If you’re reading this, you’re probably looking to streamline your global workforce management or expand your team internationally. You’ve heard about Employer of Record (EOR) services and are considering Remote and Rippling as potential solutions for your business needs.
But you’re also probably uncertain about:
- How Remote and Rippling compare in terms of features, pricing, and global reach
- Which platform offers better integration of HR, IT, and finance functions
- The user experience and ease of implementation for each service
- Whether Remote or Rippling is the right fit for your specific business size and industry
- The potential drawbacks or limitations of using either platform as your EOR
If that sounds familiar, this comprehensive comparison will provide the insights you need to make an informed decision. This detailed analysis could save you significant time in research and help you avoid potentially costly mistakes in your global expansion journey.
The key to choosing between Remote and Rippling lies in understanding their unique strengths and how they align with your specific business needs:
TLDR: Global Hiring vs Integrated HR Solutions
- Remote: Ideal for companies focused on straightforward global hiring and compliance.
Check out what Remote has to offer you - Rippling: Best for businesses needing an powerful HR and IT management platform, offering extensive automation and integration capabilities.
Try out Rippling now
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- Overview of Remote and Rippling (the essentials you need to know)
- Key features and benefits of each platform (what sets them apart)
- Pricing structures and value propositions (is the investment worth it?)
- User experiences and platform interfaces (because ease of use matters)
- Security and compliance measures (crucial for global operations)
- Pros and cons of each service (the good, the bad, and the noteworthy)
- Recommendations for different business types (who should choose which)
By the end of this comparison, you’ll understand the strengths and limitations of both Remote and Rippling, enabling you to choose the EOR solution that best fits your company’s global hiring needs, HR management requirements, and overall business strategy.
Remote
Country Coverage: 180+ Countries
G2 Rating: 4.6/5
EOR Pricing: $599 per employee/month
Contractor Pricing: $29 per contractor/month
Rippling
Country Coverage: 185+
G2 Rating: 4.8/5
EOR Pricing: $500 per employee/month
Contractor Pricing: $25 per contractor/month
Overview of Remote and Rippling
Both Remote and Rippling are Employer of Record (EOR) services that help businesses navigate the complexities of global employment and compliance. However, they each have their unique strengths and focus areas.
Remote: Your Global Hiring Companion
Remote is all about making global hiring as smooth as possible. Here’s what I love about it:
- Coverage in over 180 countries – perfect for truly global teams
- Straightforward payroll management
- Strong focus on compliance – they know their stuff regarding international laws.
- Solid benefits administration
- Integrates well with popular HR tools like BambooHR and Greenhouse
Remote’s pricing is pretty straightforward, too – you pay a flat fee per employee per month. This makes it easy to budget as you scale your team globally.
Company Information
Also, read our in-depth Remote review
Rippling: The All-in-One HR and IT Solution
Rippling takes a different approach, combining HR and IT management in one platform. Here’s what stands out to me:
- Operates in over 100 countries
- Comprehensive payroll and benefits management
- Unique IT capabilities – you can manage employee devices, apps, and permissions right alongside HR tasks
- Integrates with a wide range of business tools like Slack, Google Workspace, and Office 365
Rippling’s pricing is more flexible than Remote’s. You can choose the modules you need, which can be great if you want a more tailored solution.
Company Information
Also, read our in-depth Rippling review
Key Features of Remote
Remote platform offers several key features designed to streamline international employment. Here’s a detailed look at what the service provides:
- Global employment solutions: Enables hiring in over 180 countries without establishing local entities, supporting rapid international expansion. The platform handles all employment documentation, contracts, and compliance requirements through their owned legal entities in each country.
- Owned entity model:Operates its own legal entities in each country rather than partnering with local providers. This approach gives them greater control over billing, employee experience, and data protection, resulting in stronger compliance management and IP protection.
- Transparent pricing: Offers flat-rate pricing starting at $599 per employee per month for annual plans, with no hidden fees or minimum commitments across all countries. The consistent pricing structure makes budgeting predictable for finance teams.
- Comprehensive HR services: Manages the full employee lifecycle, including onboarding, payroll, benefits, and compliance with local regulations. Remote handles document collection, background checks, tax registration, and ongoing employment administration.
- Intellectual property protection: Provides Remote IP Guard to ensure strong intellectual property protections for clients across all jurisdictions. The system includes specialized IP clauses in all employment contracts, tailored to each country’s legal framework.
- User-Friendly platform: Features an intuitive interface for managing both employees and contractors globally with minimal training required. The onboarding workflow guides users through country-specific requirements without overwhelming them with complexity.
- Flexible benefits administration: Offers competitive, localized benefits packages with multiple tiers in most markets, including health insurance and pension plans. The system allows for some customization while ensuring compliance with local requirements.
- Global payroll solution: Recently introduced Remote Global Payroll for companies with existing entities, streamlining multi-country payroll management. The system handles tax calculations, deductions, and compliance requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
- Compliance and security: Incorporates built-in compliance features like Remote Watchtower and adheres to global data protection regulations. The platform automatically handles tax filings, statutory requirements, and employment law compliance across all countries.
- Equity incentives support: Provides compliant equity incentives support, including withholding and reporting. This feature helps companies offer stock options and other equity compensation to international employees while maintaining compliance with local tax laws.
Key Features of Rippling
Rippling platform offers several key features designed to streamline international employment. Here’s a detailed look at what the service provides:
- Global employment solutions: Rippling’s EOR service lets companies hire in 50+ countries without legal entities, handling all contracts, tax registrations, and compliance while keeping international employees in the same system as domestic teams.
- Unified employee management: Built around a central database that serves as a single source of truth, automatically updating all connected systems when information changes anywhere, significantly reducing administrative errors.
- Automated IT management: Handles device procurement, configuration, and security for distributed teams. Automatically orders equipment based on role templates, pre-installs software, and enforces security policies before devices reach employees.
- Customizable payroll processing: Manages domestic and international employees, contractors, and part-time workers through one interface, calculating appropriate taxes and deductions based on location, with reports that segment costs by department or project.
- Role-based access control: Implements sophisticated permission settings beyond basic admin/user distinctions, allowing custom access profiles based on department, seniority, or location, with centralized permission management across all integrated applications. RetryClaude can make mistakes. Please double-check responses.
Benefits of Using Remote
The benefits of using Remote are:
- Extensive Global Coverage: Enables hiring in over 180 countries, facilitating rapid international expansion.
- Compliance Assurance: Minimizes legal risks with comprehensive management of local labor laws and regulations.
- IP Protection: Ensures robust safeguarding of company intellectual property across all jurisdictions.
- Time and Cost Efficiency: Streamlines global hiring and management processes, reducing administrative burdens.
- Scalability: Supports business growth with flexible solutions for both small teams and large enterprises.
- Transparent Pricing: Offers clear, upfront pricing without hidden fees or long-term commitments.
- Local Expertise: Provides access to in-country specialists for navigating complex employment issues.
- Simplified Global Operations: Centralizes management of international workforce in a single platform.
Benefits of Using Rippling
The benefits of using Rippling are:
- Reduced administrative overhead: By connecting previously siloed systems, Rippling eliminates redundant data entry and manual processes. Companies using the platform report 60-80% time savings on routine administrative tasks like onboarding, payroll processing, and benefits enrollment.
- Accelerated employee onboarding: New hires become productive significantly faster when using Rippling. The platform’s ability to simultaneously provision accounts, order equipment, and set up payroll means employees can hit the ground running on day one, regardless of their location.
- Enhanced compliance management: Rippling automatically applies appropriate regulations based on worker location, dramatically reducing compliance risks in multi-jurisdiction operations. The system tracks changing requirements in each region and applies updates without manual intervention.
- Improved security posture: The platform’s integrated approach to IT management strengthens security by ensuring consistent policy enforcement across all employees and devices. Rippling automatically implements appropriate access controls, enforces password policies, and manages device encryption.
Pricing and Plans
Let’s break down the pricing structures for both platforms:
Remote Pricing
Remote uses a simple, straightforward pricing model. Creating an account and accessing its HR management services is free. Various other packages exist to cater to different organizational needs.
For payroll management, Remote requires a minimum monthly fee equivalent to three employees per month.
Remote’s Fair Price Guarantee ensures no hidden fees or large upfront deposits. Unlike other providers, there are no additional charges for offboarding, equity management, or other added services.
The platform stands out by not requiring deposits in most cases, allowing you to use funds to grow your business instead.
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Employer of Record (EOR) Pricing | $599 per employee/month |
| Contractor Management Pricing | $29 per employee/month |
| Payroll Pricing | $29 per employee/month |
| Annual Discount | Available |
Rippling Pricing
Rippling takes a modular approach to pricing, allowing businesses to build a custom package based on their needs:
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Employer of Record (EOR) Pricing | $500 per employee/month |
| Contractor Management Pricing | $25 per employee/month |
| Payroll Pricing | $8 per employee/month |
| Annual Discount | Not available |
Pros and Cons of Remote
Pros
- Own-entity model in 180+ countries: Remote maintains its own legal entities rather than using third-party partners, giving them direct control over employment processes and compliance in every location they serve.
- Superior IP protection: Remote’s IP Guard feature provides stronger intellectual property safeguards than most competitors, with clear ownership documentation and protection mechanisms across all jurisdictions.
- Transparent flat-rate pricing: Remote charges $599 per employee monthly with no hidden fees, setup costs, or minimum commitments, making budgeting predictable for finance teams.
- Extensive HR service coverage: The platform handles everything from onboarding to offboarding, including benefits administration, global payroll, and compliance management through a single dashboard.
- Localized benefits packages: Remote offers competitive, country-specific benefits that help companies attract top talent globally while remaining compliant with local requirements.
- Recently launched global payroll solution: Companies with existing international entities can now use Remote’s payroll services separately, simplifying multi-country payroll management.
Cons
- Premium pricing structure: At $599 per employee monthly, Remote costs significantly more than budget-friendly alternatives like Remofirst ($199/month), making it expensive for smaller companies.
- Limited customization options: The platform’s standardized approach works well for most situations but offers less flexibility for companies with unique employment arrangements or non-standard benefits needs.
- Basic reporting capabilities: Remote’s analytics and reporting functions lack the depth found in some enterprise HR platforms, offering limited customization for complex workforce insights.
Pros and Cons of Rippling
Pros
- Unmatched system integration: Rippling connects HR, IT, and finance systems into a cohesive platform, eliminating data silos that plague companies using separate tools for each function.
- Advanced automation capabilities: Rippling reduces manual workload by automating employee lifecycle processes from hiring to offboarding across all connected systems and countries.
- Comprehensive device management: Unlike most EOR providers, Rippling handles laptop provisioning, software installation, and security protocols for remote teams worldwide.
- Extensive app ecosystem: Rippling integrates with over 500 business applications, significantly more than most competitors offer.
- Customizable workflows: The platform allows companies to build tailored approval chains and processes that match their specific organizational structure.
Cons
- Complex pricing structure: Rippling’s modular approach makes it difficult to predict total costs without a detailed consultation, as each component adds to the base fee.
- Steep learning curve: The platform’s extensive capabilities require significant time investment during implementation, particularly for HR teams used to simpler systems.
- Inconsistent customer support: Response times vary widely based on issue complexity and support tier, with some users reporting multi-day waits for resolution.
User Data Security and Compliance
Remote and Rippling prioritize data security and compliance, but their approaches differ due to their distinct service models and global reach.
Remote, as a global employment platform, emphasizes its owned-entity model for enhanced data control and compliance. They maintain SOC 2 Type II certification and are GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD compliant. Remote’s unique IP Guard feature provides additional protection for intellectual property across borders. They use end-to-end encryption for data transmission and storage, and implement role-based access control to limit data exposure.
Rippling, offering a broader HR and IT management solution, focuses on comprehensive data integration while maintaining stringent security measures. It is SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR compliant. Rippling’s zero-trust security model requires verification for every access attempt. It utilizes AES 256-bit encryption for data at rest and in transit. Rippling’s automatic user provisioning and de-provisioning feature minimizes security risks associated with employee turnover.
| Feature | Remote | Rippling |
|---|---|---|
| Data Protection Approach | Owned-entity model | Integrated HR-IT security |
| Primary Certifications | SOC 2 Type II | SOC 2 Type II |
| Encryption | End-to-end encryption | AES 256-bit encryption |
| Access Control | Role-based | Zero-trust model |
| IP Protection | IP Guard feature | Standard contractual clauses |
| User Management | Manual | Automatic provisioning/deprovisioning |
Both platforms employ multi-factor authentication and conduct regular third-party security audits.
Key Differentiators:
- Remote’s owned-entity model provides direct control over international data handling.
- Rippling’s integrated HR-IT approach offers unified security across various business systems.
- Remote’s IP Guard is tailored for international intellectual property protection.
- Rippling’s automatic user management enhances security in employee lifecycle events.
Remote’s security model suits businesses prioritizing international compliance and IP protection. Rippling’s approach is advantageous for companies seeking unified security across HR, payroll, and IT systems, especially those with a significant U.S. presence.
When choosing between Remote and Rippling, consider your company’s global footprint, the importance of integrated HR-IT security, and specific compliance needs in your target markets. Both platforms offer robust security measures, but their focus areas align with their core service offerings.
Customer Reviews and Ratings
When comparing Remote and Rippling’s ratings across G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot, the following scores and review volumes provide insight into user satisfaction levels:
| Review Platform | Remote | Rippling |
|---|---|---|
| G2 | 4.6/5 (2068 reviews) | 4.8/5 (7951 reviews) |
| Trustpilot | 4.7/5 (1639 reviews) | 4.6/5 (1236 reviews) |
| Capterra | 4.5/5 (46 reviews) | 4.9/5 (3864 reviews) |
Remote vs. Rippling: Summary
A detailed summary of the comparison of Remote and Rippling:
| Feature | Remote | Rippling |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Companies Prioritizing Risk-Free International Hiring | Tech-forward companies with 50-1000 employees needing integrated HR and IT management |
| EOR Pricing | $599 per employee/month | $500 per employee/month |
| Contractor Pricing | $29 per employee/month | $25 per employee/month |
| Country Coverage | 180+ Countries | 185+ |
| Support Channels | Email, Live Chat | Email, Phone, Live Chat |
| Support Availability | 24/7 | Business Hours |
| G2 Rating | 4.6/5 (2068 reviews) | 4.8/5 (7951 reviews) |
| Capterra Rating | 4.5/5 (46 reviews) | 4.9/5 (3864 reviews) |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.7/5 (1639 reviews) | 4.6/5 (1236 reviews) |
| Partnership Discount | 20% Off | N/A |
| Visit Website | Visit Website |
Recommendations
Based on my experience with both platforms, here’s who I’d recommend each one to:
Who I recommend using Remote to?
- Global-first companies: Remote’s extensive global coverage is hard to beat if you’re hiring across multiple countries.
- Compliance-focused businesses: Remote’s expertise in international employment laws is a major plus.
- Companies new to global hiring: Remote’s user-friendly interface makes navigating the complexities of international employment easier.
Who do I recommend using Rippling to?
- Tech-savvy companies: If you love automation and integrations, Rippling’s extensive feature set will be right up your alley.
- Businesses needing combined HR and IT solutions: Rippling’s unique blend of HR and IT management is perfect if you want to handle both from one platform.
- Rippling’s customization options allow for more tailored solutions for companies with complex workflows.
When to consider another EOR provider?
If neither Remote nor Rippling seems like the perfect fit, don’t worry. There are other great EOR providers out there. Here are a few alternatives I’ve had good experiences with:
| Provider | Key Strength | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Deel | Flexible global hiring and crypto payments | Tech startups and companies with diverse international workforce needs |
| Multiplier | Cost-effective expansion in emerging markets | SMEs focusing on Asia-Pacific region growth |
| Remofirst | Budget-friendly global employment solution | Startups and small businesses new to international hiring |
| Papaya Global | Advanced workforce analytics and insights | Large enterprises requiring detailed global payroll data |
| Atlas HXM | Comprehensive compliance and risk management | Multinational corporations with complex regulatory needs |
| Gusto | User-friendly payroll and benefits for US companies | Small to medium US businesses beginning international expansion |
Remember, the best EOR provider for you will depend on your specific needs, budget, and growth plans. Take the time to evaluate your options, and don’t hesitate to contact these providers for demos or trials before deciding.