BambooHR vs Personio: which one fits your team?

How do BambooHR and Personio really differ?

On paper they look alike: employee records, time off, time tracking, onboarding, reports, an AI assistant. The difference is where each one grew up, and that shows up the moment you get to payroll and the contract.

BambooHR: polished, priced in public, US at heart

BambooHR is one of the few vendors in this space that prints its prices. Above 25 employees you pay per person: $10 a month on Core, $17 on Pro, $25 on Elite. At 25 people or fewer it's a flat monthly rate: $250 on Core, $425 on Pro and $650 on Elite. There's a free trial, but no free plan.

Its AI Assistant comes with every plan and gets deeper on the higher ones. Payroll and benefits administration are add-ons, and BambooHR's own pricing page marks both as US employees only. If your people are in Ohio, that's a strength. If they're in Leeds or Leipzig, it's a gap you'll fill with another provider.

Personio: built for Europe, sold by quote

Personio calls itself a platform for European organisations and says data is stored in Europe. Its pricing page shows "starts from €7.60 per month/employee", but the real number comes from a demo and a custom quote. There's a one-time setup fee that depends on company size, and the yearly subscription runs for at least 12 months.

Personio says it suits companies with 10 to 10,000 employees. Core includes preliminary payroll: your salary, absence and time data bundled into one file for your payroll accountant. Recruiting, performance and a full Personio Payroll come as extra apps.

So which one?

• Choose BambooHR if you're US-led, want payroll, benefits and HR in one bill, and like seeing the price before the sales call.
• Choose Personio if you're in the UK or the EU, have 10 or more people, and want an HR tool that hands clean data to the accountant who already does your payroll.
• Look at Factorial if you want a quote-based suite with local prices in pounds, euros or dollars.
• Consider HR FLARE (our product) if you're under about 30 people, payroll already sits with an accountant, and you only need leave, hours and documents. More options in our Personio alternatives guide.

BambooHR vs Personio for UK teams

For a UK company the deciding question is payroll. You'll almost certainly keep running PAYE through a payroll bureau, your accountant or a payroll app. So what you want from an HR tool is clean records and an easy handover, not a second payroll engine.

BambooHR has a UK site and keeps data for UK and EU customers in a data centre in Ireland, which BambooHR says meets UK, EU, EEA and Swiss data requirements. Its payroll add-on, though, is listed for US employees only. A UK team uses BambooHR for people records, time off and reporting, and runs payroll somewhere else.

Personio's Core plan includes preliminary payroll: one export file for your accountant or payroll software, and ready-made integrations for Xero and Sage 50, two tools many UK accountants already use. That's the better fit for a UK team that wants HR to feed payroll rather than replace it. Its prices are shown in euros, and it's aimed at teams of 10 and up.

Here's how pricing works for a 12-person UK team, based on what each vendor publishes. BambooHR's flat rate for 25 people or fewer starts at $250 a month. Personio publishes a starting rate of €7.60 per employee a month plus a setup fee, and quotes the real price after a demo. HR FLARE costs $79 a month on the plan for up to 30 people. The currencies differ, so compare your actual quotes.

Where does HR FLARE fit?

HR FLARE is our product, listed last on purpose. It does not replace BambooHR's US payroll or Personio's payroll prep: it stores payroll as records and payslips, and your accountant still works out the tax. What it offers a team under about 30 is a flat published price in place of a per-employee rate or a quote.

It covers profiles, documents, leave with balances and carry-over, clock in and out, approved timesheets, expenses, job postings, e-signatures and reviews, in English, German, French, Spanish and Arabic, hosted in Europe. There is no DATEV export and no manager rota, and every leave request needs a reason. Prices: free up to 5 employees, then $29, $79 or $149 a month for up to 10, 30 or 75.