About Our Publication
Independent HR Technology Research
Helping People Operations leaders, CFOs, and founders build scalable, compliant, and cost-effective workforce infrastructure.
Why We Built The HR Stack Guide
Most B2B software review directories rely on commercial models that distort buyer decisions. Aggregators frequently auction top rankings and category badges to the highest bidder in pay-per-click lead-generation auctions, while incentivizing unverified volume reviews with gift cards. These superficial product tours fail to evaluate contract lock-ins, hidden currency conversion spreads, or real-world onboarding friction.
Selecting core HR infrastructure is fundamentally different from purchasing consumer productivity tools. Choosing the wrong Employer of Record (EOR) can expose an organization to permanent establishment risks, statutory compliance penalties, and intellectual property vulnerabilities. Deploying the wrong Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or performance management platform creates immediate operational bottlenecks across recruitment and engineering teams.
The HR Stack Guide was created to provide transparent, unvarnished trade-offs. We analyze technical architecture, contract structures, entity ownership models, and total cost of ownership across competing workplace software providers.
What the Catalog Covers
The public site is 60 side-by-side comparison hubs, three category guides, and an Employer of Record cost calculator. Each comparison is a static page. The feature table, the cost model, and the buyer-profile verdict are written into the first HTML response for that specific pair. A note written for one matchup is not pasted onto another.
- Global Payroll and EOR covers Deel, Remote, Rippling, Oyster HR, Gusto, Papaya Global, Multiplier, Payoneer Workforce Management, and Remote People.
- Applicant Tracking Systems covers Ashby, Lever, Workable, Breezy HR, JazzHR, Recruitee, and BambooHR.
- Performance Management covers PerformYard, Lattice, and Culture Amp.
- The EOR cost calculator prices a hiring scenario from published platform fees, foreign-exchange assumptions, and deposit rules. The calculation logic is open source, and the data shape is published as an OpenAPI schema.
- How to Build an HR Tech Stack walks a buyer from category choice to a shortlist before any demo is booked.
Editorial Leadership & Research
Dave Storey — Founder & Principal Researcher
Dave Storey has spent over 15 years evaluating, architecting, and scaling workplace technology and operational systems for high-growth businesses. Having guided talent acquisition, people operations, and workforce planning from early-stage venture backing through international scale-ups, Dave established The HR Stack Guide to address the lack of transparent, data-driven software evaluation in the mid-market.
His research focuses specifically on the unit economics of distributed hiring, cross-border compliance routing, and integration ergonomics between core HRIS platforms, modern ATS tools, and global payroll providers. Every comparison framework, cost model, and buyer profile evaluation published on The HR Stack Guide is developed under Dave’s editorial direction and verified against live platform documentation and contract terms.
Our Editorial Independence Principles
Our editorial integrity is the foundation of our research. We adhere to three non-negotiable operational standards:
- Zero Sponsored Rankings: Software vendors cannot purchase higher comparison ratings, favorable feature verdicts, or placement on our recommendation shortlists.
- Symmetrical 4-Pillar Evaluation: Every tool in a comparison is subjected to identical evaluation criteria regardless of commercial relationships.
- Commercial Transparency: The HR Stack Guide is funded through affiliate referral agreements with select software providers. If you click an outbound link to schedule a vendor demo or request pricing, we may receive compensation. This commercial relationship never alters our quantitative scores, editorial verdicts, or documented platform limitations.
Research Audits & Contact
We conduct quarterly verification audits across our entire comparison catalog. If you represent a software vendor covered on our site and have updated pricing tiers, revised feature sets, or compliance changes to report, contact our editorial team:
Editorial & Corrections
Business & Operations
Mailing Address: The HR Stack Guide, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom.