Guideline vs. Rippling

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Guideline
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Guideline headquartered in San Mateo offers a cloud-based 401k management software for businesses priced on a per employee basis.N/A
Rippling
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Rippling gives businesses one place to run HR, IT, and Finance. It brings together all of the workforce systems that are normally scattered across a company, like payroll, expenses, benefits, and computers. This enables users to manage and automate every part of the employee lifecycle in a single system. For example, when onboarding a new employee, Rippling can take a new hire from anywhere in the world and set up their payroll, corporate card, computer, benefits, and even third-party…
$8
starting price per user, per month
Pricing
GuidelineRippling
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Recommended
$8.00
starting price per user, per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
GuidelineRippling
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsFor additional pricing details visit the Rippling pricing page.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
GuidelineRippling
Considered Both Products
Guideline
Chose Guideline
Guideline is useful to keep track of employee retirement portfolios and keep the information visible instantly for the employees.
It handles contributions towards the retirement account.
Rippling
Chose Rippling
I have not used any other product as I used to work in academia and the paperwork as dealt with by the H.R. /planning department.
After using Rippling I can tell the impact that it has on H.R. effort and the easiness to access one own's information easily.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
GuidelineRippling
401(k)
Comparison of 401(k) features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
6.2
3 Ratings
8% below category average
Rippling
-
Ratings
Payroll Integration5.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance Maintenance6.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Plan Flexibility7.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Filings and Disclosures5.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Ease of Enrollment7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
8.0
557 Ratings
2% above category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings7.9370 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.1389 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings8.3449 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings8.3380 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings8.0469 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings8.3399 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings7.3300 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
8.5
602 Ratings
6% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings8.5521 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings8.2323 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings8.8543 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings9.0526 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings8.5361 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings8.0298 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
8.9
517 Ratings
10% above category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings9.1494 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings9.0454 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings8.7311 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
8.9
640 Ratings
9% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings9.2601 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings9.3629 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings8.8502 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings8.2302 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.8426 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
7.8
233 Ratings
0% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings7.8233 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
8.2
263 Ratings
8% above category average
Report builder00 Ratings8.0256 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings8.0240 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings8.6201 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
8.7
427 Ratings
8% above category average
New hire portal00 Ratings8.8419 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings8.7299 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
8.6
164 Ratings
5% above category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings8.8139 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings8.6145 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings8.2139 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings8.6143 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
8.6
193 Ratings
8% above category average
Performance plans00 Ratings8.3168 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings8.2157 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings9.0165 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings9.1181 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings8.5148 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.1
152 Ratings
14% above category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings9.0124 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings9.2133 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings9.2139 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings9.1128 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
8.7
173 Ratings
11% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings9.2133 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings8.4127 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings8.8119 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings8.8119 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings8.2122 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.6127 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings8.9156 Ratings
Best Alternatives
GuidelineRippling
Small Businesses
OnPay
OnPay
Score 8.0 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies

No answers on this topic

Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
GuidelineRippling
Likelihood to Recommend
6.1
(11 ratings)
8.1
(681 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(6 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.4
(678 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
1.2
(3 ratings)
8.1
(611 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
GuidelineRippling
Likelihood to Recommend
Guideline
I believe that the only thing more broken than Guideline's product is their customer support. From initial contribution dates to the disastrous account closure that cost us personally thousands of dollars, this has been by far the worst SaaS and customer experience I've ever had in my career. If only 1) Guideline's product or 2) customer support had individually been broken, we would not have ended up in this state. I sent dozens and dozens of emails inquiring about oddities I was seeing in the product, but Guideline's reps only gave more conflicting and what ended up being grossly inaccurate feedback and status updates. I hope this review reaches anyone who is thinking of closing their Guideline account. Be extremely wary of what Guideline says and does in the account closure process and exact for detailed and exact timelines (you'll have to follow up many times...). For those of you who haven't yet selected a 401k provider, I'd recommend staying as far away from Guideline as possible.
Read full review
Rippling
Rippling is the best payroll provider if you have multiple companies that you want registered together. No other payroll provider we spoke to offered the multi-EIN feature that Rippling provides. We are a small company and Rippling works great for us at our size. I do not know how well the application scales, but I could see the systems being less than ideal for very large companies. Similarly, a very small company many not need all the features that Rippling offers and can get away with a cheaper payroll company. For example, a sole proprietorship with two employees probably should use Gusto or some other option if they need a payroll company, but Rippling would still be a useful service for these companies vs. no payroll company at all. It is just a matter of price.
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Pros
Guideline
  • Administrate individual 401(k)
  • Understand the contributions accumulated in total and per year
  • Understand the percentage of salary being contributed per pay period.
Read full review
Rippling
  • Clean UI - there is no ambiguity about what function each button will perform.
  • Very easy to navigate. It is not difficult to find what is being looked for.
  • Single location for multiple functions. This is great for me as there is one central hub for all professional admin matters. Saving me valuable time that I can better spend on more pressing work matters.
Read full review
Cons
Guideline
  • I feel that the customer support was abysmal - In my experience, we were consistently given conflicting advice and statuses as we closed our account with Guideline. Despite many, many follow-ups attempting to clarify our current status and remaining steps to close the account, Guideline's reps continued to provide, I believe, misleading and inaccurate steps. This cost us thousands and thousands of dollars given Guideline was not able to appropriately pull the funds before closing the account.
  • Guideline's integrations - I believe there is clearly a broken pipeline between Guideline and Rippling. In my experience, contributions were not funded as expected when we first opened the account, and when we closed our account, there was no communication between Guideline and Rippling. Guideline continued to expect contributions into perpetuity despite closure of the account
  • I feel that Guideline's product itself is just broken in critical places - most importantly, statuses of contributions were reflected incorrectly in the software (Guideline thought funds were transferred, but they were not and Guideline never attempted to pull the funds from our bank). This, combined with the terrible customer support, cost us thousands and thousands of dollars after we closed our account. There are many absolutely critical features that are broken -> to give just one of many examples, it was not possible to update the bank account information and no error message was thrown. I was told that our account ended up in an exceptional state given our last payroll contribution date and account closure, but these seem like very basic things a 401k provider has to get right if there are going to manage people's money.
Read full review
Rippling
  • Providing point of contact for different aspects of the program, we have a customer service rep, who is fantastic, but he is the only person I know to reach out to, and he generally has to follow up with me with information on which department/person I need to get in touch with to resolve my question.
  • Their "help" section is a bit difficult to navigate, but I will say the team chat makes up for that particular shortfall.
  • Their pricing is a bit all over the place. Everything is "al a carte," so the costs can add up quickly.
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Likelihood to Renew
Guideline
No answers on this topic
Rippling
Rippling continues to innovate and amaze me with their new innovations and features. Product feedback is taken seriously so I always give it whenever I can and end up seeing results. Rippling is the new wave of HRIS that cannot compare against others in the industry just due to the fact they are super user friendly!
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Usability
Guideline
Well thought out and intuitive user experience for employees and administrators. Educational documentation has been a plus
Read full review
Rippling
Rippling stands out with its dependable, transparent, and intuitive platform for HR management. It simplifies tasks like managing team details, payroll, and benefits, making them straightforward and efficient. This user-friendliness has been a game-changer for companies like Noticed, where it streamlined employee onboarding and Open Enrollment. Their features combine to create a positive and stress-free experience for HR professionals and employees alike. Rippling's focus on user-friendliness makes it a clear choice for companies seeking a streamlined and efficient HR solution.
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Reliability and Availability
Guideline
No answers on this topic
Rippling
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
Guideline
No answers on this topic
Rippling
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
Guideline
The few questions that we've had have been answered quickly and helpfully. The implementation was a breeze and the onboarding contacts were really helpful. There was some stuff I had to learn about 401(k)s in making the decision to implement Guideline, but the Guideline team was helpful in pointing me in the right direction.
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Rippling
The Rippling support team is INCREDIBLE. Their chat bot feature is very robust and if you need a live agent they are quick to hop on and a very helpful and friendly. Whether you need a Zoom call for a screen share or things are complicated and they need to make a support ticket, they will always work with you until you find a solution. VERY helpful! and Onboarding as a company/customer was great too.
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Alternatives Considered
Guideline
We selected Guideline due to their relationship with Gusto, our payroll service. However, we did review alternative options for our 401k program and found them very competitive as to price and quality. We were thinking about going with one of the bigger companies like Schwab, E*TRADE, Ally, etc., but found Guideline to be the best choice for us based on price and ease of use.
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Rippling
Proof was much more convoluted and not easy to maneuver. Also all the platforms could not relate to each other and so nothing was streamlined in its approach. Also things seemed to lag and was not very up to date when it needed to be. I feel rippling has simplified their processes
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Scalability
Guideline
No answers on this topic
Rippling
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
Guideline
  • Allow small employees to enhance benefit package
  • Great recruitment tool for new employees
  • Connection with payroll vendor allowed for less manual work
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Rippling
  • The organization of information increased the business efficiency
  • Employee can search for themselves, leaving HR to do the things they need to be productive
  • Access 24/7 thru mobile app allows employee to function when they have the opportunity leaving the normal work hours for other business.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Rippling Screenshots

Screenshot of 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: 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 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.