SmartHR
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersTokyo, Japan
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
SmartHR firmographics
Firmographics- 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
SmartHR industry classification
Industry- 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
Where SmartHR is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Tokyo
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices5 records
Markets served
SmartHR business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free ¥0 Plan for companies with fewer than 30 employees |
| Subscription | Annual | Paid SmartHR subscription tiers (Labor Management + Talent Management) |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | SmartHR Plus marketplace app pricing set by third-party developers |
Go-to-market motion6 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels10 records
SmartHR product offering
Product offeringCore 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
Companies that use SmartHR
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
SmartHR technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
AI capability6 records
Feature6 records
SmartHR partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- Smart Sodanshitsu, Inc. (グループ会社)coreGroup 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)coreGroup 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.flagshipGroup 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.coreGroup 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)coreGroup 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)minorFormer group company established in 2022; now independent from the SmartHR Group per the company history page.
- UPSIDER, Cybozu, Geniee, Kaonavi (co-hosted networking)minorSmartHR 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
SmartHR competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect 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
SmartHR social profiles
Digital presenceSmartHR compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
SmartHR financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SmartHR leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
SmartHR subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries5 records
SmartHR funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds9 records
Investors19 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SmartHR M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SmartHR
What does SmartHR do?
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.
Is SmartHR a public or private company?
SmartHR is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was SmartHR founded?
SmartHR was founded in 2013. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is SmartHR based?
SmartHR is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does SmartHR make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. SmartHR SaaS subscription (Labor Management + Talent Management) is the primary driver. The others are freemium / ¥0 Plan (Free Tier), smartHR Plus App Store Ecosystem Revenue and group Company Services (Lansmart, Smart MyCoach, Smart Sodanshitsu, KICK ZA ISSUE consulting, SUNITED BPaaS, Rakushifu shift management).
Who are SmartHR's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are kaonavi, Works Applications, freee, Money Forward and HRBrain. Broad incumbents are Cybozu, Workday, SAP SuccessFactors and OBIC7. TeamSpirit is listed as an emerging player.
Does SmartHR have an API?
Yes. SmartHR offers API Access as part of its Third-Party Data Integration capabilities, enabling developers to programmatically interact with employee data stored in SmartHR for various back-office workflows. The service is part of SmartHR Plus and is mentioned alongside CSV Import & Export, Data Synchronization, Data Adapters & Batch Processing, and SSO Integration. Specific details on authentication method, rate limits, versioning, and sandbox availability are not specified in the source.
What industry is SmartHR in?
SmartHR's product category is Cloud HR and Labor Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAIAB, Payroll Software & Payroll-as-a-Service (SaaS), with a secondary code of BPACAKAJ, Workforce Management & Scheduling Outsourcing (Non-payroll). Its NAICS code is 541214 and its SIC code is 7372.