Deel and Rippling are both cloud-based software companies that offer international payroll and HR capabilities. In this review, we’ll compare them to help you decide which global payroll software is the right choice for your business.
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| Features | Rippling | Deel |
|---|---|---|
| Global payroll | Yes | Yes |
| Benefits administration | Yes | Yes |
| Native time tracking | Yes | No |
| Finance and IT add-ons | Yes | No |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
Details up to date as of 6/27/2023.
Rippling starts at $8 a month for every user, but doesn’t disclose more pricing information than that.
Beyond the core Rippling Unity Platform that’s included in the base price, you can also opt to separately purchase each HR and IT product (Payroll, Benefits, Device Management, etc.) to create your own plan, which will increase the cost.
For a complete picture of what you’ll pay for all the features you want, you’ll need to contact Rippling for a quote. And Rippling doesn’t offer a free trial or a forever free plan.
Deel offers plans for contractor payroll, direct employee payroll and EOR payroll — as well as a couple related services. The more payroll-focused plans include:
Deel also offers a service to help track immigration and visa records, but you’ll have to contact Deel for pricing details. You can also add global HR features, which are free to use for any company with 200 or fewer employees, making it an excellent choice for small businesses on a budget. Businesses with more than 200 employees will need to contact Deel for a quote for the enterprise HR plan.
SEE: The Best Payroll Software for Enterprises in 2023
In this section, we’ll cover the highlights of Deel vs. Rippling’s feature comparison. For more information, see our full review of Rippling and our full review of Deel.
Figure A
Rippling is known for its payroll software, which allows you to run payroll in as little as 90 seconds in over 50 countries. It automatically calculates and files taxes so your business remains compliant, and it also includes a mobile app so employees can access their paystubs and tax forms while on the go. Plus, it has an entire library of payroll data report templates to help you make sense of the analytics quickly.
Deel’s payroll functionality is now available in over 100 countries. Deel’s in-house advisors can assist with localized payroll issues to help you stay compliant, and depending on the country, Deel will either handle tax payments for you or generate the payment files you need to do it yourself. It will also take care of payslip creation and delivery to ensure salaries are paid on time.
Figure B
Rippling brings all benefits, including health insurance and 401(k) plans, into one system. Users can quote, compare and enroll in more than 4,000 plans from the nation’s leading carriers, or they can add their own preferred broker to Rippling for additional guidance. New hires are automatically enrolled in company benefits, and Rippling automates ACA and COBRA compliance.
Deel also offers benefits administration features, although they aren’t as robust as Rippling’s. Deel offers a benefits tool to help your company navigate the statutory, common and competitive benefits in each market. For U.S. companies specifically, all major benefits are built into the system, including federal and state unemployment, Medicare, Social Security and workers compensation insurance.
Figure C
Both platforms offer HR capabilities beyond just global payroll and benefits administration. Deel offers onboarding and offboarding tools, document management, time off management, expense management and HR reporting and analytics. Rippling offers even more HR features, including time tracking and attendance, a native learning management system, a native applicant tracking system and an employee survey tool called Pulse.
While Deel’s HR features will probably be more than enough for smaller businesses, Rippling’s additional capabilities will be welcome for larger businesses who want to consolidate their HR software stack. Rippling also offers the option to purchase software add-ons for finance and IT for even further consolidation, while Deel sticks to payroll and HR only.
Figure D
An employer of record (EOR) is a third-party company that serves as a go-between for businesses and international employees. The EOR handles the hiring and payment processes and assumes all legal and compliance risks.
Both Rippling and Deel offer EOR capabilities for companies that don’t want to handle the legal complication of hiring internationally. Deel’s EOR capabilities are available in more than 100 countries, but Rippling doesn’t disclose what countries its EOR services are available in. However, both companies will send employment agreements, generate locally compliant contracts, onboard new hires and pay employees quickly.
SEE: Top 6 Rippling Competitors and Alternatives for 2023
To compare Rippling and Deel, we looked at their core payroll and HR capabilities. We also considered additional features, such as Rippling’s finance and IT add-ons, as well as other factors such as pricing, user experience and ease of use. And we consulted product documentation, user reviews and demo videos during the writing of this review.
SEE: The Best Payroll Apps of 2023
Both Rippling and Deel are great options for international businesses who need to do payroll and hire in multiple countries.
If you are a small business on a budget and need a global HR system, it’s hard to argue with Deel’s free plan, which covers companies with less than 200 employees. Even if you have more than 200 employees, you can still extensively test Deel for as long as you want before signing up for a paid plan. Deel is also available in more countries, which might make it a more viable option for some international businesses.
That being said, Deel’s HR features are slightly less comprehensive than Rippling’s — for instance, Deel lacks a native applicant tracking system and learning management system, which Rippling does have.
Rippling also offers some features that Deel does not, notably the IT and finance capabilities. These add-ons allow companies to consolidate their software stack and reduce the number of platforms they’re using, so the convenience may be worth the switch. However, with Rippling, you don’t have the option of a free trial or forever free plan, so you’ll have to decide whether or not to sign up based on the demo alone.
If neither Rippling nor Deel sound right for your needs, then check out our list of the top payroll software for 2023 to see what other options are out there.
