BambooHR® vs. Paychex

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
Paychex
Score 6.8 out of 10
N/A
Paychex Flex, of Paychex' Online Payroll Services, is a cloud-based human resource management and payroll platform. Paychex offers core and specialized services, and scales to meet the needs of small businesses, SMBs, and large enterprises.N/A
Pricing
BambooHR®Paychex
Editions & Modules
Core
$10
per month per user
Pro
Contact Sales
per month
Elite
Contact Sales
per month
Paychex Flex Pro
Custom Pricing
per month/+$4 per employee
HR Pro
Custom Pricing
HR PEO
Custom Pricing
Paychex Flex Select
Custom Pricing
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Custom Pricing
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BambooHR®Paychex
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalRequired
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BambooHR®Paychex
Considered Both Products
BambooHR®
Chose BambooHR®
We switch our clients from the other HRIS platforms to BambooHR, because they do everything better and have amazing customer support.
Chose BambooHR®
BambooHR is easy to use whether you have one or 1,000 employees.
Chose BambooHR®
BambooHR's system was easier to set up with their support team than previous vendors I've used.
Chose BambooHR®
BambooHR offers a superior employee experience, especially when it comes to onboarding!
Chose BambooHR®
Bamboo is more intuitive and user-friendly than Paychex.
Chose BambooHR®
BambooHR was already in place when I started. BambooHR has much better intuitive navigation than any of the other systems but not as much customizability as something like Workday.
Chose BambooHR®
BambooHR is a very up-to-date system compared to Paychex. Their customer service compared to Paychex is out of this world!
Chose BambooHR®
BambooHR is much more user friendly. What it lacks in technical/complexities it is working to improve.
Chose BambooHR®
BambooHR is easier to use at a better price.
Chose BambooHR®
Much easier to use, at least as end user, than UltiPro. However I’m not sure if it’s as robust.
Chose BambooHR®
JazzHR and Comeet are much more advanced as ATSs. The UX of BambooHR is a bit better than both of them.
Paychex
Chose Paychex
We use BambooHR in tandem with Paychex. BambooHR is our timesheet service, and Paychex issues the checks/payments to our employees. Ideally we would use one service instead of two to achieve our payment and timesheet needs.
Chose Paychex
We have moved away from our benefits administration, onboarding, time and attendance, and basically all non-payroll functionality away from Paychex Flex.
Chose Paychex
we just started using insperity to manage our payroll and benefits. haven't had enough experience with it in order to comment on the pros and cons against paychex flex.The only thing i have noticed so far is Paychex flex's platform is simpler and straight forward. i feel like …
Chose Paychex
This is the only payment management tool I have used or interacted with.
Chose Paychex
From what I remember of ADP VirtualEdge, I think Paychex has more ease of use and has a cleaner interface. It's been a while though, so I'm not sure I'm comparing apples to apples. In terms of HRM/HRIS systems, I think Bamboo was a little more intuitive to use than Paychex and …
Features
BambooHR®Paychex
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.8
256 Ratings
4% below category average
Paychex
6.7
272 Ratings
19% below category average
Employee demographic data8.3228 Ratings7.8219 Ratings
Employment history8.1233 Ratings8.1242 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.0229 Ratings7.8177 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.7215 Ratings7.8172 Ratings
Organizational charting7.5235 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Organization and location management8.1226 Ratings7.5158 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.2131 Ratings6.8146 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.6
172 Ratings
7% below category average
Paychex
7.7
313 Ratings
5% below category average
Pay calculation8.3125 Ratings8.0295 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors6.892 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.493 Ratings7.1153 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.0131 Ratings6.9174 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.4128 Ratings8.3294 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.0140 Ratings8.0209 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.582 Ratings7.7118 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
Paychex
7.3
159 Ratings
11% below category average
Approval workflow8.5215 Ratings7.3113 Ratings
Balance details8.3206 Ratings7.5151 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment9.2129 Ratings7.0119 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
Paychex
7.8
270 Ratings
5% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.6167 Ratings7.8248 Ratings
Update personal information8.9244 Ratings7.9260 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.3217 Ratings7.7121 Ratings
Employee recognition7.9156 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history8.8234 Ratings7.9184 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
9.0
74 Ratings
11% above category average
Paychex
5.0
43 Ratings
47% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets9.074 Ratings5.043 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.1
209 Ratings
6% below category average
Paychex
5.9
177 Ratings
24% below category average
Report builder7.2202 Ratings6.3147 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.4200 Ratings6.3165 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.6144 Ratings5.191 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.1
213 Ratings
2% above category average
Paychex
6.4
173 Ratings
22% below category average
New hire portal8.4203 Ratings6.7165 Ratings
Manager tracking tools7.8189 Ratings6.1109 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
Paychex
-
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
Paychex
-
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®
8.9
81 Ratings
13% above category average
Paychex
-
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
Paychex
5.2
70 Ratings
40% below category average
Job Requisition Management7.8137 Ratings5.536 Ratings
Company Website Posting7.7148 Ratings5.334 Ratings
Publish to Social Media9.291 Ratings4.728 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.4144 Ratings5.235 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.588 Ratings4.834 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.1164 Ratings4.839 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.1172 Ratings5.964 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BambooHR®Paychex
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®Paychex
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(245 ratings)
6.3
(322 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(17 ratings)
1.2
(44 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(173 ratings)
6.7
(264 ratings)
Availability
9.3
(5 ratings)
5.6
(12 ratings)
Performance
8.7
(5 ratings)
7.1
(12 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(137 ratings)
6.2
(264 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
4.5
(1 ratings)
Online Training
9.2
(4 ratings)
8.3
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(6 ratings)
5.4
(13 ratings)
Configurability
8.7
(4 ratings)
5.0
(9 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.4
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.6
(2 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.9
(5 ratings)
6.0
(12 ratings)
Professional Services
9.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.9
(4 ratings)
2.2
(33 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(4 ratings)
3.2
(34 ratings)
User Testimonials
BambooHR®Paychex
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Paychex is great option for smaller employers as the site offers perk benefits to employees at no cost to the employer. I don't see anything like this being offered at competitors such as ADP RUN/Total Source, Bamboo, Trinet, Justworks or Gusto. Also, the initial set up is relatively easy and the dedicated support for set up is great along with our regular dedicated payroll support.
Read full review
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
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
  • It provides a well account of Retirement Plan Account Information.
  • Alerts are sent to email when there is new information to access.
  • Employee access both online and thru app.
  • Paperless options.
  • Easy and quick access to paystubs and tax forms.
  • Easy employee retirement management.
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
  • I understand logging you out is a security function, but I'd prefer it not to log you out so soon.
  • The training we received for the team's meeting was subpar, in my opinion. Probably better geared for people with little to no computer experience. Very slow pace; we could have easily received all of this from some tutorials in a few minutes.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Overall I like the features that Paychex Flex offers. I am sure that there are other features that I am unaware of, so I am excited to see if there is more that Flex is capable of to make my job easier. The basic features are really user friendly and easy to access. If there ever is an issue customer service is great
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Employee usability is very good and user-friendly. For the most part, the employer usability is good, but for complicated rules and policies, it requires technical assistance, which in our case, was clunky and slow in implementation. Once is place, everything works as it should
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
We have not experienced any difficulties with unplanned outages. Notifications are always made for outages, and they do not effect normal business operations.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Unless there is lag time within the internet, the Paychex Flex website loads exceptional fast, pages load quickly and reports that I need to print or download load quickly. If I need to create a specialized report, once I complete it I receive an e-mail telling me my report is ready to be downloaded. Changing between web pages is fast as well.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Chat has been helpful but the person I chat with isn't always able to help me with my questions. Phone support is ok, depending on your payroll specialist. We have a great one currently, but the few before that were never available and did not return calls.
Read full review
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).
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
We did online training only
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
It was easy to understand and follow along. I do like the informational videos that we can utilize before we opt to call in for customer service support. It has made a difference since sometimes that resolves the issue I may have had and saved myself a phone call to Paychex support.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Implementation was very smooth. The most cumbersome task was entering the current employees into the system during initial set up, but Paychex staff handled most of that and verified against prior system reports as well as internal reports provided to ensure 100% accuracy.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
We still use QB Desktop Pro to maintain a Check Register / Overall Balance for the company, but once having tried QB Payroll Online for about 3 months prior to finding Paychex Flex I can tell you that there's just no comparison. QB online is VERY EXPENSIVE and not so user-friendly. I hated every minute of those 6 payrolls we ran through QB online.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
I generally do payroll at the office, however I have had to go remote due to internet issues and also had to take payroll on vacation with me. Very easy to log in wherever you are and manage your TAA and payroll
Read full review
Professional Services
BambooHR
VERY professional!
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
  • With Paychex Flex we have been able to improve our compliance with required documentation for new/rehires
  • Moving everyone to direct deposit and mobile clock in/out eliminated lines at punching stations and paycheck pickup stations
  • Lost checks is a thing of the past
Read full review
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

Paychex Screenshots

Screenshot of Paychex Payroll DashboardScreenshot of Employee Background ChecksScreenshot of Paychex HR DashboardScreenshot of Paychex Flex Perks