Bambee offers HR outsourcing services and solutions that enable small and midsize businesses (SMBs) with up to 500 employees to efficiently manage HR compliance. It assigns a dedicated HR manager to its clients who can help craft employee-related policies, fix compliance gaps, and handle employee issues (like conflict resolutions). A cloud-based platform is also available, enabling you to securely access documents and chat with your Bambee HR manager.
Monthly fees for its HR outsourcing solution start at $99. It also offers a custom-priced payroll add-on that includes two-day direct deposits, multiple pay rates, and automatic tax calculations and filings at all levels (federal, state, and local). In our evaluation of the best HR outsourcing services, Bambee nabbed the top spot, with an overall score of 4.48 out of 5.
Bambee Overview
Pros
- Dedicated HR manager
- Solid HR compliance services; includes regular updates of legislation changes that may affect your business
- Automated workflows for HR documents requiring electronic signatures
- Online chat with a live person; all chat conversations are saved automatically in Bambee’s cloud-based platform
- Affordable starter plan
Cons
- Guided payroll solution is a paid add-on
- Starter tier only comes with email and chat support
- Charges setup fees for higher plans
- Lacks HR tools to manage hiring, time tracking, staff scheduling, and employee benefits
- Doesn’t have a mobile app; on-the-go users can only access its platform via mobile web browsers
Supported Business Types | SMBs (with up to 500 employees) looking for an HR professional to help them manage the complexities of handling employees and HR processes. |
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Ease of Use | Subscribing to Bambee HR services is a straightforward process. Plus, its platform is relatively simple to learn and use. |
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Bambee Is Best For
- SMBs (with up to 500 employees) that want a remote HR manager to help them stay compliant with state and federal regulations: Leverage the expertise of Bambee’s dedicated HR manager who can help craft employee-related policies, review internal documents, and provide guidance on how to handle labor disputes and terminations.
- Budget-conscious new company owners and solopreneurs with plans to grow into a small business: Setting up HR policies that comply with labor regulations can be challenging for new business owners, including solopreneurs who are thinking of expanding operations by hiring employees. With Bambee’s starter plan ($99 monthly), you get the expert help you need at a price point that’s more affordable than similar HR outsourcing services (some providers charge $100–$200 per hour).
- Small businesses that don’t plan to hire an in-house HR manager: Compared to partnering with an HR outsourcing service provider like Bambee, hiring a full-time HR manager is more costly because you have to pay a salary that’s either at par or above market (an average of $85,000 annually, as of this writing) and provide standard benefits like paid time-off and health plans. With Bambee, you only pay a flat rate that ranges from $99 to $699+ monthly.
Bambee Is Not Ideal For
- Companies needing an all-in-one platform to manage HR: While Bambee provides you with an HR Manager and an online platform to store HR documents, it doesn’t have built-in solutions for managing simple to advanced HR processes—from posting jobs to tracking employee attendance and creating custom learning courses. If these features are critical to your business, consider Rippling, as it has a wide range of HR tools to manage the entire employee lifecycle. To know more, read our Rippling review.
- Businesses that want to outsource day-to-day HR tasks and access robust employee benefits plans: The services provided by an HR outsourcing company slightly differ from a professional employer organization (PEO), many of which help with hiring, payroll, and learning management. A PEO also has a wider network of insurance partners, making it a good partner for administering benefits. If offering benefits is important to you, consider Justworks, as it has solid HR services and a robust variety of benefits options. Check out our Justworks review to see the other HR solutions it offers.
- Startups and small companies that have special HR projects: Bambee doesn’t have an hourly plan if you don’t need month-long HR support. For short-term projects (such as updating HR policies), we recommend Jumpstart HR. Its HR coordinator plan only costs $197 per hour, enabling you to get the HR help you need until the project is completed.
- Employers looking for niche HR products to handle their needs: Bambee isn’t a good fit for businesses that need specific HR solutions. Zoho Recruit is optimal for those who only want hiring solutions, while Gusto is a great choice if you’re looking for solid payroll tools.
Want to learn more about PEO services? Read our guide to the best PEO companies.
How Bambee Compares With Top Alternatives
Best For | Starter Pricing | Our Reviews | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMBs needing a dedicated HR manager to identify HR gaps and ensure compliance | $99 per month | |
 | Small companies that want PEO support for managing payroll and benefits | $59 per employee monthly | |
 | Businesses looking for an all-inclusive HR, IT, and PEO solution | Call for a quote | |
 | Startups and small businesses that need help with special HR projects | $197 per hour | No Review Yet |
Looking for something different? If you want an HR system to store employee information while ensuring you have a single source of staff data across HR tools, check out our best HRIS/HRMS software guide. You can also read our best payroll software and top payroll services guides for small businesses to find a pay processing solution or service that’s right for your business.
The Bambee pricing matrix is based on the number of employees you have. While you get transparent pricing and an affordable starter plan, we didn’t give it a perfect score in this criterion because its higher tiers have setup fees.
For new businesses (without employees), Bambee only costs $99 monthly. However, once you hire workers, you have to pay $299 to more than $3,699 per month. It also charges new clients a one-time HR audit/setup fee that costs anywhere from $500 to $3,500+, depending on the plan selected.
All plans include access to the Bambee software, chat and email support, a dedicated HR manager, and the number of documents to review or create (four core HR policies, two custom HR policies, and two job descriptions). The main differences between the Bambee pricing packages are the inclusion of phone support and the additional slots for job descriptions and custom HR policies.
Plans | Monthly Pricing | Setup Fees | Numbers of Core HR Policies | Numbers of Custom HR Policies | Numbers of Job Descriptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Employees Yet | $99 | ✕ | 4 | 2 | 2 |
1–4 Employees | $299 | $500 | 4 | 3 | |
5-19 Employees | $399 | $500 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
20-49 Employees | $699 | $1,500 | 4 | 8 | 5 |
50-99 Employees | $1,299 | $2,000 | 4 | 12 | 5 |
100-149 Employees | $2,499 | $2,500 | 4 | 12 | |
150-249 Employees | $3,699 | $3,500 | 4 | 12 | |
250+ Employees | Call for quote | Call for quote | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Note that Bambee doesn’t require its clients to sign an annual contract with them. It follows a month-to-month pricing model, and you can cancel your subscription at any time.
In addition to HR advisory services, Bambee offers guided payroll support to small business owners. This custom-priced solution includes two-day direct deposits and automatic handling of payroll taxes at all levels (federal, state, and local).
Bambee HR services are designed to help you efficiently manage staff terminations and handle conflict resolutions while ensuring compliance with labor policies and procedures. It offers strong HR advisory services—but it doesn’t provide recruiting, compensation planning, and benefits administration services. These factors prevented Bambee from getting a higher score in this criterion.
The coverage of its HR services may not be as extensive as similar HR outsourcing providers. However, the remote dedicated HR managers that Bambee assigns to its clients are experts in helping you set up the necessary HR policies and documents for your business.
For new clients, Bambee HR managers will conduct an initial HR audit to identify HR and compliance gaps. This helps them know what HR and employee-related issues need to be addressed first and the measures to take to protect your business from potential risks. Its HR managers will also do periodic checks to make sure your internal HR processes and policies comply with the latest labor regulations.
Bambee has a scoring system to identify your HR compliance rating, providing you with an idea of where your business risk stands. (Source: Bambee)
They also guide you in handling day-to-day HR operations and employee management. To give you an idea of what Bambee HR managers can help you with, here are some of the tasks they can do for you:
- Crafting and reviewing employment contracts, onboarding packages, non-compete agreements, and termination notices
- Checking Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) letters
- Updating employee handbooks
- Maintaining HR and payroll compliance
- Managing company policies and ensuring implementation across all functions of your business
- Providing unbiased guidance and coaching on how to handle employee terminations and high-risk HR issues
- Managing government agency claims, like disability and unemployment insurance
Aside from providing dedicated HR managers, Bambee offers these HR services.
With Bambee’s “report cards,” you can provide constructive feedback to employees and track their performance against work goals on a month-to-month basis. This makes monitoring annual performance easy for people managers.
A snapshot of Bambee’s “report cards.” (Source: Bambee)
While Bambee may not have a robust library of online learning programs, its online platform can track your staff’s training progress to mandatory courses, such as workplace safety and harassment prevention. This is helpful if you require employees to complete training programs for specific positions or job roles.
Bambee’s training tracker monitors training progress and keeps track of training certificates. (Source: Bambee)
Bambee’s payroll product is a paid add-on solution to its HR outsourcing services. Aside from handling your federal, state, and local payroll taxes (including year-end tax reporting), this solution supports multiple pay rates and lets you pay employees via two-day direct deposits. With its built-in HR support, your Bambee HR manager can provide guidance on how to handle wage, hour, overtime, and payroll tax regulations.
With Bambee, you can pay employees and get expert advice on how to avoid payroll errors. (Source: Bambee)
We gave Bambee a perfect score here because of the wide range of HR tools that it offers. With its online platform, you can store employee-related documents and HR-compliant policies. You don’t have to manually track document retention periods mandated by federal and state laws because its smart cabinet system will do it for you.
Digital documents stored in Bambee’s “smart cabinet” are viewable only by you and your Bambee HR manager. (Source: Bambee)
The system allows you to track requested Bambee review activities, providing you visibility into the entire process. This enables you to see who raised the request, what changes were made, where the document for review is, and the status (is it for signature or awaiting approval).
Bambee has a document tracker where you and your Bambee HR manager can monitor the progress of HR policies for review. (Source: Bambee)
If you want to know more about Bambee’s HR tools, check out the list below.
Bambee has staff folders for compliance and organization, which contain your employee’s basic information, onboarding documents, and HR files for separation and corrective actions (like disciplinary notices).
A snapshot of Bambee’s “staff folders” (Source: Bambee)
With its automation tools, Bambee’s platform ensures that employees sign off on important policies and documents (such as non-compete agreements) as part of their onboarding process. Its system will even guide you on how to terminate employees while providing compliance checks as you go through the process.
Reporting is another criterion where Bambee shines. It offers standard reports, as well as customizable templates. It even has a library of policies that most businesses use, such as harassment prevention and anti-discrimination policies. You can opt to either use these documents or further enhance them by adding your company’s rules.
- Relatively user-friendly
- Guided setup and implementation
- Phone, email, and chat support
- HR audits and compliance reviews
- Automated workflows for HR files requiring signatures
We gave Bambee a perfect score in ease of use given its relatively user-friendly interface and website, as well as the solid customer support it provides. While it lacks the tools to help you manage a wide range of HR processes (like time tracking and recruiting), its robust document management solution makes it easy to create, track, store, and electronically sign digital files. You even get a training tracker and “report cards” to monitor your employees’ performance at work.
What we appreciate the most about its services is the direct access to a remote dedicated HR manager. This is helpful for small companies that don’t have plans to hire an HR team yet but need the assistance of an HR professional to ensure that their policies and processes comply with labor regulations. Bambee will even conduct HR audits to identify potential problem areas and provide an action plan to address compliance gaps.
Its platform even comes with a real-time chat service. This allows you to easily message your Bambee advisor who can answer HR-related questions, from clarifying sick leave accrual rules to inquiring about state labor regulations and raising sensitive issues—like sexual harassment.
Bambee’s online platform saves all chat conversations with your dedicated HR manager. (Source: Bambee)
For new clients, Bambee offers guided setup and implementation. After the initial HR audit with its team of HR experts, your dedicated HR manager will work with you to ensure that your company’s HR and employee-related policies are up-to-date with the latest federal and state regulations. After setup, you can easily contact your Bambee adviser via phone and email if you have HR-related questions. If you subscribe to its higher tiers, you get a real-time chat solution that you can directly access through its online platform.
Bambee’s account setup wizard includes an online questionnaire to help the provider learn more about your business. (Source: Bambee)
We gave Bambee a perfect score here because of its affordably-priced HR advisory services and user-friendly software. It’s our top-recommended HR outsourcing service because it makes handling the complexities of managing HR processes easy for new company owners and small businesses.
Aside from helping you craft HR-compliant policies for your business, its HR managers provide expert advice for tackling simple to sensitive employee issues while ensuring compliance with labor regulations. You also get access to an online platform that streamlines and automates basic HR processes—from onboarding new hires to tracking training progress and storing digital documents.
Bambee Reviews: What Users Think
| Users Like | Users Don’t Like |
|---|---|
| Efficient document signing and storage tools | Lacks tools to track employee attendance |
| Online platform is simple to learn and use | Some of Bambee’s HR managers are slow to respond |
| Dedicated HR support; Bambee’s HR managers are generally helpful | Occasional software errors and glitches |
Most of the Bambee reviews on third-party sites are positive. Several users commended its HR managers for providing good HR support. Some reviewers appreciate its solid document management solution and library of pre-made HR policies, while others like that its online platform is simple to learn with features that are generally easy to navigate through.
However, some users are unhappy with the support they receive from their Bambee HR manager. They complained about having encountered occasional system glitches and HR managers who are slow to respond to their HR queries. A few others also wished for more features, such as a time tracking solution.
At the time of publication, Bambee reviews earned the following scores on popular user review sites:
- Capterra: 4.8 out of 5 based on more than 30 reviews
- G2: 3.9 out of 5 based on 20 reviews
- Trustpilot: 4.4 out of more than 1,500 reviews
Methodology: How We Evaluated Bambee
For this Bambee review, we looked for essential HR outsourcing services and solutions that small businesses need, weighing attributes accordingly. We also considered pricing, ease of use, customer support options, and feedback from actual users.
Click through the tabs below for a more detailed breakdown of our evaluation criteria:
20% of Overall Score
We looked at pricing transparency, contract requirements, and whether or not setup fees are required. The cost of the service is also a big factor, so we gave preference to those with starter fees that don’t exceed $100 monthly.
30% of Overall Score
In this criterion, we looked at the range of HR outsourcing services offered. Access to HR advisory services is a must. We also checked if providers help with benefits setup and administration, including other HR services like recruiting, performance reviews, compensation planning, and training management support.
15% of Overall Score
We considered the types of HR tools that users have access to, which would help them access HR forms, send and receive documents, and communicate with their account manager or the support team.
5% of Overall Score
Access to standard reports is important, as well as the capability to customize reports or templates.
10% of Overall Score
This criterion looks at the overall width and depth of the HR services offered, whether its platform is easy to navigate through, and if its pricing is reasonable for SMBs.
20% of Overall Score
We looked for features that make the HR outsourcing solution easy to use, such as having access to intuitive HR tools, live phone support, how-to guides, and a dedicated account manager. We also checked user reviews on popular review sites based on a 5-star scale, wherein any option with an average of 4-plus is ideal.
Bambee Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How does Bambee work?
Bambee’s team of HR experts will first conduct an in-depth HR audit of your business in order to identify compliance issues and problem points. Once the audit has been completed, a Bambee-certified HR manager will contact you to review your business information, create a customized plan to address pressing issues, identify measures to mitigate potential risks, and provide guidance to help you stay compliant.
Can Bambee help me manage existing government claims?
Yes, your Bambee advisor may help manage your existing government agency claims—such as unemployment, disability, wage and hour, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
How can Bambee help improve employee termination processes?
With Bambee, you are granted access to an HR expert who can coach you on how to handle employee terminations and avoid mistakes that could lead to expensive lawsuits. Additionally, Bambee review services include the creation and revision of necessary documents that comply with your company’s HR policies and with federal and state labor laws.
Bottom Line
If you’re an SMB (with up to 500 employees) and need expert help in creating HR policies and managing employee issues, then Bambee is a good choice. Its services cost less than hiring an in-house HR manager, plus you’re granted access to Bambee’s online platform that includes secure document storage, a training tracker, and a performance rating solution for monitoring your staff’s work performance.
With Bambee’s services, you’re assured that your company is up-to-date and complies with federal regulations and labor laws. This allows you to spend more time on projects to help grow your businesses and spend less time worrying about compliance risks.
Sign up for a Bambee plan today.
