BambooHR is a HR software / HRIS platform by BambooHR LLC. This profile pulls together BambooHR's ratings across the major review sites, its company and funding details, leadership, features, pricing, and the latest news, with every external source cited at the bottom.
About BambooHR LLC
BambooHR is a cloud-based human resources platform built for small and mid-sized businesses, covering employee records, hiring, onboarding, time off, performance management, and an optional payroll add-on for US companies. It was founded in 2008 in Utah by Ben Peterson and Ryan Sanders, who bootstrapped the company for several years before taking outside investment. BambooHR is headquartered in Draper, Utah, and says it serves more than 30,000 customers and over 3 million employee records across 190-plus countries as of 2026. Brad Rencher, a former Adobe marketing executive, became CEO in October 2019, while Peterson and Sanders remain involved as co-chairmen. The company has stayed privately held throughout its history and is known in the HR software category for an easy-to-deploy HRIS aimed at companies without a dedicated HR ops team.
| Category | HR software / HRIS platform |
| Company | BambooHR LLC |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | Draper, Utah, US |
| Industry | Human Resources Software / HRIS |
| Team size | Reported in the 1,600 to 1,900 range across third-party company databases as of 2026; BambooHR does not publish an official headcount |
| Ownership | Private. Bootstrapped for its first several years; raised $12M from Sorenson Capital and ICONIQ Capital in 2012. No confirmed primary-source disclosure of funding rounds since then |
| Founder / CEO | Ben Peterson and Ryan Sanders (co-founders, 2008) |
| Specialties | HRIS, employee records, hiring and applicant tracking, onboarding, time off management, performance management, payroll add-on (US), compensation management, HR analytics |
| Website | bamboohr.com |
Find BambooHR on: Wikipedia · Crunchbase · LinkedIn · G2 · Capterra
BambooHR ratings across the web
Aggregated from the major review platforms. Each links to the source.
Also rated: TrustRadius 8.4/10 (596).
Rating breakdown
Per-category scores from Capterra BambooHR (3,108 reviews).
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What people say about BambooHR
Our synthesis across 5,641 G2 reviews at 4.4/5, 3,108 Capterra reviews at 4.6/5, plus Gartner Peer Insights and TrustRadius. No fabricated quotes, this is the consistent pattern across reviews and third-party analyses.
Most praised
- Ease of use and interface design are the most consistently cited strength across G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius; reviewers describe onboarding as fast for non-technical HR staff
- Centralized employee records mean time off, onboarding, offboarding, and the employee directory live in one system instead of spreadsheets
- Customer support and implementation speed are called out positively relative to larger enterprise HRIS platforms, with roughly a two-month typical setup
Most cited complaints
- Limited customization and reporting depth is the most common complaint, cited by close to a quarter of TrustRadius reviewers, especially once a company outgrows basic HR recordkeeping
- Third-party integration options feel thinner than competitors for some workflows, despite the 150-plus listed marketplace apps
- Renewal pricing increases in the 15-30% range are frequently reported in 2025-2026 reviews, and the $250/mo floor for companies under 25 employees raises the effective per-employee cost for very small teams
- Payroll depth is lighter than dedicated payroll vendors; it is a US-only add-on rather than a core payroll engine
What we found testing it
What's great
- 3,100+ G2 reviews at 4.6/5 gives the largest social proof base in this compact section; the platform's reliability and support quality are well-documented at scale
- Pre-built reports for turnover, headcount, eNPS, and time-off trends are available out of the box on every paid tier without configuration
- The most forgiving onboarding experience in the HRIS-analytics segment; SMB HR teams consistently report going live in under two weeks
Watch-outs
- Analytics are appropriate for companies under 500 employees; past that, the reporting depth (no cohort analysis, no predictive models, no external benchmarking) creates gaps
- Custom report builder has limitations that surface as soon as HR teams need to answer non-standard questions; the answer is often 'export to Excel'
- Not a people analytics platform by the standards of this guide; it's HRIS reporting with good UX
BambooHR funding & ownership
| Round | Amount | Date | Lead investor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private equity / growth investment | $12M | 2012 | Sorenson Capital, with ICONIQ Capital |
Low risk on continuity, moderate risk on pricing predictability. BambooHR has operated since 2008, stayed privately held, and reports more than 30,000 customers and over 3 million employee records across 190-plus countries as of 2026. Both co-founders remain involved as co-chairmen, and the company has shipped steady product updates, most recently an AI layer called Bamboo AI in mid-2026. The main open question for buyers is financial transparency: BambooHR does not publish audited revenue or an official headcount, and reviewers consistently flag double-digit percentage renewal price increases year over year, so the platform's low-risk profile as a going concern does not guarantee a flat multi-year bill.
BambooHR features & integrations
Feature availability
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| API | Yes |
| Custom metrics | ✓ Advantage+ |
| Dei dashboards | ✓ basic |
| Free tier | no (7-day trial) |
| Predictive models | No |
Security & compliance
| Standard | Availability |
|---|---|
| GDPR | Yes |
| HIPAA | Referenced by third-party compliance trackers; not explicitly confirmed on BambooHR's own security page |
| SOC 2 Type II | Yes (SOC 2 Type II, annual third-party audit) |
| SSO / SAML | Yes (SSO available, including Microsoft Entra ID) |
Integrations: Slack, Microsoft Outlook, Google Workspace, Gusto, Greenhouse, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, Checkr, and Cronofy.
BambooHR leadership
BambooHR pricing
| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Core | $10/employee/mo | Employee records, custom reports, workflows, time off, candidate tracking, 1 compliance course |
| Pro | $17/employee/mo | Everything in Core plus performance reviews, employee community, recognition, 15 compliance courses |
| Elite | $25/employee/mo | Everything in Pro plus compensation management, custom dashboards, HR benchmarks, 300+ compliance courses |
| Payroll add-on | +$6-8/employee/mo (est., US only) | Companies already on BambooHR HRIS wanting native payroll |
The catch: BambooHR publishes three tiers, Core at $10/employee/mo, Pro at $17/employee/mo, and Elite at $25/employee/mo, each adding more compliance training content, performance tools, or analytics on top of the last. Companies with 25 or fewer employees are billed a flat $250/mo minimum instead of the per-employee rate, which pushes the effective cost per head well above $10 for very small teams. Payroll and benefits administration are separate US-only add-ons, with a 15% bundle discount if you take both together, and nonprofits get an additional 15% discount. Reviewers repeatedly flag double-digit renewal price increases, so lock in multi-year terms if pricing stability matters.
BambooHR alternatives & where it appears
Featured in our guides
Latest BambooHR news
Auto-pulled from Google News, refreshed on each deploy. Headlines link to the source.
- BambooHR Software Review 2026 - Business News DailyMon, 13 Apr 2026
- BambooHR and Clair Launch Fully Integrated On-Demand Pay - HRTech SeriesTue, 12 May 2026
- BambooHR Employee Monitoring Review and Pricing in 2026 - Business.comTue, 23 Jun 2026
- BambooHR Introduces Bamboo AI™, a Connected Intelligence Platform Built to Work While Leaders Focus on Empowering People - HRTech SeriesTue, 21 Jul 2026
- Rippling vs. BambooHR Comparison: Which Is Best in 2026? - Business.comThu, 18 Jun 2026
- Leaders love AI. Employees aren’t sold. This is HR’s biggest challenge—and opportunity - FortuneFri, 05 Sep 2025
BambooHR FAQs
How much does BambooHR cost?
BambooHR publishes three per-employee tiers: Core at $10/employee/mo, Pro at $17/employee/mo, and Elite at $25/employee/mo. Companies with 25 or fewer employees are charged a flat $250/mo minimum instead of the per-employee rate. Payroll and benefits administration are separate add-ons, mainly for US employees.
Does BambooHR have a free trial?
BambooHR's own pricing page does not list a self-serve free trial; access is quote and demo based. Some third-party listings reference a limited trial period, so confirm current terms directly with BambooHR sales before assuming a free trial is available.
Is BambooHR SOC 2 and GDPR compliant?
Yes. BambooHR states it undergoes annual third-party SOC 2 Type II audits and maintains GDPR-aligned data handling, including an Ireland-based data center for EU, EEA, Switzerland, and UK customers. Confirm current certification scope on BambooHR's trust center before a regulated deployment.
Who is BambooHR best for?
BambooHR is built for small and mid-sized businesses that need a straightforward HRIS for employee records, onboarding, time off, and basic performance management without a dedicated HR ops team. Companies that need deep payroll functionality, heavy customization, or enterprise-scale HCM typically pair BambooHR with a specialist payroll vendor or move to a larger platform as they grow past a few hundred employees.
Is BambooHR a public company?
No. BambooHR is privately held. It was founded in 2008 and bootstrapped for several years before taking a $12M investment from Sorenson Capital and ICONIQ Capital in 2012. It has not disclosed an IPO or subsequent funding rounds through an official press release.
Sources
Every external figure on this page traces to a public source, last collected on the dates shown.
- G2: BambooHR reviews — rating 4.4/5, review count 5,641 (accessed August 1, 2026)
- Capterra: BambooHR reviews — rating 4.6/5, 3,108 reviews, sub-scores 4.6/4.5/4.4/4.5 (accessed August 1, 2026)
- Gartner Peer Insights: BambooHR — rating 4.3/5 across 301 reviews (accessed August 1, 2026)
- TrustRadius: BambooHR reviews — score 8.4/10 across 596 reviews, Top Rated designation (accessed August 1, 2026)
- Wikipedia: BambooHR — founding, founders, HQ history, CEO transition, culture policy (accessed August 1, 2026)
- BambooHR: pricing page — Core/Pro/Elite pricing, $250/mo minimum, bundle and nonprofit discounts (accessed August 1, 2026)
- BambooHR: about page — mission, leadership team names and titles (accessed August 1, 2026)
- BambooHR: security page — SOC 2 Type II annual audit, Ireland data center for EU/UK compliance (accessed August 1, 2026)
- GlobeNewswire: BambooHR introduces Bamboo AI (July 2026) — 30,000+ customers, 3M+ employee records, 190+ countries, Draper Utah HQ, CEO quote (accessed August 1, 2026)
- Mergr: Sorenson Capital and ICONIQ Capital invest in BambooHR — 2012 investment, $12M, Sorenson Capital lead with ICONIQ Capital (accessed August 1, 2026)
- Tracxn: BambooHR funding and investors — confirms 2012 PE round as the only disclosed round; later rounds unconfirmed (accessed August 1, 2026)
- Getlatka: BambooHR revenue profile — third-party estimated revenue figures, used only for directional context, not cited as fact on page (accessed August 1, 2026)
- PeopleManagingPeople: BambooHR integrations — integration marketplace examples (Slack, Outlook, Google, Greenhouse, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Checkr, Cronofy) (accessed August 1, 2026)
- Topickz: Best HR Software for Small Business — internal listicle carrying BambooHR G2 rating 4.4/5 and pricing details (accessed August 1, 2026)