Made for South African buyers. Every price in rand, read from the vendor.
In depth review
BambooHR · HR software
A polished HR platform for people records, hiring and performance, with payroll for US employees only.
BambooHR has three tiers: Core at about R167, Pro at about R284 and Elite at about R418 per employee a month for companies of more than 25 employees. Companies of 25 or fewer pay a flat monthly rate instead, about R4 180, R7 110 or R10 870. Its payroll and benefits add ons are for US employees.
Core
About R167
Per employee a month, above 25 employees
Pro
About R284
Per employee a month, above 25 employees
Elite
About R418
Per employee a month, above 25 employees
25 or fewer, Core
About R4 180
A flat monthly rate
50 employees on Core
About R8 370
A month
Founded
2008
BambooHR
Figures marked as a vendor's own are that vendor's claims about itself and are not tested here.
Every plan BambooHR lists, in rand, with a button to its own pricing page.
Plan
R165
per employee a month
For companies of more than 25 employees. About R4 180 a month flat for 25 or fewer.
Plan
R281
per employee a month
Adds 360 reviews, one to ones and recognition. About R7 110 a month flat for 25 or fewer.
Plan
R413
per employee a month
Adds compensation planning and benchmarking. About R10 870 a month flat for 25 or fewer.
Each button opens the vendor's own page in a new tab, where you buy or sign up. Prices are the vendor's, shown in rand.
BambooHR lists 3 priced plans: Core at R165 /employee, Pro at R281 /employee, Elite at R413 /employee. Every figure is shown in rand, converted from the vendor's own price at the day's reference rate.
The vendor does not say whether VAT is in these figures, so ask before you set them beside a price that does. South African VAT is 15 percent.
BambooHR also sells Time and Attendance and Global Employment as add ons. Its payroll and benefits add ons are for US employees.
Read from bamboohr.com/pricing on 11 October 2026.
A plan priced per user or per employee shows the price of one. Both VAT footings are shown where the vendor states its basis.
1 employee
5 employees
10 employees
25 employees
50 employees
The price per head multiplied by the size of the team. Where the vendor sets a flat rate or a limit on seats for a plan, the chart follows it and leaves a plan out at a size it is not sold for. Volume discounts and add ons are not included.
The price per head multiplied by the size of the team. Where the vendor sets a flat rate or a limit on seats for a plan, the chart follows it and leaves a plan out at a size it is not sold for. Volume discounts and add ons are not included.
| Employees | Core | Pro | Elite |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R4 134 | R7 027 | R10 747 |
| 5 | R4 134 | R7 027 | R10 747 |
| 10 | R4 134 | R7 027 | R10 747 |
| 15 | R4 134 | R7 027 | R10 747 |
| 20 | R4 134 | R7 027 | R10 747 |
| 25 | R4 134 | R7 027 | R10 747 |
| 30 | R4 960 | R8 433 | R12 401 |
| 40 | R6 614 | R11 243 | R16 534 |
| 50 | R8 267 | R14 054 | R20 668 |
All prices are in rand. Where a vendor lists in dollars, pounds or euros we convert at R16.53 per US dollar, R21.86 per pound and R18.53 per euro (European Central Bank reference rates, via Frankfurter, 9 OCT 2026).
Amounts written out in the text of this review are at the reference rate of 2 October 2026. The charts and the calculator use the rates above, so a figure can differ by a rand or two.
Pick a plan, your team size and any extras. It adds BambooHR's own prices in rand and shows the month and the year, with VAT in and out where the vendor states its basis.
Your bill
R4 133.60
a month, as the vendor lists it
The vendor does not say whether VAT is in its price, so none is added or taken out.
The plan and extras you chose, at each team size. A plan is left out at a size the vendor does not sell it for.
| Employees | Your bill a month |
|---|---|
| 1 | R4 134 |
| 5 | R4 134 |
| 10 | R4 134 |
| 15 | R4 134 |
| 20 | R4 134 |
| 25 | R4 134 |
| 30 | R4 960 |
| 40 | R6 614 |
| 50 | R8 267 |
Opens the vendor's own page in a new tab. Nothing is bought on this site.
From R165 /employee /mo
Starting prices of the priced products in the same category, cheapest first. This is a price sort, not a ranking: the cheapest product is not the best one, and some are priced per user, some per month and some excluding VAT.
Bar lengths use a square root scale, so a very high price does not flatten the rest. The figures are exact.
The middle starting price of the paid products here is R66.
Price on request, so not charted: LabourNet, Personio.
Positions use a square root scale, so a very high price does not flatten the rest. The figures are exact.
A dot is one plan. Free plans and plans on request have no price to place. A per user price is the price of one user.
A founding year says how long a company has existed. It says nothing about how good the product is.
2 official videos from BambooHR on YouTube. Software Register did not make or edit them. They are the vendor's own account of the product, so read them beside the prices and limits on this page.
Product overview
Overview, 3:38, published 7 February 2024. From the BambooHR channel on YouTube.
A video loads from YouTube only when you press play. The still picture before that comes from YouTube's image servers.
BambooHR is an HR information system built around employee records, hiring and onboarding, time off, benefits tracking and employee satisfaction surveys. The Pro tier adds performance management with 360 degree reviews and one to ones, employee community features and recognition. Elite adds compensation management with benchmarking, custom dashboards and a library of more than 300 compliance training courses.
The page says payroll and benefits are for US employees only and does not mention South Africa. A South African business would therefore use BambooHR for HR records and performance, and keep payroll in a local product. Nothing on the page describes South African leave law or statutory reporting.
Strengths
Limits
Best for
Think twice if
In short
A well made HR tool for a company above 25 employees that runs payroll elsewhere. If you are smaller, price the flat rate against a per employee product first.
Start where the vendor sells it, and keep this page open beside you for the limits.
From R165 /employee /mo
No. BambooHR's payroll and benefits add ons are for US employees. You can use it for people records, hiring, time off and performance, and run South African payroll in another product.
BambooHR starts at R165 /employee per employee a month. It lists 3 priced plans, from R165 /employee to R413 /employee.
The vendor's page does not say whether VAT is included, so we show the plain figure and do not guess. Ask before you compare it with a price that states its basis.
HR records, hiring and performance for any location. BambooHR's payroll and benefits add ons are for US employees.
On this register the closest are LabourNet, PeopleHR, Personio, Sage HR. Each has its own page, and the compare tool sets any two side by side.
South African guides that help you weigh BambooHR: what the rules ask, what to test and what to put in writing.
Leave under the BCEA comes first
Many HR products are built in Britain, America or Europe. What a South African employer should check: leave under the BCEA, how HR meets payroll, the personal information it holds and what it costs for each employee.
Read the guideMinimum annual leave under the BCEA
21 days
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act sets minimum leave. HR software that accrues it wrongly will quietly misstate what you owe.
Read the guideSoftware Register
Where your customers' data lives, and who can touch it
Your customers' and employees' details sit in the software you choose. The law makes you responsible for them, and the vendor is acting for you. Here are the questions to put to a vendor before you hand over the data.
Read the guideEvery price and fact on this page was read from the vendor's own pages, researched on 11 October 2026. A figure the vendor states about itself is marked as the vendor's. This review gives no score and no rank, and a vendor cannot pay to change it. Read how the register works.
Something wrong on this page? Suggest a correction, with a link to the vendor's page that shows it.
BambooHR is priced as above. Go to the vendor to buy or to ask, or compare it with another product first.
From R165 /employee /mo
Use BambooHR? Tell other South African buyers what it does well, where it falls short and who it suits. An editor reads each review before it appears, and it is published as written.
BambooHR
From R165 /employee /mo
