BambooHR vs Workday
These two buyers rarely meet in the same meeting. BambooHR shows its rates openly and starts with a flat monthly fee for a team of 25 or fewer, while Workday asks you to talk to sales and is aimed at organisations of several hundred people or more.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderVendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
Choose BambooHR ifyou have a small or mid-sized team, want to see a price before any call, and need an HR system running without a long project.
Choose Workday ifyou are a large enterprise that wants HR, payroll and finance under one vendor and can fund a deployment measured in months.
BambooHR and Workday side by side
| BambooHR | Workday | |
|---|---|---|
| Our HR software rank | #13 of 21 | #19 of 21 |
| Established in | United States | United States |
| List price, 4 November 2026 | Core 10.25, Pro 17.50, Elite 25 USD per employee per month above 25 employees; flat 250/425/650 USD per month for 25 or fewer | Enterprise pricing on request |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | A US company that wants HR without an implementation project | A large enterprise consolidating HR and finance |
| Not for | A European employer needing local payroll compliance | Anything under about five hundred employees |
Both are reviewed in full in our HR software ranking: BambooHR and Workday.
Where they differ
BambooHR 3 · Workday 1 · open 0- 01
What you can learn before talking to anyone
BambooHR's pricing page lists Core, Pro and Elite in USD per employee per month, plus a flat monthly rate for teams of 25 or fewer. Workday's HCM page offers a demo request and a sales contact, with no prices and no trial shown. A buyer comparing budgets can only do so on one side.
Edge: BambooHR
- 02
Numbers for a small team
Under the 25-employee threshold BambooHR charges 250, 425 or 650 USD a month depending on tier. Above it, the per-person rates are 10.25, 17.50 and 25 USD. Workday publishes nothing comparable, and describes its packaged edition as starting at 500 employees, so a 40-person firm sits outside its target.
Edge: BambooHR
- 03
Reach beyond HR records
The GO edition from Workday combines people, pay and ledger, for firms of 500 to 3,500 staff, and the HCM page highlights AI agents including one for payroll. BambooHR sells payroll and benefits as separate products with a bundle discount, and lists 150+ integration partners. If finance and HR must share one system, Workday is the broader answer.
Edge: Workday
- 04
Getting live and changing course
Workday's fixed-fee deployments run ten to twenty-plus weeks, and changes after go-live are costly. BambooHR's Elite tier adds 30 extra implementation days but the page gives no go-live timeline. Teams that cannot wait a quarter should lean to BambooHR.
Edge: BambooHR
When neither fits
If you employ people mainly in Europe and need local payroll, neither fits well; look at Personio or Factorial instead.
BambooHR or Workday: questions
3 answersDoes BambooHR publish its prices?
Yes. Core, Pro and Elite are listed per employee per month in USD, with a flat monthly rate for 25 employees or fewer, and volume discounts and Get Quote buttons for larger deals.
Does Workday show pricing or a free trial?
Not on the HCM page we read, which offers only a demo request and a sales contact.
Which suits a company of 40 people?
BambooHR. Workday's packaged edition begins at 500 employees, while BambooHR prices per person from the first seat.
Sources
Checked 4 November 2026- BambooHR pricing: Plan rates, flat small-team fee, bundle discount, 150+ integration partners, Elite's 30 extra implementation days.
- Workday HCM overview: Demo and sales-contact only, no prices or trial shown, AI agents including payroll.
- Workday contact page: United States headquarters in Pleasanton, California.