Employ
RecruitRippling vs ADP
The world of work is totally different from the way it was just a decade ago. These days, people have the tools to let them work from home, from the beach, or from just about anywhere they like. Since they have access to the technologies that help them work remotely, more people are looking for remote or hybrid positions, and employers who need top talent are scrambling to provide these for them.
Obviously, having a team that’s scattered across several states or even all over the world can create new challenges for HR professionals. At the same time, they, too, have access to new tools that can help them overcome these challenges and successfully manage the people in their organizations.
What You’ll Discover:
- In-Depth Feature Analysis: A thorough breakdown of the features and usability of both platforms.
- Pricing Comparison: A detailed look at the costs associated with each service to assist with effective budgeting.
- Pros and Cons: Unbiased assessments of the strengths and limitations of Rippling and ADP.
In this review of Rippling vs ADP, our goal is to show you two different providers with two different approaches to HR outsourcing.
First, we’ll look deep into their service offerings. Then, we’ll compare them directly to see where each one provides a better service. This should give you the information you need to make an educated choice of the best provider to fit the needs of your organization.
Rippling vs ADP Overview
Feature | Rippling | ADP | Explanation |
User Reviews | G2: 4.8/5 Trustradius: 8.7/10 | G2: 4.4/5 Trustradius: 6.3/10 | Rippling’s reviews are very good, while ADP’s are mixed. |
Pricing | $500-600/ employee per month; unknown contractor price | Not publicly listed | Rippling doesn’t post its prices online, so we’ve only uncovered some of them. ADP’s prices remain hidden. |
User-friendliness | Very Good | Very Good | Both platforms have good reviews for ease of use, though Rippling’s are slightly better. |
Customer Support | 24/7 live chat and phone support | 24/7 live chat and phone support | Both providers offer live support at all times. |
Integrations | Excellent | Excellent | Rippling can integrate with 600 HR, accounting, and financial apps. ADP integrates with 300+ business applications. |
Data security | Excellent | Excellent | Rippling is GDPR and SOC2 compliant and both CSA STAR Level 2 and ISO 27001 certified. ADP is GDPR and SOC 1, 2, and 3 compliant as well as ISO 27001 certified. |
International hiring (EOR) | Very Good | Good | Rippling enables employee hiring in 29 countries and contractor hiring in 185. ADP doesn’t offer direct international hiring but partners with G-P to enable hiring in 26 countries. |
Recruitment | Good | Not Offered | Neither provider performs direct recruiting. Rippling includes an ATS, while ADP only integrates with ZipRecruiter without providing its own resources. |
Benefits administration | Excellent | Excellent | Both platforms help clients offer plenty of benefits to their employees, such as health insurance and pensions. |
Payroll | Very Good | Very Good | Both providers offer comprehensive payroll services in the US. Rippling also manages payments for contractors and international employees. |
Rippling Overview
Founded in San Francisco in 2016, Rippling was designed to act as a complete HRIS or human resources information system. Its purpose was to centralize all HR functions into a single platform, and it has successfully achieved this goal. Rippling can be used as the single and only HR management platform for small, medium, and even large businesses with thousands of employees. Rippling’s services, like those of so many of its competitors, are centered around this cloud-based platform. They include time-tracking, payroll, performance management, benefits administration, and many other functions necessary for managing a workforce.
Since 2016, Rippling has grown and added other services like contractor management, global payroll, and EOR or Employer of Record services. As an EOR, it helps its clients hire the workers they need in countries around the world where they don’t own entities. Instead, Rippling’s entities and partners act as legal employers for local staff, hiring them to work directly for the clients. Rippling takes care of creating contracts, onboarding, payroll, benefits, taxes, social security deductions, offboarding, and more. It also takes on the responsibility of ensuring compliance with all employment and tax regulations in the various countries where the employees live. However, this list is limited. Unlike many competitors, Rippling currently offers EOR services in just 29 countries.
It does, however, have a much wider reach when it comes to international contractor hiring. Clients can work with Rippling to hire independent contractors or freelancers in 188 countries worldwide and pay them in their local or preferred currencies.
For clients that need help managing their teams in the US, Rippling also works as a PEO or Professional Employment Organization. As with international employees, it takes care of hiring, onboarding, training, multi-state payroll, mandatory and optional benefits administration, and all the other HR needs that employees have. Rippling manages PEO service in all 50 states, staying compliant with their different regulations.
Rippling chooses not to publish its prices online, but we’ve discovered a starting price of $599/employee per month for EOR services. We’re not aware of its price for managing international contractors or its PEO service.
Rippling Pros and Cons
As an HRIS that has expanded to provide direct services like EOR, PEO, and payroll, Rippling possesses the following strengths and weaknesses:
- Pros
Extensive administration tools
Rippling was created as an HRIS and can act as a standalone HR management tool. Its functionality includes payroll, tax calculations, paid time off (PTO), time tracking, applicant management, and many other useful HR functions.
Mobile app
Rippling HR, IT, and Finance is Rippling’s mobile app for iOS and Android devices. This app helps employees access benefits, request PTO, submit expenses, and view their payslips from their mobile devices.
Extensive integration
Rippling offers out-of-the-box integrations with an extensive 600+ financial, HR, and communication apps. These integrations smooth workflows and facilitate easy data transfers.
Benefits packages
Rippling provides benefits packages that include health, vision, dental, and life insurance, as well as pensions. These packages are compliant in all 50 states and can be tailored to the 29 countries where it provides EOR services as well.
- Cons
No pricing online
One of the main disadvantages of Rippling is not showing its pricing online. This means that potential customers have to spend time asking for tailored quotes to help them compare service providers.
Platform complexity
As a complete HRIS, Rippling’s platform is complex and full of functionality. While not a weakness, this can make learning to use the platform difficult and time-consuming.
Limited support for international hiring
Rippling only enables full-time employee hiring in 29 countries, which is very few compared to its competitors. It does, however, help with contractor hiring in over 180 countries.
ADP Overview
ADP stands for Automatic Data Processing, one of the largest HR services companies in the US. This company was founded in 1949 to take care of outsourced payroll processing and, therefore, has decades of experience. To manage its clients’ needs effectively, ADP has split its services into several divisions, and the one we’re focused on is its PEO division, ADP TotalSource. TotalSource is ADP’s solution for employers who want to outsource all of their HR functions for their distributed teams of workers across the US. It provides hiring, onboarding, payroll, tax, benefits management, and compliance services for its clients. ADP helps clients manage their employees in all 50 states but doesn’t currently offer services for international hiring. ADP TotalSource is IRS-certified as a PEO and accredited by the Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC), helping to assure clients that it’s a reliable service provider.
ADP also bases its services around its HRIS, which can be used as a single solution to store employee data and manage HR. This platform includes such features as reporting and analytics, time and attendance tracking, payroll, tax filing, benefits administration, PTO, performance management, training, and much more. PEO clients are also supported by a dedicated assistant called an HR business partner to guide them through using the platform and help maintain compliance with state and federal employment laws.
ADP offers employers benefits packages that include medical, dental, vision, disability, accident, and critical illness insurance, HSAs, FSAs, and 401(k) plans. Because it manages over half a million employees, it can negotiate below-market rates for these benefits.
ADP also partners with G-P to offer global employee hiring in 26 countries. As with its other services, ADP TotalSource doesn’t reveal its prices online, making it hard to compare with other providers.
ADP Pros and Cons
ADP TotalSource is primarily a PEO solution for businesses with fewer than 250 employees. Its specific pros and cons include:
- Pros
Extensive administration tools
ADP TotalSource is a comprehensive HRIS with features that include payroll, tax calculations, PTO, onboarding, offboarding, time tracking, and loads of other HR functions.
Mobile app
ADP Mobile Solutions is the ADP app for iOS and Android devices that helps employees access pay and tax information, manage their schedules, and manage their benefits remotely.
Benefits packages
ADP offers extensive packages for mandatory and optional benefits. These packages are compliant in all 50 states and are generally provided at below-market prices.
Extensive integration
The ADP platform comes with over 300 out-of-the-box integrations with finance, HR, and communication apps.
- Cons
Limited support for international hiring
ADP TotalSource works primarily as a PEO in the US. While it lets clients add on support for hiring employees abroad through a partnership with G-P, it can only hire in 26 countries.
Challenging setup
User ratings suggest that the ADP platform is highly complex and takes time to set up and learn to use effectively.
No pricing online
ADP’s prices are not listed online which means potential clients need to request tailored quotes for the services they need.
Head-to-Head Comparison: Rippling vs ADP Features
We’ve seen each provider up close individually. Now it’s time for Rippling vs ADP TotalSource to go head-to-head to find out which one works best for different use cases.
User-friendly platform: Rippling Wins
Rippling has very good user ratings for ease of use and administration. While it can take time to learn this platform’s full functionality, it’s seen as considerably easier to implement than ADP. The quality of ADP’s support, though good, is rated much lower than that of Rippling.
Resources: It’s a tie
Rippling offers up tools for analytics, global spend, and headcount, and also has educational resources like Rippling University, webinars, and a blog. ADP gives clients calculators, tax forms, and extensive guides for SMBs. We feel that these resources are equally useful for clients.
Integration with other software: Rippling Wins
ADP’s platform comes with over 300 out-of-the-box integrations with software like Quickbooks, Xero, DailyPay, and ClockSharks. However, Rippling can integrate with over 600 finance, HR, and communications apps, including Asana, Checkr, GitHub, Slack, and Salesforce. With so many more options, Rippling makes it easier for organizations to choose this provider and integrate it with their current tech stacks without having to make any changes.
International hiring: Rippling Wins
Both providers are limited in international hiring compared with other competitors. Rippling supports employee hiring in just 29 countries but supports contractor hiring in 188. ADP, by partnering with G-P, supports hiring in just 26 countries. Since we don’t have their prices, it’s simply a numbers game, and Rippling has greater coverage.
PEO Solution: It’s a tie
We also can’t compare these two providers based on their PEO service prices. Both providers offer extensive services for their PEO clients and work to maintain strict compliance with state and federal laws. They’re also both IRS-certified and ESAC-compliant. Without pricing, we have to rate them as equal.
Employee Benefits: It’s a tie
Both providers offer truly comprehensive lists of both mandatory and optional benefits that clients can pass on to their employees. They also maintain strict compliance with state laws and federal regulations like COBRA and the Affordable Care Act. Without pricing, we’ll once again rate them equally.
Payroll Management: Rippling Wins
Both platforms automate payroll administration, tax filing and reporting, and benefits deductions very effectively. However, users rate Rippling’s payroll function as much easier to use. It also helps businesses to pay contractors in 188 countries which is a very useful feature that ADP doesn’t support.
Our Verdict: Rippling vs ADP
The goal of this assessment was to highlight where each service provider does a better job. While it’s challenging to rate them without having full pricing available, we’ve found areas where each one does well.
When to choose Rippling
SMBs looking to scale by hiring distributed teams can choose to work with Rippling. It can help them outsource all of their HR functions in the US or in a limited number of other countries and hire and manage contractors almost anywhere in the world.
When to choose ADP
ADP TotalSource is an effective choice as a PEO provider in the US. It offers extensive benefits, likely at excellent rates, and it maintains strict compliance with employment laws in all 50 states.