BambooHR® vs. Criterion HCM

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BambooHR®
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
BambooHR is an cloud-based human resources solution that provides onboarding, payroll, and benefits management. It also offers automated time-off management and employee self-service.
$10
per month per user
Criterion HCM
Score 8.4 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Criterion provides human capital management (HCM) software for midmarket organizations in construction, financial services, nonprofits and higher education, empowering them to streamline their critical HR, payroll, talent engagement, and workforce management processes.N/A
Pricing
BambooHR®Criterion HCM
Editions & Modules
Core
$10
per month per user
Pro
Contact Sales
per month
Elite
Contact Sales
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BambooHR®Criterion HCM
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BambooHR®Criterion HCM
Features
BambooHR®Criterion HCM
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.8
256 Ratings
4% below category average
Criterion HCM
5.3
1 Ratings
42% below category average
Employee demographic data8.3228 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Employment history8.1233 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.0229 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.7215 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Organizational charting7.5235 Ratings00 Ratings
Organization and location management8.1226 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.2131 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.6
172 Ratings
7% below category average
Criterion HCM
5.0
1 Ratings
48% below category average
Pay calculation8.3125 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors6.892 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.593 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.0131 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.4128 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.0140 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.582 Ratings00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.7
221 Ratings
6% above category average
Criterion HCM
4.0
1 Ratings
68% below category average
Approval workflow8.5215 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Balance details8.3206 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment9.2129 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.5
249 Ratings
4% above category average
Criterion HCM
4.0
1 Ratings
69% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.6167 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Update personal information8.9244 Ratings4.01 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.3217 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee recognition7.9156 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history8.8234 Ratings00 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
9.0
74 Ratings
11% above category average
Criterion HCM
-
Ratings
Tracking of all physical assets9.074 Ratings00 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.1
209 Ratings
6% below category average
Criterion HCM
-
Ratings
Report builder7.2202 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.4200 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.6144 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.1
213 Ratings
2% above category average
Criterion HCM
1.0
1 Ratings
155% below category average
New hire portal8.4203 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Manager tracking tools7.8189 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.9
142 Ratings
2% below category average
Criterion HCM
-
Ratings
Corporate goal setting7.0103 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.9136 Ratings00 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility9.169 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking7.5130 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.8
160 Ratings
1% below category average
Criterion HCM
-
Ratings
Performance plans7.3145 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.2122 Ratings00 Ratings
Review status tracking8.697 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders8.0101 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.8139 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
9.0
81 Ratings
14% above category average
Criterion HCM
-
Ratings
Create succession plans/pools8.746 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking9.067 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search8.968 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate development9.259 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.0
181 Ratings
3% above category average
Criterion HCM
-
Ratings
Job Requisition Management7.8137 Ratings00 Ratings
Company Website Posting7.7148 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to Social Media9.291 Ratings00 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.4144 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.588 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.0164 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.1172 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BambooHR®Criterion HCM
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.3 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BambooHR®Criterion HCM
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(245 ratings)
1.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(17 ratings)
1.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(173 ratings)
1.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
9.3
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.7
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(137 ratings)
1.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
9.2
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(6 ratings)
1.0
(1 ratings)
Configurability
8.7
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.4
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.9
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
9.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.9
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BambooHR®Criterion HCM
Likelihood to Recommend
BambooHR
Performance management - the prompt questions are really helpful in distilling thoughts! Though it would still be great to have an optional box for additional feedback that might not be directly related to the prompt questions. The clean interface and user friendliness is a definite plus! But some specific features, eg. on TOIL application - it would be helpful to ensure it is intuitive to use, rather than confusing with the input process.
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Criterion HCM
We have not been happy with the functionality or reporting reports with this software. Numerous issues with employees not being able to clock in and out of the system. Employees' time sheets disappearing. Quarterly reports not matching to totals on batch payroll reports. Does not have the capability to electronically submit w-2's to state reporting agencies.
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Pros
BambooHR
  • Recruiting- communications are easy for both the internal team and candidates
  • Onboarding- the onboarding tasks are great. I love being able to attach documents as well as delay sending out tasks
  • Communication- the employee community is a great tool to keep our communications clean and organized. I love that we now have insight as to who has viewed the comms
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Criterion HCM
  • changes in pay rates
  • rehiring employees
  • payroll calculations
  • assisting with PTO accruals
Read full review
Cons
BambooHR
  • The biggest issue is on performance assessments. We are not able to customize the reminder dates so the automated reminder dates shown to people and on the email reminders is often misaligned with our actual internal deadlines. This causes a lot of confusion each review cycle.
  • Also on performance management, there is no way to push feedback to a supervisor for their direct report. The only way is if the manager requests the feedback from you. This limits the opportunity for people to give real time feedback throughout the half.
  • I wish we had a way to track notes from employee 1:1s in BambooHR® so when we do our performance reviews we can track. That may be a module we didn't purchase but it would facilitate more continuous and comprehensive evaluation of people at review time.
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Criterion HCM
  • payroll reports
  • state filing of W-2s
  • support
  • implementation
  • employees access to W-2
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Likelihood to Renew
BambooHR
There's nothing wrong with this platform. I would recommend it to any business starting with more than 10 employees. I will continue to use the program for as long as I need to, hoping they continue being tremendous and finding other ways to incorporate more technology.
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Criterion HCM
We are changing to another payroll/HR vendor.
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Usability
BambooHR
Just because there's a little complex with everything that's rolling out and so I have had to walk some people through functionality because there's just so much to click at this point. Another thing is the review process doesn't allow for ratings with a number scale, and I know we're kind of getting away from that as an industry, but with our previous system we have been rating people for their merit percent increase on their wages at the end of the year and it doesn't have the functionality to do that.
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Criterion HCM
too many instances of errors, unable to access program/time sheets
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Reliability and Availability
BambooHR
Yes, there is a huge team in the back of the online platform or it looks like it because I have never been left without an answer when I have a question or waiting from a response on my chat .... There must be a huge team, this is so great and I always seem to have someone that is very knowledgeable too. So many times in the past I had to leave with customer service that would connect you with someone else because of the expertise, here everyone seems to be some kind of an expert in the HR function.
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Criterion HCM
No answers on this topic
Performance
BambooHR
I love BambooHR. Reports are easy to run and download and it usually covers any types of requests I get from the management team. You get excel or .csv downloads/reports and it is fast and simple, not too crowded so it is easy to read through. We don't integrate the tool yet but again, soon we will. we just did not had the time to utilize it yet but that's the plan.
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Criterion HCM
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
BambooHR
I use the chat feature most often and the wait times can be long, but often I do get right in. When they promise to follow up, they always do. It seems the "support hero's" are very well training and knowledgeable. There are lots of resources in the form of print or video, too.
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Criterion HCM
Support is very slow to correct issues. I have actually reported an issue then 2-3 hours later received screen shots where they were able to do what we could not as though we were doing something different that usual. They are quick to say it is user error. Took too long to correct payroll reports and reports still do not reconcile. Very difficult to complete quarterly and annual reporting.
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In-Person Training
BambooHR
I didn't have in-person training besides teaching my managers how to use the program. However, I couldn't omit this question (maybe a system glitch).
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Criterion HCM
No answers on this topic
Online Training
BambooHR
Overall this training was great and our implementation specialist was wonderful and very helpful. We felt really prepared once our training was completed, But we could get additional help immediately even when we were live. The continuation Support heros after implementation are wonderful and you can always get a LIVE person each time you call into their office.
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Criterion HCM
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
BambooHR
We implemented bambooHR in Fall, 2023 then implemented Payroll 1/1/24. A vital piece of information was not known or missed in that we are exempt from State Unemployment Tax and have a Reimbursement Set-up, so bambooHR did not send Payroll Reports to the State. Those reports need to be sent regardless if we are exempt or not.
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Criterion HCM
Had to continually repeat our information. Kept getting us confused with another client.
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Alternatives Considered
BambooHR
Lattice is much more oriented towards performance management. It includes many more advanced performance management features from building actual assessments to also performance development planning. BambooHR® for us was a place to centralize our data and build from within as well as connect to external integrations. PerformYard is what we used prior to BambooHR® for onboarding workflows and performance reviews, but BambooHR® is far superior.
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Criterion HCM
When reviewing the various software before selecting Criterion HCM, it appeared to be the best choice and value. During implementation (which took nine months with us having to do most of the work) we realized we were not given accurate information regarding the software
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
BambooHR
Since my organization has dropped with employees, I always find ways to reduce costs. I thought there would be a cheaper option, but I was glad that my package included a lot for the price, and downgrading would cost more. The rep could have let me downgraded and taken me to a higher package. I am thankful that didn't happen.
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Criterion HCM
No answers on this topic
Scalability
BambooHR
There is so much you can do with this platform, it is incredible and so welcoming. We don't utilize it 100% yet just because we are growing and the HR team has not been able to concentrate on other areas offered to us but but we will soon. Which is also why we got the product, specifically because what BambooHR can do to help us meet our growing business needs.
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Criterion HCM
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
BambooHR
VERY professional!
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Criterion HCM
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
BambooHR
  • Time Savings: Automating onboarding, payroll, and employee record management has cut HR admin time by up to 30%, allowing teams to focus on strategic initiatives instead of paperwork.
  • Improved Onboarding: Streamlined workflows have cut onboarding time by nearly 50%, ensuring new hires are productive faster, reducing turnover risk in the critical first months.
  • - Enhanced Informational Clarity: Centralized employee data means fewer errors and faster access to essential information, reducing compliance risks and increasing accuracy in reporting.
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Criterion HCM
  • does not impact our ROI
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ScreenShots

BambooHR® Screenshots

Screenshot of the Job Info tabScreenshot of Onboarding TasksScreenshot of a New Hire PacketScreenshot of an Employee Performance ReportScreenshot of Employee Satisfaction (eNPS®)Screenshot of Open Enrollment