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Comparison · HR

Horilla vs Workyard

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Horilla and Workyard — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Horilla vs Workyard: at a glance

FeatureHorillaWorkyard
SectorHRHR
Velocity score5.07.5
Sparks · 30d01
Top themessecurity, access-control, open-source, hr-softwareconstruction, workforce management, ai agents, reporting
Last editorial update28d ago3d ago
WebsiteVisit →—

What is Horilla?

Horilla shipped six security releases in three weeks, ending with a no-login RCE.

Horilla's 2.1.x line has become a running security audit. Between 2.1.1 and 2.1.8 the team closed more than a dozen externally reported advisories, from stored XSS and local file reads to salary-redirect and self-approval flaws, capped by an unauthenticated remote code execution in the public recruitment flow.

Read the full Horilla trajectory →

What is Workyard?

Workyard's Reporting Agent builds any report from live crew data, matched to your format.

Workyard now has a Reporting Agent. Upload a report you already send, or describe one in a sentence, and it rebuilds it from time cards, jobs, cost codes, forms, PTO and pay periods, ready to rerun for any job, crew or date range. It's web-only and included in Autopilot and Enterprise plans at no extra cost. It follows a fall of payroll-configuration work: custom overtime rules, bulk time approval and accounting IDs everywhere.

Read the full Workyard trajectory →

Horilla vs Workyard: editorial side-by-side

H5.0

Horilla shipped six security releases in three weeks, ending with a no-login RCE.

◆ Current state

Horilla's 2.1.x line has become a running security audit. Between 2.1.1 and 2.1.8 the team closed more than a dozen externally reported advisories, from stored XSS and local file reads to salary-redirect and self-approval flaws, capped by an unauthenticated remote code execution in the public recruitment flow.

◆ Where it's heading

The pattern is consistent: outside researchers are probing the 2.x codebase, and the maintainers are responding fast with detailed advisories and no-migration patches. Most of the flaws are authorization checks that trusted any manager relationship rather than the specific record, which points to a codebase-wide access-control review rather than one-off fixes.

◆ Prediction

Expect more point releases closing authorization bugs in the remaining HR modules (payroll, attendance, assets) before any feature work resumes on 2.2.

W7.5

Workyard's Reporting Agent builds any report from live crew data, matched to your format.

◆ Current state

Workyard now has a Reporting Agent. Upload a report you already send, or describe one in a sentence, and it rebuilds it from time cards, jobs, cost codes, forms, PTO and pay periods, ready to rerun for any job, crew or date range. It's web-only and included in Autopilot and Enterprise plans at no extra cost. It follows a fall of payroll-configuration work: custom overtime rules, bulk time approval and accounting IDs everywhere.

◆ Where it's heading

Workyard is moving from time capture toward running the back office for construction contractors. Time Assistant, event-driven Smart Forms and now an agent for reporting show AI being placed at the admin steps that eat the most hours. Bundling it into existing tiers suggests agents are meant to make the top plans more valuable rather than become a new line item.

◆ Prediction

Expect the Reporting Agent to gain scheduled delivery or mobile access, and agent-style features to extend into payroll or expense reconciliation.

Alternatives to Horilla and Workyard

Other HR products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Horilla or Workyard.

See all Horilla alternatives → · See all Workyard alternatives →

Recent activity from Horilla and Workyard

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 7d agoWorkyardIntroducing our new Reporting Agent. Any report, in your format, in minutes. ⚡
  2. 22d agoWorkyardReview, fix, and approve time in one pass
  3. 27d agoWorkyardProject Numbers and Team Member IDs now show across Workyard
  4. 1mo agoWorkyardCustomize your own overtime rules ⚡
  5. 1mo agoHorilla2.1.8 — Security release
  6. 1mo agoWorkyardExpenses: Link any US bank to fund your expense cards
  7. 1mo agoWorkyardExpenses: Fix "merchant not supported" declines right from the transaction
  8. 1mo agoHorilla2.1.5 — Bug-fix release
  9. 1mo agoHorilla2.1.4 — Security release
  10. 1mo agoHorilla2.1.3 — Security and bug-fix release
  11. 1mo agoHorilla2.1.2 — Security patch
  12. 1mo agoHorilla2.1.1 — Security patch

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Horilla and Workyard?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Workyard is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 7.5 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Horilla better than Workyard?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Workyard is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 7.5 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other HR products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Horilla?

Top Horilla alternatives in HR are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Horilla alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/horilla for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Workyard?

Top Workyard alternatives in HR are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Workyard alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/workyard for the full list with editorial commentary on each.