Softwr

Recruitment & ATS · head to head

Rippling vs Pilot

Rippling logo

Rippling

Recruitment & ATS

Manage HR, IT, and Finance in one place

From
$8/month
Rated
-
Pilot logo

Pilot

Recruitment & ATS

Bookkeeping, CFO, and tax for startups

From
$29/month
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Rippling the Internet Archive's capture of Rippling's homepage on 10 January 2021 named distinct product modules, Employee Platform, Payroll, Benefits, Talent Management, App Management, Device Management, and a PEO offering, all sold via 'Request Demo' with no price figure published.; Pilot the Essentials bookkeeping plan at $99 per month covers up to $100,000 in monthly expenses, and is cash-basis only using bank and credit card data
  • They diverge on capability: Rippling covers Payroll, Pilot covers Bookkeeping.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Rippling and Pilot actually diverge.

Attributes where Rippling and Pilot differ
AttributeRipplingPilot
Starting price$8/month$29/month
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
Founded20162017

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Recruitment & ATS).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Rippling

  • Payroll
  • Benefits Administration
  • Device Management
  • App Management
  • Time Tracking
  • Learning Management
  • Slack
  • Microsoft 365

Only in Pilot

  • Bookkeeping
  • CFO services
  • Tax preparation
  • R&D tax credits
  • Financial reporting
  • QuickBooks
  • Stripe
  • Brex

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Rippling

No use cases recorded yet. See the Rippling review.

Pilot

  • Outsourced monthly bookkeeping for startups and small businessesnot Rippling
  • Federal, state and Delaware franchise tax filing for US companiesnot Rippling
  • Fractional CFO support for financial planning and fundraisingnot Rippling

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Rippling

  • The Internet Archive's capture of Rippling's homepage on 10 January 2021 named distinct product modules, Employee Platform, Payroll, Benefits, Talent Management, App Management, Device Management, and a PEO offering, all sold via 'Request Demo' with no price figure published.

Pilot

  • The Essentials bookkeeping plan at $99 per month covers up to $100,000 in monthly expenses, and is cash-basis only using bank and credit card data
  • A dedicated US-based bookkeeper, accrual-basis books and phone support require the Core plan, which is contact sales and billed annually
  • Core caps bill management at 10 vendor bills per month
  • Keeping an existing QuickBooks account with historical data requires the Custom plan
  • Accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll administration and CFO advisory are Custom plan only
  • Monthly reports arrive on the 10th business day on Core and the 6th business day only on Custom
  • Tax filing is sold separately, starting at $1,000 per year for single member LLCs and $2,000 per year for partnerships and S-Corps, billed annually
  • The tax service must be purchased together with Pilot Bookkeeping
  • Partnership and S-Corp tax filing includes up to 25 1099-NEC filings

Pricing, plan by plan

Rippling

$8/month
  • Core$8/month
    • Employee Management
    • Onboarding
    • Offboarding
  • Pro$12/month
    • All Core features
    • Advanced Analytics
    • Custom Reports

Pilot

$29/month
  • Core$599/month
    • Bookkeeping
    • Accrual basis
    • Monthly close
  • Plus$849/month
    • CFO support
    • Custom reporting
    • Board deck

Which should you pick?

Choose Rippling if

  • You need payroll.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want benefits administration.

Choose Pilot if

  • You need bookkeeping.
  • You also want cfo services.

Questions people ask

Is Rippling or Pilot better?
Neither clearly leads. Rippling starts at $8/month and Pilot at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Rippling or Pilot?
Rippling starts at $8/month and Pilot at $29/month.
Does Rippling or Pilot run on more platforms?
Rippling runs on Web, Ios, Android. Pilot runs on Web.
What can Rippling do that Pilot cannot?
Rippling covers Payroll, Benefits Administration, Device Management, App Management. Pilot covers Bookkeeping, CFO services, Tax preparation, R&D tax credits. Both handle Web support.

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