Pricing, features, pros and cons

BambooHR is an all-in-one HR platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, and is great for growing businesses looking to upgrade from a more limited HRIS system. Although BambooHR offers many advantages, it’s not the right choice for every company.

We looked at BambooHR’s pricing, features, pros and cons to help you decide if it’s the best HR software for your needs. If you decide to consider options other than BambooHR, we have some alternative suggestions.

BambooHR Pricing

BambooHR does not disclose its pricing information on its website – you must contact the sales team to get a customized quote for its plans and any add-on services:

• Core plan: Includes HR data and reporting, recruiting, onboarding, leave and benefits tracking, and access to BambooHR’s marketplace of pre-built integrations.
• Professional Plan: Includes everything in the core program, plus performance management, employee experience, employee rewards and employee community.
• Add-ons: Payroll (US employees only), benefits (US employees only), and time tracking can be added to the Core or Professional plans. If you bundle HR, payroll and benefits together, you can get a 15% discount.

Companies with fewer than 25 employees are charged a flat monthly rate, and companies with more than 25 employees are charged a per-employee monthly rate. BambooHR also doesn’t require an annual contract, so you’re not locked in if you decide to switch later.

Additionally, volume discounts are automatically applied when you hire additional employees, and if you are a registered non-profit organization, you are also entitled to an additional 15% discount.

Free trials and free demos are available so you can try out the software before committing.

Key Features of BambooHR

Human Resources Report

BambooHR offers 49 built-in reports to choose from so you can visualize your HR data and use it to make evidence-based decisions. Some examples in the report library include headcount, workforce metrics, and approval packages.

With the upgraded plan, you can create your own templates and generate customer reports, and each user can customize their dashboard to display the analysis modules that are most important to them. BambooHR also comes with an employee repository, providing a secure way to track and report on employee data, such as tax documents.

Recruiting and onboarding

BambooHR comes with a built-in Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that helps you widely post job vacancies, collect resumes, and interview candidates.

Once you identify the people you want to hire, you can quickly generate offer letters with customizable templates and use onboarding software to help new hires complete paperwork quickly. BambooHR is also equipped with tools to support fast and efficient offboarding should an employee decide to leave the company.

time management

Both the Core and Professional plans come with paid time off management. BambooHR automatically alerts managers whenever an employee makes a PTO request, making it easy to quickly check for calendar conflicts and then approve the request.

However, the time and attendance functionality is an additional cost-effective add-on. This feature allows employees to record time worked on specific projects or clients and differentiate between billable and non-billable time. The mobile app allows employees to clock in and out on the go, and BambooHR will automatically track overtime to ensure compliance.

performance management

Performance management is included in the Pro plan. BambooHR has self-assessments and manager assessments built in to encourage more frequent check-ins, rather than just annual reviews. You can use out-of-the-box performance reviews and cycles, or customize them to fit your specific questions and schedule.

For example, you could set new hires to check in every 30 days, or synchronize evaluations to work anniversaries. Managers and employees are automatically alerted and include a link to the assessment.

Employee experience and rewards

BambooHR includes the popular eNPS Employee Experience Survey, inspired by Net Promoter Score. It also includes a more open approach to feedback, with results analyzed through artificial intelligence to provide an instant satisfaction score. These surveys help you understand how to improve employee well-being and satisfaction using quantitative results and anonymous suggestions.

BambooHR also offers a variety of ways to reward employees, including compensation analysis and stock issuance information. These reward statements can be activated for some or all employees, and you can decide which approved personnel can view each statement to protect privacy and sensitive data.

Payslip

BambooHR offers optional payroll add-ons only in U.S. states. Data from time tracking, time off, and benefits are automatically imported into the payroll module, making calculations accurate and fast. BambooHR will also automatically calculate and file all federal, state, and local taxes for your employees to ensure compliance. An employee self-service portal allows employees to easily access pay stubs and update their information without the help of HR personnel.

Benefits management

Benefits Administration is another optional add-on, available only in U.S. states. BambooHR has built-in automatic provider connection, which simplifies the process of synchronizing insurance provider registration information to the HR software. HR teams can quickly set up enrollment windows in BambooHR, whether it’s new hires or qualifications, life events or open enrollment. You can also view each employee’s registration status and approve elections and send registration reminders in a single view.

BambooHR Professionals

• Integrated HR system for small and medium-sized enterprises.
• Easy to navigate interface.
• Implementation team helps with setup.
• Employee self-service capabilities.
• Built-in applicant tracking system.
• Many HR reports are available to choose from.

Disadvantages of BambooHR

• Pricing is not transparent.
• Payroll and Benefits Administration is only available in the United States.
• Time tracking is a paid add-on.

If BambooHR isn’t for you, check out these alternatives

While BambooHR is a powerful HR solution that includes payroll and compliance, in some cases it may not be the best fit for your business. If you are looking to completely outsource your HR department, or you operate internationally and need to meet compliance in different countries, then you would be better off considering BambooHR competitors such as Justworks, Gusto, Rippling or Papaya Global.

Just Walkers

In contrast to BambooHR (an in-house software solution for small businesses), Justworks is a fully outsourced PEO solution. It has two plans, one focused on payroll, recruiting, onboarding and other employee management functions and the other adding employee benefits management. Unlike most PEOs, Justworks lists transparent pricing up front: plans start at $59 per employee per month.

Read our full Justworks review to learn more.

Gusteau

Gusto is a close competitor to BambooHR and offers many of the same features. It’s best known for its payroll platform, but also offers a full suite of HR tools such as recruiting and onboarding, benefits administration, performance management, time and attendance, and HR reporting. Pricing plans start at $40 per month, plus $6 per employee per month.

Read our full Gusto review to learn more.

ripple

Rippling is an all-in-one platform for payroll, benefits, HR, IT and compliance. The platform is designed to automate and simplify the administrative tasks of managing a workforce. Rippling is more comprehensive than BambooHR and can be integrated with more than 500 applications. Rippling costs $8 per person per month – please contact the sales team for a more comprehensive quote.

Read our full Ripple review to learn more.

papaya global

If you run an international business and have strict global compliance and payroll requirements, you should consider Papaya Global. The platform is a global payroll and workforce management solution that helps companies hire and pay employees in 160 countries. Papaya Global is more flexible and scalable than BambooHR and can handle multiple currencies and languages. However, it does not offer high-level HR features like BambooHR, such as employee self-service and HR reporting. Payroll-only plans start at $15 per employee per month.

Read our full papaya global review to learn more.

review method

To write our review and evaluate BambooHR’s features, we reviewed user reviews and product documentation. We also reviewed demos on vendor websites and tested the software where possible. We considered factors such as pricing, customer support, and user interface design. We also considered features such as HR reporting, recruiting and onboarding tools, performance management, employee experience, payroll and benefits management, and more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does BambooHR include payroll?

BambooHR’s main pricing plan does not include payroll, but payroll is only available as an add-on in every U.S. state.

Is there a free version of BambooHR?

BambooHR does offer a free trial, but not a permanent free version of the software. Check out our recommendations for the best free HR software to find alternatives.

Does BambooHR integrate with Quickbooks?

BambooHR does not provide native pre-built integration for Quickbooks. However, you can use Zapier to connect the two software together.

Does BambooHR integrate with ADP?

BambooHR does not provide native pre-built integration for ADP. However, the ADP Marketplace does offer integration with Bamboo created by Flexspring for purchase.