How We Built a Temporary HRIS for About $125 a Month

One of our clients found themselves in a familiar position. Hiring was accelerating. Applications were coming in from multiple departments and geographic regions. Managers needed visibility into candidates. HR needed a better way to organize, filter, and route applications. The obvious answer was to implement a Human Resources Information System (HRIS). But there was one problem. The company wasn’t ready for one. Implementing an enterprise HRIS would have added cost, complexity, training, and administrative overhead that didn’t make sense for where the business was in its growth.

So instead of asking,

“Which HRIS should we buy?”

we asked,

“What problem are we actually trying to solve?”

The answer wasn’t software. It was organization.

Using Gravity Forms, Airtable, and automation, we built a lightweight hiring system that:

• Collected every application through the website.
• Automatically categorized applicants by department and geography.
• Created a searchable database for HR.
• Reduced manual sorting and administrative work.
• Gave hiring managers visibility into incoming candidates.

The entire solution cost about $125 per month, plus implementation. Was it a replacement for BambooHR, Rippling, or Workday? No. It wasn’t designed to be. It was designed to solve the business problem the company had today.

As the company grows, it may absolutely make sense to invest in a dedicated HRIS. But until then, they have a reliable system that supports hiring without paying for capabilities they aren’t yet using.

That’s one of the lessons we’ve learned working with growing companies. Sometimes the smartest investment isn’t buying another platform. It’s designing a better process with the tools you already have. Technology should fit your stage of growth, not the other way around.