Free HR software for up to 10 employees
Most "free" HR tools are a trial with a countdown, or a free tier so thin it is useless. Tickin's Free plan is genuinely free for up to 10 employees, with no credit card and no expiry. You get real time tracking, attendance, and leave, running inside Slack or the browser your team already uses, and you only start paying when you grow past 10 people.
What you actually get on the Free plan
The Free plan is the working product, not a demo. Your team clocks in and out, attendance is tracked against your office hours and workspace timezone, employees request leave and an admin approves it. It covers the day-to-day a small team runs on, for up to 10 employees, at no cost and with no time limit.
Free where your team already works
There is nothing new to roll out. Clocking in, breaks, and leave requests happen in Slack or the web app, so adoption is instant and you are not paying for, or training people on, yet another portal. The optional Desktop App is a paid-plan add-on, and nothing on the Free plan needs it.
No credit card, and no forced monitoring
Starting free means starting free: no card on file, no trial that flips to a charge, and no pressure to upgrade before you are ready. Tickin is also trust-first, so the core product does not take screenshots or monitor how people spend every minute. You get an accurate record of hours, breaks, and attendance without turning the workday into surveillance.
When free stops being enough
The Free plan is capped at 10 employees. When you grow past that, you move to a paid plan and pay per seat, so the bill scales with your headcount rather than jumping to an enterprise contract. Paid tiers add depth as you need it: overtime detection from Starter, then payroll and payslips, shift scheduling, overtime pay, two-step leave approvals (Team Lead first, then an admin), richer reports and exports on Growth, and projects plus Microsoft Teams collaboration on Scale. You upgrade when the team does, not before.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Tickin's Free plan actually free, or a trial?
- It is genuinely free, not a trial. The Free plan supports up to 10 employees at no cost, with no credit card required and no expiry date. You only pay if and when you grow past 10 people and move to a paid plan.
- How many employees can I have on the free plan?
- Up to 10 employees. That covers the full working product for those 10 people. When you add an eleventh, you switch to a paid plan and pay per seat from there.
- What happens when I grow past 10 employees?
- You move to the Starter, Growth, or Scale plan and pay per seat, so your cost scales with headcount. Your data and setup carry over. Starter lifts the cap and adds overtime tracking, which an admin switches on; Growth and Scale add payroll, overtime pay, two-step Team Lead and admin leave approvals, and richer reporting as you need them.
- Do I need a credit card to start?
- No. You can set up your workspace and use the Free plan for up to 10 employees without entering any payment details.
- Does the free plan monitor or take screenshots of employees?
- No. Tickin is trust-first: the core product does not take screenshots or track activity minute by minute. It records worked hours, breaks, and attendance so you get an accurate picture without surveillance, on the free plan and every paid plan. (Automatic overtime detection starts on the Starter plan, once an admin switches it on.)
- What is included free versus on a paid plan?
- Free covers time tracking, attendance, and leave for up to 10 employees, inside Slack or the browser. Paid plans lift the 10-employee cap. Growth adds depth: payroll and payslips, shift scheduling, overtime pay, two-step Team Lead and admin leave approvals, monthly reports, and CSV exports. Scale adds project and task management plus Microsoft Teams collaboration.