Learning and careers decision
Factorial
Build only a narrow set of HR workflows yourself (time-off, time tracking, simple payslips); keep paying for the full Factorial product if you need audited compliance, global payroll, broad integrations, polished mobile apps, or vendor support.
Visit website↗Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need — the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship.
What a replacement has to do
- Manage employees, approve time-off and time tracking, generate basic payslips/reports, and store employee documents
What it still won’t have
- Independently audited security & compliance assurances
- Breadth of integrations and marketplace
- Mobile apps and polished cross-platform UX
- Global payroll, tax and legal compliance support for multiple jurisdictions
- Dedicated customer success and tailored onboarding
What remains hard
- Brand trust
More than 16,000 companies already use Factorial every day
- Compliance and regulation
Your data, safe and sound We take security and compliance seriously, which is why our data handling systems and processes are independently audited and certified.
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 2 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a minimal self-hosted HR app using Node.js (Express), Postgres, and React. Implement: (1) user auth (JWT) and employee directory with role-based permissions; (2) time-off request API, approval workflow, and team calendar UI; (3) clock-in/out endpoints with QR code support and timesheet aggregation; (4) payslip PDF generation and bulk download; (5) simple reports dashboard with CSV export; (6) secure file storage for employee documents (S3-compatible). Out of scope: multi-country payroll tax calculation, mobile native apps, integration marketplace. Include input validation, error handling, automated tests (unit + basic integration), Docker deployment scripts, and a README with startup and backup procedures.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Partly verdict base52
- An open-source build was found+5
- 5 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- 3/3 assessment runs agreed+4
- Hard moats found in the evidence-3
- Evidence score64
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time — so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 5
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productFactorial | All In One Business Management Software
- official pricingFactorial Pricing Plans
- official docsFactorial Features
- open sourceever-co/ever-gauzy
- open sourcehorilla/horilla-hr
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
