Rippling is more than just payroll; it's a full employee management platform that offers many benefits to businesses of all sizes.
WRITTEN & RESEARCHED BY
Expert Contributor
Last updated onUpdated
REVIEWED BY
Lead Staff Writer
| Total Rating | 4.3 |
|---|---|
| Pricing2.4 | |
| Ease Of Use4.6 | |
| Features4.7 | |
| Customer Service4.2 | |
| User Reviews4.7 | |
Payroll Processing Time
2 daysPricing Range
$8/month per employee+Business Size
Small-businesses to enterprises with 2-2,000+ usersTable of Contents
Rippling is an employee management and business software suite offering extensive HR solutions, IT management tools, PEO services, and finance management options. Rippling boasts an extensive feature set, including full-service payroll, benefits administration, time and attendance management, applicant tracking, corporate cards, employee management, and much more.
Rippling is a scalable solution that can be used by small businesses and enterprises alike. While small businesses can use Rippling for payroll, its modular pricing model that treats payroll as an add-on and its overly robust feature set may be too much for smaller businesses looking for a comprehensive, payroll-first solution. Small business owners may be wary of the software’s reviews citing poor customer service.
| Pricing2.4 |
|---|
| Software Plans 0.3 |
| Pricing Transparency 0.0 |
| Pricing Customization 3.4 |
Rippling Payroll’s 2.4/5 star rating in the pricing category was bolstered by its plan customization options but lost points due to its lack of pricing transparency and a free trial. While Rippling’s starting price of $8/month per person sounds enticing, users must purchase payroll as a separate add-on which will drive costs up.
This is a common pricing structure for companies that offer payroll as a secondary product while selling a related primary product. For example, Zenefits (HR software), Homebase (scheduling software), and Toast Payroll (POS software) all boast a similar pricing model.
This pricing structure makes sense for businesses that are already using the primary product offering or those who wish to consolidate their business’s tech stack. Ultimately, if your business just needs payroll processing software, there are many Rippling alternatives, such as Gusto, OnPay, or SurePayroll.
For an accurate price estimate, businesses will need to reach out to Rippling for a custom quote. Requesting a custom quote via Rippling’s website will only generate an email reiterating that Rippling’s pricing starts at $8/month per person and you’ll be asked to set up a demo for further pricing information.
Rippling Unity uses custom pricing and includes:
| Rippling Extra Costs | Price |
|---|---|
| Payroll | Custom |
| Time & Attendance | Custom |
| Benefits Administration | Custom |
| ACA & COBRA Administration | Custom |
| Applicant Tracking | Custom |
| Learning Management | Custom |
| Rippling Pulse (employee surveys) | Custom |
| App Management | Custom |
| Device Management | Custom |
| Inventory Management | Custom |
Rippling operates under a base subscription model with optional add-on services, so Rippling’s payroll product, other HR solutions, and IT management solutions are considered add-ons.
Unfortunately, this pricing model tends to lead to higher prices than other solutions with tiered service plans. However, it’s difficult to determine whether that’s the case with Rippling because its pricing is mostly unpublished.
Smaller businesses looking for simple payroll software may consider seeking out more affordable payroll software solutions.
| Ease Of Use4.6 |
|---|
| Set Up 4.6 |
| Software Reliability 4.0 |
| Everyday Use 4.0 |
| Integrations 5.0 |
With a 4.6/5 star rating in the ease of use category, Rippling is very easy to use. The software only lost points due to its low Android mobile app reviews and some user complaints about unintuitive navigation.
Rippling Payroll’s cloud-based software can be used on the web and includes a well-rated employee mobile app on iOS. However, the software’s Android app is not well-rated and frequently receives user complaints.
Additionally, some users may find it challenging to use Rippling’s customizable automation features, as Rippling’s automation features utilize if/then logic and commands. Fortunately, Rippling hosts a library of prebuilt automations, which they’ve termed “recipes,” so users shouldn’t have too much trouble learning how to use them.
If you’re interested in exploring the Rippling software suite, you can request a live software demo or watch Rippling's product video tour.
| Features4.7 |
|---|
| Payroll Processing 4.2 |
| Employee Management & PTO 4.5 |
| Time Tracking 5.0 |
| Payroll Tax Support 4.8 |
| Reporting & Tax Forms 5.0 |
| Onboarding & HR 4.6 |
| Benefits Administration 5.0 |
| Niche Features 5.0 |
Rippling Payroll earned an impressive 4.7/5 star rating in the feature category. So, although Rippling only offers payroll as an add-on, its payroll services are fully fleshed-out with a comprehensive feature set.
Rippling users can easily run payroll, manage employees, handle benefits administration, track time, recruit talent, and much more. If there’s a specific service that Rippling doesn’t offer or you’d prefer to use a different solution, Rippling’s plethora of third-party integration options can help you build the best software stack for your business.
While Rippling is a great solution for businesses with complex payroll and HR needs, small businesses or those needing a simple payroll solution may be happier with a solution such as Patriot Payroll or QuickBooks Online Payroll.
Rippling Payroll Dashboard
Rippling Payroll Run
Although Rippling’s payroll solution is an add-on, it’s highly functional and can handle both simple and complex payroll needs. For those businesses looking to save time when running payroll, Rippling’s automations and integrations can drastically reduce time spent on tedious payroll tasks, such as new-hiring reporting or calculating payroll taxes per pay period.
Here’s a look at Rippling’s payroll features:
Rippling Time Off & PTO Dashboard
Rippling’s employee management features enable businesses to keep up with employee morale, recruit top talent, easily onboard new hires, and much more. Check out Rippling’s top employee management and PTO features:
Rippling Time Dashboard
Rippling’s time-tracking solution is a worthwhile add-on for businesses looking to integrate payroll and time-tracking seamlessly. The software’s time-tracking features support employee clock-ins, compliance support, job costing, and more. Here’s a look at Rippling’s time-tracking features:
Rippling Payroll Report
Rippling uses a unique system of recipes to manage its reporting. Users can create custom recipes to pull reports and run other workflow automations. In action, there are virtually no limits to the number of payroll reports a business can build.
In a sense, Rippling’s recipe system mimics software scripting and allows users to take control of and automate their workflow, including anything from report generation to setting custom hiring alerts.
Unfortunately, most users looking for a traditional built-in reports system may find this new system challenging to maneuver.
Rippling Watercooler
Rippling’s HR and onboarding features are customizable and include eSigning, applicant tracking, learning management, and compliance support. The software emphasizes automation in the hiring process, so your business can create custom hiring workflows to improve your onboarding process.
Additionally, Rippling has been focused on adding more extensive HR features in the past year, including the launch of Rippling Recruiting, headcount planning, and compensation band management. Here’s a more in-depth look at Rippling’s best HR and onboarding features:
Rippling Benefits Administration Dashboard
Rippling’s benefits administration is robust, with options ranging from health insurance to commuter benefits packages. Beyond allowing employers to offer customizable benefits packages, Rippling handles benefits administration compliance on behalf of your business, including sending out notices and automating payroll benefits deductions.
Here’s a breakdown of Rippling’s benefits administration features:
| Customer Service4.2 |
|---|
| Personal Support 4.2 |
| Self-Service 4.2 |
Rippling Payroll performed well in the customer service category after earning a 4.2/5 star rating. Rippling earned its score by offering solid support options and training.
However, Rippling Payroll’s help center is available to current customers. The support options that were available to me were helpful and the support representatives I spoke to were very helpful and communicative.
Trouble reaching customer support is one of the most common customer complaints about Rippling. This is relatively unusual, as most negative reviews regarding payroll software typically cite trouble getting problems solved rather than being unable to reach customer support.
Despite this, Rippling offers plenty of ways to get in touch:
| Rippling Customer Service | Availability |
|---|---|
| Phone Support | |
| Email Support | |
| Support Tickets | |
| Live Chat | |
| Dedicated Support Representative | |
| Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
| Videos & Tutorials | |
| Company Blog | |
| Social Media |
Additionally, although Rippling offers a variety of customer support options, it seems that live chat serves as the primary point of contact. Customers may ask to convert their chat to a live call, but that doesn’t often happen, according to Rippling’s customer support statistics.
In short, Rippling’s customer support has some room for improvement, and users requiring reliable support from their payroll software may consider looking into other options.
Rippling supports over 500 third-party integrations, making it one of the most well-integrated payroll solutions on the market. Rippling’s app integration shop is well organized and includes useful information on pricing, sign-on requirements, and notable features for each solution.
Rippling’s most notable integrations include QuickBooks Online, Slack, 15Five, Toggl, Guideline, Xero, Sage, NetSuite, Checkr, and many more. Rippling also offers an API for partner application developers and customers.
| User Reviews4.7 |
|---|
| Customer Feedback 5.0 |
| Review Site Aggregate 4.6 |
Users love Rippling. The software earned a 4.7/5 star rating in the user review category by earning excellent user reviews.
Rippling Payroll reviews are impressively excellent across the board with an average 4.6/5 stars across 6,100+ total reviews. That kind of unanimous admiration is pretty unheard of for a payroll software solution. Users cite Rippling’s ease of use, employee management features, and robust feature set as some of their favorite things about the software.
However, Rippling is not without its downsides. Customer support is one of the most frequently cited downsides of Rippling’s software. It’s not just that users are having trouble getting their problems solved. They’re having trouble actually reaching customer support outside of the live chat option. Further, some users wish for more customization options, including the frequency of notifications and automated log outs.
Rippling takes security seriously and boasts an impressive array of security measures and protocols to keep your data safe. Additionally, Rippling allows companies to customize user permissions and privileges so that you can protect data access within your internal network. The company does not have a history of data breaches.
Rippling’s security features include:
| Rippling Review Summary | |
|---|---|
| Pricing Range | $8/month per employee+ |
| Choose If You Need |
|
Rippling is a highly-reviewed, easy-to-use HR, payroll, and IT management software solution for small and large businesses. With Rippling, businesses can customize service packages to include employee management, time and attendance tracking, payroll, benefits administration, device and software management, running reports, recruiting talent, and more.
Rippling would be a great option for a larger business with complex payroll needs and the know-how to use the software’s robust automation customization options. For smaller businesses or those needing strong customer support, Rippling may not be the best option.
The software’s pricing model and complaints about customer support may give some business owners pause, but all signs point to Rippling being a reliable and powerful business solution. If you’re ready to try Rippling, reach out for a live software demo and pricing information.
We research, evaluate, and test each payroll software app that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate granular ratings.
Our exhaustive, 76-point rubric guides the star rating of each payroll provider we review, examining pricing, ease of use, features, customer service, and user reviews. Each section is weighted differently.
When rating payroll software, we are looking for very specific qualities. The speed and cost of payroll runs and the availability of tax filing services are given high weight, as are the quality and availability of accounting, time-tracking, HR integrations, and user onboarding services. We also look for the presence of client and employee portals, benefits administration, PTO and time management tools, and many more vital features.
Learn more about how we rate payroll software providers.
The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
|
Rippling
|
|---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Rippling for yourself.
The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
|
Rippling
|
|---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Rippling for yourself.
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Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
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Our team of experts spends hours on every review so that we can find the best companies to recommend to our readers. Rippling made the cut.
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