When looking for HR software, two names often appear on the shortlist: Evalu-8 HR and HiBob. Both are modern platforms that help businesses move beyond spreadsheets, centralising employee data and automating everyday HR processes.
HiBob (often branded as “Bob”) has grown quickly as a global HR system, especially among mid-sized companies that want sleek design and wide-ranging functionality. Evalu-8 HR, meanwhile, is a UK-built, HR-first platform created for SMEs and mid-sized businesses that need depth of features at an affordable price.
While both have their strengths, they take very different approaches. In this blog, we’ll compare Evalu-8 HR and HiBob side by side, looking at features, compliance, scalability, and pricing so you can decide which one is the right fit for your organisation in 2025.
Helpful Summary
Overview: This guide compares Evalu-8 HR and HiBob. Both are designed to simplify HR, but they’re built for different audiences: HiBob is a global, feature-rich system with a strong focus on culture and engagement, while Evalu-8 HR is compliance-first and designed for UK SMEs that want workforce management and scalability without unnecessary complexity.
Why Trust Us: Evalu-8 HR is a UK-developed system built around the real needs of SMEs and mid-sized companies. Unlike global platforms, it includes UK compliance features (GDPR logging, right-to-work checks, visa expiry alerts) alongside rota scheduling, time & attendance, and fatigue management, giving businesses everything they need in one place.
Why It Matters: Choosing the right HR system isn’t just about today’s needs. HiBob can be powerful but may feel overwhelming or costly for smaller businesses. Evalu-8 HR strikes a balance, offering simplicity and affordability while still scaling as compliance and workforce demands grow.
Evalu-8 HR: Best all round HiBob alternative
Why Evalu-8 HR stands out
Evalu-8 HR is a UK-built, HR-first system designed for SMEs and mid-sized organisations. It covers all the core HR essentials, employee records, absence management, and performance, but goes further by embedding compliance and workforce management into its core.
Where HiBob focuses on global operations and culture features, Evalu-8 HR is practical and compliance-led. It offers right-to-work checks, GDPR logs, audit trails, and fatigue monitoring alongside rota scheduling and time & attendance. This makes it particularly valuable for UK businesses in regulated industries or those managing shift-based staff.
Core features
Employee database: Central hub for contracts, training history, performance reviews, and compliance documents.
Absence & holiday management: Automated entitlement tracking, leave approval workflows, and shared team calendars.
Document management: Secure storage for contracts and policies with e-signatures and acknowledgement tracking.
Performance management: Goal setting, structured appraisals, and competency tracking.
Employee self-service: Staff can request leave, clock in/out, access policies, and update personal details.
Payroll-ready exports: Seamless reporting formats for Sage, BrightPay, Xero, and other UK payroll providers.
Mobile app: HR access for managers and employees on the go.
Compliance tools: GDPR audit logging, right-to-work verification, expiry alerts, and audit trails.
Advanced features
Rota management: Drag-and-drop scheduling with conflict alerts, availability management, and instant shift notifications.
Time & attendance: GPS/IP-enabled clock-ins, overtime and lateness tracking, and automated timesheet generation.
Fatigue management: Identifies unsafe scheduling patterns, ensuring staff wellbeing and compliance.
Contractor & volunteer profiles: Manage temporary staff securely with limited-access profiles.
Corrective action tracking: Escalate compliance issues into tasks with clear accountability.
Analytics dashboards: Real-time visibility into absence, overtime, and compliance metrics.
Audit logs: Evidence capture for document sign-offs, approvals, and HR actions.
Scalable modules: Add workforce or compliance tools as needed without paying for unwanted extras.
Explore Evalu-8 HR
What Customers Say About Evalu-8 HR
It is really intuitive and easy to use. They seem to have thought of everything with this software as everything is in one package, with one place to log in. I can easily keep my details up to date, book holiday, see my shifts, receive and sign documents and view my training record.
Training is very thorough, with recordings sent on request for reference Service is excellent, they get back to you promptly. Great platform, that's customisable for the business needs. Competitively priced.
Pricing
Evalu-8 HR starts at £2.50 per licence/month for core HR. Add rota management (£1.45 per licence/month) or time & attendance (£2.50 per licence/month) as needed. Setup fees vary depending on company size. The modular pricing ensures clarity and flexibility, avoiding the steep costs associated with global platforms.
Pros & cons of Evalu-8 HR
Pros:
- UK-built and compliance-first: Designed around UK employment law, with GDPR audit logs, right-to-work checks, visa expiry alerts, and audit trails: tools that HiBob doesn’t prioritise.
- Simple, modular pricing: Starts at £2.50 per user/month for core HR, with optional add-ons like rotas and T&A. Businesses only pay for what they use, making it more affordable than HiBob’s bundled approach.
- Workforce management included: Rota scheduling, time & attendance, GPS/IP clock-ins, and fatigue monitoring come built into Evalu-8 HR critical for industries with shift workers or compliance-heavy environments.
- Real-time dashboards and compliance audit trails
- Seamless payroll exports: Clean, payroll-ready data outputs for UK providers like Sage, BrightPay, and Xero reduce errors and admin time.
- Real-time insights: Configurable dashboards for managers and HR teams provide live data on absence, overtime, performance, and compliance trends.
- All-in-one without overkill: Unlike HiBob, which can feel bloated with culture and engagement add-ons, Evalu-8 HR focuses on the features SMEs actually use day to day.
Cons:
- Less recognised brand compared to HiBob globally
- Practical interface, not heavily design-led
HiBob
HiBob, often branded simply as “Bob,” is a global HR platform aimed at fast-growing mid-sized companies. Its sleek interface and wide feature set make it appealing to businesses that want HR, engagement, and culture tools all in one place. For organisations with an international workforce, HiBob also offers multi-country support, integrations, and custom workflows, which has helped it grow rapidly worldwide.
But HiBob’s strength is also its drawback. For SMEs and mid-sized UK businesses, the platform can feel complex, costly, and over-engineered. While it’s feature-rich, it doesn’t prioritise UK-specific compliance, things like GDPR audit logs, right-to-work checks, or fatigue management.
Core features
Employee records: Centralised data with customisable fields.
Absence & leave tracking: Configurable policies and approvals.
Performance management: Review cycles, feedback tools, and goal tracking.
Onboarding workflows: Automate employee induction processes.
Engagement tools: Surveys, recognition features, and culture-building tools.
Document storage: Contracts, policies, and files with versioning.
Employee self-service: Access records, request leave, and view payslips.
Advanced features
Global HR support: Multi-currency and multi-language functionality for international operations.
Compensation management: Tools for pay reviews and benchmarking.
Advanced analytics: Pre-built dashboards and workforce trend reports.
Engagement suite: Polls, culture tools, and employee recognition features.
Integrations: Connects with a wide range of payroll, finance, and productivity tools.
Custom workflows: Build and automate approval chains across HR processes.
Constraints and functionality gaps
Complexity for SMEs: Designed for mid-market and international firms, which can make it overcomplicated for smaller UK businesses.
High cost: Pricing is quote-based and typically far higher than Evalu-8 HR.
Compliance gaps: Lacks built-in GDPR logging, right-to-work checks, fatigue management, or HSE-focused tools.
Learning curve: Broad functionality can overwhelm smaller HR teams with limited resources.
Overkill for SMEs: Engagement and culture tools may be unnecessary for businesses that primarily need simple, compliant HR.
Pricing
HiBob uses a quote-based pricing model, and costs can escalate quickly as headcount grows or as additional features are added. Compared to Evalu-8 HR’s modular, transparent model, it is often less cost-effective for SMEs and mid-sized UK companies.
Pros & cons of HiBob
Pros:
- Sleek, modern interface with wide functionality
- Strong global HR support (multi-country, multi-currency)
- Engagement and culture tools included
- Customisable workflows and integrations
Cons:
- Complex for SMEs, built more for mid-market use
- Higher costs than Evalu-8 HR
- Weak UK compliance support (no GDPR logs, right-to-work, or fatigue tools)
- Features can feel like overkill for smaller businesses
Evalu-8 HR vs HiBob: Key Differences
Target Audience
Evalu-8 HR: Best for UK SMEs and mid-sized businesses (20–500 employees) that need easy to use Core HR, compliance, workforce management, and scalability.
HiBob: Designed for global mid-market and enterprise companies, often over-complex for smaller HR teams.
Core HR
Evalu-8 HR: Employee records, absence tracking, document management with e-signatures, and structured performance reviews.
HiBob: Employee database, absence tracking, onboarding workflows, and performance management.
Workforce Management
Evalu-8 HR: Includes rota scheduling, time & attendance with GPS/IP-enabled clock-ins, overtime tracking, and fatigue monitoring.
HiBob: Limited workforce features no built-in rota management, limited T&A, and no fatigue tools.
Compliance Tools
Evalu-8 HR: UK-first compliance design with GDPR logging, right-to-work checks, visa expiry alerts, and full audit trails.
HiBob: Provides only basic compliance; lacks UK-specific tools required for regulated industries.
Engagement Tools
Evalu-8 HR: Focuses on practical HR and compliance; doesn’t include culture add-ons SMEs often don’t need.
HiBob: Strong on engagement surveys, recognition, and culture-building tools.
Analytics & Reporting
Evalu-8 HR: Real-time, configurable dashboards that highlight HR, workforce, and compliance data.
HiBob: Advanced workforce analytics with pre-built reports and deeper customisation.
Scalability
Evalu-8 HR: Scales smoothly from small to mid-sized UK businesses without unnecessary complexity.
HiBob: Built for global expansion and large headcounts, but often overkill for SMEs.
Pricing
Evalu-8 HR: Transparent modular pricing Core HR (£2.50 per user/month), Rota (£1.45), T&A (£2.50).
HiBob: Quote-based, typically much higher, and less predictable as businesses grow.
Best For
Evalu-8 HR: UK businesses needing a balance of HR, compliance, and workforce management at an affordable price.
HiBob: Larger/global firms focused on culture, engagement, and international HR requirements.
Final Thoughts
Evalu-8 HR and HiBob are both strong HR platforms, but they’re designed for very different businesses. HiBob is a global, feature-rich system that appeals to larger companies with international teams and a strong focus on culture and engagement. The trade-off is higher costs, added complexity, and less emphasis on UK-specific compliance, which can make it feel like overkill for smaller HR teams. Evalu-8 HR, by contrast, is built specifically for UK SMEs and mid-sized organisations. It combines the simplicity of a lightweight HR system with the compliance and workforce depth businesses actually need from rota scheduling and fatigue management to GDPR audit logs and right-to-work checks. With transparent, modular pricing, it provides a more affordable, practical, and scalable solution for growing businesses. For UK companies that want HR software that balances ease of use with compliance and workforce management, Evalu-8 HR is the clear choice.
FAQs
Evalu-8 HR is built for UK SMEs and mid-sized organisations, with compliance and workforce tools like rotas, time & attendance, and fatigue management included. HiBob is a global platform aimed at larger, international companies, with more focus on culture and engagement features.
HiBob can be used by UK SMEs, but it’s often more complex and expensive than smaller teams need. Many UK businesses prefer Evalu-8 HR because it’s simpler, more affordable, and designed with UK compliance in mind.
Evalu-8 HR includes rota scheduling, T&A with GPS/IP clock-ins, fatigue monitoring, and UK-specific compliance tools like GDPR logging and right-to-work checks. These are missing in HiBob, which makes Evalu-8 HR a stronger fit for SMEs in regulated industries.
Evalu-8 HR has transparent modular pricing starting at £2.50 per user/month, with optional add-ons. HiBob uses a quote-based model, which is typically higher and less predictable for SMEs.
Evalu-8 HR is built to scale with UK SMEs and mid-sized organisations. Its modular pricing lets businesses start small and add features like rotas, time & attendance, and fatigue management as they grow. HiBob can work for larger enterprises, but for scaling UK businesses, Evalu-8 HR is the more practical and cost-effective choice.
