All industries · head to head
Workday vs BambooHR
Workday
All industries
Enterprise cloud applications for finance and HR
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Workday high implementation costs equal to or exceeding annual software fees; 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
- They diverge on capability: Workday covers Human capital management, BambooHR covers Employee database.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Workday and BambooHR actually diverge.
Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Workday
- Human capital management
- Financial management
- Planning
- Analytics
- Payroll
- Time tracking
- Talent management
- Procurement
Only in BambooHR
- Employee database
- Time-off management
- Benefits tracking
- Performance reviews
- Onboarding
- Reporting & analytics
- Mobile access
- Document management
Both cover
- ADP
- Slack
- SOC2
- ISO27001
- GDPR
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Workday
- HR managementnot BambooHR
- Financial planningnot BambooHR
- Workforce planningnot BambooHR
- Compliancenot BambooHR
- Analyticsnot BambooHR
BambooHR
- HR system of record with employee data and documentsnot Workday
- Time off tracking and approvalsnot Workday
- Applicant tracking and onboardingnot Workday
- Performance reviews and 1:1s on the Pro tiernot Workday
- Compensation planning and benchmarking on Elitenot Workday
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Workday
- High implementation costs equal to or exceeding annual software fees
- Long deployment timelines (12-18 months standard) before ROI
- Steep per-employee pricing at enterprise scale ($408-504 PEPM)
- Limited pre-built templates and customization; often requires extensive configuration
- Requires significant IT and change management resources during implementation
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 $25 per employee per month
- Compliance training is rationed by tier, at 1 course on Core against 300 on Elite
Pricing, plan by plan
Workday
On request- Small Business$undefined/month
- Core HR
- Payroll
- Time tracking
- Medium Enterprise$undefined/month
- Full HCM suite
- Financial management
- Advanced analytics
- Large Enterprise$undefined/month
- Complete platform
- Custom configurations
- Dedicated support
BambooHR
$10/month per employeeNo published plan breakdown. See the BambooHR review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Workday if
- You need human capital management.
- You work on Cloud/Web.
- You also want financial management.
Choose BambooHR if
- You need employee database.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
- You also want time-off management.
Questions people ask
- Is Workday or BambooHR better?
- Neither clearly leads. Workday starts at On request and BambooHR at $10/month per employee, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Workday or BambooHR?
- Workday starts at On request and BambooHR at $10/month per employee.
- Does Workday or BambooHR run on more platforms?
- Workday runs on Cloud/Web. BambooHR runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
- What is Workday best used for?
- Workday is most often used for hr management, financial planning, workforce planning, compliance. Of those, hr management and financial planning are not what BambooHR is typically brought in for.
- What can Workday do that BambooHR cannot?
- Workday covers Human capital management, Financial management, Planning, Analytics. BambooHR covers Employee database, Time-off management, Benefits tracking, Performance reviews. Both handle LinkedIn, ADP, Slack, SOC2.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Workday: What is Workday GO and what market is it designed for?
Workday GO is a product designed for small and midsize organizations, bringing together HR and finance solutions with transparent pricing and fast activation in 30 to 60 days. It includes HCM, benefits, payroll, talent, and more at a lower price point than standard Workday.
SourceWorkday: What is Workday Skills Cloud and how does it fit into HCM?
Workday Skills Cloud is an intelligent skills foundation built into Workday HCM. It is described as the world's most open intelligent skills foundation and fuels data-driven talent strategies across recruiting, learning, and workforce planning.
SourceWorkday: Does Workday include payroll and benefits management?
Yes. Workday HCM includes benefits administration and payroll capabilities as part of its core suite. Global payroll processing is available across multiple countries and tax jurisdictions.
SourceWorkday: What is the typical pricing model for Workday HCM?
Workday HCM uses per-employee (PEPM) annual subscription pricing. Companies at scale typically pay $34-42 PEPM. Enterprise organizations with 5,000+ employees typically pay $408-504 per employee annually. Pricing decreases with larger commitments and longer contract terms.
SourceWorkday: How long does Workday implementation typically take?
Standard implementations are lengthy, often taking 12-18 months. Workday GO promises faster activation in 30-60 days. Implementation costs typically equal 100-150% of the first year's software subscription fees.
Source