Every growing company hits the same wall: spreadsheets for tracking PTO are breaking, payroll is duct-taped together, and onboarding new hires takes a full day of manual setup. That’s when you start shopping for an HR platform.

BambooHR, Gusto, and Rippling come up in every conversation. They all promise to simplify HR, but they approach it from very different angles. After watching dozens of companies evaluate these three, here’s what actually matters.

Quick Comparison

Feature	BambooHR	Gusto	Rippling
Core HRIS	✅ Excellent	✅ Good	✅ Excellent
Payroll	⚠️ Add-on	✅ Core feature	✅ Core feature
Benefits admin	✅ Good	✅ Excellent	✅ Excellent
ATS/Recruiting	✅ Built-in	❌ No	✅ Add-on
Performance mgmt	✅ Built-in	❌ No	✅ Add-on
IT management	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Built-in
Device management	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Built-in
International payroll	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes (EOR)
Best for	HR-focused teams 25-500	Small teams needing payroll	Tech companies wanting unified platform
Pricing	$6-12/employee/mo	$6-12/employee/mo + $40-80 base	$8-15/employee/mo + modules

BambooHR: The HR Team’s Favorite

BambooHR was built for HR professionals, and it shows. The interface is clean, the employee experience is smooth, and core HRIS features are polished. If your primary pain is managing people data, time-off, onboarding, and performance reviews, BambooHR nails the fundamentals.

What You Get

A complete HRIS with employee records, PTO tracking, org charts, onboarding workflows, an ATS for recruiting, and performance management. Payroll is available as an add-on (added later, not as mature as Gusto’s). The employee self-service portal is excellent: your team can update their own info, request time off, and access documents without pinging HR constantly.

Reporting is solid for standard HR metrics: headcount, turnover, time-to-hire, satisfaction scores. Custom reports are possible but not as flexible as Rippling’s.

Pros

• Best-in-class employee experience and UI
• Strong ATS built in (not a separate product)
• Performance management with review cycles and goals
• eNPS and employee satisfaction surveys
• Excellent onboarding workflows with task assignments

Cons

• Payroll feels bolted on: not as smooth as Gusto or Rippling
• No IT management or device provisioning
• US only (no international payroll)
• Gets expensive at scale with add-ons
• Reporting less flexible than Rippling

Best For

Companies with 25-500 employees that have a dedicated HR team. If your primary needs are HRIS + recruiting + performance management, and payroll is secondary, BambooHR is excellent. Read our full BambooHR review for deeper detail.

Gusto: Payroll-First Simplicity

Gusto started as a payroll company and expanded into HR. That DNA still shows: payroll is where Gusto genuinely excels. If your biggest headache is running payroll correctly and managing benefits, Gusto makes it embarrassingly simple.

What You Get

Full-service payroll (W-2, 1099, automatic tax filing, end-of-year forms), benefits administration (health, dental, vision, 401k, HSA, commuter benefits), basic HRIS (employee records, onboarding, time tracking), and compliance alerts. Gusto files all your payroll taxes automatically and handles new-hire reporting in every state.

The benefits brokerage is a nice bonus: Gusto acts as your broker, so you can shop plans and manage enrollment all in one place without a separate broker relationship.

Pros

• Best payroll experience for small businesses, period
• Automatic tax filing and compliance (they handle it all)
• Excellent benefits administration and brokerage
• Simple, clean interface: minimal training needed
• Contractor payments (1099) built in
• Affordable for small teams
• Transparent pricing

Cons

• No ATS or recruiting features
• No performance management
• HRIS features are basic compared to BambooHR
• No IT management
• Limited reporting and analytics
• Doesn’t scale well past 100-200 employees
• No international payroll

Best For

Small companies (5-100 employees) where payroll and benefits are the primary pain points. If you’re a startup that just wants payroll to work without thinking about it, Gusto is the answer.

Rippling: The Unified Platform Play

Rippling takes the most ambitious approach: unify HR, IT, and Finance into one platform. Hire someone, and Rippling provisions their laptop, sets up their email, enrolls them in benefits, adds them to payroll, and grants app access: all from one workflow.

What You Get

Modular platform starting with core HRIS, expanding into: payroll (US + international via EOR), benefits, ATS, performance management, learning management, IT management (device provisioning, app access, MDM), expense management, and corporate cards. Pick modules you need and add more as you grow.

The automation engine is Rippling’s secret weapon. Build workflows like “When someone’s department changes to Engineering, add them to GitHub, Jira, and the engineering Slack channel.” For tech companies with lots of SaaS tools, this eliminates hours of manual provisioning.

Pros

• Most comprehensive platform: HR + IT + Finance
• Incredible automation and workflow engine
• International payroll and EOR for global teams
• Device management (ship laptops, enforce security policies)
• Modular: only pay for what you need
• Best reporting and analytics of the three
• Scales from 10 to 2,000+ employees

Cons

• More expensive than BambooHR or Gusto
• Complexity can overwhelm small teams without IT needs
• Implementation takes longer than Gusto
• Module pricing adds up fast
• Customer support quality is inconsistent
• Sales process can feel high-pressure

Best For

Tech companies (25-1,000+ employees) wanting one platform for HR + IT, especially those with remote teams needing device management and app provisioning. If you’re managing 20+ SaaS tools and want automated onboarding/offboarding, Rippling’s automation justifies the premium.

Pricing Breakdown

BambooHR

Quote-based pricing, typical ranges:

• Core: ~$6/employee/month (HRIS, time-off, onboarding)
• Pro: ~$9-12/employee/month (adds performance management, surveys)
• Payroll add-on: ~$5-6/employee/month additional
• ATS: included in most plans

Minimum ~$100/month regardless of headcount. Annual billing required for best rates.

Gusto

Transparent pricing:

• Simple: $40/mo base + $6/employee/mo (basic payroll, single state)
• Plus: $60/mo base + $9/employee/mo (multi-state, PTO, next-day deposit)
• Premium: $80/mo base + $12/employee/mo (compliance alerts, HR resource center, performance)
• Contractor-only: $6/contractor/month (no base fee)

Rippling

Starts at $8/employee/month for core HRIS, then modules add on:

• Core HRIS: $8/employee/mo
• Payroll: +$6-8/employee/mo
• Benefits: +$6/employee/mo
• IT Management: +$8/employee/mo
• ATS: +$6/employee/mo
• Performance: +$5/employee/mo

Fully-loaded Rippling runs $30-40/employee/month. Most companies land around $15-25/employee/month.

Which One Should You Choose?

Startup under 25 employees, just need payroll: Gusto. Simple, affordable, handles taxes and compliance without complexity you don’t need yet.

Growing company, 25-200 employees, HR team in place: BambooHR if your focus is people management (recruiting, performance, engagement). Rippling if you also want IT management and have lots of SaaS tools.

Tech company with remote/distributed team: Rippling. Device management, app provisioning, and international payroll are worth the premium for distributed teams.

Company scaling past 100 employees: Rippling. BambooHR and Gusto both feel limiting past 100-200 employees. Rippling scales better and automation becomes more valuable as complexity increases.

Non-tech company wanting simple HR: BambooHR. More approachable for HR teams that aren’t technical, and you don’t need Rippling’s IT features.

For performance management specifically, see our comparison of Lattice vs 15Five vs Culture Amp.

FAQ

Can I switch between these platforms easily?

Switching HR platforms is painful but doable. Expect 2-4 weeks of migration work: employee data, payroll history, and benefits re-enrollment. Time it at the start of a pay period or calendar year. All three have migration assistance, but Rippling’s is the most hands-on.

Does Gusto work for multi-state employees?

Yes, but you need the Plus plan ($60/mo base). Gusto handles multi-state payroll tax registration and filing. For international employees, you’d need Rippling or a separate EOR like Deel.

Is BambooHR’s payroll as good as Gusto’s?

Honestly, no. BambooHR added payroll later and it works fine, but Gusto’s is more mature and handles more edge cases. If payroll is your primary pain point, choose Gusto. If HR management is primary, choose BambooHR and either add their payroll or integrate with Gusto.

How long does implementation take?

Gusto: 1-2 weeks. BambooHR: 2-4 weeks including data migration and ATS setup. Rippling: 3-6 weeks depending on modules: IT management and international payroll add complexity. All three offer implementation support.

Do I need an HRIS at 10 employees?

You need payroll from day one (Gusto). A full HRIS becomes worth it around 15-25 employees: that’s when tracking PTO in spreadsheets breaks, onboarding gets inconsistent, and you need centralized records for compliance. Under 15, Gusto’s basic HR features might be enough.

If you’re evaluating recruiting tools separately, check our Greenhouse review.

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Related reading: BambooHR Review · Greenhouse Review · Lattice vs 15Five vs Culture Amp