Alternatives to Rippling
Rippling HR software without the payroll, for teams under 25.
Rippling HR software is a platform: a required core, then payroll, benefits, devices and IT sold per employee on top, on a quote.
Rippling
Spodus- Priced by
- Every employee, per product, on a quote
- People who sign in
- Required platform fee
- Yes, with each product on top
- No
- Payroll and tax filings
- Included
- Not offered
- Benefits administration
- Included
- Not offered
What actually pushes small teams off Rippling.
The product is excellent.
The platform is required, and everything else is on top
Rippling starts with a core platform you have to buy.
Per employee means everyone on the payroll
The unit is the employee, not the person who signs in.
You bought an HR platform to get an org chart
Rippling is built for the company that wants payroll, benefits, laptops and app logins in one system, and that is a company of fifty with an ops lead.
What Spodus HR is instead.
Four HR jobs, done plainly, inside a seat that also holds the customer.
Org chart, time off, onboarding, reviews
The org chart redraws itself as people join, move and leave.
No payroll, no benefits, no devices
Spodus does not run payroll, does not enrol anyone in a benefit plan, and does not ship or manage a laptop.
A seat is a person who signs in, and it holds more than HR
A seat is somebody with a Spodus account, and it carries the CRM, the invoices, the tickets and the team chat as well as the people record.
What you would be giving up.
Rippling does things Spodus will never do, and for most companies those things are the reason to buy an HR platform.
Side by side.
| Spodus | Rippling | |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll and tax filings | ||
| Benefits administration | ||
| Device and app management | ||
| Org chart and time off | ||
| Onboarding checklist and reviews | ||
| Priced by | People who sign in | Every employee, per product, on a quote |
| Required platform fee | No | Yes, with each product on top |
| CRM, invoicing and support in the same seat | ||
| Team chat |
Rippling's pricing structure above was read from their own pricing page on 11 September 2026. Spodus is priced per seat, from a three-seat minimum; customers in the support portal are free.
People come over. Payroll does not, because there is none here.
Rippling exports an employee list, and Spodus imports it by CSV or Excel onto people records with a column mapping step: name, role, manager.
Thinking about the rest of the stack?
The same honest read on the other tools teams try to leave.
Two ways
to start
Start fresh today, or bring the clients, deals and history you already have.
Start fresh
Free for up to three people.
You get every product: CRM, invoicing, support, team, chat and Spodus AI, which asks before it changes anything. Upgrade when your team grows.
Start for freeBring your data
Bring your data from the tool you use now.
Your deals arrive with their stages, owners and dates. Connect your work email, and each client's emails land on their record. On a paid plan, we'll move it all for you, free.
Try it before you cancel anything.
Start today, or bring your own data to a demo and see it there.
Questions, answered
No. Spodus has no payroll, no benefits and no device management, and none are planned. If payroll is part of what you want from HR software, Rippling or a payroll provider is the right product and this page is not for you. Spodus fits when payroll already runs elsewhere and the HR job left over is the org chart, time off, onboarding and reviews.
An org chart that redraws itself, time off with requests, approvals and balances, one dated onboarding checklist per new hire, reviews grouped by cycle with a reviewer, a rating and a due date, and a people record with role, documents and history. It sits in the same seat as the CRM, invoicing, support and team chat, and it is on every plan.
Yes. Booking time off is a signed-in action, so an employee who does it holds a Spodus account and is a seat. The Free plan covers up to three people; above that, every paid seat counts. For a team under 25 that is everyone, at one rate per seat, with the CRM, the invoices and the tickets in the same seat.
The employee list, by CSV or Excel, onto people records with a mapping step. Payroll, benefits and device data have nowhere to land in Spodus and stay where they are, or go with your next payroll provider.