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BambooHR vs Bear Notes

BambooHR logo

BambooHR

All industries

HR software with heart

From
$10/month per employee
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Bear Notes logo

Bear Notes

Productivity

Beautiful note-taking app for Apple devices

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Bear Notes has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: BambooHR organisations of 25 or fewer employees pay a flat rate starting at $250 a month, so a very small team pays far more per head than the listed per-employee price; Bear Notes apple only: Bear runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad with no Windows, Android or web app
  • They diverge on capability: BambooHR covers Employee database, Bear Notes covers Markdown-based notes.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BambooHR and Bear Notes actually diverge.

Attributes where BambooHR and Bear Notes differ
AttributeBambooHRBear Notes
Starting price$10/month per employeeFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiMacOS, IOS, IPadOS
CategoryAll industriesProductivity
Founded20082015

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in BambooHR

  • Employee database
  • Time-off management
  • Benefits tracking
  • Performance reviews
  • Onboarding
  • Reporting & analytics
  • Mobile access
  • Document management

Only in Bear Notes

  • Markdown-based notes
  • Powerful tag system
  • Rich text formatting
  • Image support
  • iCloud sync
  • Dark and light themes
  • Encryption support
  • Backup and restore

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

BambooHR

  • HR system of record with employee data and documentsnot Bear Notes
  • Time off tracking and approvalsnot Bear Notes
  • Applicant tracking and onboardingnot Bear Notes
  • Performance reviews and 1:1s on the Pro tiernot Bear Notes
  • Compensation planning and benchmarking on Elitenot Bear Notes

Bear Notes

  • Markdown note taking on Apple devicesnot BambooHR
  • Organising notes with nested hashtags rather than foldersnot BambooHR
  • Exporting notes to PDF, DOCX, HTML or ePubnot BambooHR

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

BambooHR

  • Organisations of 25 or fewer employees pay a flat rate starting at $250 a month, so a very small team pays far more per head than the listed per-employee price
  • Per-employee pricing starts at 26 employees, from $10 on Core
  • Performance management, 360 reviews and recognition all require Pro at $17 per employee per month
  • Compensation management, salary benchmarking and advanced analytics are Elite only at $25 per employee per month
  • Compliance training is rationed by tier, at 1 course on Core against 300 on Elite

Bear Notes

  • Apple only: Bear runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad with no Windows, Android or web app
  • Sync across devices requires Bear Pro and works through iCloud only
  • The free version is limited to 3 export formats, 3 themes and 1 app icon
  • OCR search inside images and PDFs is Pro only
  • Note encryption is Pro only
  • The Pro trial lasts 7 days

Pricing, plan by plan

BambooHR

$10/month per employee

No published plan breakdown. See the BambooHR review.

Bear Notes

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Note creation and organization
    • Tags
    • Local sync
  • Premium$1.99/month
    • iCloud sync
    • Themes
    • Markdown export

Which should you pick?

Choose BambooHR if

  • You need employee database.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want time-off management.
BambooHR review

Choose Bear Notes if

  • You need markdown-based notes.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on MacOS, IOS, IPadOS.
  • You also want powerful tag system.
Bear Notes review

Questions people ask

Is BambooHR or Bear Notes better?
Neither clearly leads. BambooHR starts at $10/month per employee and Bear Notes at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BambooHR or Bear Notes?
Bear Notes has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $10/month per employee for BambooHR and Free for Bear Notes.
Does BambooHR or Bear Notes run on more platforms?
BambooHR runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Bear Notes runs on MacOS, IOS, IPadOS.
Can I use Bear Notes for free?
Yes. Bear Notes has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. BambooHR starts at $10/month per employee.
What is BambooHR best used for?
BambooHR is most often used for hr system of record with employee data and documents, time off tracking and approvals, applicant tracking and onboarding, performance reviews and 1:1s on the pro tier. Of those, hr system of record with employee data and documents and time off tracking and approvals are not what Bear Notes is typically brought in for.
What can BambooHR do that Bear Notes cannot?
BambooHR covers Employee database, Time-off management, Benefits tracking, Performance reviews. Bear Notes covers Markdown-based notes, Powerful tag system, Rich text formatting, Image support.
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