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All industries · head to head

BambooHR vs HubSpot

BambooHR logo

BambooHR

All industries

HR software with heart

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

HubSpot

All industries

Grow better with HubSpot

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only HubSpot 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; HubSpot free tier limited to 2 users and 1,000 contacts; severely restricts growing teams
  • They diverge on capability: BambooHR covers Employee database, HubSpot covers CRM.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BambooHR and HubSpot actually diverge.

Attributes where BambooHR and HubSpot differ
AttributeBambooHRHubSpot
Starting price$10/month per employeeFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiWeb, Mobile, Cloud
Founded20082006

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (All industries).

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 HubSpot

  • CRM
  • Email marketing
  • Marketing automation
  • Sales pipeline
  • Customer service
  • Content management
  • Analytics
  • Social media

Both cover

  • Slack
  • SOC2
  • ISO27001
  • GDPR

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

HubSpot

  • Small businesses and startups using CRM, email marketing, sales pipeline, and customer service in single platformnot BambooHR
  • Organisations requiring integration with 2,000+ third-party applicationsnot BambooHR
  • Teams leveraging AI agents for prospecting, service automation, and data analysisnot 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

HubSpot

  • Free tier limited to 2 users and 1,000 contacts; severely restricts growing teams
  • Many advanced features (automation workflows, custom objects, advanced reporting) gated to paid tiers
  • Starter plan at $7/month per seat scales quickly for larger teams (300+ users would cost significantly more)
  • Free tier removes credit card requirement but lacks most enterprise capabilities

Pricing, plan by plan

BambooHR

$10/month per employee

No published plan breakdown. See the BambooHR review.

HubSpot

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the HubSpot review.

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 HubSpot if

  • You need crm.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile, Cloud.
  • You also want email marketing.
HubSpot review

Questions people ask

Is BambooHR or HubSpot better?
Neither clearly leads. BambooHR starts at $10/month per employee and HubSpot at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BambooHR or HubSpot?
HubSpot has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $10/month per employee for BambooHR and Free for HubSpot.
Does BambooHR or HubSpot run on more platforms?
BambooHR runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. HubSpot runs on Web, Mobile, Cloud.
Can I use HubSpot for free?
Yes. HubSpot 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 HubSpot is typically brought in for.
What can BambooHR do that HubSpot cannot?
BambooHR covers Employee database, Time-off management, Benefits tracking, Performance reviews. HubSpot covers CRM, Email marketing, Marketing automation, Sales pipeline. Both handle Slack, SOC2, ISO27001, GDPR.
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