BambooHR vs Personio
BambooHR publishes three plan prices per employee, a flat monthly rate for companies of 25 or fewer, and sells payroll and benefits for US employees only. Personio's pricing page could not be read by our fetcher, so only its public API documentation is checked here. BambooHR wins on verifiable price and US payroll; Personio's case rests on its documented API, and its prices need a quote.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderVendors can pay for visibility on this site; it never changes what we say about a product. How that works.
Choose BambooHR ifyou are a US-weighted company that wants published per-employee prices and payroll and benefits administration from the same vendor.
Choose Personio ifyou value an open, documented API with webhooks and are ready to request a quote because we could not read a published price.
BambooHR and Personio side by side
| BambooHR | Personio | |
|---|---|---|
| Our HR software rank | #13 of 20 | #4 of 20 |
| Established in | United States | Germany |
| Pricing | Per employee per month, published; flat monthly rate up to 25 employees | Per employee per month, quoted |
| List price, 19 October 2026 | Core $10, Pro $17, Elite $25 per employee per month; flat $250, $425 or $650 a month up to 25 employees | Not shown: pricing page not readable by our fetcher |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | A US company that wants HR without an implementation project | A European company of 50 to 500 that wants one HR system |
| Not for | A European employer needing local payroll compliance | A ten-person startup |
Both are reviewed in full in our HR software ranking: BambooHR and Personio.
Where they differ
BambooHR 2 · Personio 0 · open 3- 01
Published prices
BambooHR lists Core at $10, Pro at $17 and Elite at $25 per employee per month, with automatic volume discounts. Personio's pricing page returned a browser check to our fetcher, so we saw no price for it and make no claim about whether it publishes one. Where a buyer must budget before talking to sales, only BambooHR gave us numbers.
Edge: BambooHR
- 02
Very small companies
BambooHR charges a flat monthly rate when a company has 25 or fewer employees: $250 for Core, $425 for Pro and $650 for Elite. At 25 staff that equals $10, $17 and $26 per head, so the minimum bites below that size. For a team of ten, Core works out at $25 per employee a month, which is the cost of the floor.
Depends on the buyer
- 03
Payroll and benefits
BambooHR sells Payroll and Benefits Administration as add-ons for US employees only, with a 15% saving when both are bundled with a plan. Personio's developer documentation lists a Payroll Integrations API that returns compensations, which we read as feeding an external payroll system. We found no vendor statement of a payroll run in Personio.
Edge: BambooHR
- 04
Outside the US
BambooHR offers Global Employment as an add-on powered by Remote, while its own payroll and benefits stay US only. Personio's developer hub says more than 8,000 customers use it, but we could not read which countries its product covers. For a company hiring abroad, neither source settles country coverage without a vendor conversation.
Depends on the buyer
- 05
Integration surface
Personio documents an OAuth 2.0 client-credentials API with webhooks, persons, document management and absence periods. BambooHR documents a REST API with OAuth, webhooks, official SDKs and a developer portal. Both are open to engineering teams. Personio's public reference was easier to browse, but we did not benchmark either API.
Depends on the buyer
When neither fits
If you need a vendor that quotes nothing opaque, Kenjo and Breathe both publish prices and sit in the same HR software ranking. Neither is as widely deployed as BambooHR, so check integrations first.
BambooHR or Personio: questions
4 answersHow much does BambooHR cost?
Core is $10, Pro $17 and Elite $25 per employee per month on the page we read. Companies with 25 or fewer employees pay a flat $250, $425 or $650 a month. Payroll, benefits and time add-ons are extra.
Does Personio publish its prices?
We could not tell. Its pricing page showed a browser check when fetched, so we saw no price. Ask the vendor for a written quote and confirm the modules in it.
Does BambooHR offer a free trial?
The pricing page we read does not mention one. The site offers a demo and a pricing quote form instead.
Does BambooHR run payroll outside the US?
Its pricing page states Payroll and Benefits Administration are for US employees only. Global Employment is a separate add-on powered by Remote.
Sources
Checked 19 October 2026- BambooHR pricing: plan prices, 25-employee minimums, add-ons, US-only payroll and benefits, payment terms.
- BambooHR developer documentation: REST API with OAuth, webhooks and SDKs.
- Personio developer hub: API access, 8,000 customers, recruiting API.
- Personio API index: OAuth client credentials, webhooks, document management, absence periods, payroll compensations endpoint.