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LeadChange Group

Employee Intranet

Employee Intranet Software for Small Business

Small businesses need a simple home for policies and contacts with minimal upkeep.

By LeadChange Research TeamUpdated

LeadChange may earn a fee when you request pricing through our site or follow a sponsored link. Rankings never depend on whether a vendor pays us.We may earn a fee.

Research in progress

We have not yet verified which employee intranet platforms serve this segment. We rank employee intranet software for small business once at least 3 products have that evidence; until then, this page sets out what matters and what we evaluate.

What we evaluate

  • Intranet search

    Finds people, pages and documents from one search box.

  • Content authoring and publishing

    Lets non-technical owners create pages and news with approvals.

  • Audience targeting

    Shows content by location, department or role.

  • Permissions and security

    Controls access by group and inherits permissions from the directory.

  • Directory and org chart

    Lists employee profiles and reporting lines.

  • Document management

    Stores documents with versions and ownership.

  • News and social features

    Offers news posts, comments and communities.

  • HR and business integrations

    Connects to HR, collaboration and file systems.

  • Mobile and frontline access

    Provides mobile access for non-desk workers.

  • Analytics

    Reports page views, search terms and engagement.

  • Accessibility

    Supports screen readers and accessible content authoring.

What matters for small business

  1. Simple publishing

    Anyone should be able to update a page.

  2. Document library

    Policies and forms must be easy to find.

  3. Low administration

    There is no dedicated owner.

  4. Affordable per-user pricing

    Costs should match team size.

How to choose employee intranet software

6 criteria · Requirements by company size · 5 red flags

Decide who owns content before choosing a platform. Intranets fail from stale content, not missing features.

Then test search, since employees judge the product by whether they find what they need in seconds.

  1. Search quality

    Employees abandon an intranet that cannot find things.

  2. Content authoring and ownership

    Content stays current only if owners can update it easily.

  3. Permissions and audience targeting

    Employees should see content relevant to them and not restricted material.

  4. Directory and org chart

    People lookup is a top use of intranets.

  5. Integrations with HR and business systems

    The intranet should link to forms, payroll and tools.

  6. Mobile and frontline access

    Not every employee has a desk.

Requirements by company size

  • Small businesses

    • Simple page publishing and document library
    • Directory from HRIS or identity provider
    • Fast setup

    Watch out for

    • Platforms that need a dedicated administrator
    • Per-user pricing for a small audience

Red flags

  • The trial cannot be tested with your own content.
  • Search covers only the intranet, not connected systems, and the vendor does not say so.
  • Content owners and review dates cannot be assigned.
  • There is no way to retire or archive outdated pages.
  • Mobile access requires a VPN or separate app with no frontline sign-in option.

More tools for small business

Find your fit

By company size

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an intranet for a small business?

Probably not if a shared drive or wiki organizes your content and everyone knows where to look. Consider an intranet when employees cannot find policies or HR answers the same questions repeatedly, or when you need to prove which policy version was current.

How we research

A ranking of employee intranet for small business reweights the LeadChange Score: capability coverage 25%, pricing transparency & value 30%, integrations & API 10%, security & compliance 10%, fit & support 15%, and data confidence 10%. Only products with a verified fact showing they serve this segment are listed.

Read the full methodology

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