Rippling
Rippling is a unified workforce management platform that connects your HR, payroll, and IT systems to automate employee lifecycle tasks from onboarding to offboarding in one place.
Square Payroll
Square Payroll is a full-service payroll software that automates tax filings, employee payments, and benefits management for small businesses using integrated time tracking and point-of-sale data.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Rippling | Square Payroll |
|---|---|---|
| Website | rippling.com | squareup.com |
| Pricing Model | Subscription | Subscription |
| Starting Price | Custom Pricing | Free |
| FREE Trial | ✘ No free trial | ✘ No free trial |
| Free Plan | ✘ No free plan | ✘ No free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2016 | 2009 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, USA | San Francisco, USA |
Overview
Rippling
Rippling gives you a single place to manage your entire workforce by connecting HR, IT, and Finance data. Instead of jumping between disconnected tools, you can handle payroll, benefits, app provisioning, and device management from one dashboard. When you hire a new employee, you can click a button to set up their payroll, health insurance, work laptop, and Slack account in seconds.
The platform solves the headache of manual data entry and fragmented systems by acting as a single source of truth for employee information. Whether you are a small startup or a growing mid-market company, you can automate complex workflows like global compliance and expense approvals. It eliminates the administrative burden of scaling your team so you can focus on strategic growth.
Square Payroll
Square Payroll simplifies how you pay your team by automating the most complex parts of business ownership. You can pay employees and contractors in just a few clicks, whether they are hourly or salaried. The platform automatically calculates, files, and pays your federal and state payroll taxes, ensuring you stay compliant without manual paperwork. Because it integrates directly with Square POS, your team's hours sync automatically, eliminating the need for manual data entry or messy spreadsheets.
You can manage everything from a single dashboard, including workers' compensation, health insurance, and 401(k) plans. The system supports flexible payment options like Instant Payments, allowing you to send funds to employees the same day they work. Whether you are running a single coffee shop or managing multiple retail locations, you get a straightforward tool that handles the back-office heavy lifting so you can focus on growing your business.
Overview
Rippling Features
- Unified Employee Record Update an employee's information once and see it sync instantly across payroll, benefits, and third-party apps.
- Automated Onboarding Complete new hire paperwork, set up payroll, and ship pre-configured laptops to employees in just 90 seconds.
- Global Payroll Pay your local and international employees or contractors in their own currencies while staying compliant with local laws.
- App Management Provision and deprovision access to hundreds of apps like Slack, Google Workspace, and Salesforce automatically based on role.
- Device Management Buy, ship, and secure your team's laptops remotely with built-in encryption and automated software updates.
- Benefits Administration Manage health insurance, 401(k), and other perks with automated enrollment that syncs directly with your payroll.
- Time and Attendance Track hours and sync them automatically to payroll so you never have to manually calculate overtime again.
- Spend Management Issue corporate cards and manage employee expenses with automated approval workflows tied directly to your HR data.
Square Payroll Features
- Automated Tax Filings. Let the software calculate, file, and pay your state and federal payroll taxes automatically to ensure total compliance.
- Time Card Sync. Import employee hours directly from Square POS or the Team App to eliminate manual data entry errors.
- Instant Payments. Access your funds immediately and pay your team the same day they work using your Square Balance.
- Benefits Integration. Offer and manage health insurance, 401(k) plans, and workers' comp directly through your payroll dashboard.
- Contractor Payments. Pay your independent contractors via direct deposit and let the system generate and file 1099-NEC forms.
- Employee Mobile App. Give your team a dedicated app to track their hours, view pay stubs, and manage their tax forms.
Pricing Comparison
Rippling Pricing
Square Payroll Pricing
- $5 per person paid monthly
- No monthly base fee
- Direct deposit included
- 1099-NEC generation and filing
- Self-service contractor account
- Everything in Contractor plan, plus:
- $6 per person paid monthly
- Full-service tax filings
- Time card and POS integration
- Health insurance and 401(k) access
- Live phone and chat support
Pros & Cons
Rippling
Pros
- Onboarding process is incredibly fast and automated
- Unified platform eliminates manual data entry errors
- Excellent integration with hundreds of third-party apps
- Easy to manage global teams in one system
- Intuitive interface for both admins and employees
Cons
- Customer support response times can be slow
- Pricing becomes complex with many add-on modules
- Initial implementation requires significant time and effort
- Occasional bugs during large-scale data migrations
Square Payroll
Pros
- Seamless integration with Square Point of Sale
- Automatic tax filing saves hours of manual work
- Simple and transparent per-employee pricing model
- Easy setup process for new business owners
Cons
- Customer support can be difficult to reach
- Limited advanced HR features for large corporations
- Account freezes can occasionally delay payroll processing