WorkZerk vs Employment Hero.
An honest comparison for anyone weighing WorkZerk against Employment Hero. We make WorkZerk, so read it knowing that. Everything said about Employment Hero comes from its own website, terms and help centre, checked in October 2026, and the sources are listed at the foot of the page.
The short version
Employment Hero is an HR, payroll, recruitment and rostering system, founded in Australia in 2014, and it says more than 350,000 businesses use it. Onboarding is one part of it: a new hire is invited by email, sets up an account, and enters their tax file number, super and bank details, which then sit in the same system that pays them and records their leave.
WorkZerk is onboarding software you run yourself, made in Brisbane. Each person gets one private link where they fill in your forms, upload their documents and sign. You approve what comes in, and WorkZerk sends the reminders and tracks every expiry date. It is not an HR or payroll system and does not try to be. It is the intake in front of one, it treats contractors the same as staff, and it has no minimum number of users.
WorkZerk and Employment Hero at a glance
✓ built in. ~ partly, or done a different way. ✗ not built. – not listed on Employment Hero's website, which is not the same as not built.
| Feature | WorkZerk | Employment Hero |
|---|---|---|
| Collecting the paperwork | ||
| A private link per person, with no account, password or app | Yes | Partly An emailed invitation, then the new hire creates an account and password |
| Your own forms and document upload requests | Yes | Yes Custom forms are on its higher plans |
| Policies and PDFs signed online | Yes | Yes |
| Ready-made Australian packs (TFN declaration, super choice, ABN, white card) | Yes | Yes TFN, super and bank details, and the Fair Work Information Statement |
| People add themselves from a link or QR code | Yes A link. Make the QR code with any QR tool | Not listed |
| Different paperwork by role or by answer | Yes | Yes |
| Staying compliant | ||
| Expiry dates tracked, with automatic reminders | Yes | Yes Certifications, with reminders |
| Approve or reject each uploaded document | Yes | Yes |
| AI or automated document checks | Partly AI reads the expiry date only | Partly An automated VEVO work rights check |
| Compliance report across every person and document | Yes | Yes Certification reporting |
| Their own staff check your contractors' documents for you | No You approve every document yourself | Not listed |
| On site | ||
| Online induction courses with assessments | Partly Checklists, videos and sign-offs. No assessments | Yes Induction content, and courses with quizzes in its learning system |
| Site check-in and check-out, and who is on site | Yes | Partly A staff time clock, as a paid add-on |
| Visitor sign-in on a kiosk or tablet | Partly On the visitor's own phone. No kiosk | Not listed |
| Permit to work | No | Not listed |
| A network or marketplace of prequalified contractors | No | Not listed |
| People and pay | ||
| Onboards both employees and contractors | Yes | Partly Its help centre says contractors cannot upload their own documents |
| Payroll | No | Yes |
| HR records, leave, rosters or timesheets | No | Yes |
| Getting started | ||
| The people you onboard pay nothing | Yes | Yes |
| Sign up and try it without a sales call | Yes | Yes A 14-day free trial |
| Price published | Yes | Partly Two HR plans and payroll are priced. Two plans are custom |
| Native iOS and Android app | No Web app, on any phone browser | Yes |
| Public API or integrations | No | Yes On its higher plans |
Employment Hero pricing and WorkZerk pricing
Employment Hero
Employment Hero's Australian pricing page lists HR Essentials at $10 and HR Engage at $14, with HR Elite and Employment Unlimited at a custom price, and payroll at $10. The plan cards do not state the currency or what the price is per. The page says a subscription must include a minimum of 10 users.
It offers a 14-day free trial. The Get Started buttons on its plan cards lead to a demo request.
WorkZerk
One plan at $9.95 a month, in US dollars, with every feature. 25 people can be onboarding at once, and each extra user is $4 a month. The people you onboard pay nothing.
The trial is 30 days with no credit card, and there is no setup fee.
Prices are as each company published them in October 2026. Check both before you decide.
Where Employment Hero is stronger
- Payroll
- Australian payroll with award interpretation, in the same system as onboarding, so the tax, super and bank details a new hire enters are already where the pay run needs them. WorkZerk does not run payroll: you export what you collected to CSV.
- Everything after day one
- Employee records, leave, performance reviews, and rostering and timesheets as an add-on. WorkZerk keeps the documents and details people gave you, and nothing about their leave, hours or pay.
- Hiring
- Recruitment and digital offers, leading into onboarding in the same system. WorkZerk starts once you have decided to bring somebody on.
- Australian employment content
- The Fair Work Information Statement kept current in its induction content, an automated VEVO work rights check, and stapled super fund lookup during onboarding. WorkZerk links to the ATO forms and leaves the checks to you.
- Learning, app and integrations
- Courses with quizzes, a native iOS and Android app, single sign-on, an API on its higher plans, and integrations with Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks. WorkZerk has none of these.
Where WorkZerk is stronger
- Nothing for the person to set up
- Somebody you onboard in WorkZerk opens a private link and starts, with no account and no password. Employment Hero's help centre describes a new hire setting a password and creating an account.
- Contractors
- WorkZerk treats a contractor like anyone else: they upload their own insurance and licences, and get the same reminders. Employment Hero's help centre says contractors have limited access, cannot currently upload their own documents, and do not trigger an onboarding workflow.
- No minimum
- WorkZerk is $9.95 a month whether you onboard two people or twenty five at once. Employment Hero's pricing page sets a minimum of 10 users.
- One plan with everything in it
- Custom forms, expiry reminders and every report are in WorkZerk's one plan. Employment Hero's help centre lists custom forms and timed certification reminders against its higher plans.
- Anyone, not only employees
- The same WorkZerk account onboards volunteers, students, members, suppliers and stallholders, and people can add themselves from a link.
How to choose
Consider Employment Hero if you want one system to hire, onboard, pay and manage your employees. WorkZerk does not pay anybody or record leave, and it is not a replacement for an HR system.
Consider WorkZerk if you already have payroll sorted, or you mostly engage contractors, and what you need is the paperwork collected and kept current without asking anybody to create an account.
The quickest test is to put one real contractor or new starter through WorkZerk. The trial has every feature switched on, so you will know within a week whether it fits.
Questions about WorkZerk and Employment Hero
Only for onboarding paperwork. WorkZerk collects forms, documents and signatures from new staff and contractors, and tracks expiry dates. It does not run payroll, leave, rosters, performance reviews or recruitment, all of which Employment Hero does. WorkZerk can sit in front of a payroll system as the intake.
Employment Hero's Australian pricing page lists HR Essentials at $10 and HR Engage at $14, with a minimum of 10 users, and two further plans at a custom price. The plan cards do not state the currency or the unit. WorkZerk is one plan at $9.95 a month (US dollars) with every feature, 25 people onboarding at once, $4 a month for each extra user, a 30-day free trial with no credit card, and no setup fee.
Yes, it has a contractor onboarding wizard on some plans. Its help centre says contractors have limited access to features and cannot currently upload their own documents. In WorkZerk a contractor uploads their own insurance certificates and licences from their link, and is reminded before each one expires.
Sources
Read in October 2026. If something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
- Employment Hero pricing
- Employment Hero free trial
- Employment Hero about us
- Employment Hero integrations
- Help: onboard as an employee
- Help: setting up Employment Hero as a new user
- Help: feature access for employees versus contractors
- Help: configure onboarding workflows
- Help: onboard a contractor
- Help: getting started with certifications
- Help: manage automated certification workflows
- Help: create, manage and assign forms
- Help: check an employee's work eligibility
- Help: stapled super fund lookup
- Help: accessing the API and developer portal
More comparisons: WorkZerk vs Rapid GlobalWorkZerk vs Cm3