BambooHR vs Pave (2026): which should you pick?

Pick BambooHR if

• Fits if you're moving staff details out of spreadsheets
• Works for US companies that want hiring, onboarding and time off in one system

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you're well under 25 people, as you pay the full $250 a month anyway
• Tight if you hire a lot on Core, which allows 5 job openings
• Skip it if you need payroll outside the US, as the add-on is US only
• Watch out: payroll and benefits are add-ons with no price published
• Watch out: the plan cards say $10 and $17 per employee for Core and Pro, the FAQ $10.25 and $17.50

Pick Pave if

• Fits if you want U.S. pay benchmarks for a handful of job families at no cost
• Works for a company that already runs BambooHR, Gusto or ADP and can connect it

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you need benchmarks outside the U.S. and one other market, as global data is on Pro
• Pricey if you want planning, Team View or offer letters, which are add-ons with no published price
• Watch out: Pro, Pave Agent and Agentic Workflows are quote-only, so there is nothing to compare before a sales call
• Watch out: the data comes from companies that connect to Pave, so it reflects that client base

BambooHR

• Teams of 25 or fewer pay the flat monthly fee whatever their size; per-employee pricing, with volume discounts, starts above 25 employees.
• Payroll and benefits administration are add-ons for US employees only, and their prices are not published.
• The plan cards show $10 and $17 per employee for Core and Pro, while the FAQ on the same page says $10.25 and $17.50.
• Job openings are capped by plan: 5 on Core, 25 on Pro and 50 on Elite.

Pave

• Only Market Data Lite has a published price ($0); Pro, Pave Agent and Agentic Workflows require a quote.
• Free Lite benchmarks cover the U.S. overall plus one additional market; global benchmarks across 60+ countries are on Pro.
• Compensation Planning, Team View, Total Rewards and Visual Offer Letter are add-ons that pair with Agentic Workflows.
• The benchmark data comes from companies that integrate with Pave, so it reflects that client base.

BambooHR

Employee records and reports

One database for people data, with a custom report builder, dashboards and built-in workflows for approving changes and time-off requests.

Hiring and onboarding

Post jobs to job boards, track candidates, send offer letters from templates, and give new hires a packet with e-signatures and an onboarding checklist.

Time off

Unlimited custom time-off policies with accruals, approvals and a shared calendar of who is out.

Performance and recognition

On Pro and Elite, run 360-degree review cycles, schedule 1:1s, track goals and give recognition points staff can redeem for gift cards.

Ask BambooHR

An AI assistant answers employees' questions about time off and holidays from company data, and on higher plans about policies and benchmarks.

Payroll, benefits and time add-ons

Add US payroll with tax filing, benefits enrollment with carrier connections, and time tracking with shift scheduling and an iPad kiosk.

Pave

Compensation benchmarks

Salary and equity data from companies that connect their HR systems to Pave, with AI-assisted job matching across 290+ job families.

Custom peer groups

Pro lets a team build peer groups from the integrated client base and filter for recent hires.

Market pricing

Blends Pave data with uploaded surveys to price jobs and build pay ranges.

Compensation planning

An add-on for running merit and equity cycles, with permissioning so each manager sees only the people they should.

Total rewards and offer letters

Add-ons for an employee total rewards portal and an interactive visual offer letter that shows total compensation to candidates.

Pave Agent

An AI analyst that answers questions about the market data, helps build job architecture and can run merit simulations.

BambooHR

• Core$250

  per month for up to 25 employees

  Records, reports, time off, hiring with 5 job openings, onboarding and the AI assistant. Above 25 employees, $10 per employee a month ($10.25 in the FAQ).

• Pro$425

  per month for up to 25 employees

  Core plus performance reviews, 1:1s, recognition and rewards, and 25 job openings. Above 25 employees, $17 per employee a month ($17.50 in the FAQ).

• Elite$650

  per month for up to 25 employees

  Pro plus compensation planning with Mercer benchmarks, custom dashboards, HR benchmarks and 50 job openings. Above 25 employees, $25 per employee a month.

Pave

• Market Data Lite$0

  Benchmarks from 9,000+ participating companies, AI job matching, 290+ job families, U.S. overall plus one additional market.

• Market Data ProCustom

  Custom peer groups, unlimited global benchmarks across 60+ countries, recent-hire filter, advanced equity data and unlimited exports. Quote required.

• Pave AgentCustom

  Market Data Pro plus an AI compensation analyst, job architecture and job-pricing help, and MCP access to Pave data. Quote required.

• Agentic WorkflowsCustom

  Pave Agent plus a structured comp data warehouse, survey uploads and Market Pricing that blends sources. Add-ons for planning, Team View and total rewards. Quote required.

BambooHR

• Nonprofit

  15% off for registered nonprofits

  BambooHR takes an additional 15% off for registered nonprofit organizations.

• Other savings

  15% off when bundling payroll and benefits

  Combining the Payroll and Benefits Administration add-ons with any plan gives a 15% discount, for employees based in the US.

Pave

No public discounts listed.