BambooHR
Rippling
| Feature | BambooHR | Rippling |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Contact sales | From $8/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
| Best For | smbs, hr-teams, growing-companies, people-operations | mid-market-companies, tech-companies, fast-growing-startups, it-teams |
| Founded | 2008 | 2016 |
| Employee Database | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ats | ✓ | ✗ |
| Onboarding | ✓ | ✗ |
| Time Off Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Performance Reviews | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reporting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Employee Satisfaction | ✓ | ✗ |
| Payroll | ✗ | ✓ |
| Benefits | ✗ | ✓ |
| Device Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| App Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Workflow Automation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Global Employment | ✗ | ✓ |
| Spend Management | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ BambooHR Pros
- Beautiful and intuitive interface for HR teams
- Excellent employee self-service portal
- Built-in ATS for recruitment
- Strong performance management features
✗ BambooHR Cons
- Pricing not transparent (quote required)
- Limited payroll features (US only)
- Fewer integrations than enterprise HRIS
✓ Rippling Pros
- Unifies HR + IT + Finance in one platform
- Automatic device setup/wipe for onboarding/offboarding
- Global payroll in 50+ countries
- Extremely powerful workflow automation
✗ Rippling Cons
- Pricing is complex and modular
- Can be overkill for very small teams
- Implementation takes time for full platform
The Verdict
BambooHR is built for smbs and hr teams, with a focus on employee-database and ats. Rippling targets mid market companies and tech companies and leads with payroll and benefits.
BambooHR uses custom enterprise pricing, while Rippling starts at $8/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Neither tool offers a free plan, so factor the subscription cost into your decision from the start.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.