Employment Hero vs Rippling – how they compare for AU/NZ payroll
For: Payroll Managers, HR Leaders, Finance Directors|11 min read|Last updated: August 2026
This comparison is published by Affinity. Vendor information is based on publicly available sources. Contact each provider directly for their current capabilities.
Summary
Employment Hero is a broad SME "Employment OS" spanning HR, payroll, benefits and hiring. Rippling is a unified workforce platform combining HR, IT, payroll and finance. Affinity is shown here as a separate column: an AU/NZ enterprise payroll specialist for organisations whose complexity is concentrated in Australia and New Zealand.
How Employment Hero and Rippling differ
Employment Hero is an Australian-founded (2014) 'Employment Operating System' spanning HR, payroll, benefits, recruitment and workforce management, reportedly used by 300,000+ businesses across AU, NZ, the UK, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia. Its payroll engine originated as KeyPay (acquired 2022), and it holds ISO 27001/27017/27018 certification and SOC 2 Type II compliance.
Rippling is a US-headquartered, venture-backed unified workforce platform combining HR, IT, payroll and finance on a single employee graph, with 650+ integrations and SOC 2 Type II certification. AU payroll is available; NZ availability varies and should be confirmed directly.
The core distinction for a buyer is what each platform was built to optimise for: Employment Hero is a broad SME "Employment OS" spanning HR, payroll, benefits and hiring, while Rippling is a unified workforce platform combining HR, IT, payroll and finance. AU/NZ payroll sits within each vendor's broader focus rather than as the sole product, which is where a specialist platform like Affinity differs from both.
Feature comparison
A neutral comparison of Employment Hero and Rippling across payroll and workforce capabilities, with Affinity shown as a separate AU/NZ specialist column. Vendor capabilities should be confirmed directly with each provider.
Native / strong: Native / strongAvailable / partial: Available / partialNot offered: Not offered
Native / strong: Rostering, time & attendance, geofencing, shift swapping
Available / partial: Time & attendance add-on
Native / strong: Integrated WFM with real-time labour costing
Delivery / managed payroll
Available / partial: Primarily self-service SaaS; separate managed/outsourced payroll option
Available / partial: SaaS; managed payroll via partners
Native / strong: SaaS, Supported & Fully Managed on one platform
Named local AU/NZ support
Available / partial: Phone support on top-tier plans only; lower tiers AI-bot/email – confirm response times
Not offered: Global chat/ticket support
Native / strong: Named AU/NZ contacts who know your configuration
HR, benefits & hiring breadth
Native / strong: Broad SME suite – recruitment, onboarding, benefits marketplace, earned wage access
Available / partial: Not a stated focus – confirm directly
Not offered: Not offered – integrates with specialist HRIS/benefits providers
IT, device & finance unification
Available / partial: Not a stated focus – confirm directly
Native / strong: Core strength – HR, IT, payroll & finance in one system
Not offered: Not offered – payroll and workforce management focus
Where Employment Hero fits
Employment Hero is built for small-to-medium AU/NZ businesses that want HR, payroll, benefits and hiring bundled into one broad, self-service platform with AI-assisted tooling (Hero AI). Its benefits marketplace, recruitment and onboarding modules, and multi-country reach make it a strong fit for SMEs that value breadth and self-service over dedicated, high-touch AU/NZ enterprise payroll support.
Where Rippling fits
Rippling is built for organisations that want HR, IT, payroll and finance unified on one employee graph with strong automation and a modern interface. Its device management, app provisioning and cross-functional workflow engine make it a strong fit for companies that want to manage payroll alongside IT and finance from a single platform, rather than prioritising AU/NZ-specific payroll depth.
Where Affinity fits
For organisations whose payroll complexity is concentrated in Australia and New Zealand, a specialist engine with pre-payslip intelligence, delivery-model flexibility, local data residency, and named local support is a different proposition to either Employment Hero or Rippling. Some organisations run Employment Hero or Rippling for their broader positioning and Affinity for a complex AU/NZ operation; others choose Affinity specifically because they need genuine cross-Tasman depth that neither platform is built to prioritise.
Frequently asked questions
Is Employment Hero or Rippling better for Australian payroll?
Employment Hero is a broad SME “Employment OS” spanning HR, payroll, benefits and hiring. Rippling is a unified workforce platform combining HR, IT, payroll and finance. Which fits better for Australian payroll depends on which of those is closer to what your organisation actually needs. Confirm current AU award and EBA depth directly with both providers. For organisations whose complexity is concentrated in Australia and New Zealand, a specialist engine like Affinity is built specifically for that depth.
Do Employment Hero and Rippling handle New Zealand payroll?
Employment Hero: Dedicated NZ product – Holidays Act, KiwiSaver, IRD payday filing. Rippling: NZ availability varies – confirm coverage. Confirm current NZ depth directly with each provider – Holidays Act, KiwiSaver and IRD payday filing all require genuine local engine work, not just tax-table updates. Affinity runs a purpose-built NZ payroll engine with 40+ years of Holidays Act experience and an NZ-based support team.
What is the main difference between Employment Hero and Rippling?
Employment Hero is a broad SME “Employment OS” spanning HR, payroll, benefits and hiring, while Rippling is a unified workforce platform combining HR, IT, payroll and finance. They overlap on core payroll compliance but differ in scope, ownership model, and the customer base each was built to serve.
How does Affinity compare to Employment Hero and Rippling?
Affinity is an AU/NZ enterprise payroll specialist. It does not try to match Employment Hero or Rippling on their own ground; it competes on depth of AU/NZ award and Holidays Act compliance, pre-payslip intelligence, delivery-model flexibility, local data residency, and named local support.
Compare other providersvs
Starting a payroll review?
Run it properly. The free guide defines what you need; the toolkit turns it into a scored brief you can send to every vendor.