Two capable HR systems, with very different price tags.
BambooHR is one of the best-known HR systems for small and mid-sized businesses, praised for its ease of use. Zoho People is Zoho's HR system, with broad features and a far lower price. Both handle employee records, time off, onboarding and reporting well. The differences are cost, especially for small companies, how much you can customize and how each connects to payroll, hiring and the rest of your systems. This comparison sets them side by side. It is part of our Zoho People guide.
Choose Zoho People if cost matters, you want deep customization, you run shifts and attendance, or you use Zoho One: plans start at about $1.25 per employee per month billed annually. Choose BambooHR if you want a very polished, simple interface and US payroll and benefits in one vendor, and can budget from about $10 per employee per month, with a flat minimum from $250 a month for 25 employees or fewer.
| Zoho People | BambooHR | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, for very small teams | No |
| Entry price | About $1.25 per employee per month (annual) | Core from $10 per employee per month |
| Small-company minimum | Paid plans may require a few employees | Flat rate from $250 per month for 25 employees or fewer |
| Higher tiers | About $2 to $4 per employee per month | Pro $17, Elite $25 per employee per month |
| Attendance and shifts | Included from Professional | Time tracking available; shifts more limited |
| Custom forms and workflows | Extensive | More limited, simpler setup |
| Payroll | Zoho Payroll in selected countries, or other providers | US payroll as an add-on |
| Hiring | Zoho Recruit (separate app, in Zoho One) | Hiring tools within BambooHR |
| Included in Zoho One | Yes | No |
BambooHR's prices are its published starting rates for companies with more than 25 employees, as reported in 2026. Confirm on Zoho People pricing and BambooHR pricing.
For a 20-person company, BambooHR's flat minimum of about $250 a month works out to around $12.50 per employee, and $3,000 a year. Zoho People on its Professional plan, at about $2 per employee per month on annual billing, comes to around $40 a month or $480 a year. At 100 employees, BambooHR Pro at $17 per employee costs about $1,700 a month, while Zoho People Premium at about $3 costs about $300. Add-ons such as payroll and benefits administration increase BambooHR's total further.
Both systems hold employee records, documents, org charts and reporting lines, with self-service for employees. BambooHR is known for a clean, intuitive interface that HR teams and employees pick up quickly. Zoho People offers more ways to customize fields, forms and layouts, which suits organizations with specific processes but takes a little more setup.
Both handle leave types, accruals, approvals and holiday calendars. Zoho People is particularly strong for organizations with several locations, shift workers or detailed attendance needs, with check-in and check-out, shift scheduling and overtime rules included from its Professional plan. Our guides to time off and holidays in Zoho People show the configuration in detail.
Zoho People lets HR build custom forms for almost any process, with approvals and automation; see customizing forms in Zoho People. BambooHR offers workflows and approvals that are simpler to set up but less flexible for unusual processes.
BambooHR offers US payroll and benefits administration as add-ons from the same vendor, which appeals to US companies wanting one provider. Zoho Payroll is available in selected countries, and Zoho People can connect to other payroll providers elsewhere. For US companies that want HR, payroll and benefits from one vendor, BambooHR's add-ons are a strength, at extra cost.
BambooHR includes hiring tools within its platform. Zoho uses a separate applicant tracking system, Zoho Recruit, which connects to Zoho People and is included in Zoho One; it offers more depth for teams that hire often. Both handle onboarding checklists and documents.
For companies outside the US, Zoho People's regional editions and local payroll options are often a better fit.
BambooHR integrates with a wide range of third-party payroll, benefits and business tools. Zoho People's strength is native connection to Zoho Recruit, Payroll, Expense, Books, Cliq and the rest of Zoho One. Businesses running on Zoho get connected HR data without connectors.
BambooHR includes standard and custom reports that are easy to build. Zoho People includes standard reports and, on higher plans, advanced analytics, with the option to connect Zoho Analytics for dashboards that combine HR data with finance and operations. Businesses wanting HR data alongside other company data benefit from the Zoho route.
Both offer employee self-service and mobile apps for time off requests, profile updates and approvals. Zoho People's mobile app also covers attendance check-in and check-out, which matters for teams working on site or in shifts.
BambooHR is known for a guided onboarding process and responsive support. Zoho offers support across plans and a large partner network, including implementation partners like ABR who configure policies, forms and workflows and migrate data for you.
| Your situation | Better choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small company with a tight budget | Zoho People | Free plan and low per-employee pricing, no $250 minimum |
| You use Zoho One or other Zoho apps | Zoho People | Native connections, included in Zoho One |
| Shift workers and detailed attendance | Zoho People | Attendance and shifts built in |
| Highly specific HR processes | Zoho People | Extensive custom forms and workflows |
| US company wanting HR, payroll and benefits from one vendor | BambooHR | Payroll and benefits add-ons |
| Priority on the simplest, most polished interface | BambooHR | Widely praised usability |
| Zoho People Premium | BambooHR Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Per employee, per month | About $3 (annual billing) | $17 |
| Monthly cost for 60 employees | About $180 | About $1,020 |
| Yearly cost | About $2,160 | About $12,240 |
Using published starting prices, Zoho People Premium costs a fraction of BambooHR Pro for the same company, before BambooHR's payroll or benefits add-ons. On Zoho One, Zoho People adds no extra cost.
Export employee records, documents and leave balances from BambooHR.
Configure leave types, holidays, locations and approval workflows in Zoho People first.
Import employees with accurate start dates and current leave balances.
Recreate onboarding checklists and key forms.
Connect payroll and, if hiring, Zoho Recruit.
Run both in parallel for one pay period, then switch fully.
Before deciding, run a two-week trial of each with your real leave policies and a handful of employees. Seeing how each handles your actual rules, locations and approvals tells you more than any feature list.
Yes, by a wide margin. Zoho People starts at about $1.25 per employee per month on annual billing with a free plan, while BambooHR starts at $10 per employee per month and charges a flat minimum from $250 a month for 25 employees or fewer.
Yes, especially for budget-conscious companies, organizations with shift workers or detailed attendance needs, and businesses on Zoho One. BambooHR remains strong for its polished interface and US payroll and benefits add-ons.
No. BambooHR has no free plan. Zoho People offers a free plan for very small teams.
Zoho People connects to Zoho Payroll, which is available in selected countries, and can work with other payroll providers elsewhere. BambooHR offers US payroll as an add-on.
Yes. Export employee records, documents and leave balances, configure policies in Zoho People, import employees with accurate start dates and run both systems for one pay period before switching.
BambooHR is widely praised for its simple, polished interface. Zoho People offers more customization, which takes a little more setup but fits specific HR processes better.
Zoho People. Its Professional plan and above include attendance with check-in and check-out, shift scheduling and timesheets, which suits teams working shifts or on site.
Yes. Zoho People's Premium plan and above include performance management with goals, reviews and feedback.
Yes. BambooHR's US payroll and benefits administration are add-ons priced separately from its Core, Pro and Elite plans.
We help HR teams compare real costs and move to Zoho People with policies and balances set up correctly.