BambooHR® vs. Patriot Payroll

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BambooHR®
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
BambooHR is an cloud-based human resources solution that provides onboarding, payroll, and benefits management. It also offers automated time-off management and employee self-service.
$250
per month
Patriot Payroll
Score 9.7 out of 10
N/A
Patriot Software headquartered in Canton, Ohio offers Patriot PAY, their benefits administration and payroll software.
$17
per month
Pricing
BambooHR®Patriot Payroll
Editions & Modules
Core
$250
per month
Pro
Contact Sales
per month
Elite
Contact Sales
per month
Basic Payroll
$17/mo + $4 per employee/contractor
Accounting Basic
$20/mo (unlimited use)
Accounting Premium
$30/mo (unlimited use)
Full Service Payroll
$37/mo + $4 per employee/contractor
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BambooHR®Patriot Payroll
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPatriot Software has two payroll options to choose from: Basic Payroll, and Full Service payroll software. Both start with a simple three-step payroll process. With the Full Service Payroll, Patriot will collect, deposit, and file federal, state, and local payroll taxes on the customer's behalf; end-of-the-year payroll tax filing is included at no extra charge. Print W2s on 8 x 1/2 x 11 plain white office paper to hand to employees, or post to the free employee portal. Also, Patriot Software offers free direct deposit.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BambooHR®Patriot Payroll
Features
BambooHR®Patriot Payroll
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.7
201 Ratings
2% below category average
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
Employee demographic data8.3178 Ratings00 Ratings
Employment history7.9182 Ratings00 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.0177 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.6168 Ratings00 Ratings
Organizational charting6.7184 Ratings00 Ratings
Organization and location management8.1174 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.297 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
6.8
129 Ratings
16% below category average
Patriot Payroll
8.3
15 Ratings
1% above category average
Pay calculation7.590 Ratings9.515 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors6.167 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment6.363 Ratings8.75 Ratings
Benefit plan administration6.098 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Direct deposit files7.394 Ratings9.211 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.9102 Ratings8.213 Ratings
Reimbursement management6.258 Ratings6.36 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.8
173 Ratings
10% above category average
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
Approval workflow8.5169 Ratings00 Ratings
Balance details8.5160 Ratings00 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment9.2128 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.1
194 Ratings
0% above category average
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
View and generate pay and benefit information7.9123 Ratings00 Ratings
Update personal information8.9192 Ratings00 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.2164 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee recognition7.3120 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history8.4182 Ratings00 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
9.0
74 Ratings
11% above category average
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
Tracking of all physical assets9.074 Ratings00 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.0
163 Ratings
7% below category average
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
Report builder6.8157 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.1155 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.9106 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.9
166 Ratings
0% below category average
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
New hire portal8.2160 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools7.5147 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.6
106 Ratings
4% below category average
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
Corporate goal setting6.973 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.5101 Ratings00 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility9.167 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking6.994 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.6
118 Ratings
3% below category average
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
Performance plans7.0106 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans6.989 Ratings00 Ratings
Review status tracking8.595 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders8.099 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.5100 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.9
80 Ratings
13% above category average
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
Create succession plans/pools8.746 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking9.066 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search8.967 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate development9.258 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.9
137 Ratings
2% above category average
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
Job Requisition Management7.5103 Ratings00 Ratings
Company Website Posting7.5113 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to Social Media9.290 Ratings00 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.3108 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.587 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.1126 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.2128 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BambooHR®Patriot Payroll
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BambooHR®Patriot Payroll
Likelihood to Recommend
8.4
(206 ratings)
9.7
(20 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.7
(15 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.4
(133 ratings)
9.3
(10 ratings)
Availability
9.3
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.7
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.8
(107 ratings)
8.7
(10 ratings)
Online Training
9.2
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.7
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.4
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.9
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
9.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.9
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BambooHR®Patriot Payroll
Likelihood to Recommend
BambooHR
I think if you're a small organization and you're trying to get out of paper, this is a really good first step to doing that. I've heard from other people that are in larger organizations where they have thousands of employees that there may be better platforms, but for smaller organization it's awesome.
Read full review
Patriot Software
Patriot PAY is well-suited to a company that has a 10-day window between the end of the pay period and the payday. The company size makes very little difference and it is easy to use for any company. It is also very progressive in development and improvement. If a company has a small window for turn-around, but fairly consistent payroll amounts (such as a lot of salary workers), Patriot PAY might also be a good fit for them.

Companies with tight turn-around times or payrolls that vary significantly in direct deposit amounts might have difficulty using Patriot PAY.
Read full review
Pros
BambooHR
  • Recruiting- communications are easy for both the internal team and candidates
  • Onboarding- the onboarding tasks are great. I love being able to attach documents as well as delay sending out tasks
  • Communication- the employee community is a great tool to keep our communications clean and organized. I love that we now have insight as to who has viewed the comms
Read full review
Patriot Software
  • It is simple, intuitive and straightforward in its design. Someone with little experience with roles in human resources roles, bookkeeping or payroll can quickly learn how to set-up the software and run payroll regularly by reading through the support portion of the site, or by contacting the helpful staff at Patriot. Patriot staff have walked me through issues or guided me on the phone as I learned how to use a function of the software.
  • Patriot provides comprehensive quarterly tax filing records, including 941s, state unemployment compensation tax payments, state employer's tax and local employer's tax filings. You can also generate payroll or tax deposit reports over a specific time period or per employee.
  • The support and FAQ pages available on Patriot are very practical and written in an easy to understand manner. Using the information provided there, I was able to properly set up new employees according to local and state filing requirements.
Read full review
Cons
BambooHR
  • BambooHR® has moved their offerings to a tiered package approach that groups features together at different tier and price levels. To gain access to a specific feature, you may need to upgrade to a whole new tier that includes additional features you may not be interested in. I would prefer being able to add-on one specific feature when needed.
Read full review
Patriot Software
  • Connecting with outside software - we have an issue of Patriot not recognizing donors when connected to other websites when all the information is the same minus a middle initial
  • Giving an error page when something small is off. Instead of giving an easy to fix error notification, Patriot brings the user to an error page and they have to reenter everything.
  • Fixing dates easily. If a date is entered incorrectly, 8/13/21 instead of 2021, an error pop up appears but the user has to click enter/okay many times or refresh the page in order to fix this issue.
  • Enter vs Tab key - Patriot loves the tab key but if the user clicks enter instead, many times it brings them to the home page.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
BambooHR
There's nothing wrong with this platform. I would recommend it to any business starting with more than 10 employees. I will continue to use the program for as long as I need to, hoping they continue being tremendous and finding other ways to incorporate more technology.
Read full review
Patriot Software
It works well because it is cheap for us.
Read full review
Usability
BambooHR
It's clear and well appointed with prompts on where to go for each category of information it holds. The user has limited access based on a need to know/job related basis. It has a clear help option with the ability to chat, email or read documentation on how to do something.
Read full review
Patriot Software
I think it is great once things are setup as for general user looking to look for simple things like a copy of a paystub or a current pay rate for an employee. However, to find specialized things like a state withholding number or payroll integration settings those do require a bit more digging to find or possibly a call to customer service for help.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
BambooHR
Yes, there is a huge team in the back of the online platform or it looks like it because I have never been left without an answer when I have a question or waiting from a response on my chat .... There must be a huge team, this is so great and I always seem to have someone that is very knowledgeable too. So many times in the past I had to leave with customer service that would connect you with someone else because of the expertise, here everyone seems to be some kind of an expert in the HR function.
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Patriot Software
No answers on this topic
Performance
BambooHR
I love BambooHR. Reports are easy to run and download and it usually covers any types of requests I get from the management team. You get excel or .csv downloads/reports and it is fast and simple, not too crowded so it is easy to read through. We don't integrate the tool yet but again, soon we will. we just did not had the time to utilize it yet but that's the plan.
Read full review
Patriot Software
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
BambooHR
10/10. The absolute best. I never dread contacting support. I know the team will be quick and helpful. It is so easy, that sometimes I skip straight to contacting support instead of trying to find help articles. They are faster than me trying to figure it out on my own!
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Patriot Software
Generally speaking it is pretty good that when I need to call somebody up for a payroll question I can generally within five minutes get somebody on the phone and they can help me resolve the problem or specify where specifically I need to go or contact to find my answers. However, that being said, for my specific situation as a partner my assigned contact has not always been very responsive.
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In-Person Training
BambooHR
I didn't have in-person training besides teaching my managers how to use the program. However, I couldn't omit this question (maybe a system glitch).
Read full review
Patriot Software
No answers on this topic
Online Training
BambooHR
As far as I can recall, everything went well with doing it online and got questions answered. Was thankful to work with a dummy file to get used to some practices prior to getting our own domain within bamboo to then place our personnel information in the system, this helped a lot!
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Patriot Software
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
BambooHR
BambooHR's initial implementation team was amazing. We loved having a dedicated person we could call, email or speak to during the entire process. I feel that's so important when you are new to a software. Our process was time consuming, but well worth the final product.
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Patriot Software
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
BambooHR
BambooHR® was able to provide excellent value for money when compared to the other options we looked at when we carried out a review of them. A previous member of the team had also used BambooHR® at another company and rated them highly which influenced our decision greatly. The demo also showed BambooHR® was able to carry out all of the tasks we were looking for
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Patriot Software
I briefly used Intuit Online Payroll, and it was expensive, had no support, and was very frustrating to use. I also used 3 local tax companies for payroll - they were extremely expensive and messed up all of the time. Their employee turnover was very annoying (and it seemed to happen every other month) and each employee did things differently. When I let one of my employees go, the last company paid them after termination (2 weeks of salary), and had to get into a legal battle because the employee would not give the money back.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
BambooHR
Since my organization has dropped with employees, I always find ways to reduce costs. I thought there would be a cheaper option, but I was glad that my package included a lot for the price, and downgrading would cost more. The rep could have let me downgraded and taken me to a higher package. I am thankful that didn't happen.
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Patriot Software
No answers on this topic
Scalability
BambooHR
There is so much you can do with this platform, it is incredible and so welcoming. We don't utilize it 100% yet just because we are growing and the HR team has not been able to concentrate on other areas offered to us but but we will soon. Which is also why we got the product, specifically because what BambooHR can do to help us meet our growing business needs.
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Patriot Software
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
BambooHR
VERY professional!
Read full review
Patriot Software
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
BambooHR
  • Time Savings: Automating onboarding, payroll, and employee record management has cut HR admin time by up to 30%, allowing teams to focus on strategic initiatives instead of paperwork.
  • Improved Onboarding: Streamlined workflows have cut onboarding time by nearly 50%, ensuring new hires are productive faster, reducing turnover risk in the critical first months.
  • - Enhanced Informational Clarity: Centralized employee data means fewer errors and faster access to essential information, reducing compliance risks and increasing accuracy in reporting.
Read full review
Patriot Software
  • It boosts my time available for client-facing activities by not having to spend as much time processing payroll.
  • It helps me deliver accurate reports to my CPA at tax time regarding employee wages and employer taxes.
  • Through the online portal, I can easily track year-to-date taxes my company has paid.
Read full review
ScreenShots

BambooHR® Screenshots

Screenshot of Job Info TabScreenshot of Onboarding TasksScreenshot of New Hire PacketScreenshot of Employee Performance ReportScreenshot of Employee Satisfaction (eNPS®)Screenshot of Open Enrollment

Patriot Payroll Screenshots

Screenshot of the 3-step process to carry out payrollScreenshot of the Payroll interface, which can be used run payroll on any device with internet or data connection. There is no need to download and maintain a separate payroll app.Screenshot of a payroll report, to sort by work location, employee, and date range.