Absorb vs. Rippling

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Absorb
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Absorb LMS aims to empower organizations to train employees with the skills needed to stay modern and relevant in today's fast-paced world. The LMS software focuses on aligning learning needs with business demands.N/A
Rippling
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Rippling HR is a human resources platform for managing employee records, onboarding, benefits, time and attendance, compliance, and other core people operations in one system. It serves as the HR layer of the broader Rippling platform, giving companies a central place to manage the employee lifecycle while connecting HR data to payroll, IT, and finance workflows when needed.
$8
starting price per user, per month
Pricing
AbsorbRippling
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Recommended
$8.00
starting price per user, per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AbsorbRippling
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional DetailsFor additional pricing details visit the Rippling pricing page.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AbsorbRippling
Considered Both Products
Absorb
Chose Absorb
Absorb LMS is far more robust. We are actually able to create relevant trainings. Thanks to all the content creation tools, the training we are able to create actually reaches our vision. ADP was unable to perform some of the basic functionality we were looking for. Managing …
Chose Absorb
Absorb offers a more flexible and robust experience for managing learning ecosystems. The user interface is more modern and provides a stronger user-centric learning experience. Absorb is at parity for social learning, which most learning platforms struggle with. The admin …
Chose Absorb
I think that both Docebo and Skillsoft provided more modern look-feel and more advanced features. I particularly like the OTJ features offered on Docebo.
Chose Absorb
We evaluated a few well-known LMS options, including Docebo, Cornerstone, and Mindtickle. Each has strengths (especially in very specific use cases), but we selected Absorb LMS because it matched our priorities best: value for money, global scalability, straightforward …
Chose Absorb
I previously tested three more but cant remember what they are as it was a while ago, but Absorb was the only one that answered the 58 questions/ tasks i needed it to achieve.
Chose Absorb
At the end of the day, Absorb LMS had the best user experience. When we looked at all the options, we felt like Absorb was superior in user experience, learning tools, and the content creator. Additionally, the support they promised (and that we've experienced), made them a …
Chose Absorb
I have only ever used Moodle in a personal educational setting, so not from an administrator-perspective, but Absorb definitely has a ton of settings and customizability. I know that one reason we decided to go with Absorb is their ability to create custom templates, which has …
Chose Absorb
Easier to use and larger customer base.
Chose Absorb
Absorb LMS is feature packed with small but smart elements (can have a username that isnt an email, can change the core language used in the platform, can change the font and layout) that offer greater security and accessibility for learners.
Chose Absorb
The user interface in Absorb is awesome; the back end - admins don't have as much ability. In the past, I could do things like exclude groups from training, build groups based on people who had completed courses, link courses without having to put them in a curriculum, etc.
Chose Absorb
Absorb LMS provides a more engaging and professional outlook than these other platforms.
Chose Absorb
We used Cornerstone Learn at my previous organization and it seemed like there were way too many issues from an administrative standpoint. I haven't had many issues at all with Absorb LMS, which makes me think Cornerstone was just expensive junk. Prior to moving to Absorb LMS …
Chose Absorb
The main reason is the prompt support and useful features
Chose Absorb
Absorb offers a more user-friendly and modern platform, along with enhanced customer support.
Chose Absorb
Absorb LMS's interface and customer service were a great improvement from our experience with Skillsoft
Chose Absorb
The ease of useability and functionality with a great customer support team.
Chose Absorb
Absorb support is way better than others and I feel more valued and listened to than the other LMS that I have checked out
Chose Absorb
Not sure, haven't used anything else outside of Absorb
I would say based on my current experiences that it would stack up quite well however, it can be a little difficult to navigate and sometimes hard to find the thing we want / not intuitive
Outside of this, it's a great …
Chose Absorb
Although Cornerstone was also suited for a global audience as well, Absorb is more user friendly than Cornerstone from a learner and admin perspective. The look of the Cornerstone platform was outdated with small font buttons with labels that were not intuitive. Cornerstone …
Chose Absorb
We really like the innovative AI functions of Docebo but appreciate the clean, modern interface of Absorb LMS.
Chose Absorb
ADP did not provide the level of service we were looking for and the compliance courses did not meet our needs.
Chose Absorb
Absorb LMS offered the best e-commerce for what we origionally wanted, however, we stayed due to their CSM support and anticipated/ongoing additon of features. Additionally we were drawn to the Create feature and gamification options, along with the Collaboration features.
Chose Absorb
Absorb is the first LMS I have used
Rippling
Chose Rippling
Rippling is hands down the best in the competition. ADP can be slow and laggy while Rippling makes it seamless. It was almost impossible to find time off and paystubs at times with ADP and Rippling made it so easy for me and my other employees to stay on top of everything.
Chose Rippling
Rippling is miles ahead in intuitive, modern design. Maas360 feels outdated and makes connecting devices and tracking them a puzzle to be put together. Rippling makes assigning simple and easy.
Chose Rippling
It blows it out of the water. ADP is one of the worst product with the worst support I have ever encountered. The switch to Rippling is one of the best moved I have made.
Chose Rippling
Some features have been helpful but for the most part the features are comparable from the employee perspective. For the finance and operations teams I know the Rippling has been easier to manage from a customer support and service angle, in terms of more complicated payroll …
Chose Rippling
Compared very well, I don't see any differences.
Chose Rippling
BambooHR was a great system as well. Looking toward the future Rippling offered more that we use currently and will use in the future. We are not looking to change systems in a few years. We are looking forward to growing with Rippling.
Chose Rippling
Gusto is very user friendly but lacks some of the "extra" features like review cycles and applicant tracking.
Chose Rippling
Rippling has a better UX design. This is significant because poor UX makes a huge difference to employees who are trying to complete HR or Hiring processes. Rippling PEO has been seemless and the onboarding team were excellent.
Chose Rippling
I'm sorry I wasn't involved in the decision-making process for switching to Rippling so I don't know what other HRIS software they looked at. Apologies.
Chose Rippling
Rippling had better pricing, more integration capabilities (360s where Paylocity only had 180s), and better access to customer service. It's been an absolute blast to use Rippling, it's got very good flow to it. It easy to find what you need organically or through the chat bot. …
Chose Rippling
I am not the one who actually changed from Clockify; I am just a Rippling user. But what I can tell you is that I used Clociky for almost a year, and it's the best. Rippling has more features, and those actually impact how the job is done and our daily production.
Chose Rippling
It helps keep all the systems centralized and unifies processes into a single tech stack. This is very helpful for small HR teams, especially remote ones that might need assistance with different laws and regulations from different states or countries. It also helps to have a …
Chose Rippling
I think Gusto is easier to use as a platform in terms of how to navigate it, however, I think it is more limited in terms of functionality and is also more expensive overall which is why I chose Rippling to try.
Chose Rippling
I like Rippling better than just works. The UX/UI is friendlier for employees of all backgrounds and it's easier to manager from the backend. As a manager, I prefer Rippling as well to help support my team through the website. It made it easier and had more features than …
Chose Rippling
Rippling was chosen because the price was more reasonable than other companies, and it had features that we needed. It is the perfect system for our business. Althought it could have more functions, it has all the functionality that our company needs.
Chose Rippling
It's way easier to navigate, things are in much cleaner spots. I used to get pretty lost on the workday interface, but I feel Rippling has everything that's important and in the areas you want them to be as a user. It also includes pay, whereas in the past we used MyPay as a …
Chose Rippling
Rippling is much more straightforward and easier to navigate than Workday, in my opinion. The layout feels more intuitive, and it’s easier to find what you need without having to click through multiple menus or search extensively. Tasks like onboarding, benefits selection, and …
Chose Rippling
Rippling was miles above Bamboo, UKG, and ADP. I think that they're very comparable to Paycom. Rippling was, by far, the most tech-driven HRIS we tested which was why it was ultimately chosen in favor of other options.
Chose Rippling
Rippling is way more advanced than Deel, I use that in past, especially UI and UX is way better, and overall product is really giant as compared to Deel, support is amazing, the mobile app is really amazing, the documents managements make it even better. So Rippling is much …
Features
AbsorbRippling
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb
8.7
Ratings
5% above category average
Rippling
-
Ratings
Course authoring9.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library9.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal8.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content8.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments9.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration9.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics8.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning6.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Gamification6.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.0
Ratings
10% above category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.2
Ratings
13% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.3
Ratings
13% above category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Absorb
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.2
Ratings
11% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb
-
Ratings
Rippling
8.8
Ratings
9% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Absorb
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.0
Ratings
18% above category average
Report builder00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Absorb
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.4
Ratings
16% above category average
New hire portal00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Absorb
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.0
Ratings
11% above category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.3
Ratings
17% above category average
Performance plans00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Absorb
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.1
Ratings
15% above category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Absorb
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.0
Ratings
14% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
AbsorbRippling
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Score 9.6 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
iSpring LMS
iSpring LMS
Score 9.6 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
AITalent LMS
AITalent LMS
Score 9.3 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
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User Ratings
AbsorbRippling
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(0 ratings)
9.2
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.1
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.9
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.9
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.3
(0 ratings)
8.8
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.6
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.2
(0 ratings)
8.6
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.6
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.5
(0 ratings)
7.9
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(0 ratings)
7.4
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.4
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.0
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.6
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.6
(0 ratings)
8.6
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
AbsorbRippling
Likelihood to Recommend
We use the system to automatically assign compliance courses to new hires. This varies by location and employee level. Absorb lets us dynamically enroll users in the required courses based on their geographic location and level. We use the system to build comprehensive leadership development programs for managers. This includes helping managers develop a coaching habit to build bench strength on their teams.
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It has a favourites section for commonly used functions. This is perfect for logging in pre-sift and managing my timekeeping. It is easy to view my payslip. It is well-documented and accurate, and it also provides me with an accurate timeline for when to expect my pay to clear. Overall, very easy to use and great interface.
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Pros
  • Customizing the user interface was fairly simple and our learners WANT to use the platform because it looks so nice.
  • Admins have so many tools at their fingertips to pull reports, create new users, author new courses, and more!
  • Absorb LMS has been the solution to so many problems we had experienced in our previous LMS: ease of use, course library, course authoring, tracking, reporting, etc.
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  • It is really easy to navigate, I barely needed instruction on how to do things in it as it is very intuitive.
  • Ease of workflow mapping, it was easy to have emails auto-generated to our staff regarding their eLearn content or compliance requirements.
  • Onboarding was made much easier with the workflows, auto emails sent at different points in the onboarding process, ensuring everything gets done to prepare the company to accept the new hire and to inform the new hire of what to expect.
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Cons
  • The "And" and "Or" rules for self + automatic enrollment could be spelled out more to clarify who we're enrolling into courses
  • The thumbnail and poster "Upload photo" section is confusing. There should be a "Favorites" folder where we can easily find most commonly used posters and thumbnails
  • more education around Absorb analyze essentials
  • How the Featured courses section ranks courses is confusing on the back-end. I need to switch the primary one to second place to feature the new one first. But if the previous one now becomes second place, what happens to the old course that was in second place? I've noticed the order you select on the back-end for this isn't always reflected on user side
  • Same comment as Featured Courses but for appearance of billboards. Hard to position each in the right order
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  • Rippling could improve their payment days. Currently they make employee payments around the 15th and 30th of the month, but it varies slightly with every month. It would make more sense to do this payment on every other Friday or every other Monday.
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Likelihood to Renew
Absorb provides the platform and support for us to create a place for resources that is agile and simple to deploy. We are able to use across multiple countries and departments. Absorb is also constantly developing their platform to meet users needs, which is helpful for us as we grow.
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I've been fully impressed with the tool so far in my 6 months of being a daily user. It's rare to run into an issue that can't be solved. Customer service is quick to respond and are usually very helpful. The price is great for the upgrade we got from our past tool. We hit our ROI within the first month.
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Usability
Absorb is a solid platform that is relatively easy to use for users and admins and provides basic features with minimal problems. Their support and sales staff are helpful and knowledgeable. There are some features that are less user friendly and more advanced features such as career pathing and advanced gamification are non-existent.
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Very intuitive, user-friendly, and modern interface that doesn't make you cringe when you have to access it for anything. The admin navigation is easier compared to our previous system, and doesn't feel like a maze of complicated jargon. On the user side, the benefits enrollment process was a breeze, and felt so much more informative and efficient. Accessing the benefits post-enrollment is also very straightforward.
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Reliability and Availability
We have never had any major issue with Absorb's availability. Any outages that have occurred have been planned an communicated. Any small issues that occur within the Absorb platform have been addressed efficiently and quickly by support and the development team
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I like that the availability in using Rippling at any given time is useful to me. Getting on the site freely when I need gives me security of knowing that I can be in control of viewing health insurance and hours information. I have yet to get any errors in using the Rippling app.
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Performance
We have experienced infrequent issues with things like load times on reporting, or pages timing out, but for the large majority of our time within the system things have worked as they should
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Rippling's performance has been great, no errors or glitches yet so far. I am confident that Going from one page to the next and all its complexity usage does not lag or times out, it works effectively and efficiently. While using Rippling and other apps it does not tend to slow it down, works great. No complaints.
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Support Rating
My client success manager had to reach out once for our company once. Although it was not an Absorb issue (it was an issue on the course vendor side), Absorb offered a resolution while the vendor was fixing the issue. We were very happy with the resolution and feel like Absorb went above and beyond for us.
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The highlight of my customer support experience was my first interaction with them: I had a small issue with my birthdate, and it was fixed very quickly—on the same day. It's pretty incredible to have things like that sorted out in the same day, which is a rare thing to see lately.
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
The trainer went slow and and answered our questions.
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Online Training
The training was comprehensive - there were existing modules to learn functionality but working with Absorb staff, and receiving recordings of those walk-throughs, made a rapid understanding of the LMS achievable and covered the necessary material that was needed and allowed for specific questions to be addressed.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
The implementation of Absorb went very seamlessly. We previously had the Oracle LMS and importing user data and getting the new system up to speed was painless. The smooth transition helped leaders and staff gain confidence early in the application/company and we have had a successful partnership with Absorb since.
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It's really easy to implement in comparison to other tools or applications. Different key points are easily configured and implemented as per need, having different configurations in systems. Implementation is something which binds the different parameters of an organization in a single row. Implementation of rippling is much easier, quicker, and error free than any other software. I recommend it strongly!
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Alternatives Considered
Absorb LMS is far more robust. We are actually able to create relevant trainings. Thanks to all the content creation tools, the training we are able to create actually reaches our vision. ADP was unable to perform some of the basic functionality we were looking for. Managing training assignment and completion is also much easier with Absorb LMS. Absorb LMS also allows employees to pause in the middle of training and work from comfortably from mobile devices. This was impossible with ADP and was a huge dealbreaker as many of our employees work from the field while completing services for customers.
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I am not the one who actually changed from Clockify; I am just a Rippling user. But what I can tell you is that I used Clociky for almost a year, and it's the best. Rippling has more features, and those actually impact how the job is done and our daily production.
Read full review
Scalability
We have already scaled our LMS from a couple hundred users to 1000 users and have plans to scale even larger. We use the LMS across multiple internal departments. countries and user types. Absorb has made it easy to integrate and scale and we will continue to scale in the near future.
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I can go on here and see all my hours and pto plus health benefits. I like to have the work handbook handy to refer to legal things. How to work my role within it's limits. Being able to put in my hours and view when they are approved is a huge benefit for me.
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Return on Investment
  • Absorb LMS has made a real difference in how smoothly we run training. By automating enrollments and standardizing how we assign key courses, we spend much less time on manual admin and chasing people for completions. Onboarding is also easier now because required learning paths live in one place, so our New Hires ramp up faster, and managers get fewer “what does my team need to take?” questions. The biggest win is simply having cleaner, more reliable data when we need it for reporting or audits.
  • From a global quality and standardization point of view, Absorb LMS has been the backbone for scaling learning without things turning into chaos. It has helped us bring more structure and governance, so we can actually see what’s being created, who it is meant for, and whether the right settings are in place. That means a better experience for learners (less noise, more relevant assignments) and more confidence for the business that our training records are accurate and easy to validate.
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  • As an individual contributor we have not used Rippling yet in terms of goal calculation and it would be nice to see where I'm at for my bonus payout
  • Many employees are very happy having Rippling compared to their other HR softwares at previous jobs which helps retention
  • Documentation that needs to be signed is much easier to track as opposed to tracking documentation through simple emails
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ScreenShots

Absorb Screenshots

Screenshot of Absorb's course details page, accessible from the course catalog dashboard, used to give learners an understanding of the course material.Screenshot of course creation with Create AI Beta.Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of

Rippling Screenshots

Screenshot of the Rippling Dashboard: Employees' home for their payroll, benefits, documents, devices, expenses, and apps.Screenshot of Rippling Payroll: Runs payroll in 90 seconds. Pays employees and contractors around the world. Automatic tax filing.Screenshot of Rippling Benefits Administration: For the management of employees' Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K, FSA, HSA, and commuter benefits.Screenshot of Rippling Single Sign-On: Employees can access all of their SaaS apps in one click from their Rippling dashboard.Screenshot of Rippling’s Time & Attendance platform. This integrates with the rest of the product suite so that when employees clock in, their approved hours automatically synced with payroll and accounting systems.Screenshot of Rippling Mobile Device Management: To manage employees' computers and devices 100% remotely.