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All industries · head to head

BambooHR vs Cooleaf

BambooHR logo

BambooHR

All industries

HR software with heart

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

Cooleaf

Employee Engagement

Employee engagement and recognition made easy

From
$4/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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; Cooleaf cooleaf's archived 2013 employer pricing (under its original wellness-marketplace business model, before its pivot to employee engagement) shows tiered per-employee-count fees rather than flat per-seat pricing: the mid Healthy Partnership tier had a $1,000 setup fee and monthly fees ranging from $150 for 1-100 employees up to $250 for 201-500 employees, with 500+ employees requiring a custom quote (archived pricing page, 31 August 2013)
  • They diverge on capability: BambooHR covers Employee database, Cooleaf covers Peer recognition.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BambooHR and Cooleaf actually diverge.

Attributes where BambooHR and Cooleaf differ
AttributeBambooHRCooleaf
Starting price$10/month per employee$4/month
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiWeb
CategoryAll industriesEmployee Engagement
Founded20082014

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), 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 Cooleaf

  • Peer recognition
  • Rewards marketplace
  • Wellness challenges
  • Team activities
  • Gamification
  • Analytics
  • Mobile app
  • Social feed

Both cover

  • Slack
  • ADP

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 Cooleaf
  • Time off tracking and approvalsnot Cooleaf
  • Applicant tracking and onboardingnot Cooleaf
  • Performance reviews and 1:1s on the Pro tiernot Cooleaf
  • Compensation planning and benchmarking on Elitenot Cooleaf

Cooleaf

  • Employee recognitionnot BambooHR
  • Wellness programsnot BambooHR
  • Team buildingnot BambooHR
  • Culture improvementnot 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

Cooleaf

  • Cooleaf's archived 2013 employer pricing (under its original wellness-marketplace business model, before its pivot to employee engagement) shows tiered per-employee-count fees rather than flat per-seat pricing: the mid Healthy Partnership tier had a $1,000 setup fee and monthly fees ranging from $150 for 1-100 employees up to $250 for 201-500 employees, with 500+ employees requiring a custom quote (archived pricing page, 31 August 2013)

Pricing, plan by plan

BambooHR

$10/month per employee

No published plan breakdown. See the BambooHR review.

Cooleaf

$4/month
  • Essentials$4/month
    • Recognition
    • Rewards catalog
    • Mobile app
  • Premium$undefined/month
    • Wellness challenges
    • Advanced gamification
    • Custom integrations

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 Cooleaf if

  • You need peer recognition.
  • You also want rewards marketplace.
Cooleaf review

Questions people ask

Is BambooHR or Cooleaf better?
Neither clearly leads. BambooHR starts at $10/month per employee and Cooleaf at $4/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BambooHR or Cooleaf?
BambooHR starts at $10/month per employee and Cooleaf at $4/month.
Does BambooHR or Cooleaf run on more platforms?
BambooHR runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Cooleaf runs on Web.
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 Cooleaf is typically brought in for.
What can BambooHR do that Cooleaf cannot?
BambooHR covers Employee database, Time-off management, Benefits tracking, Performance reviews. Cooleaf covers Peer recognition, Rewards marketplace, Wellness challenges, Team activities. Both handle Slack, ADP.
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