Guideline vs. Rippling

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Guideline
Score 8.7 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 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Rippling’s platform for HR, IT, payroll, and spend management automates the entire employee lifecycle, ensures compliance, supports device management, and provides real-time financial visibility from a central dashboard.
$8
per month per user
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
Rippling is much better than both of these platforms. Justworks and Insperity's user interfaces felt like they hadn't been updated in decades and were clunky to navigate. Rippling was organized from the start and had a specific place for everything I needed regarding my HR, …
Chose Rippling
HirArt work flow management is very poor.
Flow of page wise information is difficult to handle
Pagewise navigation in not smooth.
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.
Features
GuidelineRippling
401(k)
Comparison of 401(k) features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
6.3
3 Ratings
23% below category average
Rippling
-
Ratings
Payroll Integration5.62 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance Maintenance6.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Plan Flexibility7.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Filings and Disclosures5.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Ease of Enrollment7.43 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.2
826 Ratings
16% above category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings9.2573 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings9.0589 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings9.3683 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings9.3593 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings9.3707 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings9.2617 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings9.3479 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.2
871 Ratings
14% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings9.2774 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings9.2511 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings8.9772 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings9.5765 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings9.3561 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings9.3480 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.2
769 Ratings
14% above category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings9.2742 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings9.3693 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings9.1499 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.4
916 Ratings
15% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings9.4869 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings9.3905 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings9.6740 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings9.1478 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings9.3632 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.3
368 Ratings
14% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings9.3368 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.1
435 Ratings
19% above category average
Report builder00 Ratings9.1421 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings9.2400 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings9.1352 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.4
637 Ratings
17% above category average
New hire portal00 Ratings9.5621 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings9.3466 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.2
325 Ratings
15% above category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings9.2272 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings9.2294 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings9.3273 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings9.3290 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.4
377 Ratings
18% above category average
Performance plans00 Ratings9.3328 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings9.2310 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings9.3330 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings9.5355 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings9.5298 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.1
280 Ratings
15% above category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings9.2227 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings9.3240 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings9.1247 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings9.1235 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Guideline
-
Ratings
Rippling
9.4
318 Ratings
19% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings9.2250 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings9.3240 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings9.5212 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings9.5218 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings9.5220 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings9.4233 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings9.4292 Ratings
Best Alternatives
GuidelineRippling
Small Businesses
OnPay
OnPay
Score 9.7 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies

No answers on this topic

Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
GuidelineRippling
Likelihood to Recommend
6.4
(11 ratings)
9.2
(964 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(15 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.3
(961 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
1.0
(3 ratings)
9.3
(771 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(4 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(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 has been fantastic for me as I work for two entities. I can easily alternate between the two for time-tracking purposes on Rippling, whereas I used to do it manually by hand. This has made submitting my hour totals for payroll so much easier. Rippling is probably less useful for those who are salary and don't need to track their hours as meticulously as I do
Read full review
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
  • I did not expect Live Chat Support and Email Support when we moved to Rippling. Their Support team is quick and very knowledgeable. I have had multiple instances where we have gone back and forth on a situation to come to the correct conclusion, never feeling they were trying to just close the case unsolved.
  • Being able to manage employees from application to separation is huge. Having a built in ATS that we can hire candidates from directly, and immediately have their payroll, benefits and employee profile setup has saved me countless hours for each hire.
  • Rippling allows us to manage retirement plans across the US, Canada and UK with automation and file feeds. Before Rippling I manually managed these in multiple portals, now Rippling does it for me automatically.
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
  • Could clarify what is being asked when creating expense reports.
  • It could make 2FA more intuitive on mobile, such as allowing iPhone users to use Face ID as an alternative if the device is locked.
  • Overall avoid using too much jargon when asking questions.
Read full review
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 is a great product that has streamlined our payroll and leave management processes. The interface is intuitive, and it’s very convenient to manage everything in one place. While the initial setup was a bit lengthy and the mobile experience can sometimes be a little slow, overall, it’s been a reliable and effective solution for our needs.
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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.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Rippling
When I did have to reach out to Rippling for assistance I was able to get quick help and my problem resolved in a time efficient manner with out any type of hick up. The customer support team is professional, kind and always available. This makes Rippling more welcoming to use on a daily basis.
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In-Person Training
Guideline
No answers on this topic
Rippling
The trainer went slow and and answered our questions.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Guideline
No answers on this topic
Rippling
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
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.
Read full review
Rippling
Rippling has a better user experience, is more easy to use and more comprehensive. This is more related to feelings but with Employee Navigator I felf my data was not being protected because the platform looked very old and outdated. With Rippling the feeling is the opposite because I think is more up to date. Also, the gifs they send when is pay day are super nice and fun lol
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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
Read full review
Rippling
  • Routine things like PTO requests and document uploads now take a few clicks instead of hours of email back‑and‑forth. I’d estimate I spend at least half the time on those tasks compared to before, which frees me up to actually help employees.
  • What used to drag on for days now gets done in a morning - I've just asked them this now. New hires can log in, set up their tools, and start training almost immediately, so they’re productive much sooner.
  • Payroll and benefits errors used to pop up regularly, but now I almost never have to fix things or follow up on missing info. That means less stress for me and for everyone involved.
  • Having everything in one platform cuts out the “where did you send that?” and “who approves this?” questions. It feels like we’ve reduced our back‑and‑forth by at least a third.
Read full review
ScreenShots

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.