BambooHR has remained one of the top names in HR software for years. They have won numerous awards for customer support, ease of use, and good value. Their numerous features can be flexibly packaged according to your needs.
Ratings
Ease of Use
Best For
Key Differentiator
Price
Free Trial
PROS
- Flexible packaging and custom pricing is the way they roll. You can pick out one or two packages and pick other modules as add-ons based on your needs.
- Very simple and straightforward tool, easy to use.
CONS
- Payroll is only available for US-based employees
- Customer support is only offered during US business hours.
- Some modules like time tracking, performance management, and surveys are only available as add-ons.
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BambooHR tries to accommodate one or another version of their technology to fit your business. Their HR platform spans across the employee lifecycle as they have tons of other functionalities (like a full ATS or a performance management module) in addition to the core HRIS offer.
They do offer the core HR part as a stand-alone product. The way they package features can be flexible. For instance, they have a small business package called Essentials.
This package covers all the HR Management features like employee records, benefit tracking, standard reporting, document storage and more. It also has the employee self-service module, which is where workers can manage their time off, consult the employee directory and org chart, see a company calendar, and do all this from either the desktop version or the mobile app.
Further, Modules like payroll, time tracking, and performance management are offered as add-ons. If you need more, you can opt for the Advantage package. This plan includes onboarding and offboarding features, the Applicant Tracking System, advanced reporting, company branding, access to the open API, satisfaction surveys, and much more.
The flexibility of building out your plan like this is part of what keeps drawing one HR team after another to the tool. Arguably, it’s also what makes BambooHR one of the most popular HR software products of all time.
The product itself is fairly easy to use and figure out on your own. It’s one of the most simple tools to navigate that packs so many features. At SSR, we’ve demoed the tool, tried it for free, and even worked at companies where it was the HRIS of choice. We can say it’s rare to have to consult any help articles in order to make use of the tool. You just log in, do what you have to do, and trust that your colleagues will be notified.
Take the process of requesting time off, for instance. A worker would log in, send the request to their manager, and the manager gets an email notification. Once approved or rejected, the worker gets an email notification as well and the company calendar is updated accordingly. There’s no need for the worker to log back into the tool.
Lastly, BambooHR also have numerous amenities like an app marketplace of HR/recruiting vendors that integrate with their system, an HR glossary, and host HR events on occasion.
I used it daily as the HR Data Manager for my company. We maintained employee records, processed new hire onboarding, managed time-off requests, and generated reports for compliance and analytics.
I supported employee performance review cycles and tracked employee changes. I also audited data on a quarterly basis. It served as the central source of HR data for the company.
- The user-friendly UI is intuitive and easy to navigate.
- The strong onboarding and self-service tools streamlined our processes and allowed employees to complete tasks that would have otherwise required HR support.
- Reporting was reliable for auditing and compliance purposes.
Our organization purchased BambooHR to consolidate our scattered HR processes into a single platform. We had previously been using static information sources like Excel and Word documents to house employee data, which caused inefficiencies and reporting errors.
I used the system throughout implementation and for a year afterward. It resolved many issues with data inconsistencies and improved tracking of employee data, onboarding, and performance.
- Customization was limited, as some modules like performance had restricted flexibility in fields, workflows, and integrations.
- The lack of pricing transparency was frustrating; we had to go through multiple discovery calls to get a price estimate.
- Analytics capabilities were basic and not very robust.
It is focused on small to mid-sized businesses and ease of use. Unlike larger systems like Workday, it is not overly complex or overpriced and requires much less administrative effort. It is generally API-friendly, and the customer service team is excellent.
Organizations should consider their growth plans to determine whether BambooHR meets their scalability needs. They should also consider their employee base and whether ease of use will be a critical factor.
The interface has become more intuitive, with improved mobile access and self-service options for managers and employees. The analytics tools have improved slightly as well.
Small to mid-sized organizations can benefit grealy from BambooHR.
Large, complex organizations will find it better to use more robust software.
I used it primarily for hiring, such as uploading applicant information into the BambooHR system. I also used it to send required forms and onboarding documents to new employees. In addition, I assigned training modules for new hires to complete.
I accessed BambooHR almost daily, as it served as the central repository for all personnel records, removing the need for physical files.
Although payroll was not part of my responsibilities, I was responsible for entering accurate compensation details for both new and current employees, which BambooHR then communicated to payroll.
- It is easy to use.
- The layout is clear and intuitive.
- The system is simple and efficient for everyday HR tasks.
This was an organization where I worked as a consultant. They chose BambooHR because it was easy to use and provided a wide range of useful resources.
The organization aimed to streamline their HR processes, including employee onboarding and record-keeping. BambooHR offered centralized personnel file storage, eliminating the need for paper files. I personally used the tool during my time as a consultant with them.
I don’t have any specific complaints about the program. I did not encounter any issues while using it. There may be more features available, but I did not have the opportunity to explore them due to the limitations of my role.
Using BambooHR felt like a simplified version of PeopleSoft. I used PeopleSoft for years, and BambooHR was much easier to navigate. As mentioned earlier, I would have liked to explore more of its capabilities, but as a contracted employee, I used it according to the scope of my assignment.
Always compare different systems before purchasing. If I were part of a small company, I would choose BambooHR over ADP due to its cost, the information it provides, and its ease of use. It may have felt easier for me to use because I have experience with more complex systems.
I know the platform has continued to evolve, and I would be happy to use it again. I can’t speak to its most recent updates, as I have not used it recently.
BambooHR works well for small companies with fewer than 150 employees. They might not agree with me, but the system is simple and easy to use. The helpdesk also responds quickly, which makes it accessible even to users outside of HR.
The larger corporations may not find BambooHR robust enough for their needs.
I was first tasked with ensuring that all employee information in the system was accurate. I used BambooHR daily for recruiting by entering open positions, posting jobs, and reviewing candidates.
We recruited for various roles, including entry-level data clerks, social workers, and a few supervisory positions. The long-term goal was to use the system for timekeeping, benefits administration, and payroll integration.
Although we didn’t reach that stage, the daily use for recruiting was consistent and critical to our hiring process.
I liked the ATS aspect of BambooHR. It was easy to view all candidates at once and assign a star rating, which made it simple to identify top applicants at a glance.
The reporting and analytics tools were strong, offering insights such as turnover rate and applicant volume per open position. There were multiple graphic options to display data clearly.
I believe the timekeeping feature would have been useful, but I didn’t get to use it before my position was eliminated.
The company did not have an HRIS at the time, so the owner purchased BambooHR despite not knowing how to use it. I used it primarily for recruiting and reporting purposes. The ATS was easy to use, and the reports were robust in displaying results.
One function we did not use was payroll processing. I used BambooHR for approximately nine months.
I had only used BambooHR briefly before this role, and the owner was unfamiliar with the system, so there was limited guidance. It takes time to learn how to use BambooHR efficiently, but once you understand it, the platform is comprehensive.
I wish there were more reporting options; while the existing ones are strong for analytics, other platforms like ADP and Paylocity offer more variety.
One advantage of BambooHR is its lower cost compared to systems like ADP.
It can manage everything from HR to payroll, benefits, performance management, and reporting.
I prefer BambooHR because it allows multiple administrative users, such as HR and payroll staff, to work in the same system.
In most of my previous roles, payroll and HR operated in separate systems that didn’t integrate, which was inefficient.
Cost is always a major factor and should be considered carefully. Companies should assess whether it's important for all administrative functions to operate within a single system.
If that's a priority, BambooHR is a strong option.
If not, and if HR and payroll are fine using separate tools, a company may find it more cost-effective to use two less expensive systems.
Other platforms offer automation in areas like recruiting and performance management, which BambooHR may not fully support—such as automatically routing applicants to hiring managers. This should be reviewed depending on the company’s specific needs.
I believe BambooHR has introduced some AI functionality. Since I am no longer using it, I can’t confirm the current features, but I would expect them to innovate to remain competitive.
I think BambooHR can work well for organizations of all sizes. When I used it, we had fewer than 100 employees. It’s especially useful for companies with remote or mobile staff due to the timekeeping functionality.
Non-profits could also benefit from its reporting capabilities, which would be helpful when presenting administrative data to a board of directors.
BambooHR can work in any size organization, but it's important that more than one person knows how to use it. If the HR professional is the primary user, there should be a trained backup.
It does take some time to learn, but once the basics are understood, it's easy to use—especially for ATS and reporting functions. Due to the learning curve, having only one trained user could be a risk.
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Many of BambooHR’s features work grandly for businesses in virtually every part of the world. However, modules like payroll, hiring & onboarding, and time tracking are certainly either thought of for US business practices or, in the case of payroll, only available for US employees. International or remote businesses looking for an HRMS to handle both HR and payroll needs would not be a good fit. Unless, that is, they use the HR part only and integrate payroll through another vendor, like one of the best international payroll providers.
Among the 20,000+ companies that use BambooHR, you’d find names like Quora, Universal Group, Reddit, Asana, Change.org, University of Maryland, Grammarly, Stance, Postmates, Wistia, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and ZipRecruiter.
BambooHR has two feature sets. Essentials provides human resources management modules, employee self-service tools, and baseline customer support.
Advantage includes everything in Essentials but adds premium customer support, hiring and onboarding systems, an ATS, training, reporting, a job site, company branding, and access to BambooHR's partner marketplace and open API integration.
Add-ons such as time tracking, payroll, and performance management are available at additional costs.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the top features:
- People Data & Analytics: BambooHR strives to be the single and secure database where all your employee information is stored and managed. They couple that with powerful, intuitive reporting tools and a strong focus on security.
- Mobile Hiring App: One of their most-talked-about perks, their hiring app gives recruiters the ease to perform most applicant tracking tasks from their phone if needed.
- Automated onboarding: Set up tasks to new hires for them to complete at a time of their choosing.
- Introductions: BambooHR makes introductions easy with resources like customizable new-hire packets and get-to-know-you emails.
- Electronic signatures: New employees can sign the stuff they need to without stepping a foot in the office.
BambooHR also has capabilities for:
- Attendance tracking
- Benefits administration
- Compliance
- Employee communication tools
- Employee engagement
- Reporting and analytics
- Payroll
- Performance appraisal
- Time tracking
- Workforce management
- Compensation management
- Performance management tools and surveys
BambooHR has an API with lots of partnerships and an app marketplace, although these are only available from the Advantage onwards. If you do go with that plan, the platform integrates with most applicant tracking systems, as well as solutions for employee assessments, background checks, employment verification, payroll, benefits administration, ERP & accounting, training, onboarding, performance management, recognition, and more. Their marketplace keeps growing and already features a few hundred vendor integrations.
BambooHR uses per-employee, per-month pricing, varying by company size: companies with 26+ employees pay per-employee, while those with 25 or fewer pay a flat monthly rate (starting at $250).
Three plans are offered:
- Core: $10/employee/month
- Pro: $17/employee/month (Includes Core + more)
- Elite: $25/employee/month (Includes Pro + advanced features, training, and AI assistant)
Add-ons include Payroll, Benefits Administration, Time Tracking, and Employer of Record. Bundling Payroll and Benefits Administration saves 15% (U.S. employees only). Volume and non-profit discounts are available.
BambooHR is a good fit for companies looking for a very customizable HR product, with pricing that reflects their needs. It’s also popular among teams that are partially or even fully remote.
BambooHR’s latest product enhancements reflect a continued push toward mobile accessibility, simplified task management, and greater workflow flexibility. These enhancements are unlikely to change how users perceive the platform overall, but they do reinforce BambooHR’s value as a system geared toward SMBs looking for pragmatic, incremental improvements in hiring efficiency.
Key feature changes include:
- Hiring widget in Android mobile app: Recruiters using Android devices can now monitor new applicants directly from their home screen and access the candidate list with one tap. This should improve responsiveness for hiring managers or recruiters working in the field or away from a desktop.
- Updated import tasks modal: BambooHR has introduced a redesigned interface for importing tasks, intended to streamline checklist creation during onboarding and offboarding. With this UI enhancement, admins can manage multiple hires at once or coordinate cross-departmental workflows.
- Support for up to 15 job pipeline stages: The previous 10-stage cap has been raised to 15, allowing for more granular hiring workflows. This is useful for teams that want to separate screening, interviews, assessments, and approvals into distinct stages without relying on workaround labels or notes.
Getting started with BambooHR is as easy as signing up for their free trial and then getting in touch with their team. They'll likely want to talk to you about choosing a plan that's based on your needs, and the implementation of that will vary accordingly.
BambooHR does more of a self-service approach to customer success. The Essentials package includes email support and access to their Customer Success Webinar library. For their telephone support, you’d have to upgrade to the Advantage plan. From our understanding, both kinds of personal support are only offered in US business hours.
BambooHR was started in 2008 by Ben Peterson and Ryan Sanders. Their goal was to create a product that customers would love using and that would save countless man hours. At the same time, they wanted the company behind this product to be a place people would enjoy working at.
This approach worked, as they have kept growing both their employee and customer count quite steadily over the years. They had 470 employees around the end of 2019. Now, as of Summer 2025, they have over 1730. Their product is used by thousands of companies in well over 100 countries.
An interesting bit about the way they manage their company is that they have an “anti-workaholic policy”. Basically, BambooHR employees are forbidden from laboring over 40 hours per week.
Also noteworthy is the fact that while both founding members are still on the board, BambooHR’s CEO is now Brad Rencher. He was previously a marketing executive at Adobe Inc., before being recruited for the post in October 2019.
Company HQ
Lindon, Utah
Number of Employees
1250+
Year Founded
2008
Amount Raised
According to their Crunchbase profile, BambooHR has raised an undisclosed amount of funding over 2 rounds. The last one of which was in Summer 2016. Among others, BambooHR is funded by Sorenson Capital.
FAQ
How come BambooHR is so popular?
We’d argue that BambooHR was one of the first companies to bring HR functionalities to the SaaS realm with modern UX design. However, while many companies do that now, they’ve secured their position as a household name in HR software due to their ever-growing features and flexible packages; which suit SMBs and enterprises alike.
Is BambooHR Free?
As of summer 2025, BambooHR doesn’t offer a stand-alone free-for-life product. They do have a free trial, however, and they’ve been known to extend it based on your needs and plans. That being said, it does eventually cost, but the pricing is completely customized based on what features you need.
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