Hibob vs BambooHR:
Choosing the right HR software
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Have you been tasked with finding a way to automate HR?
Picking the best HR tool for your company can be a long, research-heavy process. Information is not always openly available or up to date, and comparing different plans and features can be a tiresome task.
I’m here to take some of that homework off your plate. In this guide, I’m going to compare two of the most common HR platforms, Hibob (also called bob) and BambooHR. I’ll give you an overview of what they offer and their pros and cons — so that you can find all the information you need to make an informed decision.
What are the main differences between BambooHR and Hibob?
Both BambooHR and Hibob are HRMS tools that help businesses automate their HR tasks.
Their feature offering is similar, but with a few differences:
- Hibob doesn’t offer recruitment tools
- BambooHR has less of a focus on culture-building tools
- BambooHR serves the needs of US-based companies better (especially when it comes to payroll and benefits), while Hibob is more UK & EU-focused
Use the tables below to compare BambooHR with Hibob’s features at a glance, or download our complete comparison guide here.
Plans & pricing
BambooHR
Essentials
- Document storage
- Basic reporting
- Time off
- Mobile app
- Email support
Advantage
- Onboarding
- Offboarding
- Applicant Tracking System
- E-signatures
- Engagement surveys
- Customisable reporting
- Support via email and chat
- API
Add-ons
- Payroll (US only)
- Benefits (US only)
- Performance management
- Time tracking
Pricing
Need to request a quote from both companies
Hibob
Not publicly available: contact a sales representative for a quote
Hibob vs BambooHR:
In-depth comparison
Hibob and BambooHR’s range of features make them a common choice for medium to large-sized companies (more than 300 employees) with a well-established HR team. But let’s dig a bit deeper into the main differences between the two platforms and how they may impact your decision.
Recruiting and Hiring
🏆
BambooHR wins
If automating and streamlining your hiring process is a priority for you, then BambooHR is your best pick.
BambooHR offers a full ATS (applicant tracking system) to:
- Keep applicant information organised
- Post openings on your chosen job board
- Send offer letters to be e-signed
- Seamlessly move people from the hiring pipeline to the onboarding process
- Monitor your hiring pipeline from the BambooHR mobile app
Few clicks are needed to complete tasks. Love that the ATS seamlessly helps hire and onboard new employees.
— Jordyn P., HR Generalist on G2
"
Hibob doesn’t offer any hiring functionalities, but it integrates with third-party ATS like Workable, Greenhouse and Teamtailor.
Culture crafting
🏆
Hibob wins
Hibob takes pride in how their system helps you build a positive company culture.
‘Culture’ can have many different meanings for different people, but for Hibob it means giving special attention to the employee experience.
Here are a few examples of how Hibob strives in that direction:
- The platform looks like a social-media site: it is colourful and interactive
- Team members can personalise their profiles with their preferred pronouns, their gender, hobbies, etc
- New hires can post a video to introduce themselves to the rest of the company
- You can create ‘clubs’ to offer people the opportunity to share their interests with colleagues
- Team members can post kudos and shoutouts to celebrate special accomplishments
BambooHR doesn’t offer these types of features: it looks and feels more serious and to-the-point.
I personally think that, while shoutouts is a feature that every company would use, the rest really depends on what type of culture you are trying to build at your business. Some of these features may look redundant for smaller businesses that are just starting out, or even frivolous in more traditional industries.
Transparent pricing
🏆
Nobody wins
Unfortunately, neither Hibob nor BambooHR clearly state their pricing plans on their sites.
The main point here is not the pricing, which will depend on the plan you go for and the size of your business. The annoying thing is that you’ll have to get a custom quote from a sales representative, and you won’t be able to compare these two pieces of software until you do so.
To help you with that, here’s a list of questions you should ask Hibob and BambooHR’s sales teams:
- Do you have different plans based on what features I need?
- How much does each plan cost for a company my size?
- Do you charge per user or another way?
- Do you offer a free trial?
- Can I pay monthly/annually?
- What if I decide to cancel?
- Do you charge an implementation fee?
- Does customer support come at an extra cost?
See something inaccurate? Let us know
Multinational companies
🏆
Hibob wins
BambooHR is mainly built to meet the needs of US companies.
Benefits and payroll, for example, are only available to US customers. Businesses that switched to Charlie from BambooHR also reported that their customer support team is only available during US working hours.
Therefore, if your company is headquartered in the UK or Europe or you have multiple locations spread around the world, Hibob is likely to be a better solution than BambooHR.
Hibob can support teams in multiple countries with bespoke holiday calendars, time-off policies and currencies. You can also adapt part of the product to fit different countries’ regulations and employment laws.
3 reasons to choose BambooHR
🤗
Built-in Hiring & Recruiting functions
🎁
All your employee benefits management in one place (pensions, medical, etc)
✅
Wide range of advanced features to meet the needs of large companies
3 reasons to choose Hibob
🎮
Gamification and ‘culture’ features
🌎
Suitable for companies based in multiple different countries
⛵
Ideal number of features for medium-sized companies with a generous budget
Have you considered Charlie?
I know you’re here to compare Hibob and Bamboo... But have you considered CharlieHR at all?
Charlie is an all-in-one HR management system that helps you save time on HR admin and automate your workflows.
There are many reasons why UK-based small businesses and startups choose Charlie over BambooHR and Hibob:
Charlie
Bamboo and Hibob
✅
Built to meet the needs of small businesses
❌
Not a good fit for companies under 200 employees
✅
All-in-one plan inclusive of all features
❌
Key features come at an extra cost
✅
An HR system small businesses can afford: £4 / user / month
❌
Unsustainable cost for small companies
✅
Simple, fast and free set up
❌
Long and complex implementation with extra costs attached
✅
Employee perks platform included at no extra cost
❌
No employee perks
FAQs
What are some examples of BambooHR, Hibob and CharlieHR customers?
BambooHR is best for large companies based in the US. Some examples of customers are Jacksonville Jaguars (570+ employees), FreshBooks (720+ employees) and FanDuel (2,500+ employees).
Hibob’s customers are mainly medium-to-large companies based around the world. Some examples are: Airtasker (320+ employees), Fiverr (500+ employees), Save the Children Italia (500+ employees).
Charlie’s customers are small businesses and startups with less than 200 team members, usually based in the UK. These include: Oddbox (~ 80 employees), Chilly’s (~ 70 employees) and Patch Plants (~ 30 employees).And we supported businesses like Mindful Chef, Bloom & Wild and AllPlants when they were just starting out.
What is Hibob’s pricing?
Hibob’s pricing is not openly available online: you’ll have to get in touch with their sales team for a quote.
What is BambooHR’s pricing?
Bamboo’s pricing is not publicly available on their site, so you’ll have to request a quote.
What we know is that they have two main plans (Essentials and Advantage). Payroll, benefits, performance management and time tracking come as add-ons at an extra price.
What is CharlieHR’s pricing?
Charlie costs only £4 per user per month, inclusive of all features.
You can pay monthly and can cancel at any time. Plus, software implementation is free.
We also offer a 7-day free trial.
Have you been tasked with finding a way to automate HR?
Picking the best HR tool for your company can be a long, research-heavy process. Information is not always openly available or up to date, and comparing different plans and features can be a tiresome task.
I’m here to take some of that homework off your plate. In this guide, I’m going to compare two of the most common HR platforms, Hibob (also called bob) and BambooHR. I’ll give you an overview of what they offer and their pros and cons — so that you can find all the information you need to make an informed decision.
Why trust this guide?
My name is Joe and I’m a Product Manager at CharlieHR. Charlie is an HR automation tool, just like BambooHR and Hibob — only, we specialise in HR software for small businesses and startups.
It is my job to research other HRIS platforms in the market: it is vital to understanding how we can do better than our competitors.
To write this guide, I haven’t simply relied on information found on the internet: I’ve also interviewed companies that moved from using Bamboo or Personio to Charlie. Their feedback was key to identifying their strengths and weaknesses.
I tried to be as objective as possible when summing up the results of my research on Hibob and BambooHR. But I do still believe that Charlie is a better HR software for UK-based small companies (sorry!). If you’d like to see that for yourself, you can start a free trial by clicking here below 👇
✅ Free for 7 days
✅ No credit card needed
✅ Cancel any time
What are the main differences between BambooHR and Hibob?
Both BambooHR and Hibob are HRMS tools that help businesses automate their HR tasks.
Their feature offering is similar, but with a few differences:
- Hibob doesn’t offer recruitment tools
- BambooHR has less of a focus on culture-building tools
- BambooHR serves the needs of US-based companies better (especially when it comes to payroll and benefits), while Hibob is more UK & EU-focused
Use the tables below to compare BambooHR with Hibob’s features at a glance, or download our complete comparison guide here.
BambooHR
Hibob
Onboarding
✅
✅
Offboarding
✅
❌
Time off management
✅
✅
Time tracking
✅
✅
Document storage
✅
✅
Document storage
✅
✅
See something inaccurate? Let us know
BambooHR
Hibob
Applicant tracking
✅
❌
Offer letter
✅
❌
Mobile hiring app
✅
❌
See something inaccurate? Let us know
BambooHR
Hibob
Performance reviews
✅
✅
Training
✅
❌
See something inaccurate? Let us know
Features
BambooHR
Hibob
Workforce planning
❌
✅
In-depth reporting
✅
(US businesses only)
❌
Benefits administration
✅
❌
Integrations
✅
✅
Culture-building
❌
✅
Payroll
✅
(US businesses only)
❌
E-signatures
✅
❌
Mobile app
✅
✅
See something inaccurate? Let us know
Plans & pricing
BambooHR
Essentials
- Document storage
- Basic reporting
- Time off
- Mobile app
- Email support
Advantage
- Onboarding
- Offboarding
- Applicant Tracking System
- E-signatures
- Engagement surveys
- Customisable reporting
- Support via email and chat
- API
Add-ons
- Payroll (US only)
- Benefits (US only)
- Performance management
- Time tracking
Pricing
Need to request a quote from both companies
Hibob
Not publicly available: contact a sales representative for a quote
Hibob vs BambooHR:
In-depth comparison
Hibob and BambooHR’s range of features make them a common choice for medium to large-sized companies (more than 300 employees) with a well-established HR team. But let’s dig a bit deeper into the main differences between the two platforms and how they may impact your decision.
Recruiting and Hiring
🏆
BambooHR wins
If automating and streamlining your hiring process is a priority for you, then BambooHR is your best pick.
BambooHR offers a full ATS (applicant tracking system) to:
- Keep applicant information organised
- Post openings on your chosen job board
- Send offer letters to be e-signed
- Seamlessly move people from the hiring pipeline to the onboarding process
- Monitor your hiring pipeline from the BambooHR mobile app
Few clicks are needed to complete tasks. Love that the ATS seamlessly helps hire and onboard new employees.
— Jordyn P., HR Generalist on G2
"
Hibob doesn’t offer any hiring functionalities, but it integrates with third-party ATS like Workable, Greenhouse and Teamtailor.
Culture crafting
🏆
Hibob wins
Hibob takes pride in how their system helps you build a positive company culture.
‘Culture’ can have many different meanings for different people, but for Hibob it means giving special attention to the employee experience.
Here are a few examples of how Hibob strives in that direction:
- The platform looks like a social-media site: it is colourful and interactive
- Team members can personalise their profiles with their preferred pronouns, their gender, hobbies, etc
- New hires can post a video to introduce themselves to the rest of the company
- You can create ‘clubs’ to offer people the opportunity to share their interests with colleagues
- Team members can post kudos and shoutouts to celebrate special accomplishments
BambooHR doesn’t offer these types of features: it looks and feels more serious and to-the-point.
I personally think that, while shoutouts is a feature that every company would use, the rest really depends on what type of culture you are trying to build at your business. Some of these features may look redundant for smaller businesses that are just starting out, or even frivolous in more traditional industries.
Transparent pricing
🏆
Nobody wins
Unfortunately, neither Hibob nor BambooHR clearly state their pricing plans on their sites.
The main point here is not the pricing, which will depend on the plan you go for and the size of your business. The annoying thing is that you’ll have to get a custom quote from a sales representative, and you won’t be able to compare these two pieces of software until you do so.
To help you with that, here’s a list of questions you should ask Hibob and BambooHR’s sales teams:
- Do you have different plans based on what features I need?
- How much does each plan cost for a company my size?
- Do you charge per user or another way?
- Do you offer a free trial?
- Can I pay monthly/annually?
- What if I decide to cancel?
- Do you charge an implementation fee?
- Does customer support come at an extra cost?
See something inaccurate? Let us know
The [Hibob] pay structures and cost of ‘add ons’ are completely unreasonable for smaller companies that are struggling to keep their heads above water, especially with the increased cost base.
— Verified User on G2
"
We are not a fan that certain [BambooHR] modules like performance tracking and time tracking cost extra to add. We would love for it to be included in the basic package with the other features.
— Amy P., Program Director on G2
"
Multinational companies
🏆
Hibob wins
BambooHR is mainly built to meet the needs of US companies.
Benefits and payroll, for example, are only available to US customers. Businesses that switched to Charlie from BambooHR also reported that their customer support team is only available during US working hours.
Therefore, if your company is headquartered in the UK or Europe or you have multiple locations spread around the world, Hibob is likely to be a better solution than BambooHR.
Hibob can support teams in multiple countries with bespoke holiday calendars, time-off policies and currencies. You can also adapt part of the product to fit different countries’ regulations and employment laws.
3 reasons to choose BambooHR
🤗
Built-in Hiring & Recruiting functions
🎁
All your employee benefits management in one place (pensions, medical, etc)
✅
Wide range of advanced features to meet the needs of large companies
3 reasons to choose Hibob
🎮
Gamification and ‘culture’ features
🌎
Suitable for companies based in multiple different countries
⛵
Ideal number of features for medium-sized companies with a generous budget
Have you considered Charlie?
I know you’re here to compare Hibob and Bamboo... But have you considered CharlieHR at all?
Charlie is an all-in-one HR management system that helps you save time on HR admin and automate your workflows.
There are many reasons why UK-based small businesses and startups choose Charlie over BambooHR and Hibob:
Charlie
Bamboo and Hibob
✅
Built to meet the needs of small businesses
❌
Not a good fit for companies under 200 employees
✅
All-in-one plan inclusive of all features
❌
Key features come at an extra cost
✅
An HR system small businesses can afford: £4 / user / month
❌
Unsustainable cost for small companies
✅
Simple, fast and free set up
❌
Long and complex implementation with extra costs attached
✅
Employee perks platform included at no extra cost
❌
No employee perks
Charlie
✅
Built to meet the needs of small businesses
✅
All-in-one plan inclusive of all features
✅
An HR system small businesses can afford: £4 / user / month
✅
Simple, fast and free set up
✅
Employee perks platform included at no extra cost
Bamboo and Hibob
❌
Not a good fit for companies under 200 employees
❌
Key features come at an extra cost
❌
Unsustainable cost for small companies
❌
Long and complex implementation with extra costs attached
❌
No employee perks
Start using Charlie now with our 7-day free trial, and see if you like it more than Bamboo and Hibob 👇
Try Charlie for free
With Charlie, you have everything you need to manage your team and craft your culture – no HR experience required.
✅ Free for 7 days
✅ No credit card needed
✅ Cancel any time
FAQs
What are some examples of BambooHR, Hibob and CharlieHR customers?
BambooHR is best for large companies based in the US. Some examples of customers are Jacksonville Jaguars (570+ employees), FreshBooks (720+ employees) and FanDuel (2,500+ employees).
Hibob’s customers are mainly medium-to-large companies based around the world. Some examples are: Airtasker (320+ employees), Fiverr (500+ employees), Save the Children Italia (500+ employees).
Charlie’s customers are small businesses and startups with less than 200 team members, usually based in the UK. These include: Oddbox (~ 80 employees), Chilly’s (~ 70 employees) and Patch Plants (~ 30 employees).And we supported businesses like Mindful Chef, Bloom & Wild and AllPlants when they were just starting out.
What is Hibob’s pricing?
Hibob’s pricing is not openly available online: you’ll have to get in touch with their sales team for a quote.
What is BambooHR’s pricing?
Bamboo’s pricing is not publicly available on their site, so you’ll have to request a quote.
What we know is that they have two main plans (Essentials and Advantage). Payroll, benefits, performance management and time tracking come as add-ons at an extra price.
What is CharlieHR’s pricing?
Charlie costs only £4 per user per month, inclusive of all features.
You can pay monthly and can cancel at any time. Plus, software implementation is free.
We also offer a 7-day free trial.
