BambooHR vs Paylocity 2026: Listed Price or Quote

Paylocity is the payroll suite a US HR team quotes. BambooHR is the HR system that team can price, and the price stops at payroll. For 25 employees or fewer, Core is a flat $250/mo. Above that, the plan cards show $10 per employee and the FAQ on the same page says Core starts at $10.25. Express, Enrich, and Elite, the bundles Paylocity offers companies of 1 to 50 people, publish no dollar.

Those rates were read on October 30, 2026 on BambooHR's pricing page and payroll page. Paylocity's modules, Grow bundles, and the missing rate were read the same day on Paylocity's pricing page, small-business page, small-business payroll page, and payroll product page.

Toolradar data: its HRIS snapshot, dated October 25, 2026, counted 34 products. It listed BambooHR as an alternative to 46 other tools and Paylocity to 16; these directory relationships are not a measure of product quality or payroll fit.

At a glance

Question	BambooHR	Paylocity	Who can decide from the site
What you buy first	Core, Pro, or Elite HR. Payroll is a separate US add-on	Express, Enrich, or Elite only at 1 to 50 people. Past that, modules on a quote	Depends on whether the job is the file or the payday
Entry HR price	$250/mo flat on Core at 25 or fewer. Cards $10, FAQ $10.25 above that	No list price	BambooHR, for the HR seat only
Payroll	Add-on, no list price, US tax filing	Checked on Express, Enrich, and Elite. Rate not printed	Paylocity for the name. Neither for the fee
Time off	Included on Core, Pro, and Elite	Compare grid: Enrich and Elite, not Express	BambooHR, if time off must sit on the cheapest priced plan
Hiring	5 open jobs on Core, 25 on Pro, 50 on Elite	Recruiting checked on Elite inside Grow. Pricing FAQ lists it as an add-on	BambooHR, for a known cap
Reports	Standard and custom reports on every plan. Custom dashboards on Elite	Templated and custom reports described, not assigned to a bundle	BambooHR
A full HR plus payroll total	Not on the site	Not on the site	Neither

An HR file holds people data, time off, onboarding, and the reports around them. Payroll calculates wages, files taxes, and moves money. BambooHR prints a ladder for the file and quotes the payday. Paylocity names both inside bundles that never show a rate. One number for the file is available this week. One number for file plus payday is not, from either site.

What you can multiply, and what stays blank

BambooHR prints three HR plans and then disagrees with itself on two rates. The cards show Core, Pro, and Elite. The FAQ, under "How much does BambooHR cost?", raises the Core and Pro starts for companies with more than 25 employees, and it moves companies of 25 or fewer onto a flat monthly fee. Elite matches in both places. Paylocity's pricing page ends at Request Pricing. The small-business payroll FAQ says cost depends on modules and headcount, and it never turns either input into a dollar.

Plan	Card rate	FAQ rate, more than 25 employees	Flat fee, 25 employees or fewer	Open jobs
BambooHR Core	$10 per employee	$10.25 per employee	$250/mo	5
BambooHR Pro	$17 per employee	$17.50 per employee	$425/mo	25
BambooHR Elite	$25 per employee	$25 per employee	$650/mo	50
Paylocity Express, Enrich, Elite	No list price	No list price	No list price	Recruiting checked on Elite only, inside Grow

The headcount table multiplies Core only. Figures are our arithmetic on the printed rates, before the volume discount BambooHR does not publish, and before payroll, benefits administration, or a time clock. Paylocity's column stays blank. A filled cell would be a guess.

Headcount	Which public menu applies	BambooHR Core, card math	BambooHR Core, FAQ math	Paylocity
10	Flat band, and inside Grow	$250/mo flat	Same flat fee. The per-employee FAQ rate starts above 25	No list price. Express, Enrich, or Elite
25	Still the flat band, still Grow	$250/mo flat	$250/mo flat, not 25 times the higher Core start	No list price. Same three names
26	Per-employee rates begin. Still Grow	$260/mo	$266.50/mo	No list price
50	Top of the Grow note	$500/mo	$512.50/mo	No list price
75	Outside Grow, still in the 1 to 99 small-business band	$750/mo	$768.75/mo	No list price. The three names are no longer promised
100	Payroll page calls this midsize, 100 to 499	$1,000/mo	$1,025/mo	No list price. Midsize copy, not the Grow cards

The two Core rates differ by $0.25 per employee. That is $6.50/mo at 26 people and $12.50/mo at 50, or $78 and $150 over a year, before any discount. At 10 people the listed HR flat fee is $250 before any applicable discount and add-ons, equivalent to $25 a person before those adjustments, against a card rate the FAQ says does not apply yet. Pro uses the same split: a flat fee through 25 people, then $17 or $17.50 per employee. At 50 people those Pro totals are $850/mo on the card and $875/mo on the FAQ.

Elite is the awkward threshold. The flat fee at 25 people is $650/mo, while 25 times the card rate is $625, so the flat fee costs an extra $25 each month, $300 over a year. Twenty-six people at the card rate land on the same $650/mo as that flat fee. A company about to hire into Elite should ask whether the next employee is already inside the flat fee.

Volume discounts, BambooHR says, apply to every account and rise with headcount, with no percentage shown, so every total above is a ceiling. A banner offers 15% off when Payroll and Benefits Administration are combined with any plan, for US-based employees only. The discount FAQ does not repeat that percentage. It says to ask. Registered nonprofits get an additional 15% off. The rest of the ladder is in our BambooHR pricing guide.

Employee records

Core includes the employee database, workflows and approvals, a new-hire packet, an onboarding checklist, and e-signatures. Benefit election overview is on all three plans. That is tracking, not administration. Benefits Administration is its own add-on, marked for US employees, with no price. Recognition and the employee community start on Pro. Compensation planning, Mercer salary benchmarking, and pay visualization are Elite. Total rewards statements are checked on all three plans.

Paylocity's Enrich card is the first Grow bundle that says "HR management tools." Express is payroll plus employee experience, and its highlights are payroll and tax confidence, self-service, and On Demand Pay. A footnote on that section says the tiers include entry-level access to consumer-grade employee experience products, so the culture tools beside Express are the starter set until a proposal says otherwise. Past 50 people the pricing page lets a buyer assemble HR, finance, and IT modules, still with no price on the file.

BambooHR wins the employee record when finance wants a figure before a demo. Paylocity wins it only when the order names HR management, which inside Grow means Enrich or Elite, and headcount is still under that note. Longer write-ups are the BambooHR review and the Paylocity review.

Payroll

Paylocity's compare grid marks payroll processing, tax filing and payments, direct deposit, electronic garnishments, new-hire reporting, bank checks, the mobile app, and On Demand Pay on all three Grow bundles. Check signing and check sealing are on Enrich and Elite, not Express. The small-business payroll FAQ says the meter is per employee per month rather than per payroll run, so an extra off-cycle is not its own fee, and it says there is no upgrade cost and no tiered threshold as headcount grows. That describes the meter. It does not say Elite costs the same as Express, and it does not reveal the rate.

The payroll product page adds scope the grid does not price. Paylocity says it is a Registered Reporting Agent with the IRS in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam, and that integrated global payroll covers more than 100 countries. The page does not split a country Paylocity pays itself from a country a partner pays. The pricing page cites 30 or more payroll audits. The payroll product page cites 40 or more. The proposal should say which count it means. The 400-integration line appears on the enterprise band, 500 employees or more. Midsize, 100 to 499, is described as one platform for payroll, HR, finance, and IT.

BambooHR Payroll is a separate purchase with no published fee, limited on the pricing page to US employees. The payroll page lists federal, state, and local filing, W-2 creation, direct deposit, unlimited and multi-rate pay, prorated payments, garnishments, an audit trail, and a custom journal. Named accounting links are QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite, and Sage Intacct. A dedicated payroll project manager takes the company through the first run, with no fee printed. Managed Payroll, a specialist who runs the cycle while the company approves it, is a further unpriced service. On-Demand Pay is on every HR plan as no employer cost and no added admin work, and the payroll page says Clair powers it even when payroll is not BambooHR's.

For staff abroad, BambooHR is narrower and more explicit. US tax filing is the payroll product. Other countries are local integrations, with the UK, Australia, and New Zealand named as examples, marketplace partners, or an employer of record. Global Employment on the pricing page is a separate add-on powered by Remote, with a calculator and no list price. Paylocity's small-business payroll page names QuickBooks, 401(k) platforms, and POS systems, and Enrich's card names payroll-to-general-ledger visibility. BambooHR says it has more than 150 integration partners.

Paylocity wins when payroll must be a named line on the first order. BambooHR wins when payday can stay with another vendor and the HR seat is what you can sign from the site. Neither publishes a payroll price. A team that needs that number in print should use the BambooHR vs Gusto comparison, the Gusto pricing guide, and the small-business payroll cost guide. Two unpriced HCM suites are a different decision: Paycom vs Paylocity.

Hiring

BambooHR's applicant tracking is inside the HR plan. Open jobs are capped at 5, 25, and 50 on Core, Pro, and Elite. Offer-letter templates, the new-hire packet, the onboarding checklist, and e-signatures are on every plan. Six openings at once force Pro even when nobody asked for reviews.

Paylocity's Grow grid marks Recruiting, Onboarding, and Learning on Elite only. New-hire reporting is also on Express, and that row is tax paperwork, not an applicant tracker. The pricing FAQ, which is not limited to Grow, lists Recruiting, Employee Voice, and Learning as optional add-ons. Employee Voice is not on the Grow grid. The talent section of the pricing page also lists candidate communication, job-board ROI, 360-degree feedback, and 600 or more pre-built classes, without assigning them to Express or Enrich.

BambooHR wins a hiring slate you can budget, because the cap and the seat price share a card. Paylocity Elite is the hiring bundle only inside the 50-person note, and only if the order copies the Recruiting checkmark instead of the FAQ's add-on language. Above that note, do not inherit Elite's checkmarks. The small-business HRIS guide covers the wider set while headcount is still small.

Reporting

Standard and custom reports are on BambooHR Core, Pro, and Elite. Custom dashboards, advanced visualizations, and secure sharing are Elite. Turnover benchmarks are on all three plans. Age and gender, satisfaction, wellbeing, and growth-rate benchmarks are Elite only, even though the Elite card groups the benchmarks together. A reader of the card alone will think turnover data starts at Elite. The grid says it does not.

Levels and bands are the same kind of mismatch. The grid checks them on Core, Pro, and Elite, while the Elite card is where BambooHR describes job levels and salary bands. Compensation planning and Mercer benchmarking stay Elite-only. Upgrading to get a band row the grid already checks on Core is a question for the order. Upgrading to get Mercer data is what the grid actually withholds.

Paylocity's pricing page describes templated and custom reports, plus headcount, turnover, and labor cost, and peer benchmarks. None of those sentences name a Grow bundle. Midsize payroll copy adds real-time reporting, which is a size pitch, not a checklist. BambooHR wins when the report builder has to be inside a fee you can already see. Paylocity's reporting is documented and unassigned, so it belongs on the quote as its own line.

Time off, and the clock

Time-off management, the calendar, and unlimited custom policies are on every BambooHR plan. The Time and Attendance add-on is separate and unpriced: shift scheduling, breaks, billable hours, overtime, and an iPad kiosk plus clocks. A salaried team that only approves PTO never buys it. An hourly team buys a second quote.

Paylocity's grid marks Time Off on Enrich and Elite and leaves it off Express. Enrich's card says time and attendance tracking, and the pricing page describes mobile, web, kiosk, and clock collection, plus geofencing, with no tier and no fee. The small-business payroll page also says self-service includes time-off requests. Those two pages do not say the same thing about Express. Until the order picks one, do not assume the cheapest named bundle includes PTO, and do not treat BambooHR's clock add-on and Paylocity's Enrich line as included features. They are two quotes.

Pages that disagree with themselves

A few conflicts are not in the tables, and a finance partner should attach them to the email.

Paylocity's payroll page splits customers into 1 to 99, 100 to 499, and 500 or more. The small-business page limits the three named bundles to 1 to 50. A company of 60 is small business on one page and outside Express, Enrich, and Elite on the other. E-Verify and a compliance row are checked on all three Grow tiers, while Elite's card presents compliance management and E-Verify as a highlight of the top tier. Ask which scope Express already includes.

The new-client offer is a footnote. Eligible new payroll-bundle buyers can get one free payroll month, plus complimentary W-2s for 12 months in phase 1. Phase 2 is the free month only. The pages call it limited-time. The footnote does not name the open phase or an end date, so the free month stays out of the annual budget until the proposal repeats the terms. Both vendors promise help getting started, a payroll project manager on BambooHR's side and customized implementation on Paylocity's, and neither prints an implementation dollar.

One support line is often misread. Paylocity's HR module says the self-service portal is available 24/7. That is the portal, not a person answering at 2am. The small-business payroll page offers email, live chat, or phone, and help moving data, without printing the hours.

Who should pick which

Choose BambooHR Core when the work this quarter is the employee file, PTO, onboarding, and five or fewer open jobs, and finance will accept the quoted flat fee under 26 people or the card-versus-FAQ gap above that. Request payroll, benefits administration, and clocks as separate lines. The HR total is not a cost of ownership. Our HRIS cost guide places that seat next to other printed and unprinted systems.

Choose Pro when reviews, 1:1s, goals, or more than five open jobs are already required. The flat-fee step at 25 people is the whole decision at that size. Choose Elite for compensation planning, Mercer data, custom dashboards, or the demographic benchmarks, and ask about levels and bands before you pay Elite for a row the grid checks on Core.

Choose Paylocity Express inside the Grow note when payday and tax filing are the job and On Demand Pay must be on the order. Confirm time off in writing. Move to Enrich when the file, the clock, and the general ledger have to be named together. Move to Elite when recruiting, learning, or expenses are why Enrich is short. Benefits administration, Employee Voice, and the finance products on the pricing page (cards, invoice capture, procurement, headcount planning) are not Grow-grid rows, so they stay extra lines.

Above 50 people, drop the three bundle names unless the proposal repeats them. From 51 through 99 the payroll page still says small business. From 100 it says midsize. BambooHR's per-employee rates continue, and the unpublished volume discount does work the site will not show. The mid-market HRIS guide is the wider shelf once Grow ends, and the Paylocity alternatives guide is the page if the quote comes back and the company wants out.

Leave both when finance will not approve a stack it cannot multiply. The payroll software roundup is the printed-price exit.

How we compared

On October 30, 2026 we read BambooHR's pricing page (cards, grid, add-ons, and FAQ) and its payroll page, plus Paylocity's pricing page, small-business page and plan grid, small-business payroll page, and payroll product page. A grid checkmark counts as included on that bundle. A feature named only in a product section is unassigned. Headcount bands come from the payroll product page. The 50-person limit comes from the note under the three bundles. BambooHR totals multiply the printed card or FAQ rate, before tax and before the unpublished volume discount. Paylocity totals are omitted because no rate was printed. No account was opened with either vendor. The method is on how we rate.

FAQ

Is BambooHR cheaper than Paylocity?

You cannot know from the public pages. BambooHR Core is a flat $250/mo for 25 employees or fewer, then $10 per employee on the cards or $10.25 in the FAQ. Paylocity publishes no list price for Express, Enrich, Elite, setup, or add-ons. A lower HR seat can still lose once payroll and benefits are quoted, because those lines have no printed fee.

Does BambooHR include payroll?

No. Payroll is an add-on for US employees, with federal, state, and local filing, W-2s, direct deposit, multi-rate pay, and garnishments, and BambooHR publishes no list price for it. The bundle banner offers 15% off when that add-on and Benefits Administration are bought with a plan, for US-based employees. Staff outside the US are pointed to local integrations, marketplace partners, or an employer of record.

How much does Paylocity cost at 25 or 50 people?

It publishes no price at either size. Both headcounts sit inside the Grow note, so the menu is Express, Enrich, and Elite, billed per employee per month rather than per run. The rate itself is not on the page. Fifty people is the last headcount that note covers. At 51 the three names are no longer promised, even though the small-business band on the payroll page runs through 99.

Which one includes applicant tracking?

BambooHR includes it on every plan, capped at 5 open jobs on Core, 25 on Pro, and 50 on Elite, with offer templates and e-signatures on all three. Paylocity's Grow grid marks Recruiting and Onboarding on Elite only, while the pricing FAQ lists Recruiting as an optional add-on with Employee Voice and Learning. New-hire reporting on Express is tax paperwork, not a hiring pipeline.

Which is the better fit for HR reporting?

BambooHR, when the report has to sit inside a fee you can already see. Standard and custom reports are on every plan, turnover benchmarks are on every plan, and custom dashboards plus the demographic benchmarks are Elite. Paylocity describes templated and custom reports and names headcount, turnover, and labor cost, without saying whether Express includes them.

Does either product have a free plan?

Neither pricing page lists a free plan. BambooHR's calls to action are a free price quote and an ROI calculator, with month-to-month or an extended term, and no trial length. Paylocity offers eligible new payroll-bundle clients one free payroll month, and free W-2s for 12 months in phase 1. The footnote does not say which phase is current.

What should a 100-person company compare?

Not the Express card. Paylocity calls 100 to 499 midsize and describes one platform for payroll, HR, finance, and IT. BambooHR at that headcount is $1,000/mo on the Core card or $1,025/mo at the FAQ rate, HR only, before the volume discount and before payroll. Compare a written Paylocity module list with a BambooHR quote for the same modules, not with the HR seat alone.

Cite this: HRpresso, "BambooHR vs Paylocity 2026: Listed Price or Quote", November 2026.

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