BambooHR vs Notion
A side-by-side look at 2 Productivity tools for 2026 — the verdict, pricing, ratings, features, and what readers think.
bamboohr.com
Best for small and mid-sized US companies that want HR, hiring and optional payroll in one system
HR software for growing companies: employee records, hiring, time off, performance and optional US payroll in one platform.
Visit BambooHR
notion.so
Best for teams wanting an all-in-one notes, wiki, and tasks workspace
One workspace for notes, docs, tasks, and wikis.
Visit NotionPricing compared
BambooHR
$10.25/employee/mo
Notion
$10/mo
Head to head
| BambooHR | Notion | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $10.25/employee/mo | $10/mo |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Free trial | Free demo available | — |
| Platforms | Web | Web · iOS · Android · macOS · Windows |
| Founded | — | 2016 |
| HQ | Draper, Utah, USA | San Francisco, CA, USA |
| Team size | — | 500–1000 |
Pros & cons
BambooHR
Pros
- Covers employee records, time off, hiring and onboarding in one platform.
- Optional payroll, benefits administration and time tracking can be added later.
- More than 150 pre-built integrations listed on its site.
- Annual third-party SOC 1 and SOC 2 audits stated on its security page.
- Elite plan adds compensation planning, benchmarks and custom dashboards.
Cons
- Pricing is quote-based and the final price depends on headcount.
- Payroll and benefits administration are for US employees only.
- Performance, compensation and dashboards sit behind the higher Pro and Elite plans.
- Applicant tracking is capped by plan (5, 25 or 50 job openings).
- No free plan is listed.
Notion
Pros
- Incredibly flexible — can serve as notes, wiki, tasks, and database
- Generously featured free plan
- Highly customisable with databases, templates, and views
- Strong real-time collaboration
- Desktop and mobile apps available
Cons
- Steeper learning curve than dedicated tools
- Project management views less powerful than Asana
- Can become disorganised without discipline
- Performance can lag on large workspaces
Features compared
| BambooHR | Notion | |
|---|---|---|
| Plans & pricing | ||
| Free tier | — | ✓ Yes |
| Free trial | — | ✗ No |
| Pricing model | — | Per user, annual or monthly subscription |
| Money-back guarantee | — | ✗ No |
| Platforms & access | ||
| Web app | — | ✓ Yes |
| Mobile apps | — | ✓ Yes |
| Desktop app | — | ✓ Yes |
| Self-hosted option | — | ✗ No |
| Offline mode | — | ✓ Yes |
| Integrations & extensibility | ||
| Public API | — | ✓ Yes |
| Webhooks | — | ✓ Yes |
| Native integrations | — | Slack, GitHub, Figma, Jira, Google Drive, Zapier |
| Automation (Zapier/Make) | — | ✓ Yes |
| Security & compliance | ||
| SSO / SAML | — | ✓ Yes |
| Two-factor auth | — | ✓ Yes |
| SOC 2 | — | ✓ Yes |
| GDPR compliant | — | ✓ Yes |
| Encryption at rest | — | ✓ Yes |
| Collaboration | ||
| Team workspaces | — | ✓ Yes |
| Real-time collaboration | — | ✓ Yes |
| Role-based permissions | — | ✓ Yes |
| Guest access | — | ✓ Yes |
| Support | ||
| Email support | — | ✓ Yes |
| Live chat support | — | ✓ Yes |
| Phone support | — | ✗ No |
| Knowledge base | — | ✓ Yes |