rippling review - cover
Source: Rippling

Rippling Review (2025): The Smartest HR & IT Platform for Mac-Based Teams?

If your team uses Macs and you want to manage HR and IT from a single dashboard, Rippling is one of the smartest platforms you can invest in. It’s built for modern, remote-first companies and gives you the kind of control and automation that typically takes three or four tools to achieve. It’s especially valuable if you need to manage Apple devices remotely, want to automate onboarding from offer letter to app installs, plan to hire internationally and prefer a customizable, cloud-first platform.
Pros:
Mac-friendly design and Apple device support
Unified HR, IT, payroll, and benefits in one place
Great for onboarding and remote team management
Extremely customizable and modular
Scales easily from 2 to 2,000+ employees
Cons:
Pricing can add up with add-ons
No free trial (demo only)
Some modules may not be suitable for businesses outside of the USA
85

Managing people, payroll, and devices shouldn’t feel like you’re juggling three different systems.

That’s where Rippling steps in, a platform that’s not just an HR Software tool for Macs, but a full employee management system built for modern businesses.

In this Rippling review, we take a close look at what makes it one of the most powerful tools for managing employees on a Mac, how it stacks up in real-world use, and who it’s best suited for in 2025.

What Is Rippling?

Although Rippling falls into the HR software category, it’s actually a centralized platform that brings together:

  • HR and payroll
  • IT management (including device setup and assigning)
  • Benefits, compliance, and org charts
  • App provisioning and security

Most HR platforms stop at onboarding or payroll, but Rippling goes a few steps further, into areas like device management and software installation, making it a great option for businesses using Macs or remote teams.

It’s especially useful if your employees rely on MacBooks and you want to automate everything from contracts to shipping out devices preloaded with the right apps.

Why Rippling Is Ideal for Mac Users

Mac-based teams often get the short end of the stick with enterprise tools that prioritize Windows but Rippling is refreshingly different.

Its all Cloud based so works perfectly in most browsers on a Mac, and its Apple device management features are a huge bonus for those teams that rely on macOS and iOS.

With Rippling, you can:

  • Enroll MacBooks into MDM (Mobile Device Management)
  • Push apps like Zoom, Slack, or Chrome to devices remotely
  • Enforce FileVault encryption and password policies
  • Disable lost or stolen devices with a click

It essentially turns HR into an IT command center, without needing an big IT department.

Key Features and Tools

1. Automated Onboarding

rippling onboarding and device assigning
Source: Rippling

Rippling lets you create onboarding sequences that trigger everything from welcome emails to benefits enrollment. You can even ship and assign a MacBook to a new hire with the right software installed.

2. Payroll and Benefits

rippling payroll
Source: Rippling

U.S. payroll is fully integrated, with direct deposit, tax filing, and benefits management. It also syncs with time tracking and PTO automatically, reducing manual work. Rippling’s payroll system is also recognized by HMRC in the UK although this doesn’t mean that it can file automatically for you.

3. Global Employee Management

rippling recruitment and
Source: Rippling

If you’re hiring internationally, Rippling can act as an Employer of Record (EOR) in over 50 countries. That means you can legally hire full-time employees abroad without setting up foreign entities.

4. App Provisioning

rippling app provisioning
Source: Rippling

Assign apps like Slack, Google Workspace, or 1Password based on an employee’s role or department. This is especially helpful for distributed teams using different tools.

5. Reporting and Analytics

rippling analytics
Source: Rippling

Rippling’s analytics are easy to understand and comprehensive. You can also build reports that pull from across modules, like time tracking, payroll, IT, employee costs and headcount, without exporting spreadsheets.

Ease of Use

I found Rippling easy to navigate for a tool that does so much.

The interface feels modern, and everything’s logically grouped. Admins can manage hundreds of users, devices, and apps without feeling buried in menus.

For employees, the self-service portal is clean and straightforward and should help you reduce support requests from people just trying to check PTO or download their pay stubs.

rippling interface
Source: Rippling

I found that everything runs perfectly on macOS. There were no downloads or plug-in, just a simple log-in and you’re away.

Mobile Experience

Rippling offers native apps for iOS and Android, but most core functions work directly through the browser on any Mac.

Admin features are easier to manage on a desktop, but the mobile experience is really only suitable for day-to-day needs like approvals, clock-ins, and notifications.

Security and Compliance

Rippling’s security protocols are pretty much as you would expect when a software is handling sensitive employee data or managing company devices.

Security measures in Rippling include:

  • SOC 2 Type II certification
  • SSO and MFA integrations
  • Automated compliance alerts
  • Device-level security controls

These are particularly important if a lot of your team are working remotely.

Pricing

Rippling uses modular pricing, so you only pay for what you use.

The base platform starts at around $8 per user/month, but the total depends on which modules (payroll, benefits, device management, etc.) you add.

For example:

  • HR platform: $8/user/month
  • Payroll: Additional cost
  • IT device management: Additional cost
  • Global EOR: From $599/month per employee

It’s not the cheapest option, but it is easily one of the most comprehensive, especially if you’d otherwise pay for separate HR and IT systems.

Who Should Use Rippling?

You Are…Is Rippling a Good Fit?
Mac-based startup (10–100 people)✅ Yes
Growing company with remote teams✅ Yes
Need EOR for global hires✅ Yes
Freelancer or solo founder❌ Probably not
U.S.-only, basic payroll needs❌ Other options are simpler

Still Deciding?

If you’re looking for an HR platform that doesn’t just play nice with Macs but actually supports the way Mac-based teams work, I think Rippling is tough to beat.

It goes way beyond basic HR and solves real problems for modern, remote, and growing companies, especially those that want to spend less time managing systems and more time building their teams.

Just be ready to invest in the modules you need. Rippling isn’t a budget tool, it’s a power tool.

And if you’re comparing Rippling to other HR software? Start with what matters most to your team: remote setup, compliance, payroll, or people development, and go from there.

For more HR and business tools that actually work on a Mac, head over to our full article on The Best HR Software for Mac for more comparisons.

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