Sapling replaces spreadsheet-based onboarding with drag-and-drop workflows that auto-assign tasks by role, location, and department—plus 40+ integrations to stop re-entering data everywhere.
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Somewhere between 50 and 200 employees, most companies hit the same wall. The spreadsheet tracking new hire onboarding has become unwieldy. Someone in IT keeps missing the equipment provisioning email. HR is spending hours each week on tasks that feel like they should be automatic. And every new office or remote hire adds another layer of complexity to processes that were barely holding together in the first place.
For mid-market companies—particularly those scaling quickly or operating with distributed teams—this friction is more than an inconvenience. It creates real risk: compliance gaps, inconsistent employee experiences, and HR teams so buried in administrative work that strategic initiatives never get off the ground. The challenge isn't finding an HR system; it's finding one that genuinely automates the repetitive work rather than just digitizing it.
Sapling started in 2017 when co-founders Andy Crebar and Bart Macdonald recognized that high-growth teams needed more than a place to store employee data. They needed a system that could actually run processes—automatically triggering the right tasks for the right people at the right time, whether that meant notifying IT to provision a laptop, assigning compliance documents for signature, or scheduling a 30-day check-in with a new hire's manager.
The platform centers on workflow automation rather than just record-keeping. Users build processes using a drag-and-drop workflow builder, setting up templates that auto-assign tasks based on role, department, or location. When someone joins the London office versus the Austin office, they get different onboarding sequences without HR manually adjusting anything. Smart Assignment and Smart Emails handle the triggering and reminders, so the system does the chasing rather than an HR coordinator.
Where Sapling stands out is in its connectivity. The platform offers more than 40 native integrations spanning applicant tracking systems like Greenhouse and Lever, identity management tools like Okta, payroll platforms including ADP and Paylocity, and communication tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams. This isn't just about convenience—it's about making Sapling the hub where employee data flows in from recruiting and out to every system that needs it. The alternative, as most HR teams know, is manually re-entering the same information across five different platforms and hoping nothing gets mistyped.
Since being acquired by UK-based Kallidus in 2021, Sapling has continued developing as part of a broader human capital management suite. The acquisition brought Kallidus's learning management and talent tools into the mix, though Sapling operates as a standalone HRIS for companies that just need core HR functionality. Recent updates have focused on practical improvements: bulk task assignment for companies processing large hiring cohorts, expanded search functionality, and manager-driven offboarding workflows.
Sapling targets companies between roughly 50 and 2,000 employees, with a particular sweet spot in the 100-500 range. The typical buyer has outgrown basic tools but isn't ready for (and doesn't need) enterprise-grade platforms like Workday. They're often dealing with distributed teams, multiple office locations, or the kind of hiring velocity that makes manual processes unsustainable.
The platform has found strong adoption among technology and software companies—customers include InVision, DigitalOcean, Zapier, and Couchbase—but the use case extends to any organization with complex onboarding needs and a preference for automation over admin work. If your HR team is spending significant time on tasks that could be automated, or if your employee experience feels inconsistent depending on who handles the onboarding, those are signals that a tool like this would add value. Companies still using spreadsheets or basic HR tools with limited workflow capabilities tend to see the clearest improvement.
User reviews on G2 and Capterra consistently highlight two things: ease of use and the quality of workflow automation. One reviewer noted that Sapling makes it "easy to use and really helpful when first joining an organisation (especially when remote). It helps get onboarded quickly." Another described how "automated tasks, re-assigning tasks, sequencing tasks...make it an easy tool to use" for managing the employee lifecycle.
The most compelling customer evidence comes from InVision, which scaled from 100 to over 1,000 employees using Sapling as its HR infrastructure. Their team reported that Sapling "was pivotal in supporting our company scale remotely...The onboarding connectivity, data and automation bridged the gap from our recruiting machine to successful employees." Versapay, a B2B payments company, similarly credited Sapling with supporting rapid international expansion. On G2, the platform holds a 4.3 out of 5 rating from nearly 400 reviews and has earned Leader badges in both Onboarding and Core HR categories for seven consecutive quarters.
Sapling uses custom pricing based on company size and needs, so you'll need to go through a sales conversation to get a quote. Based on available data, pricing runs in the annual SaaS model typical for mid-market HR tools. Implementation timelines average around three months according to G2 data, though some customers report going live in weeks when they're starting fresh rather than migrating complex legacy data. Every customer receives a dedicated Customer Success Manager to support implementation, which helps explain why reviews frequently mention smooth setup experiences. A free trial is available for teams that want to test the platform before committing.
Kallidus Sapling makes the most sense for mid-market companies that have hit the limits of manual HR processes and need genuine workflow automation—not just another database. The combination of process automation, strong integrations, and purpose-built design for distributed teams addresses real pain points that generic HR software often misses. For growing organizations where every new hire currently requires a dozen manual touchpoints, the efficiency gains can be substantial.
Learn more at saplinghr.com
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