Our Full Review
Monday.com isn't an HR platform—it's a "Work OS" that can be adapted for virtually anything, including HR. The company offers HR-specific templates and positioning, but fundamentally, you're building custom solutions on a flexible database platform.
After testing Monday for HR use cases, our verdict: it's a viable option for small, tech-savvy HR teams who need flexibility and are willing to build their own systems. But it's not a replacement for purpose-built HRIS platforms for most companies.
Who Should Use Monday.com for HR?
- Small teams (<50 people) with basic HR needs
- Companies already using Monday for project management—consolidate tools
- Tech-savvy HR teams comfortable building custom workflows
- Startups needing lightweight HR tracking before investing in full HRIS
- Recruiting-focused teams — the ATS-like features are actually quite good
Who Should Look Elsewhere?
- Companies needing true HRIS — employee portals, compliance, benefits admin
- Growing teams (50+) — you'll outgrow it and migrate anyway
- HR teams without technical skills — setup is DIY and can be overwhelming
- Regulated industries — compliance features are minimal
What Monday Can Do for HR
With configuration, Monday can handle:
- Applicant tracking — candidate pipeline, interview scheduling, hiring workflow
- Onboarding tasks — checklists for new hires, IT setup, training assignments
- PTO tracking — manual time-off request boards with approval workflows
- Employee directory — custom database of employee info
- Performance reviews — review cycles, feedback collection, goal tracking
- HR projects — benefits open enrollment, engagement surveys, policy rollouts
What It Can't Do (Well)
Fundamental HRIS features Monday lacks:
- No employee self-service portal (employees can't update their own info easily)
- No automated PTO accruals or balance tracking
- No built-in org chart visualization
- No payroll integration or wage/hour compliance
- No benefits administration
- No e-signature for documents
- Limited reporting compared to dedicated HRIS
You're essentially building a spreadsheet with better UI and automation. That works for some teams, but it's not a complete HRIS.
Recruiting & ATS Use Case
Monday's strongest HR use case is as an applicant tracking system:
- Visual candidate pipeline (board columns for each stage)
- Email integrations to track communication
- Interview scheduling with calendar sync
- Collaborative hiring (comments, feedback, scorecards)
- Hiring automations (send rejection emails, notify interviewers)
For small teams doing moderate hiring, Monday's recruiting boards are genuinely useful. Better than spreadsheets, cheaper than dedicated ATS platforms.
Automations & Workflows
Monday's automation builder is powerful:
- "When status changes to 'Approved', notify manager and create onboarding task"
- "Every Monday, remind team members to submit timesheets"
- "When new hire added, create IT setup checklist and assign to IT lead"
- Integration automations with Slack, email, Google Calendar
The visual automation builder is accessible to non-developers. You can eliminate a lot of manual HR busywork.
Integrations
Monday integrates with common HR tools:
- Communication: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Gmail
- Calendars: Google Calendar, Outlook
- Recruiting: LinkedIn, Indeed (job posting)
- Surveys: Typeform, SurveyMonkey
- Zapier: Connect to 1000+ apps
Notable absence: no native integrations with payroll providers (ADP, Gusto, etc.). You'd need Zapier or custom API work.
Pricing for HR Use
Monday's pricing is per-seat, with minimum user counts:
Free: Up to 2 users
- Unlimited boards
- 200+ templates
- Limited to 1,000 items
- Too limited for real HR use
Basic: $9/user/month (min 3 users, annual)
- Unlimited free viewers
- 5GB storage
- Basic integrations
- Good for very basic tracking
Standard: $12/user/month (min 3 users, annual)
- Timeline & Gantt views
- Calendar view
- Automations (250/month)
- Integrations with Google/Outlook
- Minimum for useful HR workflows
Pro: $19/user/month (min 3 users, annual)
- Private boards
- Time tracking column
- More automations (25,000/month)
- Formula column
- Recommended for HR teams
Enterprise: Custom pricing
- Multi-level permissions
- Advanced reporting
- Enterprise security
Real-world cost for HR team:
- 3-person HR team + 50 viewers (employees): ~$57-171/month depending on tier
- Compare to BambooHR for 50 employees: ~$400-600/month
Monday is cheaper if you only need a few paid seats. But once you need employee self-service, costs equalize.
Learning Curve & Setup
Monday is easy to use but time-consuming to set up properly:
- Templates provide starting points but require customization
- Building automations takes experimentation
- No HR-specific guidance or best practices included
- Plan for 1-2 weeks of configuration time initially
You're trading setup time for long-term flexibility.
The Bottom Line
Monday.com is a powerful, flexible platform that can be adapted for HR needs. But it's not a dedicated HRIS, and the gaps show when you need features like employee self-service, compliance tracking, or benefits administration.
Best use cases: recruiting/ATS, onboarding task management, and HR project tracking. For these specific workflows, Monday is excellent and more affordable than specialized tools.
Not ideal for: full HRIS needs, companies with complex HR requirements, or teams without time to build custom solutions.
If you're already using Monday for other business functions and need lightweight HR tracking, it's worth trying. But if HR is your primary need, purpose-built tools like BambooHR offer better value and less overhead.