Gusto vs. Rippling Employee Benefits Software

(April 2025)

Gusto-vs-Rippling-Employee-Benefits-Software

Table of Contents

Our Verdict
Gusto-vs-Rippling

Both Gusto and Rippling are popular employee benefits software. Both software have key features and advantages that can be of great benefit to businesses.

Gusto is a better fit for small businesses, as it has a lower starting cost than Rippling. It is a better fit for small and growing businesses, because of its cheap pricing, user-friendly interface, and straightforward setup process.

For larger businesses, Rippling is a better fit. It offers a robust set of features that make it a comprehensive platform for businesses looking for a wide array of tools.

Note that Gusto focuses more on payroll, benefits, and HR services, while Rippling offers more advanced features for HR and IT management in addition to payroll services.

Although Gusto is praised for its friendly user interface and affordable pricing, your choice of employee benefits software depends on your budget and business size.

Why Choose Gusto

Who Gusto Is Best For?

Gusto is an excellent choice for small and medium-sized businesses seeking for an easy-to-use payroll and HR system, particularly:

  • HR needs: Gusto saves business owners and HR staff a great deal of time by streamlining essential HR functions, including payroll, benefits administration, and onboarding.
  • Startups: Gusto’s features are well-suited to startup requirements.
  • Budget limitations: Gusto is a good option for businesses with smaller budgets because its pricing structure is often more reasonable than that of some of its competitors.
  • Need for simplicity: The platform has a user-friendly layout, which makes it simple to use even for people without a lot of experience in HR.
  • Limited employees: Gusto offers features that are affordable to businesses with less than 50 workers.

Who Gusto Isn’t Best For?

Though Gusto is a well-liked HR and payroll software for employee benefits, it isn’t the ideal choice for everyone. Gusto may not be the best fit for the following types of businesses:

  • Businesses with highly customized requirements: Gusto’s platform is meant to be simple and easy to use, but it might not be flexible enough for businesses with complex workflows or highly specialized needs.
  • Large businesses with complex HR needs: Gusto’s functionality may not be as comprehensive for larger businesses with demanding staff management requirements.
Why Choose Rippling

Who Rippling Is Best For?

Rippling is an employee benefits software that works well for many different types of businesses, most especially:

  • Businesses that value data and integration: Rippling integrates with a lot of other applications. Businesses that prioritizes data security with encryption and access controls for sensitive employee information will find Rippling useful.
  • Businesses with remote or flexible workforces: Rippling’s cloud-based platform is ideal for teams that work from anywhere, as it enables employees to access HR data and self-service features from any location.
  • Businesses trying to enhance the employee experience can consider using Rippling’s self-service features to enable staff members to handle HR responsibilities themselves and increase employee engagement and self-sufficiency.
  • Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs): Rippling is an easy-to-use HR platform that is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses because of its scalable pricing, intuitive design, and all-in-one solution that combines payroll, benefits administration, time tracking, and onboarding.

Who Rippling Isn’t Best For?

Rippling is an excellent payroll and HR solution, however it might not be the ideal option for:

  • Businesses with a small, local workforce: Although Rippling excels in managing a distributed workforce, but for small, local businesses, other payroll solutions that are more affordable and offer more features should be considered.
  • Businesses needing extensive customization: Rippling’s customization options are limited compared to its competitors, it is not as good for highly customized workflows or integrations.
  • Businesses on a tight budget: Rippling’s pricing is not publicly available and requires custom quotes, making it unsuitable for businesses with tight budgets seeking transparent pricing structures.
Main Differences
Gusto Rippling
Target market
Gusto mostly focuses on SMBs (small and medium-sized enterprises) with fewer than fifty employees.
Rippling targets larger, scaled enterprises with complex payroll and HR requirements.
Pricing
Gusto offers transparent pricing plans with per-employee costs. They also provide a free trial and discounts.
Rippling offers personalized rates depending on your specific needs.
Scalability
Gusto lacks the depth and customization choices required for complicated HR and payroll needs.
Rippling offers more flexibility to adjust to changing needs and scales effectively with your business.
Features
Gusto offers onboarding, benefits management, and time tracking, in addition to essential HR and payroll features.
Rippling offers a more comprehensive suite of features.
User-interface     
Gusto is known for its user-friendly interface.
Rippling is more complex, with a comprehensive suite of features.
Standout Features

Gusto

Gusto-Standout-Features

User friendliness

Gusto has a well-known, simple-to-use interface. This makes it an ideal option for businesses looking for an easy-to-use solution.

Simple payroll

With only a few clicks, you can complete payroll with Gusto’s user-friendly payroll procedure, which lessens the hassle of payroll.

Integrations

Gusto streamlines HR and payroll data management by integrating with accounting tools, offering features like global pay, independent contractor management, and a mobile app for employee access.

Transparent pricing

Gusto offers tiered options with transparent pricing that are per-employee. This makes it simple for business owners to comprehend expenses and select the package that best suits its business needs.

Comprehensive HR and payroll features

Gusto offers a comprehensive HR and payroll solution, including automated payroll processing, benefits administration, time tracking, onboarding, compliance assistance, and detailed reporting and analytics for payroll, benefits, and employee performance.

Rippling

Rippling-Standout-Features

Intuitive user experience

The user-friendly interface of Rippling is designed to be easy to use, making it ideal for both HR administrators and employees. This feature enhances user adoption and streamlines workflow.

Customizable workflow automation

Rippling offers a dynamic workflow builder that enables businesses to create custom workflows triggered by specific events like employee onboarding, promotions, or terminations. This allows the business owner to customize the platform to meet their specific needs.

Automated employee onboarding and offboarding

Rippling streamlines onboarding and offboarding by integrating various systems like payroll, benefits, devices, and applications, enabling task delegation and document management. This reduces the time spent and facilitates a smoother and faster integration of new hires.

Pros and Cons of Gusto
Pros-and-Cons-of-Gusto

Pros

  • Transparent price: Gusto offers transparent pricing options with no hidden costs.
  • User-friendly platform: Gusto’s intuitive interface is user-friendly, benefiting both employers and employees, even those with limited technical experience, saving time on training and troubleshooting. Its intuitive interface makes it easy for users to navigate and manage their HR and payroll tasks.
  • Employee self-service: Gusto provides its employees with mobile app access and a self-service portal to quickly access paystubs, update personal information, and handle benefits. This lessens the workload for HR.
  • Scalability: Gusto offers tiered plans that can expand with your business, making it perfect for small and mid-sized businesses.
  • Streamlined payroll and HR: Gusto streamlines workforce management by integrating payroll, benefits administration, and HR functions, such as onboarding, into a single platform, eliminating the need for multiple systems.

Cons

  • Customer service: Many customers have complained about the lengthy wait times and challenges in resolving problems.
  • Per-employee pricing: Gusto charges based on the number of employees, which may get costly for larger teams.
  • Limited scalability: Gusto might be the best option for small businesses. It may not be the best option for very large organizations with complicated needs. As your business grows beyond a particular size (usually 50–75 employees), its capabilities and functionalities may become limited.
  • Limited reporting customization: For some customers, Gusto’s reports are not sufficiently customizable, making it difficult to generate specific data or reports for in-depth analysis.
Pros and cons of Rippling
Pros-and-cons-of-Rippling

Pros

  • Automated onboarding: Rippling automates onboarding tasks like payroll, benefits, and app access, reducing onboarding time to 90 seconds, therefore facilitating better and faster employee integration.
  • Intuitive interface: Rippling prioritizes usability; it creates an easy interface that helps HR administrators and employees, therefore increasing user acceptance and expediting HR procedures.
  • Seamless integrations: Rippling integrates seamlessly with numerous popular third-party HR and business tools, increasing its functionality and versatility.

Cons

  • Cost: Rippling, unlike other HR platforms, requires custom quotes, which makes proper budgeting challenging and more costly depending on your business size and needs.
  • Complexity for advanced features: Rippling’s user-friendly interface may be complicated by advanced features like custom workflow builders and IT device management and may call for HR managers’ training to properly use these tools.
Customer Reviews

Gusto has an average rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars with 2,036 reviews on Trustpilot. Although certain customers talked about its simple interface and transparent pricing, most customers complained about Gusto’s poor customer service.

Rippling has an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars with 1,022 reviews on Trustpilot. It is praised mostly for its intuitive and one-in-all employee benefits software.

Competitors

BambooHR

BambooHR is a robust HR software solution designed for small and midsized businesses (SMBs). It offers a user-friendly, cost-effective solution with features like an applicant tracking system (ATS), an employee self-service portal, pre-built reports and dashboards, and a user-friendly interface. BambooHR streamlines the recruitment process, allowing for easier access to paystubs, personal information, and benefits. It also provides pre-built reports and dashboards for data-driven decision-making.

Zenefits

Zenefits is a cloud-based HR platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to streamline HR processes, payroll, and employee benefits administration. It offers tax calculations, direct deposits, and deductions, as well as mobile apps for convenience. It’s easy-to-use interface, robust mobile access, and benefit-focused approach make it suitable for budget-conscious SMBs.

Namely

Namely is a robust HR software programme known for its comprehensive performance management features. It offers applicant tracking, time management, a learning management system, payroll processing, benefits administration, a human resource information system, and employee engagement capabilities. Namely’s main selling point is its performance management tools, which provide goal-setting, feedback, and employee development. Although Namely has scalability, robust performance management, a user-friendly interface, and an all-in-one suite, it may be more expensive for smaller companies. Despite this, Namely is an ideal HR solution for businesses looking to streamline HR activities and foster performance management.

Workday

Workday is a comprehensive HR system designed for larger businesses, offering features like scalability, security, compliance, ERP, financial management, and HCM. It offers a single platform for HR duties, streamlined workflows, enhanced data visibility, and data protection. However, its high cost may discourage small businesses from using it, and its feature-rich platform may be challenging for administrators and employees to learn.

Pro Tips

Gusto-vs-Rippling-Pro-Tips

Here are some pro tips to help you maximize the benefits of Gusto and Rippling:

  • Define your needs and prioritize: Before choosing an employee benefits software, make sure you understand the specific HR requirements and goals of your company. This will assist you in selecting a platform that complements your objectives and company requirements.
  • Workflow customization: Make sure your HR and business processes are well defined, and use the workflow builder to automate tedious tasks and guarantee consistent execution.
  • Utilize the employee self-service portal: Encourage employees to access paystubs, change personal information, and manage benefits using the software. This empowers employees and lessens HR’s workload.
  • Explore integrations: Discover these integrations to simplify your business processes and link your employee benefit software with your current toolkit.
Recap

Gusto and Rippling are both HR software programs that offer employee benefits administration. If you’re a small business that prioritize user friendliness, transparent pricing, and basic to mid-level benefit administration, Gusto can be a perfect fit.

However, for growing businesses with complex benefit arrangements, a need for customization, advanced reporting, and scalability, Rippling might be a better choice.

The optimal choice depends on your company’s size, customizing needs, reporting needs, and HR needs. 

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