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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Personio

    Score9 out of 10
    N/APersonio is presented as an all-in-one HR software for small and medium-sized companies from the company of the same name based in Munich. The platform supports applicant tracking, workforce management features (e.g. attendance tracking, leave management) with employee self-service, as well as support for HR workflows, and employee performance review.N/A

    SmartSearch ATS

    Score6.6 out of 10
    N/ASmartSearch is an enterprise-grade native recruitment platform that unifies applicant tracking, CRM, onboarding, and reporting. Purpose-built for staffing and talent acquisition teams, it automates workflows, improves visibility, and reduces reliance on disconnected recruiting tools.N/A
    Pricing
    PersonioSmartSearch ATS
    Editions & Modules
    Enterprise
    Custom
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    PersonioSmartSearch ATS
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    PersonioSmartSearch ATS
    Considered Both Products
    Personio
    No answer on this topic
    Advanced Personnel Systems (SmartSearch)
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    71%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    71%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    60%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    3 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    Features
    PersonioSmartSearch ATS
    Human Resource Management
    Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Personio and SmartSearch ATS
    Feature
    Personio
    9.6
    2 Ratings
    16% above category average
    SmartSearch ATS
    -
    Ratings
    Employee demographic data10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Employment history10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Job profiles and administration10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Organizational charting10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Organization and location management10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Personio and SmartSearch ATS
    Feature
    Personio
    7.9
    2 Ratings
    4% below category average
    SmartSearch ATS
    -
    Ratings
    Pay calculation9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for external payroll vendors7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Direct deposit files8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management6.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reimbursement management9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Leave and Attendance Management
    Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Personio and SmartSearch ATS
    Feature
    Personio
    10.0
    2 Ratings
    19% above category average
    SmartSearch ATS
    -
    Ratings
    Approval workflow10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Balance details10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Annual carry-forward and encashment10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Employee Self Service
    Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Personio and SmartSearch ATS
    Feature
    Personio
    10.0
    2 Ratings
    19% above category average
    SmartSearch ATS
    -
    Ratings
    View and generate pay and benefit information10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Update personal information10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    View company policy documentation10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Employee recognition10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    View job history10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Asset Management
    Comparison of Asset Management features of Personio and SmartSearch ATS
    Feature
    Personio
    10.0
    2 Ratings
    22% above category average
    SmartSearch ATS
    -
    Ratings
    Tracking of all physical assets10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    HR Reporting
    Comparison of HR Reporting features of Personio and SmartSearch ATS
    Feature
    Personio
    10.0
    2 Ratings
    27% above category average
    SmartSearch ATS
    -
    Ratings
    Report builder10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pre-built reports10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ability to combine HR data with external data10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Onboarding
    Comparison of Onboarding features of Personio and SmartSearch ATS
    Feature
    Personio
    9.0
    2 Ratings
    11% above category average
    SmartSearch ATS
    -
    Ratings
    New hire portal9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Manager tracking tools9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance and Goals
    Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Personio and SmartSearch ATS
    Feature
    Personio
    9.0
    2 Ratings
    10% above category average
    SmartSearch ATS
    -
    Ratings
    Corporate goal setting9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Individual goal setting9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Line-of sight-visibility9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance tracking9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance Management
    Comparison of Performance Management features of Personio and SmartSearch ATS
    Feature
    Personio
    9.0
    2 Ratings
    12% above category average
    SmartSearch ATS
    -
    Ratings
    Performance plans10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance improvement plans7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Review status tracking9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Review reminders10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple review frequency9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Succession Planning
    Comparison of Succession Planning features of Personio and SmartSearch ATS
    Feature
    Personio
    5.5
    2 Ratings
    36% below category average
    SmartSearch ATS
    -
    Ratings
    Create succession plans/pools7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Candidate ranking5.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Candidate search5.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Candidate development5.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Recruiting / ATS
    Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Personio and SmartSearch ATS
    Feature
    Personio
    8.7
    2 Ratings
    9% above category average
    SmartSearch ATS
    3.4
    17 Ratings
    80% below category average
    Job Requisition Management6.02 Ratings3.017 Ratings
    Company Website Posting10.02 Ratings3.017 Ratings
    Publish to Social Media10.02 Ratings1.013 Ratings
    Job Search Site Posting10.02 Ratings1.017 Ratings
    Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.02 Ratings10.016 Ratings
    Applicant Tracking9.02 Ratings3.017 Ratings
    Notifications and Alerts9.02 Ratings5.513 Ratings
    Customized Application Form00 Ratings9.016 Ratings
    Resume Management00 Ratings1.017 Ratings
    Candidate Search00 Ratings3.017 Ratings
    Collaboration00 Ratings1.015 Ratings
    Task Creation and Delegation00 Ratings1.014 Ratings
    Email Templates00 Ratings1.016 Ratings
    User Permissions00 Ratings1.016 Ratings
    Reporting00 Ratings8.016 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    PersonioSmartSearch ATS
    Small Businesses
    UZIO
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Crelate
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Zoho People
    Score8.6 out of 10
    CareerSiteBuilder
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    PeopleStrong
    Score10 out of 10
    JobDiva
    Score8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    PersonioSmartSearch ATS
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    6.0
    (31 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    3.0
    (18 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.2
    (10 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.4
    (8 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.0
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    PersonioSmartSearch ATS
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Personio
    If you are an SMB or generally just a startup, Personio is a no-brainer for its intuitiveness and easy-to-get-started approach. Employees truly enjoy the UI and possibility to get an easy overview of its own data, not to mention processes to apply for vacations and absence etc. Absolutely recommended if your main focus for the new HR system is directed towards your employees.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Advanced Personnel Systems (SmartSearch)
    I think our environment has stretched SmS and their capabilities (positively) but we have grown together and developed an enormously capable system together that is now very well integrated into our business. For doing applicant tracking, requisition management and offer management that has really been strong. I think we can partner together and build some better analytics and reporting capabilities that would be better suited for our business.
    Read full review
    Pros
    Personio
    • Allows automatic posting of job offers on different sites and portals to find the perfect candidates for available vacancies.
    • It has employee tracking tools, such as attendance and absence tracking, as well as time monitoring of working hours and overtime.
    • Payroll management is very complete and is done quickly and almost automatically, as it enters hours worked, overtime and absences, with an accurate calculation to avoid errors.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Advanced Personnel Systems (SmartSearch)
    • The search functions are outstanding. It is the reason we originally went with SmartSearch many years ago. The ability to do very simple or complex searches gives the recruiting staff great flexibility in how they look for and narrow down candidates.
    • The hire and onboarding traks allow us to create very specific processes we want our staff to follow to insure a consistent and repeatable result. I can create traks that can be very general or traks that literally provide emails and reminders to all of the players (recruiters, managers, candidates, etc...) every step of the way. This is particularly helpful where we have customers who have extremely stringent contractual guidelines that must be followed.
    • Support. Their customer support is second to none. We always joke that they are our favorite vendor to deal with.... Anytime we have an issue or question. They are there to walk us through it. The training is on target and the staff has always been friendly and more than eager to help make us successful with the tool.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Personio
    • From administrative POV, there were indication that some integrations to salarysystems in other countries was lacking
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Advanced Personnel Systems (SmartSearch)
    • SmartSearch has a steep learning curve if you want to extensively use the features like automated tasks and the report writer
    • Technical support is spotty and sometimes very frustrating, they don't respond for weeks at a time.
    • SmartSearch user interface is old and has far less ability to customize the interface than other tracking systems
    • SmartSearch has virtually no ability to connect directly with other software and allows now other software to connect in - so no Microsoft Flow, no Zapier, no mail parser, etc. and since Smart Search capabilities are limited, not being able to integrate it with other platforms easily is unfortunate.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Personio
    No answers on this topic
    Advanced Personnel Systems (SmartSearch)
    I believe over the past 30 or so pages (or so it seems), you have every reason for my business to continue as a SmartSearch ATS client and user. The support is off the charts great the few times I need them (generally not even once per year). My business has been a client since 2004. That should say it all.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Personio
    Personio is an established HCM provider - for good reasons. In particular, for employees and managers, Personio is easy to use and allows for managers and employees to truly focus on what matters, in a modern and flexible way. There are certain points that could be improved in the overall administration of the system, in particular when it comes to integrations and old techstack - but this is the case really for all historical HCM providers. Personio is a solid tool and certainly recommended.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Advanced Personnel Systems (SmartSearch)
    There are so many facets of SmartSearch, that to know everything about it is nearly impossible. While it is mainly straight forward, there is a lot. After using the program for a while, you become pretty comfortable with the basics and can start adding some of the other features.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Personio
    No answers on this topic
    Advanced Personnel Systems (SmartSearch)
    My license for SmartSearch goes back to 2004. It has always been available for me - don't remember a single time it was not available in all of those years.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Personio
    No answers on this topic
    Advanced Personnel Systems (SmartSearch)
    Once you get the 1 person on the phone they are very knowledgeable and tend to solve the problem. The issue is there are not enough resources to handle all the clients. Their primary clients are "recruiting firms" and I think that is where most of the their support resources go
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Personio
    No answers on this topic
    Advanced Personnel Systems (SmartSearch)
    Using the basic functions of SmartSearch is an easy implementation. But consider carefully what your organization needs to really drive placements. Because we only did a basic implementation first, we were caught off guard when later trying to implement more functions and realizing that the capabilities were limited or were difficult to learn and implement and realizing that tech support was not going to be consistent.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Personio
    Personio is much like HiBob, strong focus on the relationship between managers and employees. Very intuitive UX and UI - staying at the forefront of HCM. Sympa does better in terms of overall connectivity. Personio is a market leader for good reasons, solid and giving its customers good value for the investment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Advanced Personnel Systems (SmartSearch)
    Functionally, SmartSearch is not on the same page as ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter as a platform is much more geared toward helping applicants and is essentially a glorified resume database. SmartSearch offers so much more in terms of features and abilities, that would not really be appropriate to try and compare the two. Similarly, the overall use of SmartSearch is an apples and oranges comparison to LinkedIn Talent. LinkedIn is great for sourcing and attracting talent, but in terms of tracking candidates all the way through a hiring process and tracking a heavy volume of job orders across a variety of states and locations, the two just don't really compare.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Personio
    • This program is complete, so it allows to have all the human resources management in the same panel, along with all the information of the employees, which streamlines the activities of the department, making us more productive. Employees feel more satisfied with our performance, and we have considerably lowered payroll complaints.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Advanced Personnel Systems (SmartSearch)
    • That's easy - they have helped us grown and make more money. The core element of their technology (e.g. the ability to search for, identify and contact candidates is excellent).
    • They are a business partner and do their very best to help us succeed.
    Read full review
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