What Is TriNet?
TriNet has sold HR solutions for SMBs for more than 30 years, but its services were broadened by the company’s acquisition of Zenefits in 2022, which added cloud-based HR and payroll products to its lineup. Few vendors offer SMBs a wider range of payroll and HR options than TriNet:
- PEO service: Its PEO service lets businesses outsource their HR management and payroll processing so they can focus on their core operations.
- HR platform: Three versions of TriNet’s HR Platform offer two low-cost HR plans and one that combines HR and payroll processing (payroll can be purchased as an add-on with the two less-expensive packages).
- Add-ons: Layer the company’s HR Plus offerings atop its HR Platform to gain access to payroll tax, payroll management and HR management experts.
- Customization and implementation: Tailor your payroll and HR service to whichever stage your business is in: from startup to growth to established. TriNet experts guide you through the process of switching payroll and HR providers.
Other TriNet services include Clarus R+D, which helps companies maximize the research and development tax credits they receive, and benefits administration that includes health and retirement plans, COBRA administration and employee discount programs. The company also helps you manage your contractor and international workforce.
Featured Partners
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Gusto
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$49 per month plus $6 per user
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Rippling
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$20 per user per month
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Paychex
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Custom
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Paycor
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$99 month + $6 per user per month
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BambooHR
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$12 per user per month
TriNet Key Features
Despite some overlap in the functionality of TriNet’s HR Platform, HR Plus and PEO service, each of the three products has a distinct feature set:
- HR Platform focuses on core HR, benefits and time and attendance (Zen adds payroll processing, which is sold as an add-on for the two lower-priced plans).
- HR Plus adds access to the company’s experts in payroll tax compliance, payroll management and HR management.
- PEO services outsource payroll, HR, time and attendance tracking, recruiting and onboarding.
Payroll Processing
The two low-end HR Platform plans sold by TriNet offer payroll processing as an add-on service, while the high-end Zen package bundles it with a solid collection of HR features. Businesses get unlimited payroll runs, support for garnishments, direct deposit of paychecks, reporting of tips, payroll tax filing and R&D tax credits. You can pay contractors and integrate payroll records with your general ledger and 401(k) plans.
HR Plus’ Payroll Tax Compliance Manager creates accounts for your business with local, state and federal tax authorities. It gives you the option to monitor tax law changes in your jurisdictions to ensure compliance and offers a payroll tax compliance audit by tax experts for $1,000. The TriNet PEO service’s payroll support includes integration with QuickBooks Online and other accounting systems.
Benefits Administration
All three HR Platform packages from TriNet come with health spending accounts (HSA), flexible spending accounts (FSA), commuter benefits, employee discounts and tax-optimized expense reimbursements. They also assist with COBRA administration and offer Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) links to insurance carriers for enrollment elections (companies with 50 or more employees only).
The high-end HR Manager version of HR Plus includes an annual benefits review with brokers. A comprehensive collection of benefits is available to TriNet’s PEO customers, including medical, dental and vision plans from leading providers, as well as 401(k) options for employee matching and profit sharing. Other available PEO benefits are short- and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, telemedicine, employee assistance programs (EAP) and health and dependent day care reimbursement accounts.
Workforce Management
In addition to providing a central repository for HR documents, TriNet’s HR Platform automates the onboarding process and includes custom reports, a library of HR resources, compliance assistance and automatic account provisioning.
HR Plus’ HR Manager package adds administration of unemployment claims, offboarding, a learning management system (LMS) and guidance on policies and procedures. The company’s PEO service outsources all HR support, including time tracking, recruiting, onboarding and compliance.
Compliance
The Compliance Assistant built into TriNet’s HR Platform explains the federal compliance deadlines your business has to meet and lets you set custom reminders of upcoming deadlines. Its dashboard shows at a glance the status of I-9 new hire filing with government agencies and overtime hourly requirements.
The Payroll Tax Compliance Manager in HR Plus handles all required registrations with federal, state and local agencies and continuously monitors new and updated regulations in your business’s jurisdictions. TriNet’s PEO service goes a step further by offering risk mitigation that identifies potential compliance violations and recommends remedial action.
Analytics and Reporting
The HR Platform includes pre-built reports that cover departmental salaries, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) audits, changes in job data and analysis of terminations. They also show benefits utilization, payroll registers, earnings and deductions, time cards, quarterly tax summaries and candidate hiring status. Reports can be customized and converted to dashboard visualizations that present data in real time.
Advisory Services
The HR Advisory Desk and TriNet Learning LMS are sold as add-ons to the company’s HR Platform. HR Advisory Desk provides access to TriNet experts for establishing best practices and responding to HR challenges. The company’s LMS includes more than 50 compliance courses and lets businesses create and upload custom learning material that employees can access through personalized dashboards. The system supports collaborative learning and goal-based employee training.
What Sets TriNet Apart?
TriNet’s most distinguishing feature may be its breadth of HR tools that serve businesses that have anywhere from a dozen or so to several hundred employees. In particular, the HR Platform’s Zen plan that combines HR and payroll is a good choice for growing small businesses, despite its extra charge for recruiting. Also, companies that have outgrown their current HR software can benefit from the migration assistance of TriNet expert advisors who are available through HR Plus’ HR Manager package.
TriNet also stands out for its ROI Calculator, which is intended to help businesses determine their potential savings from outsourcing HR and payroll. The tool asks 10 questions and estimates a company’s cost savings for choosing the PEO option based on those answers.
TriNet ROI Calculator asks number of employees, industry and HQ location.
However, as a very rough estimate of potential savings from a PEO, the ROI Calculator serves as a starting point for weighing the pros and cons of outsourced vs. in-house HR and payroll management.
TriNet Pricing and Plans
TriNet’s prices for its HR and payroll software place it near the average for the industry. The company’s three HR Platform packages cost from $10 per employee per month to $33 per employee per month, with discounts of 18% to 20% for annual contracts.
Adding the company’s HR Plus outsourced services costs from $20 per employee per month for the Payroll Tax Compliance Manager to $50 per employee per month for HR Manager, which includes access to TriNet’s HR experts who handle some of your HR tasks.
| Plans | Monthly per Employee per Month (starting price) | Annually per Employee per Month (starting price) |
|---|---|---|
| HR Platform Essentials | $10 | $8 |
| HR Platform Growth | $20 | $16 |
| HR Platform Zen | $33 | $27 |
| HR Plus Payroll Tax Compliance Manager | $20 | N/A |
| HR Plus Payroll Manager | $30 | N/A |
| HR Plus HR Manager | $50 | N/A |
Add-on services for TriNet’s HR Platform are payroll processing, which starts at $6 per employee per month (included with Zen); benefits administration priced from $5 per employee per month; recruiting by Jazz HR starting at $35 per month; and HR Advisor Desk for $8 per employee per month. Note that benefits administration is offered at no additional cost “with certain terms and conditions.”
Subscribers to HR Plus plans can purchase Payroll Tax Compliance Audits for $1,000 each, and HR Operations Audits for $2,500 each.
TriNet vs. Top Alternatives
| TriNet | Justworks | ADP RUN | Paychex | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $33 per employee per month for HR and payroll | From $50 a month plus $8 per employee per month | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Tax Documents | W-2, 1099 and payroll tax processing | W-2, 1099 and payroll tax processing | W-2, 1099 and payroll tax processing | W-2, 1099 and payroll tax processing |
| Payroll Management | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Leave and Attendance Management | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Performance Management | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Employee Portal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Customer Service | 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. ET Monday to Friday | 24/7 | 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET Monday to Friday | 24/7 |
| Learn More | — | |||
| Read Reviews | — |
TriNet vs. Justworks
Justworks sells two PEO plans and a payroll package for small businesses. The company also offers an Employer of Record (EOR) service for managing an international workforce, as well as onboarding and payroll for international contractors. By contrast, TriNet’s products include three HRIS options, enhanced payroll and HR plans and a PEO solution. The company also offers the Clarus research tax credit services and risk mitigation services.
TriNet customizes its HRIS options for more than a dozen specific industries, including financial services, e-commerce and manufacturing. Justworks offers accountants services and support for providing their clients with payroll and HR services, but the company’s solutions don’t target specific industries. Instead, Justworks’ plans are designed for businesses of various sizes: up to 10 employees, between 11 and 99 employees and 100 or more employees.
Read more: TriNet vs. Justworks
TriNet vs. ADP RUN
ADP RUN’s four payroll and HR plans for small businesses have features that are similar to the three HR Platform packages sold by TriNet. However, the entry-level Essential and Enhanced versions of ADP RUN lack many useful HR tools such as a forms and document library, training material and the HR HelpDesk that lets businesses get advice from ADP’s HR experts. Most SMBs are better served by the Complete and HR Pro plans from ADP, whose features are roughly comparable to TriNet’s Zen offering.
ADP doesn’t list the prices for ADP RUN, but it’s worth noting that several useful features are sold as add-ons, including time and attendance, retirement and health benefits and workers’ compensation. TriNet’s Zen package comes with time and attendance tracking, but it charges extra for the company’s HR Advisory Desk service that offers guidance from HR professionals. (The Workforce Now HRIS products from ADP are designed for midsize companies and enterprises. The packages have features similar to TriNet’s HR Plus add-ons for its HR Platform.)
TriNet vs. Paychex
Paychex sells a complete line of payroll and HR solutions for organizations of all sizes. The company’s Paychex Flex products are intended for businesses with 50 or fewer employees, and its HR Pro, HR Partner Plus and HR PEO services are designed for midsize and larger companies. The capabilities of Paychex Flex’s mid-tier Pro and high-end Enterprise releases are similar to those offered by TriNet’s Zen plan.
However, Zen includes performance management features that are sold as an add-on with Paychex Flex Pro, and both Paychex Flex Pro and Enterprise charge extra for employee onboarding, which is included with all TriNet HR Platform packages.
Learn more: Read our full guide to the Best TriNet Competitors.
Our Expert Opinion
Our interactions with TriNet during testing were hit-and-miss, with more of the latter than the former. For example, our attempts at requesting a demo, getting more information from TriNet’s press relations office and securing access to TriNet’s “personal product demo environment” were futile.
That being said, TriNet can be a solid PEO option for most small or medium-sized businesses. It also offers top-notch software and a very large network of benefit options nationwide for your employees to enjoy.
Value
The prices for TriNet’s HR Platform and HR Plus products are near the average for the industry. However, while the company’s HR Platform prices start at only $10 per employee per month, most SMBs will find TriNet’s high-end Zen plan and the HR Plus add-on’s HR Manager service are better fits for their HR and payroll needs. Zen starts at $33 per employee per month, and HR Manager starts at $50 per employee per month, but when combined, they deliver a complete HR and payroll solution that delivers enterprise-class features and performance.
Customer Service and Support
TriNet aims to offer personalized support via Connect 360, a platform you can use to access your HR, payroll and benefits information directly as well as connect to experts for advice on payroll, benefits, compliance, employee relations and other aspects of HR.
For phone support, you can call TriNet from 6 a.m. to midnight ET, Monday through Friday. You may also use the email or live chat support features at any time. Unfortunately, internet reviews state that TriNet’s customer service has room for improvement.
Users explain that the customer service team wasn’t always able to help with specific concerns or basic questions. Instead, they refer them to the self-service portal.
Reputation
TriNet was founded in 1988 and currently has more than 20,000 client companies supporting nearly 360,000 employees. The company’s PEO services are certified by the IRS, and it has earned accreditation with the Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC).
Contributor Anna Baluch and deputy editor Cassie Bottorff contributed to this article.
Featured Partners
1
Gusto
Yes
Yes
$49 per month plus $6 per user
2
Rippling
Yes
Yes
$20 per user per month
3
Paychex
Yes
Yes
Custom
4
Paycor
Yes
Yes
$99 month + $6 per user per month
5
BambooHR
Yes
Yes
$12 per user per month
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What do PEOs do?
A professional employer organization (PEO) is a service that enters into a shared employment relationship with your company. The PEO leases employees to the business, which retains all control and decision making related to the company’s operation. PEOs share responsibility with the employer but handle all HR-related tasks, including payroll and benefits administration. This allows the business to focus its resources on its core activities.
What’s the difference between a PEO and an employer of record (EOR)?
A PEO is a joint employer that leases employees to your business. This takes care of all of your HR needs for your employees and can be a great option to help deal with the admin and potential liability issues of managing employee payroll and benefits. An EOR is similar but is an option to help you expand and hire globally. The difference between the two is that an EOR takes on all of the employer’s responsibility while a PEO still shares it with the business.
What is a certified PEO?
Certified PEOs have met the strict financial, legal and reporting requirements of the IRS. PEOs are required to maintain specific records and provide the IRS with ongoing financial reports. If you work with one, you’ll minimize financial liability and have more time and effort to spend on product development and support, marketing and customer relations.
