Personio vs Factorial
Personio (Munich) and Factorial (Barcelona) both sell all-in-one HR suites to small and mid-sized companies. Personio's own materials describe payroll as preparation for an external provider such as DATEV; Factorial says it processes payroll directly in Spain and uses integrations elsewhere. Personio suits German-speaking HR teams; Factorial suits companies that want modules priced to a tailored quote.
Choose Personio if
you run HR from Germany or the DACH region, want payroll data prepared for a provider such as DATEV, and care about works-council documentation and configurable data retention.
Read the Personio reviewChoose Factorial if
you are based in Spain or want payroll processed inside the same product there, prefer to assemble modules (time, talent, payroll, IT, finance) into a tailored plan, and want a corporate-card and IT-device module in the same vendor.
Read the Factorial reviewPersonio and Factorial side by side
| Personio | Factorial | |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Personio SE & Co. KG | Factorial HR |
| Headquarters | Munich, Germany | Barcelona, Spain |
| Founded | 2015 | 2016 |
| Jurisdiction | EU (Germany) | EU (Spain) |
| Where the data sits | European Union (AWS Frankfurt) | EU |
| Pricing | From about €2.88/employee/month | Free tier / from about €4.50/employee/month |
| Entry-level list price (vendor site, checked 19 October 2026) | Not shown: Personio's pricing page could not be read by an automated check on 19 October 2026; see the vendor website. | Tailored quote built from the modules you choose; the pricing page displayed 'starts at $8 per month, per user' on 19 October 2026 (shown to a US-based visitor, so the euro figure may differ). |
| Free tier or trial | Demo on request | Free tier |
| Certifications and checks | GDPR | GDPR |
| Source code | Closed source | Closed source |
| Usually replaces | BambooHR, Workday, ADP | BambooHR, Workday, Personio |
| Position in our HR Software guide | #2 of 12 | #4 of 12 |
Both are listed in our European HR Software guide. The table is built from the same directory data as those entries, except the list price, which is quoted from each vendor's own pricing page (see Sources below); how we check it is described in the editorial process.
Where Personio and Factorial differ
Across the five points below, Personio has the edge on 1 point, Factorial on 2 points and 2 are a tie. A count like that is a summary, not a verdict: the point that matters to you may be the one the other product wins.
Payroll approach
Personio describes its payroll function as preparing and validating hours, absences and salary changes and exporting them to a payroll provider, with DATEV named for Germany. Factorial's payroll page promises calculation of wages, taxes and benefits plus bulk payslip sending, and the site's own review says it processes payroll directly in Spain. For a Spanish company that wants one system, Factorial is ahead; in Germany both rely on a provider.
Edge: Factorial
How the price is built
Factorial's pricing page does not show a fixed list: it says it will tailor a plan from the modules you pick, with a starting figure of $8 per user per month displayed to the visitor we tested with, and all plans include its Core toolkit. Personio's pricing page could not be read by an automated check on 19 October 2026, so no Personio price is stated here. Ask both for a written quote with your headcount and modules.
No clear winner on this point.
Recruiting and talent
Both suites cover the hiring-to-offboarding line. Personio's review lists an applicant tracking system with multiposting and a career page; Factorial lists talent acquisition, onboarding and offboarding, 360 performance reviews, goals and OKR tracking and training management as separate modules. Neither is clearly deeper on the vendor pages, so the choice depends on which modules you would actually switch on.
No clear winner on this point.
Beyond HR
Factorial's navigation extends into IT management (device management, IT inventory, SaaS management) and finance (expenses, project management and corporate cards), so one vendor can cover more than people data. Personio's materials focus on the HR lifecycle: recruiting, personnel files, time, absence, payroll preparation, performance and compensation. If you want a single supplier across HR, IT and spend, Factorial offers more breadth.
Edge: Factorial
Legal entity and law
Personio's contracts name Personio SE & Co. KG and are governed by German law, with German as the decisive language for customers in the DACH region. Factorial's legal notice names Everyday Software, S.L., a Barcelona company registered in the Spanish commercial register. Both pass a Europe test; Personio has the edge for German works-council and DACH customers, Factorial for Spanish ones.
Edge: Personio
When neither Personio nor Factorial fits
If neither fits, Kenjo is a Berlin-based all-in-one suite and Bizneo HR is a Madrid vendor that prices by module; both are in the HR Software category on this site.
Personio vs Factorial: questions
Neither vendor shows a simple list price to compare. Factorial says it builds a tailored plan and displayed a starting figure of $8 per user per month in our check; Personio's pricing page was not readable by an automated check on 19 October 2026. Request a quote from both for the same headcount.
Factorial's payroll page describes calculating wages and taxes and sending payslips in bulk, and our site review says direct processing exists in Spain. Personio describes preparing payroll data and passing it to a provider such as DATEV, so in Germany you still need a payroll provider.
Personio's contracts name Personio SE & Co. KG under German law, and the site lists Munich as headquarters. Factorial's legal notice names Everyday Software, S.L., Carrer de Llacuna 56, Barcelona.
Yes. Both list applicant tracking, onboarding, performance reviews and goal tracking in the vendor or site material. Factorial sells them as modules you add to a tailored plan, while Personio presents them as parts of one HR platform.
Sources
Facts, prices and plan details on this page were checked on the vendors' own websites on . Prices and plans change; the vendor's current page is authoritative.
- Factorial pricing page: Tailored plans from modules, starting figure of $8 per user per month, Core toolkit in all plans (checked 19 October 2026)
- Factorial payroll page: Payroll calculation, bulk payslips and sharing data with an accountant (checked 19 October 2026)
- Factorial legal notice: Everyday Software, S.L., Barcelona, commercial register entry (checked 19 October 2026)
- Personio Marketplace Terms of Service: Personio SE & Co. KG as contracting party, German governing law, German version decisive in DACH (checked 19 October 2026)