Introducing the Rippling Company

Rippling is a dynamically growing company that brands itself as “an architectural pioneer”, championing the belief that “the HR platform shouldn’t really be limited to HR.” In doing so, Rippling offers a comprehensive system to manage various aspects of business operations.

It has established its reputation as one of the leaders in workforce management. With many favorable Rippling HR reviews and EOR praise, it has gained numerous recognition from renowned industry players such as Forbes Cloud 100, G2 Best Software Awards, Software Reviews, and others.

In this Rippling review, we’ll cover all the essential information you need to make an informed decision about selecting Rippling EOR as your platform of choice.

Top Facts: Rippling

Founded in:

2016

Headquarter:

San Francisco, CA

Revenue:

$350M

# of employees:

2,800+

Served in:

185+ countries

Integrations:

600+

Supported payment methods:

10+

EOR pricing:

Starting at $599/month*

Mobile app

 24/7 support

Free trial

Consulting/ integration services

 Rippling Top Clients

What Is Rippling?

Rippling is a comprehensive workforce management platform integrating HR, IT, and finance operations into a unified system. On top of it, Ripplingā€™s EOR services allow businesses to hire and manage employees in countries where they do not have a legal entity. Such an approach allows for streamlining multiple business tasks, including payroll, benefits administration, employee onboarding and offboarding, compliance, device management, and expense tracking.

rippling official website

Source

Rippling is designed to eliminate manual workflows and simplify complex processes for US-based, remote, and global businesses. Therefore, the solution stands out as:

  • A unified system built on a single source of truth for employee data for managing business operations, from HRM and IT to payroll and spend management.
  • No-code workflow automation tools to run global payroll in 90 seconds.
  • An ecosystem of integrations with 600+ apps to streamline workflows.

Together with HR, IT, and finance tools, Ripplingā€™s EOR service provides centralized dashboards for managing international teams, offering visibility into payroll, expenses, and benefits across all supported regions. Letā€™s further explore them.

Core Features of Rippling EOR

Global Payroll

Automated Global Compliance

Unified HR, IT, and Finance

Tax Filings

Benefits Administration

Built-in HRIS

Tackling the Value: Rippling EOR Use Cases

To best define Rippling, its offerings, and its impact on business operations, letā€™s review its real-life success stories and its customers’ results.

Rippling PEO simplifies payroll management across multiple countries, thus helping businesses reduce administrative burdens and errors. With features such as automated tax filings, real-time employee data syncing, and multi-currency payment support, the platform ensures payroll is processed accurately and efficiently.

  • Lightforce achieved 6x faster payroll processing with Rippling.
  • Minfy saves 2-3 days monthly for payroll management across multiple countries.

Ripplingā€™s pre-built automation workflows for onboarding, payroll approvals, and compliance tasks help businesses eliminate repetitive manual tasks, speeding up employee onboarding and reducing time spent on HR and payroll administration. Additionally, the platformā€™s integration capabilities further streamline these processes by syncing data seamlessly across systems like benefits and Rippling expense management, ensuring greater efficiency.

  • Stacklet reduced its onboarding time by 90% thanks to Ripplingā€™s automated workflows.
  • Lightforce improved its employee onboarding speed by 45 times.

The Rippling mission is to provide a unified ecosystem of solutions for operational excellence. In doing so, it integrates HR, IT, and finance data into a single platform, allowing businesses to track spending, analyze workforce trends, and manage compliance from one location. The platform also offers advanced reporting tools to provide actionable insights in real time.

  • BTC Inc consolidated 6 workforce management systems into one thanks to Rippling.
  • Victoria Beckham Beauty cut down the analysis of company-wide spending to 15 minutes.

Rippling provides tools for global compliance, localized employment contracts, and automated benefits enrollment. These features help businesses expand internationally without establishing entities in each country, reducing costs and ensuring compliance with local labor laws.

  • Crate saves $1260 fees per year per UK hire.
rippling usage stats by industries
rippling usage stats by size

4Ps Score: Our Rippling Assessment

When assessing an EOR platform, a multi-faceted approach is essential. To ensure comprehensive coverage, we’ve developed the 4S Score framework based on four core evaluation criteria: performance, processes, platform experience, and pricing. Explore Ripplingā€™s scores in each category below.

Rippling 4Ps Score

Category

Score (1-5)

Performance

4.8/5

Processes

4.7/5

Platform experience

4.6/5

Pricing

4.5/5

Final score

4.65/5

Rippling Performance (Features and Functionality)

Rippling values an integrated approach to business operations. Therefore, it takes pride in providing a comprehensive set of EOR capabilities built to streamline workforce management ā€” combining HR, IT, and payroll functions into one unified platform. The platformā€™s flexibility lies in its modular setup that allows companies to add features as needed. However, small businesses might find the platform’s extensive features more than they require, potentially diminishing its value for money.

Additionally, it needs to be noted that Ripplingā€™s global payroll and compliance capabilities may not be less comprehensive compared to other platforms that specialize in international workforce management. Companies with global teams reported facing challenges with tax compliance and payroll reporting for non-U.S. employees. 

Rippling Performance

Top Differentiators

  • Unified platform for EOR, HR, IT, and payroll
  • Modular design for scalable feature expansion
  • Custom user rights for international teams

Considerations

  • Limited country-specific resources
  • Complicated payroll reporting and tax compliance for non-US employees
  • Potentially over-extensive functionality for small businesses

Rippling Process Efficiency and Compliance

Rippling automates a range of HR and IT tasks, reducing the manual input needed for processes like onboarding, offboarding, and payroll. It also offers compliance support aligned with U.S. labor and tax regulations. 

While these automation features can streamline U.S.-based operations, Rippling negative reviews suggest its support for international compliance is less robust, which may require additional oversight for global businesses.

Rippling Processes

Top Differentiators

  • Automation of EOR-related workflows, including payroll and onboarding
  • Compliance tracking tools aligned with local labor and tax laws
  • Workflow templates and integrations to reduce administrative workload and streamline processes

Considerations

  • Compliance limitations beyond the US
  • Occasional tax filing and other mistakes
  • Unrecommended PEO services due to the negative experience of its former users

Rippling Platform Experience (Technology & User Experience)

Regarding the solutionā€™s user experience, many Rippling PEO reviews highlight the platform’s straightforward and clean interface ā€” particularly the dashboard that consolidates HR and IT tools, which makes navigation easy for cross-functional teams. 

However, due to the platformā€™s broad range of features, users might experience a learning curve during setup and configuration. Besides, the overall user experience is sometimes marred by customer support issues, ranging from occasional mistakes to irresponsiveness and beyond.

Rippling Platform Experience

Top Differentiators

  • Intuitive navigation
  • User-friendly portal for employees
  • Consistency across all platformā€™s modules

Considerations

  • Clunky onboarding reported by some users
  • Customization can be challenging and overwhelming
  • No support for employees, only contractors
  • Customer support might be unreliable, with errors taking weeks to fix

Rippling Pricing (Transparency & Value)

Rippling’s pricing starts at $8 per user per month, but the platform’s modular nature means that adding more features can significantly increase the Rippling cost. Moreover, this flexibility can benefit companies that need only select features, though the total cost for advanced tools may require a quote from Rippling, making pricing less transparent upfront.

Rippling Pricing

Top Differentiators

  • Affordable entry-level pricing with scalable options
  • Modular pricing allows businesses to tailor costs to their needs
  • Flexible for companies looking to control costs while scaling

Considerations

  • Annual contracts only
  • Hefty implementation costs
  • Extra costs for add-on apps, custom reports, extra automation, notifications, etc.

Clients Rippling Reviews: Pros and Cons

When evaluating the platformā€™s EOR capabilities, it’s important to weigh Rippling pros and cons based on real user experiences. Letā€™s further explore them.

Rippling User Reviews and Ratings

Total reviews: over 15,000

4.8 

out of 5

4.8 

out of 5

4.8 

out of 5

4.8 

out of 5

8.9

out of 10

4.8

out of 5

4.8

out of 5

Most Commonly Mentioned Pros:

  • Ease of use
  • Intuitiveness
  • Simplicity
  • Easy-to-navigate user interface
  • Easy access

Most Commonly Mentioned Cons:

  • Missing features
  • Limited features
  • Improvement needed
  • Not Intuitive

All ratings from the listed platforms mentioned above reflect the data available at the time of writing this post – November 2024. Ratings may change over time as new reviews are added. Additionally, pros and cons are listed according to the source.

Ripplingā€™s Positive Feedback

ā€œRippling is my one-stop shop for all company-related information. It’s easy for all employees to stay on the same page with tasks, view team layouts and leaders, request time off, and update personal information. It made onboarding into the company seamless, and I use it on a regular basis to track
company information.ā€

ā€œWhat really sets Rippling apart is its ability to integrate with so many other tools we already use, streamlining workflows across the board. Whether it’s syncing employee data with our time tracking software or automating device provisioning, the automation capabilities are one out of many Rippling benefits that have saved us countless hours.ā€

ā€œIt takes me a few minutes to run payroll, and knowing that all tax liabilities are handled and returned on my behalf is a big weight off my mind.ā€

Ripplingā€™s Weak Spots and Aspects to Consider

ā€œImplementation was a nightmare, and we had to do it twice because they overpromised on the feature they couldn’t actually support (and this was not caught until launch day).ā€

ā€œWe have employees in India, and Rippling takes a deposit for each employee (standard). However, when you terminate an employee, they force you to wait 60 DAYS for the refund. And those refunds don’t come on time, and you have to raise support tickets to get refunds. For small startups, this lack of cashflow can be a killer.ā€

ā€œThere is an extra fee for almost everything, including payroll corrections, which can be costly. This is not disclosed upfront; users only learn about it when contacting Rippling support to request a correction. If the correction requires amending a return, additional charges apply. Given the monthly cost of Rippling, one might expect these services to be included without extra fees.ā€

Must-Know Rippling Features for EOR Efficiency

Global Payroll

rippling payroll

Source

The Rippling payroll module is designed to streamline global payroll management by supporting employees across multiple countries with localized currency calculations. 

With features like automated calculations, role-specific payroll data, and the ability to preview payroll before finalizing, Rippling enables businesses to manage complex, multi-country payroll efficiently and accurately.

 Rippling payroll reviews emphasize the following capabilities:

  • Automatic calculations and management of gross pay, deductions, and reimbursements in multiple currencies.
  • Customizable payroll settings tailored to individual employees and roles.
  • Anticipation of payroll costs by benchmarking historical data.
  • Storage and management of payroll records for compliance and reporting purposes.

Benefits Administration

rippling benefits administration

Source

Rippling employee benefits management tools streamline selecting, comparing, and managing employee benefits plans for specific countries. To ensure seamless administration, Rippling global payroll deductions are automatically synced.

Benefits plans can include Rippling health insurance, retirement options, paid time off, and other perks, all customizable based on local regulations and company preferences. Besides, additional features like plan comparisons, cost trend analysis, and customizable recommendations help platform users make data-driven decisions and simplify benefits management.

Key benefits management capabilities enable the following:

  • Compare current, renewal, and recommended benefits packages with detailed cost and coverage insights.
  • Analyze cost trends over time for better financial planning.
  • Customize and select packages directly within the platform for seamless implementation.

Compliance Management

The platform integrates compliance directly into workflows. This way, it is ensured that every process, from employee agreements to payroll, meets local and international regulations.

Pre-built compliant agreement templates, real-time in-product compliance alerts, and automated adherence to tax and labor requirements help Rippling users navigate the complexities of local regulations.

Ripplingā€™s compliance management enables the following:

  • Access the library of local contractor agreements reviewed and validated by country-specific legal professionals.
  • Automatically calculate and apply country-specific payroll taxes, deductions, and benefits contributions.
  • Ensure accurate classification of employees and contractors to avoid misclassification penalties.

Built-in HRIS

HRIS rippling

Source

With the Rippling recruitment module, businesses can streamline the hiring process by centralizing candidate tracking, evaluations, and communication in a single platform.

Ripplingā€™s HR features, such as customizable hiring workflows, robust permissions, policy management, real-time feedback tracking, and others, empower recruiters to make data-driven hiring decisions efficiently. Besides, Rippling international payroll and HRIS modules are tightly integrated. Hence, one system is automatically updated when changes are made to another.

Rippling HR capabilities allow businesses to:

  • Track candidates across all hiring stages with a visually organized pipeline.
  • Collect and manage real-time feedback from hiring teams to simplify decision-making.
  • Customize workflows and stages to match unique recruitment processes.
  • Monitor time spent in each stage to optimize recruitment timelines.

Unified HR, IT and Finance

Rippling IT management module

Source

The Rippling IT management module is unified with the platformā€™s HR and finance management capabilities, enabling businesses to manage and streamline all facets of essential business operations efficiently. The platform integrates real-time tracking, customizable workflows, and automation to ensure seamless coordination across departments while maintaining security and compliance.

Key capabilities allow for:

  • Tracking employee details, system access, and operational updates in real time.
  • Automating workflows for payroll, benefits, IT provisioning, and compliance processes.
  • Managing financial and operational policies from a centralized dashboard.
  • Benefitting from Rippling performance management tools for goal-setting, performance reviews, feedback sessions, and more.

Integrations

rippling integrations

Source

Ripplingā€™s integrations streamline business operations and simplify global workforce management by connecting HR, IT, and finance systems into one centralized platform. 

With over 600 pre-built integrations, Rippling streamlines data flow and ensures seamless employee details, compensation, and global benefits coordination.

Key capabilities include:

  • Integrated collaboration tools – Google Workspace, Slack, Zoom.us, Dropbox, Notion, and more.
  • Finance and legal tools – Carta, Brex, Mainstreet, Branch, Runway, and others.
  • Compliance solutions – Vanta, Drata, EasyLlama, Secureframe, and many more.
  • Dozens of other solutions for office management, sales and marketing, HR, customer support, and others.

Additional Rippling Feature Highlights 

On top of its core features, Rippling delivers a range of other benefits for those seeking a successful EOR adoption, including: 

  • Data-driven risk mitigation and business efficiency: the tools for misclassification assessment, compliance management, and custom reporting all work together to reduce potential legal and financial risks, enhance operational transparency, and support data-driven decision-making for global payroll.
  • Process excellence and automation: by automating a wide range of manual tasks with its advanced automation capabilities and ready-to-go workflow templates, Rippling platform enables businesses to speed up global hiring and other HR operations.
  • Centralized data management: a unified platform for multiple operations, from global payroll to benefits administration to HRIS, enables efficient international workforce management and scaling.

Rippling Extra Features

Compliance

360

automatically flagging compliance mistake

Misclassification Analyzer

to avoid potential risks

Custom

reporting

on global spending,

headcount by country, geo-based benefits, etc.

Workflow Studio

to automate otherwise manual processes

Automated policies

& approvals streamlining global hiring

Pre-built

workflows

to adopt the best industry

frameworks &

practices in no time

Rippling Price Considerations 

Rippling pricing is modular and tailored to adjust to specific business needs, with the overall Rippling cost for EOR services typically ranging between $499-599 per month. 

Rippling payroll pricing consists of the platformā€™s base plan, Rippling Unity, which starts at $35 per month plus $8 per user. This package covers essential payroll services like tax reporting, direct deposit, and onboarding tools. 

Meanwhile, beyond the base plan, Rippling EOR pricing* may incorporate additional fees for extra features or services:

  • Benefits administration – starts at $6 per user per month.
  • Applicant tracking system (ATS)- Rippling cost for this module is based on a custom quote.
  • COBRA administration costs – depend on the number of employees, available by quote.
  • Learning management system – starts at approximately $8 per user per month.
  • Device management – starts at $5 per user per month.
  • Compliance solutions – this Rippling payment depends on the scope of compliance needs, available by quote.

*As pricing is subject to change, we are listing prices as they stand in November 2024.

Source

How Does Rippling Work? Step-by-Step Guidance

Unlike many solutions that offer free trials, the first user experience with Rippling is through a demo with a sales representative. Based on your business needs, a custom quote for the platform is provided, after which you can proceed with onboarding and setting up the solution.

Rippling Setup Process

How it looks for an employer

  • Sign up and account creation
  • Account setup and company info input
  • Add employees manually or import data
  • Set up payroll and tax info
  • Configure benefits and perks
  • Select additional features (ATS, learning tools, etc.)
  • Review and submit payroll info
  • Run payroll and make payments
  • Further monitor compliance and payroll

How it looks for an employee

  • Sign up and provide personal details
  • Complete onboarding
  • Complete new hire paperwork
  • Set up direct deposit and benefits preferences
  • Choose benefits options
  • Confirm personal and work details, such as tax info
  • Receive payroll information and direct deposit setup

For employers, the platform allows them to set up onboarding workflows that are customized to the needs of their business. They can easily add new hires, assign tasks such as document submissions (tax forms, contracts, etc.), and manage compliance requirements. Rippling also offers pre-built onboarding templates that guide employers through the process, ensuring that all necessary steps are completed promptly.

For employees, Rippling boasts of being able to onboard new hires within 90 seconds. In doing so, new hires can complete Rippling employment verification within a personalized onboarding portal where they will fill out required documents, set up payroll details, choose benefits, and complete any training modules that have been assigned. Rippling also provides a central hub where employees can track their progress, submit necessary information, and communicate with HR if any support is needed. 

Rippling Evaluation: The Final Verdict

Overall, Rippling excels in streamlining HR, IT, and payroll processes, thus driving efficiency and minimizing administrative overhead for both US-based and international teams. Automated global payroll, compliance management, benefits administration, and advanced data-driven tools ā€” Rippling has got it covered, enabling businesses to streamline operations and mitigate risks across multiple countries.

With a unified platform and modular pricing structure, Rippling allows businesses to choose features according to their needs. However, users should be mindful of potential hidden fees for additional features and the occasional lack of timely customer support, especially for smaller businesses that require constant financial oversight. On top of that, companies with extensive international operations may need to assess whether Ripplingā€™s global features meet their specific needs in particular countries of expansion.

Rippling Review: FAQs

What is Rippling?

Rippling is an all-in-one platform for managing HR, global payroll, IT, and finance functions. It automates and integrates critical operations like onboarding, payroll processing, benefits administration, device management, etc.

Is Rippling a PEO?

In terms of PEO Rippling does not directly fall into this category. While positioning itself as a PEO software, Rippling is not a traditional PEO because it offers a broader suite of services and a more flexible, tech-driven platform. However, it offers similar services, including payroll and benefits management, and also provides Employer of Record (EOR) services for global teamsā€‹.

What does Rippling do?

Rippling automates HR, payroll, IT, and finance processes, helping businesses manage operations like employee benefits, global payroll, compliance, and IT provisioning from one platform.ā€‹

What is Rippling company famous for?

Rippling is a fast-growing company known for revolutionizing how businesses handle HR, payroll, and IT operations. In doing so, The company has earned multiple industry recognitions, ranking on lists like the Forbes Cloud 100 and receiving significant venture capital backing due to its innovative approach to streamlining administrative processes through automation and integration.

Is Rippling legit?

Overall, Rippling is a reputable platform recognized for its automation and integration features. It is well-regarded in the industry, although some users have noted issues with customer support and other operational inefficiencies.

Can Rippling handle both full-time employees and contractors?

Yes, Rippling supports both full-time employees and contractors, streamlining payroll, onboarding, and compliance for both groups.

How scalable is Rippling as your business grows?

Judging from end-user feedback and case studies, Rippling is highly scalable, offering customizable workflows and integrations that support businesses from startups to large enterprises.

What kind of customer support does Rippling provide?

Rippling provides support to platform administrators through live chat, email, and phone. Meanwhile, it needs to be noted that its primary language for support services is English, and thereā€™s limited information about support availability in other languages.

How long does it take to set up Rippling for your business?

Many Rippling users report that onboarding and system configuration with Rippling can typically be completed in a matter of hours or a few days. However, the time required can vary depending on the complexity of customizations: since the platform is highly flexible and configurable, creating a tailored setup with advanced workflows or integrations may require additional time.

How much does Rippling cost?

Rippling’s pricing starts at $35 per month for its base HR services and $8 per user. However, the total cost can increase depending on the additional features, services and add-ons you choose.

What are the key benefits of using Rippling for remote or global teams?

Rippling offers global payroll support, IT provisioning for remote team devices, and seamless HR integrations, making it a powerful platform for international teams. These features enable businesses to streamline global and U.S.-based payroll processing, optimize global hiring and HR operations, and achieve greater efficiency through unified data management.

How customizable is Rippling for specific company needs?

Thanks to its modular design and no-code workflow builder, Rippling is highly customizable, allowing businesses to tailor workflows, integrate with various apps, and adapt the system to diverse operational requirements. However, itā€™s worth noting that Rippling payroll cost may spike as extra customizations add up.

Explore Ripplingā€™s features firsthand  ā€” request a demo from the Rippling team!