Companies looking to streamline hiring, onboarding, and all aspects of employee management will find BambooHR's interface easy and intuitive. See if it's right for you.
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Managing Editor
Last updated onUpdated
REVIEWED BY
Editor & Senior Staff Writer
| Total Rating | 4.1 |
|---|---|
| Pricing2.5 | |
| Ease Of Use3.7 | |
| Features4.6 | |
| Customer Service4.4 | |
| User Reviews4.2 | |
Payroll Processing Time
2 daysPricing Range
UndisclosedBusiness Size
Best for small businesses with 10+ employeesTable of Contents
BambooHR is an HRIS (Human Resources Information System) designed to help businesses with all aspects of HR management, from hiring and onboarding to coordinating and approving schedules and facilitating training. With the addition of payroll and benefits management (which are add-ons to the base platform), BambooHR is designed as a one-stop shop for managing your employees.
BambooHR is more HR-centric in its function — companies needing more robust payroll help might be able to find a cheaper alternative.
| Pricing2.5 |
|---|
| Software Plans 0.8 |
| Pricing Transparency 0.0 |
| Pricing Customization 3.4 |
BambooHR doesn’t disclose prices online, and that hurts its rating. We prefer companies to fully disclose price ranges on their websites, even if they are 100% quote-based. Requiring in-person contact to glean all pricing information, including ranges for different-sized businesses, is a hindrance to small businesses on a time crunch. And since it’s mostly a sales tactic vs. being consumer-first, it hurts the score.
We gave BambooHR a 2.5/5 for pricing.
I did find that it was easy to get a quote from a sales rep. I answered a few questions about my small business, and within an hour, I had a quote and cost breakdown sent to my email. Some reviews mentioned that it was arduous to get a quote, or they didn’t hear back. However, I found that the BambooHR sales reps were eager to get in touch with me.
But is it affordable?
| BambooHR Plans | Price | When To Use |
|---|---|---|
| Core | Undisclosed | Has HR data and recording; hiring and onboarding help; time off and benefits tracking; help with the employee experience. |
| Pro | Undisclosed | Everything included in the Core plan, plus performance management and an employee community. |
There are two basic plans:
The Core plan includes:
The Pro plan includes everything in Core, plus:
BambooHR is not cheap, and it may be too expensive for smaller businesses with fewer than ten employees. The cost is a flat-monthly rate, and it’s the same for companies with 25 or fewer employees. As mentioned, pricing is not disclosed. (We were quoted a $250/month flat rate for three employees for its Core package.)
| BambooHR Extra Costs | Price |
|---|---|
| Payroll | Undisclosed flat rate up to 25 employees |
| Time-Tracking | $3/month per employee |
| Benefits Administration | Undisclosed flat rate up to 25 employees |
| Time Tracking Fee | $3/month per employee |
| HR Fee | Included |
| Payroll Tax Filing Fee | Included w/ Payroll Add-on |
Payroll is an add-on. Time-tracking is an add-on. Benefits administration is also an add-on. And those things can add up if they are the core features you are looking for.
Extra fees can also drive up your monthly pricing. There is an implementation fee if you wish to add payroll and benefits administration — with one-time costs totaling more than $2,000. And for payroll, there are extra fees for wage garnishment and off-cycle payroll runs. If you run into problems with the software? There’s also a steep per-hour research and problem-solving fee to get someone to assist you.
While BambooHR does disclose all these fees in its price quote, it seems like if you need payroll extras, the price could climb easily.
| Ease Of Use3.7 |
|---|
| Set Up 3.4 |
| Software Reliability 5.0 |
| Everyday Use 4.4 |
| Integrations 3.2 |
Ease of use is where BambooHR picks up some ratings points. The interface is easy, simple, and intuitive. That’s true for the HR management side, as well as the employee interface. It’s easy to navigate between screens, pull up reports, and ask for time off: It’s Luddite-proof!
Once you add some of the add-ons, the movement back and forth between systems can cause some clunkiness. BambooHR uses Trax payroll systems (it acquired the product to integrate with its systems), and some users report needing to input information in two-locations, or not all data pulling from the main interface into payroll. So, it would appear the integrations aren’t seamless — but this isn’t a large complaint, either.
If ease of use is your primary concern, BambooHR is a great choice.
| Features4.6 |
|---|
| Payroll Processing 4.1 |
| Employee Management & PTO 5.0 |
| Time Tracking 4.5 |
| Payroll Tax Support 4.5 |
| Reporting & Tax Forms 4.5 |
| Onboarding & HR 5.0 |
| Benefits Administration 4.5 |
| Niche Features 5.0 |
BambooHR has ample features for HR management and great add-on tools like payroll and time-tracking. With all the add-ons included, it is a robust system. However, if the program doesn’t have exactly what you need, it also integrates with 125+ other programs to help you round out your full HR suite.
| BambooHR Features | Availability |
|---|---|
| Payroll Tax Support | Add-on |
| Auto-Schedule Payroll | Add-on |
| Bonus Payroll | Add-on |
| Off-Cycle Payroll | Add-on |
| Employee Management | |
| Paid Time Off | |
| Time Tracking | Add-on |
| HR Support | |
| Onboarding Support | |
| Benefits Administration | Add-on |
| Number Of Reports | 32+ |
| Number Of Integrations | 125+ |
| Number Of Users Supported | Unlimited |
Here’s what to expect from BambooHR.
BambooHR makes managing your employees seamless.
Easy and clear PTO functionality creates a clear bridge between asking for, granting, and keeping track of PTO. Plus, you can keep all your information about employees in one location — hire date, hiring documents, training documents, and even emergency contacts.
However, some of the employee management features are only available on the higher tier plan.
This is where BambooHR shines.
Onboarding help is robust and creates a seamless way to get your employees up and running into all your company’s systems. There are easy ways to track the steps of the onboarding process for both management and new employees.
Benefits administration is an add-on cost to the basic plan. There is a flat rate for up to 25 employees and a one-time QuickStart implementation fee.
Once you’ve added benefits administration to your platform, you can set up benefits, choose plans, communicate with employees about open enrollment, and monitor employee choices/statuses. Employees can also easily log in and see their plan choices, make benefits elections, and make changes to their plans, all from the main site or the mobile app.
| Customer Service4.4 |
|---|
| Personal Support 3.9 |
| Self-Service 4.8 |
Support hours are available MT 6 AM – 6 PM, Monday – Friday.
| User Reviews4.2 |
|---|
| Customer Feedback 4.0 |
| Review Site Aggregate 4.3 |
BambooHR has a lot of positive reviews on G2 (4K reviews), where it scores 4.4/5. It has a 4.3 average rating on Trustpilot. It also has an A- on the BBB, although it is not accredited. For the most part, people are happy with BambooHR and its HR platform. The bulk of the negative reviews come from frustrations with a lack of help regarding integrations (especially with third-party payroll providers).
Here’s the rundown of the feedback from the review sites.
BambooHR implements a range of security measures to keep sensitive data safe.
Here’s how it protects your information:
| BambooHR Review Summary | |
|---|---|
| Pricing Range | Undisclosed |
| Choose If You Need |
|
Most users who implement BambooHR with the goal of assisting with employee management, onboarding, and other HR tasks, find the software easy to use, intuitive, and reliable. For a full HR suite with up to 25 employees, the cost is reasonable, as well. It can get expensive once you add in all the extras — for payroll, benefits administration, etc. And if you want employee management functionality, you’ll need to get the Pro plan. However, with its available integrations, API, and commitment to creating a seamless process, it’s worth looking into. BambooHR might be the right HRIS for you if:
For small businesses with under ten employees, this is probably not the most cost-effective route. However, if you have plans to grow/scale your company, the pricing model is designed to grow with you — with discounts for adding more employees. Once you get over 25 employees, your pricing model changes to a per-employee price. That pricing is not disclosed on its website nor available through an online quoting process.
We research, evaluate, and test each payroll software app that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate granular ratings.
Our exhaustive, 76-point rubric guides the star rating of each payroll provider we review, examining pricing, ease of use, features, customer service, and user reviews. Each section is weighted differently.
When rating payroll software, we are looking for very specific qualities. The speed and cost of payroll runs and the availability of tax filing services are given high weight, as are the quality and availability of accounting, time-tracking, HR integrations, and user onboarding services. We also look for the presence of client and employee portals, benefits administration, PTO and time management tools, and many more vital features.
Learn more about how we rate payroll software providers.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
Our reviewers like ADP Payroll for its advanced employee management, strong payroll features, and great customer support. For a limited time, get three months free.
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