and calendar time. Worklytics and Polinode can start from a login, so their first chart may arrive in days, although the questions they answer are narrower. Ask each vendor who maps your fields, and what you still owe them.
Ask who maps your HRIS fields and who maintains the mapping.
Request a written plan with the hours your team must give.
Find out what each new data source costs after go-live.
Employee data: where it sits, and what is read
Employee data is sensitive enough that works councils and privacy officers often decide the shortlist. Crunchr lets the customer pick an EU or US hosting region and publishes a named data protection officer. Polinode states servers in Ireland and EU model clauses in its enterprise agreements. Worklytics reads metadata and says it does not analyse work content, while Perceptyx lists ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2 Type 2 and a FedRAMP instance.
Visier applies permissions to each request, including those from AI agents. None of these claims replaces a security review, because certificates cover the vendor company and its controls, not the way your own tenant is configured or who in your organisation gets access. Ask for the sub-processor list and the audit report before signing.
Ask for the sub-processor list and audit report before signing.
Confirm the hosting region in the contract, not on the website.
Check what an AI assistant is allowed to read and show.
What goes wrong most often when buying people analytics software
Choosing a collaboration analytics product when the board wants headcount and attrition reporting.
Comparing a free start with a quoted enterprise price as if they covered the same scope.
Assuming a suite's analytics module works well for employers who keep HR data in another system.
Signing without asking which AI features, connectors and extra data sources are billed separately.
07
Frequently asked questions
6 answers
What is the best people analytics software in 2026?
First of 11 on this page is Polinode. Polinode Pty Ltd maps who talks to whom, using relationship surveys or metadata from Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Teams and Slack.
Individuals can start at no charge and upgrade monthly, which few rivals offer, and servers sit in AWS Ireland. The feature list is organisational network analysis only, so headcount, attrition and pay reporting still need another product beside it.
Which people analytics tools publish their pricing?
2 of the 11, with the pricing model each one publishes:
Polinode: Published per user per month, from a free start; organisation plans quoted.
Worklytics: Published: free calendar-only tier, Business billed monthly, Enterprise quoted.
The remaining 9 sell by quote.
Is there a free people analytics tool?
Worklytics can be used for free, either as a free plan or a self-hosted edition.
Where are these people analytics software vendors established?
In 5 countries across 4 regions: North America 7, Asia-Pacific 2, Europe 1, Elsewhere 1.
Polinode: Australia.
Crunchr: Netherlands.
Worklytics: United States.
One Model: United States.
ChartHop: United States.
Syndio: United States.
Reejig: Australia.
TalentNeuron: United States.
Perceptyx: Not stated by the vendor.
Visier: Canada.
Workday: United States.
What should you use instead of Polinode?
Second is Crunchr, which suits European mid-size and large employers wanting reporting live within weeks. Third is Worklytics, which suits IT and people teams measuring AI adoption, meetings and manager behaviour.
Who should not buy Polinode?
Finance teams wanting headcount and cost reporting dashboards. Its feature list names network analysis only, with no headcount or attrition reporting.
Makers of people analytics software products can ask us to look at theirs. Say what it does and who uses it. We choose what to add, and nothing can be bought; see software advice for what a listing means.