SmartHR

Name

SmartHR

Legal name

株式会社SmartHR (SmartHR, Inc.)

Website

https://smarthr.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cloud HR and Labor Management Software

NAICS

Payroll Services (541214), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Payroll Software & Payroll-as-a-Service (SaaS) (BPACAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Workforce Management & Scheduling Outsourcing (Non-payroll) (BPACAKAJ)

Keywords

• Cloud HR software
• Labor management SaaS
• Talent management platform
• Human capital management
• HR automation

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. SmartHR SaaS subscription (Labor Management + Talent Management): Recurring subscription revenue (MRR-based ARR) from cloud HR/labor SaaS and talent management modules (onboarding, employment contracts, payroll, year-end tax adjustment, attendance, HR evaluation, employee surveys, organization replanner, skills management). ARR reached approximately 15 billion yen at end of February 2024; ARR $100M as of Feb 2024.
2. Freemium / ¥0 Plan (Free Tier): Free '¥0 Plan' introduced in 2016 for businesses with fewer than 30 employees providing core HR functions; drives land-and-expand conversion to paid tiers as customers grow.
3. SmartHR Plus App Store Ecosystem Revenue: Revenue from third-party apps distributed via the SmartHR Plus marketplace that extend platform functionality and consume HR data through APIs/data adapters.
4. Group Company Services (Lansmart, Smart MyCoach, Smart Sodanshitsu, KICK ZA ISSUE consulting, SUNITED BPaaS, Rakushifu shift management): Cross-sell revenue from affiliated group companies offering coaching, online counseling, IT/DX consulting, business process as a service (BPaaS), and cloud shift management — extending SmartHR's footprint beyond SaaS into consulting, BPO, and adjacent cloud products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion6 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

SmartHR provides a cloud-based HR and labor management SaaS platform for Japanese businesses, centered on a unified employee database that powers paperless employment contracts, onboarding, year-end tax adjustments, attendance, payroll, and talent management functions (performance evaluation with salary simulation, organization replanner, surveys, skills management, HR analytics). The platform is delivered via the SmartHR Plus app store and group-company services (Lansmart, Rakushifu, KICK ZA ISSUE, SUNITED, Smart Sodanshitsu, Smart MyCoach) and is sold primarily on a subscription basis with a freemium ¥0 Plan tier for sub-30-employee businesses.

Product overview

SmartHR operates a platform-plus-modules architecture anchored on its flagship cloud-based HR and labor management SaaS, 'SmartHR', which serves as the centralized entry point for employee data during onboarding. The platform is organized into two main sub-brands introduced during the 2024 rebrand: SmartHR Labor Management (covering onboarding procedures, attendance management, employment contracts, payroll, payslips, document signing/approval, year-end tax adjustment, and reports) and SmartHR Talent Management (covering recruitment management, performance evaluation with salary simulation, organization restructure simulation, career history, skills & credentials, training management, employee surveys, and HR analytics). Supporting modules include the Employee Portal (with mobile app, AI Assistant, ID management) and Employee Database (org charts, directories). Extensibility is delivered through SmartHR Plus, a third-party app store, and via Third-Party Data Integration capabilities (CSV import/export, API access, data sync, batch processing, SSO). The Group's broader service portfolio also includes Smart Sodanshitsu (counseling), Smart MyCoach (coaching), Lansmart by SmartHR (outsourcing ops from CloudBrains), Rakushifu (shift management from Xbit), KICK ZA ISSUE (IT/DX consulting), and SUNITED (BPaaS), each tied to a SmartHR group company. AI capabilities are positioned to assist human decision-making through analysis of employee data and natural language understanding, governed by SmartHR's published AI Usage Policy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SmartHR Labor Management: Cloud-based labor management module of SmartHR covering onboarding procedures, attendance management, employment contracts, payroll, payslips, document signing & approval, year-end tax adjustment, and reports.
• SmartHR Talent Management
• SmartHR Plus
• AIRVISA
• SmartHR Accessibility
• Lansmart by SmartHR
• Rakushifu by SmartHR
• Smart MyCoach

Products and services

• SmartHR Labor Management
• SmartHR Talent Management
• SmartHR Plus
• SmartHR Payroll (給与計算) Module
• SmartHR Attendance Management (勤怠管理) Module
• SmartHR Employee Portal
• Smart Sodanshitsu
• Smart MyCoach
• Lansmart by SmartHR
• Rakushifu by SmartHR
• KICK ZA ISSUE IT/DX Consulting Service
• SUNITED BPaaS Service

Quantifiable outcome

• 7 consecutive years of #1 share in Japan Labor Management Cloud (by shipment amount)
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Smart Sodanshitsu, Inc. (グループ会社)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGroup company (established 2021) providing human-to-human HR support services including online counseling, mental health coaching, stress checks, and harassment reporting — distributed alongside SmartHR.
• CloudBrains, Inc. (Lansmart by SmartHR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGroup company that operates 'Lansmart by SmartHR' — a cloud service automating outsourcing workflows, contract management, work tracking, and invoicing with integrations for CloudSign, Slack, Salesforce, LINE, Bakuraku Invoicing, and BillOne.
• KICK ZA ISSUE, Inc.flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerGroup company (group-company-ized 2026-01-09) providing end-to-end IT/DX consulting, system development, and IT BPO (KICK OPS) — combining SmartHR's SaaS/AI technology stack with KICK ZA ISSUE's IT consulting capability to support IT strategy from planning through implementation and operations.
• SUNITED Co., Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGroup company providing end-to-end BPaaS for business operations — uses SmartHR as the core product to connect HR, IT infrastructure, business systems, marketing, sales and finance; supports workflow redesign and ongoing operations.
• Xbit, Inc. (Rakushifu by SmartHR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGroup company operating 'Rakushifu by SmartHR' — cloud-based shift management for growing companies. SmartHR group-company-ized Xbit (operator of 'らくしふ') on 2026-05-07.
• Nstock (former group company)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormer group company established in 2022; now independent from the SmartHR Group per the company history page.
• UPSIDER, Cybozu, Geniee, Kaonavi (co-hosted networking)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSmartHR co-hosted a post-event networking gathering at Engineering Management Conference Japan 2026 (Silver sponsorship by UPSIDER), alongside Cybozu, Geniee, and Kaonavi.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• kaonavi: kaonavi is a Japanese cloud talent management platform that competes directly with SmartHR Talent Management on performance evaluation, HR analytics, and employee data utilization for mid-market and enterprise customers in Japan.
• Works Applications: Works Applications (HUE, COMPANY) is a long-standing Japanese enterprise HR/payroll HCM vendor, competing with SmartHR in the mid-market and enterprise tier for an integrated HR core system.
• freee: freee is a leading Japanese cloud SaaS provider offering freee HR (payroll/HR) and freee accounting, directly competing with SmartHR in cloud HR and payroll for Japanese SMBs and mid-market companies on a similar freemium-led, Japan-domestic model.
• Money Forward: Money Forward offers Money Forward Cloud Payroll/HR as part of its broader cloud back-office suite in Japan, directly competing with SmartHR for HR/payroll SaaS wallets and overlapping on employee data and payroll automation.
• HRBrain: HRBrain provides cloud HR and talent management software in Japan, with overlapping modules (employee management, evaluation, surveys) that directly compete with SmartHR's Talent Management and core HR offerings for Japanese SMB/mid-market.

Broad incumbents

• Cybozu: Cybozu (Kintone, Garoon) is a broader Japanese cloud business application platform that overlaps with SmartHR on workplace productivity, internal collaboration, and increasingly HR-adjacent workflows as part of a much wider SMB/mid-market product portfolio.
• Workday: Workday is a global HCM cloud incumbent that competes with SmartHR for large Japanese enterprise HR core system deals, offering broader global HCM but with a heavier implementation footprint and higher price point.
• SAP SuccessFactors: SAP SuccessFactors is a global HCM incumbent frequently competing with SmartHR in Japanese large-enterprise HR modernization RFPs, especially where SAP ERP is already deployed.
• OBIC7: OBIC and related Japanese core business software vendors (e.g., OBC, Yayoi) overlap with SmartHR at the payroll/accounting-adjacent back-office layer for Japanese SMB and mid-market customers.

Emerging players

• TeamSpirit: TeamSpirit is a Japanese cloud attendance/expense platform backed by Salesforce Ventures that competes with SmartHR's Attendance Management and Labor Management modules, especially inside Salesforce/Slack-led enterprise stacks.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/smarthr_jp
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCJ0cOZT9Wndm_jUxRqkpxMA
• Facebookfacebook.com/kufuinc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smarthr
• Instagraminstagram.com/smarthr_jp

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds9 records

Investors19 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SmartHR