HollyHR vs BambooHR
BambooHR is a mature global HR platform with far more breadth and customer proof. HollyHR is a focused UK small-team product at a very different price point.
Key takeaways
A different price and maturity bracket
For invited early-access teams, HollyHR is £0 on Free at 10 people; BambooHR starts at £200 per month for 25 or fewer.
BambooHR wins on proof and breadth
30,000+ customers, three deep plans, hiring, e-signatures, performance, compensation and advanced analytics.
150+ integrations versus no native catalogue
BambooHR has the mature marketplace. HollyHR currently offers handoffs, recipes and beta developer routes—not native connector parity.
BambooHR wins developer breadth
BambooHR publishes a broad API, signed webhooks and a maintained official PHP SDK. HollyHR's narrower beta is approved and bounded; MCP remains developer preview.
BambooHR is the more capable and proven platform. Its UK Core plan combines employee records, custom reporting, workflows, hiring and onboarding, e-signatures, time off, employee experience and a basic AI assistant; Pro adds performance, recognition, community and deeper AI; Elite adds compensation, advanced analytics and benchmarks. HollyHR covers a much narrower small-team core in controlled early access. For invited teams, Free is £0 for up to 10 active people and Standard is £2 per active person per month before tax when offered; BambooHR starts at £200 per month for companies with 25 or fewer.
BambooHR is not closed: it publishes a broad REST API, OAuth, a maintained official PHP SDK, signed webhooks and 150+ integrations, backed by 30,000+ customers across 150+ countries. Its official .NET and Java SDKs are marked unmaintained, while Python, Ruby and Perl libraries are community maintained. HollyHR has an approved, narrower beta API/SDK/webhook surface and a bounded 14-area archive, but no native connector marketplace or customer-ready MCP advantage. Choose BambooHR for breadth and maturity; consider HollyHR only when straightforward core HR covers the whole job and controlled early access is acceptable.
BambooHR facts checked 18 July 2026Spotted a change? Tell us
At a glance
The whole comparison in thirty seconds — details in the sections below.
| Comparison dimension | HollyHR | BambooHR |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | ±Free up to 10 people | ✗No free plan listed |
| Price up to 25 people | ±£0 or £2 per person | ±From £200 monthly |
| Core HR and leave | ±Focused core; bounded leave | ✓Included |
| Custom reporting | ±Three fixed report families | ✓Builder included on Core |
| Hiring and e-signatures | ✗Not shipped | ✓Included on Core |
| Performance and compensation | ✗Not yet | ✓Pro and Elite |
| Pre-built integrations | ✗No native catalogue | ✓150+ marketplace |
| Public API | ±Approved beta API + SDK | ✓Open REST API |
| Signed webhooks | ±Bounded beta events | ✓Documented HMAC events |
| MCP endpoint | ±Developer preview only | ±No public endpoint found |
How different is the price?
This is not a close price comparison for a UK team of 25 or fewer; BambooHR is selling a broader platform at a much higher floor.
| Comparison dimension | HollyHR | BambooHR |
|---|---|---|
| Published entry price | ✓£0 up to 10 | ±£200 monthly up to 25 |
| Standard/core price | ±£2 per active personEvery active profile counts, including future starters; leavers do not. | ±Flat price up to 25UK Core starts at £200 per month. |
| A team of 10 | ✓£0 on Free | ±From £200 |
| A team of 25 | ✓£50 before tax when offered | ±From £200 |
| More than 25 | ✓£2 per active person | ±Per-person quoteBambooHR applies automatic volume discounts. |
| Contract options | ±Monthly; annual when offered | ✓Monthly or extended term |
What does BambooHR include that HollyHR does not?
BambooHR Core alone reaches beyond HollyHR's shipped product, and Pro and Elite widen the gap considerably.
| Comparison dimension | HollyHR | BambooHR |
|---|---|---|
| Hiring | ✗Not shipped | ✓ATS included on CoreFive, 25 or 50 job openings by plan. |
| Electronic signatures | ✗Not shipped | ✓Included on Core |
| Custom reports | ±Three fixed report familiesNo arbitrary, saved or scheduled builder and no reports API. | ✓Real-time report builder |
| Performance | ✗Not yet | ✓Pro planReviews, 360 feedback, 1-to-1s and goals. |
| Compensation planning | ✗Not yet | ✓Elite plan |
| Advanced analytics | ✗Not yet | ✓Elite dashboards and benchmarks |
| Time and attendance | ✗Not shipped | ✓UK add-on available |
How do API, webhooks and AI compare?
BambooHR has the broader mature developer platform. HollyHR's API, SDK and supported webhook events are an approved beta with narrower projections and entitlements.
| Comparison dimension | HollyHR | BambooHR |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | ±Approved beta + TypeScript SDKOrganisation-scoped projections exclude several sensitive domains. | ✓Documented open API |
| Writes | ±Limited approved scopesStandard entitlement, narrow scopes, idempotency and conditional-write controls apply. | ✓Employee data writesPermissioned as the authenticating user. |
| Webhooks | ±Bounded beta eventsSupported events only; approved access and entitlement apply. | ✓Signed real-time webhooksGlobal and permissioned webhook models. |
| Built-in AI | ✗No customer-data AI product | ✓Ask BambooHR by planBasic, policy-aware and analytical levels. |
| Assistant protocol | ±MCP developer previewCustomer-data use awaits controller/DPO approval. | ±No public endpoint foundFirst-party pages reviewed 18 July 2026. |
| Integration marketplace | ✗No native catalogue | ✓150+ integrations |
Which product is the better UK fit?
BambooHR supports UK customers and UK GDPR; HollyHR is narrower by design and built around small UK-team workflows from the start.
| Comparison dimension | HollyHR | BambooHR |
|---|---|---|
| UK leave basics | ±Straightforward requestsOpt-in calendar-day starter/leaver proration; no statutory, historical/blended-FTE or irregular-hours engine. | ✓Time-off management |
| UK payroll | ±Export/API handoffs | ✓UK payroll integrationsBambooHR payroll itself is US-only. |
| Data regions and transfers | ±UK/EU durable recordsSupporting providers can process in EU or US regions. | ✓UK GDPR programmeInternational transfers use stated safeguards. |
| Small-team complexity | ✓Deliberately focused | ±Broader suite and setup |
| Customer proof | ±New in 2026 | ✓30,000+ companies |
Which one fits your team?
An honest read of where each product is the better choice today.
Choose HollyHR if…
- You are comfortable with controlled early access and a much younger product and support history.
- Straightforward people records, leave requests, sickness records, private files and manual onboarding cover the whole job.
- A bounded 14-area self-serve archive with eligible uploaded files and explicit exclusions matters to you.
- The invited-team £0/£2 price outweighs the mobile, reporting, workflow, integration and suite breadth you would give up.
Choose BambooHR if…
- You need hiring, e-signatures and custom reporting in the core plan today.
- Performance, compensation planning, advanced analytics or benchmarks are requirements.
- A 150+ integration marketplace is more useful than building against an API.
- You value a supplier used by 30,000+ companies across more than 150 countries.
Don't take our word for it — check the sources: BambooHR UK pricing · BambooHR UK terms · BambooHR marketplace · BambooHR API guide · BambooHR SDK support status · BambooHR webhook guide · BambooHR UK privacy notice
Continue the decision: Compare more BambooHR alternatives · inspect the HollyHR export boundary
Thinking of moving from BambooHR?
List the BambooHR features your team actually uses before comparing subscriptions. If hiring, e-signatures, custom reports, performance or marketplace integrations are active, HollyHR may not yet be a responsible replacement.
If your use is mainly straightforward people records, leave, files and manually launched onboarding, preserve reports and supported file downloads, then test HollyHR's manually mapped 12-field people import, permissions, part-time balances and export exclusions. There is no BambooHR adapter or one-click migration.
Questions people ask
Is HollyHR cheaper than BambooHR in the UK?
For invited controlled-early-access teams, HollyHR's published arithmetic is lower: Free is £0 for up to 10 active people and Standard is £2 per active person per month before tax when offered. Every active person counts on Standard. BambooHR starts at £200 per month for companies with 25 employees or fewer, but sells materially broader software.
Does HollyHR have all the features in BambooHR?
No. BambooHR has a mature ATS, e-signatures, custom reporting, built-in AI and employee experience on Core, then performance on Pro and compensation, advanced analytics and benchmarks on Elite. HollyHR is intentionally narrower today.
Does BambooHR have an API and webhooks?
Yes. BambooHR publishes a broad REST API, OAuth and global or permissioned HMAC-signed webhooks. It maintains an official PHP SDK, marks its official .NET and Java SDKs unmaintained, and lists community-maintained Python, Ruby and Perl libraries. HollyHR's REST/OpenAPI, TypeScript SDK and supported webhook events are a narrower approved beta with bounded projections, scopes and entitlements, so openness is not a responsible reason to dismiss BambooHR.
How do the BambooHR and HollyHR developer routes differ?
BambooHR has the stronger mature developer proposition: a broad API, OAuth, a maintained official PHP SDK, signed webhooks and 150+ integrations. Its official .NET and Java SDKs are marked unmaintained, while Python, Ruby and Perl libraries are community maintained. HollyHR exposes a narrower approved beta API, OpenAPI, TypeScript SDK and bounded webhook events. Its MCP endpoint is developer preview; production customer-data use awaits controller/DPO approval and writes remain disabled by default.
Is BambooHR suitable for UK companies?
Yes. BambooHR sells a UK product, supports UK GDPR obligations and international-transfer safeguards, and offers UK payroll integrations. Its own payroll product is US-focused, so UK employers use connected local payroll providers.
Which is better for a team of 10?
HollyHR can be more proportionate when an invited early-access team needs only its straightforward shipped core: the current Free plan covers up to 10 active people, while BambooHR starts at £200 per month. BambooHR can still be the better value when hiring, custom reporting, e-signatures, mobile, performance, time or ecosystem depth solves an immediate job.