HR and payroll software · Comparison
BambooHR vs Rippling
2 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | BambooHR | Rippling |
|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Easy to adoptA complete HR record, from hiring and onboarding to time off and reviews, with payroll that reads from the same data. | Saves engineering timeOne employee record that drives HR, payroll, benefits, devices and app access, with a long list of audits behind it. |
| Overall score | 3.6Best | 3.3 |
| Free option | Free trial | –Not measured |
| Card to start | No card needed | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Sales call required | Sales call required |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $250/mo | $8/employee/mo + base fee |
| Pricing model | Tiered | Custom quote |
| Pricing page | Prices hidden | Prices hidden |
| Billing unit | Flat monthly price up to 25 employees, then per employee; add-ons by quote | Per employee per month plus a monthly base fee, by custom quote |
| Free option | Free trial, no card; length not stated | None stated; 6 months free for eligible US VC-backed startups |
| Reference scenario (10 employees, one state) | Not priced: payroll add-on by quote ($250/mo Core plus payroll) | Not priced: payroll by custom quote |
| Multi-state payroll | Not stated on the payroll page | Stated (registration and filing in all 50 states); price by quote |
| International hiring | EOR and contractors through Remote, by quote | Global payroll, EOR, global contractors (185+ countries); by quote |
| PEO option | None listed | Rippling PEO, by quote |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type 2; ISO 27001 not listed | SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type II; ISO 27001, 27018, 42001; CSA STAR Level 2 |
| Contract terms | Month to month or an extended term | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Data export | Custom reports; API generates reports in several formats | Reports and a documented REST API with customer API tokens |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, BambooHR is a well-rounded HR system with payroll as a quoted add-on. Its score is held back by the unpublished payroll price and add-ons, not by the HR plans themselves. | From its public pages, Rippling offers the widest platform and the strongest compliance file in this group, but no published price for payroll or any module. Its score reflects what the pages commit to; a quote is the only way to compare its cost. |
Evidence: BambooHR: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Rippling: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our BambooHR review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick BambooHR when
- You want published HR plan prices and a trial before a demo.
- Pick Rippling when
- You want a PEO, an employer of record and IT tools on one platform.
From our Rippling review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Rippling when
- You want a PEO, an employer of record and IT tools from the same vendor.
- Pick BambooHR when
- You want published HR plan prices and a free trial without a card.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- BambooHRCore$250/moFlat for 25 employees or fewer; above that $10 per employee (plan card) or $10.25 (FAQ)
- Employee records, reports and dashboards
- Applicant tracking (5 openings), onboarding, e-signatures
- Time-off management and benefits tracking
- On-demand pay
- RipplingRippling platformFrom $8/employee/moPlus a monthly base fee; total by custom quote
- Products chosen as modules
- Per-employee pricing for most products
- Startup program: 6 months free for eligible US VC-backed startups
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: BambooHR 2026-10-16, Rippling 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- NoneNone of these is self-serve: BambooHR (Sales call required) and Rippling (Sales call required).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- BambooHRFree trial, no card needed; scored 3.6/10.
- Lowest starter price
- Rippling$8/employee/mo + base fee for the Starting price; custom quote plan.
- Highest overall score
- BambooHR3.6/10 (Fair). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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