Best all-in-one platform
Choose if: You're a small business looking for an all-in-one HR tool to save time on admin.
Top 5 BambooHR Alternatives – is Bamboo really worth it?
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Best for culture-crafting
Choose if: You wish to add gamification elements to your existing HR processes.
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Best for talent management
Choose if: You're mainly looking for an applicant tracking system to scale you hiring.
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Best for multinational customisation
Choose if: You have a large team distributed across multiple international offices.
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Best for reporting
Choose if: You need advanced reporting features to make sense of complex HR data.
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Knowing whether to go for one platform or another can often take a lot of time, especially if you’ve not shopped around yet – and maybe you’re here because you’ve been asking yourself what BambooHR alternatives are available on the market.
To make it easier for you, we’re sharing some of our internal knowledge on what BambooHR offers, based on research we did on our competitors.
Yes, by the way, we’re Charlie – HR software built for small businesses and startups. We just wanted you to know that, for full disclosure. 😉
If you don’t have time to read this right now, jump straight to the top 5 alternatives or download our guide.
How do we know so much about BambooHR alternatives?
As a company, we have several departments whose job is to investigate what our competitors are doing and how we can differentiate ourselves from them.
Our product managers spend a lot of their time speaking to small businesses and startup owners to understand more about:
- Why they picked Charlie as their software
- Why they left us (if they did)
- Who did they choose to leave us for
- What they think of the competitors they used before switching to us
This is a really important part of our process to help us build a better product. Only with this information will we be able to build a platform that is easy to use and full of features that can help small businesses and startups work more efficiently.
To build this guide, we collated together the information we had about the best BambooHR alternatives on the market, including some exclusive insights from our own customers who used Bamboo.
So let’s dive into it to find out what the 5 best Alternatives to BambooHR are.
5 Best Alternatives to BambooHR
#1
CharlieHR
Best all-in-one software for small businesses and startups
At Charlie, we focus on what small businesses and startups need. After carefully researching this, we understood that:
- Small businesses want software that’s easy to set up and even easier to use
- They prefer to automate their core HR admin first: time off management, onboarding, data storage
- They care about staying compliant and putting together efficient HR processes with minimal effort and time spent
That’s why we built Charlie with the following benefits for you and your team.
No HR person needed: no need to hire someone to take care of core HR admin – get software to automate all HR tasks for you: time off management, onboarding, data storage, performance management and engagement surveys
Don’t spend more than you budgeted for: all HR features are included in one, transparent price, with no set-up fee
Forget messy spreadsheets: all your employee records are securely stored in one place. Your team can self-serve and update their details without your help
Get time back with self-serve onboarding: new hires are taken through an onboarding flow where they get to know their team, and can fill in their own information and upload their documents
No more endless email threads: your team members can directly request their time off in the software – simply review it in one click
Have progression at the ready: automate your performance reviews to get your team members engaged from day one with minimal effort
World-class perks, without the price tag: 30,000+ perks are available for your employees from brands like Apple and Hello Fresh, included at all price points
Pricing
- Starting at only £5 per month
- Inclusive all of our features, including Perks
- No set up fee
- Cancel anytime
Notable customers
What people say
I've got a number to go by in Charlie — it's always there and I know I can trust it. I feel that enables me to look after the team in a way that’s much more tangible.
— James, GoSquared
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#2
CharlieHR
Best for culture-crafting elements and gamification
Hibob is one of the only software out there that really puts culture front and centre, which means they really care about developing features that will help you build the right environment for your team.
It’s best for companies that are already established and are looking to refine their working culture, as it helps put progressive HR processes and policies in place.
Onboard team members: new hires get to enjoy an onboarding flow where they can record a video of themselves and get introduced to other team members whilst completing their onboarding tasks
Get compensation right: easily review salary, bonuses, and equity allocations directly within the software – best for US users
Integrate your payroll software: get your payroll directly on Hibob to avoid having to jump between different platforms
Log complaints and grievances anonymously: with Hibob’s anonymous reporting tool, get on top of any issues when it comes to HR and provide a safe space for your team members
Run engagement surveys: company-wide surveys within the software allow you to stay on top of what your team really wants
Have a go at customisation: with a social-media lookalike homepage, make it yours with tons of ways to customise the software and make sure your team feels at home
Pricing
- Pricing is only available on quote – contact a sales representative
Notable customers
- Happy Socks
- Cross River
- Fiverr
What people say
A solid platform for our people data. Providing easy access to people analytics and being a one-stop-shop for everything people and culture related. Engaging user interface that increases the likelihood of our people being active on the platform.
— Lotta P.
#3
CharlieHR
Best for talent management
Personio is the right choice if you’re looking to scale above 250 employees – it has many features, and it gives you the ability to focus on hiring.
Hiring is an important part of any company, however, it becomes more of a priority as you grow.
Applicant tracking system: find top talent with a platform that highlights the most promising candidates and rejects the ones who are not suitable for the role according to your set of criteria
Schedule interviews on time: don’t lose candidates because of admin delays – reduce time by using auto responses and bulk actions as well as automatically booking your interviews
Get from offering to onboarding: get offers sent in no time with templates and eSignatures integrated. You can then move the candidate onto onboarding once they’ve signed
Track your hiring management process: get the right insights with analytics on time to hire, channel performance, etc.
Applicant sourcing: get your job vacancies posted on multiple platforms through one unique software
More job ads: get your roles lives on more than 15 free job boards and get premium campaigns on over 600 job boards (with special offers)
Career pages: tailor your career page to reflect your employer branding directly through Personio
Pricing
- Three packages available depending on what features you need
- Recruiting only comes on top of these three packages
- For example, a company with 250 employees will pay £1,661 per month for an Essential package that includes recruiting
Notable customers
- Premier Inn
- Anorak Technologies
- Mentimeter
What people say
It does the job: gathers information of employees in one place, makes them manageable, unite recruiting information from various platforms into one place, and helps to further process those down the line.
The best HR software for small companies
Simple, efficient and affordable — Charlie was build to help small businesses bring clarity to their HR chaos.
Free for 7 days
No credit card needed
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#4
CharlieHR
Best for multinational customisation
SageHR is probably your best bet if you’re looking to handle a workforce that’s not just based in the UK, but also all over Europe.
Running different available options of customisation for this kind of business, SageHR has become a leader in the market when it comes to it.
Multiple languages available: SageHR is available in many languages, making it easy for teams based all over Europe
Unlimited time off policies: get different time off policies depending on which country your team member is based in
Assign employees to specific policies: assign employees to different HR policies so there’s no mismatch when booking time off
Self-serve time off management: get all your time off management process in one place
Mobile app and Slack approval: requests, timesheets and many other options are available to be approved quickly on the mobile app and through a Slack integration
Pricing
- £4.5 per employee per month for core HR
- The cost, however, goes up as you add more features – not everything is included in that core package
Notable customers
- The Coffee Company
- Shawbrook Bank
What people say
Sage HR was utilized at my firm to organize, connect, and keep our personnel. Sage HR gives us real-time insight over our entire workforce – including remote employees, and helps us to know what is happening at all times.
— Julia H.
#5
CharlieHR
Best for reporting
CezanneHR has been on the market for a while, and is a tool that’s usually best for companies with over 500 people.
With tons of different features built for companies that need more than just basic HR, Cezann will be the right choice for you if you’re looking to expand your workforce and need intricate reporting features.
Preconfigured HR reports: reports are super useful if you want to see your HR data all at once with an option to save, create, share and even schedule pre-made reports
HR dashboards: turn your data into beautiful graphics that are easy to share and ready for a presentation without having to put one together. Simply share it on the software or export it if you need it for external purposes
Customised report builder: don’t just stop at the basics – build your own ad hoc reports whenever you need them
Access control: share reports and insights with a limited amount of people or to the whole company depending on what you need
Trends and predictions: don’t just rely on your own mind – get insights from the data available in the software and spot trends as well as predictions for the next month or next year
Pricing
- Only available on quote
Notable customers
- AgeUK Oxfordshire
- BPE Solicitors
- Vision Direct
What people say
I would recommend Cezanne to anyone who is looking for a robust system with great customer service and support throughout.
— Yaz
So what’s up with BambooHR then?
Of course, we couldn’t close this off without talking about BambooHR. Bamboo may, after all, be the right choice for your team after we presented you with these alternatives. Let’s quickly have a look at what going for Bamboo means and where the shortcomings and strong points are.
What are BambooHR's shortcomings?
Support is based in the US and running on US hours
Software is not optimised for UK compliance, UK holidays or UK date formats
Pricing is not transparent and doesn’t include all features
Set up can be complicated and take a long time
What are BambooHR’s strenghts?
Great in-depth reporting facilities
Ability to put all of your hiring processes on the platform
Easy for teams that work in shifts and need time tracking
Flexible pricing if you don’t need all their features
What you should remember before picking BambooHR or an alternative
There are several points you should keep in mind before making your decision regarding HR software for your business, and we summed them up here just for you:
- How big is your team – do you have time and capacity to train them or do you need software that they can use straight away with no hand holding?
- How difficult the set up is going to be – can you wait for HR software or do you need a solution that will quickly be available to solve your current issues?
- What you can afford – did you set yourself up with a budget? You should so you don’t spend more than you ought to on something you don’t need
- What features are essential to save you the most time – think about which ways you can accomplish what you want with minimal effort involved
Got all this in mind? Great, now you’re ready to pick the best HR software for you. And if you’re not sure about which one to go for, maybe start a free 7-day trial with Charlie today.
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