The 7 best employee benefits administration software

Imagine this: Jane, a benefits administrator at a rapidly growing tech startup, spends countless hours each month sifting through spreadsheets, updating employee information by hand, and ensuring compliance with ever-changing regulations. Her team is buried under a mountain of administrative work, leading to errors, delays, and frustration—like when several employees missed the open enrollment window last year. This not only affects the HR department’s efficiency—it impacts employee satisfaction and retention.

This is an all-too-common scenario. HR departments are increasingly tasked with more responsibilities, from employee onboarding to performance management to benefits administration. Among these, managing employee benefits can be especially challenging due to the complexity and importance of the task. But that’s where benefits administration software comes in, giving HR teams a way to streamline BenAdmin, save time, automate compliance, and become more efficient.

In this article, we’re taking a look at some of the top benefits administration software offerings. Each option is designed to help HR departments manage employee benefits, and by leveraging these tools, companies can free up more time and resources to focus on their core operations—all while giving their employees the best possible benefits experience. Let’s get started.

What is benefits administration software?

Benefits administration software is a type of HR software designed to streamline the management of employee benefits programs. It automates and simplifies administration of employee benefits packages, which can include health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and more. By integrating all the processes involved into a single platform, benefits administration software helps HR departments save time, cut down on errors, and ensure compliance with legal requirements.

Benefits administration software can help HR teams better manage enrollment, track usage, manage eligibility, and generate reports. It can also create a better employee experience by providing easier access to benefits information and self-service options. In the digital age, benefits administration software is an increasingly crucial tool for HR departments looking to manage employee benefits programs efficiently and effectively.

The top HR benefits management software

It’s important for every business to choose the right benefits administration software to meet their needs. Here, we highlight some of the top HR benefits management software options available today, including their key features, pros and cons, and more.

1. Rippling

Rippling brings all the processes involved in benefits administration—from plan selection to working with broker partners, deducting benefits costs during payroll, and more—into one unified system, which means you can automate all the parts of Ben Admin you used to have to do manually, saving time and reducing the chance of human error. Rippling includes hundreds of pre-built, automated workflow templates that you can use out-of-the-box or customize to fit your exact needs.

Benefits selection with Rippling is easy—you can work with any broker of your choice. If you need one, Rippling can refer a PHR and SHRM-CP certified expert to guide you. Or you can use your own preferred broker. You can shop for new, affordable employee benefits by comparing quotes from more than 4,000 plans from leading carriers (in minutes), or connect your existing plan (in seconds) without your employees needing to re-enroll, change benefits or pricing, or update their information.

Rippling automates benefits enrollment when you onboard new hires, immediately inviting them to enroll in benefits and only showing them plans they’re eligible for. Even open enrollment is automated, so you can finish in days instead of weeks. You can view employee enrollment progress against deadlines, send group reminders and alerts, see how often employee benefits plans are being used, and more.

Finally, Rippling streamlines ACA compliance—easily report your coverage information to the IRS, generate and send 1095-C forms to your employees, track your employees’ hours, and keep records of all your compliance information, including plans that were offered, insurance-eligible employees, enrollment information, and more—all in one place.

Key features:

• Employee benefits dashboard
• Automated new hire benefits enrollment
• Automated open enrollment
• Streamlined compliance management
• COBRA and ACA administration
• HIPAA compliant health insurance administration
• Online benefits package enrollment
• Third party broker support
• Payroll management
• Access to flex benefits like flexible spending accounts (FSA), health spending accounts (HSA), and commuter benefits
• Access to large and small group benefits
• Employee self-service portal

2. Paychex Flex

Paychex offers several different platforms within its Paychex Flex platform: an all-in-one HR solution and a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), which offers a way for businesses to partner with an organization of HR experts to co-employ their workforce and streamline many of their employment-related HR processes. 

While the flexibility Paychex offers in its different types of plans may be appealing to some businesses, Paychex Flex is really only built for small businesses (around 20 employees or less), and may not support the needs of larger organizations or those who plan to scale. Paychex Flex also has many online reviews that are critical of its customer support, with reviews noting that the company’s support team and processes can be unresponsive, “frustrating,” and “difficult.”

Key features:

• Employee benefits dashboard
• Compliance management
• Online benefits enrollment
• Payroll management
• Employee self-service portal

3. ADP Workforce Now

As one of the oldest and longest-running HR companies in the world, ADP has plenty of experience (and name recognition). ADP Workforce Now is the company’s all-in-one suite of workforce management tools, which includes benefits administration software—at least, if you get the Plus or Premium plan. Benefits administration isn’t included with the Select plan.

ADP is a legacy vendor that started out as a punch-card payroll system. Through more than 100 acquisitions, it’s tacked on more and more systems to build its platform—but as a result, its modules are disjointed and disconnected, and more likely to slow your HR team down than make you more efficient.

One of the most limited areas for ADP Workforce Now is its automations. They tend to be clunky, with narrow configurability. For example, when setting up workflows, you can only trigger two actions—and they can only be based on onboarding. That means automating workflows related to benefits administration is essentially off the table.

Key features:

• Employee benefits dashboard
• Compliance management
• HIPAA compliant
• Online benefits enrollment
• Payroll management
• Employee self-service portal

4. TriNet HR (formerly Zenefits)

TriNet HR (formerly Zenefits) is an HR, payroll, and employee benefits solution aimed at small to mid-sized businesses that offers three straightforward membership tiers with affordable pricing starting at just $8 per employee per month.

Now for the downside, though: TriNet HR claims to be an all-in-one HR solution. But a closer look at its membership tiers reveals that it’s more limited than many other, similar platforms. For example, payroll, which is typically a staple part of any HR platform, is only included with TriNet HR’s most expensive plan. TriNet HR also doesn’t offer device, app, or expense management as part of any of its memberships. It doesn't have many options for customization or automation, and its HR analytics and reporting offerings are narrow (particularly on the most affordable plan).

One more thing to look out for: In reviews, some customers mention unexpectedly high benefits renewal rates, meaning they had low benefits plan prices for their first year, and then faced high increases that they’d have to switch providers (a huge hassle) to avoid. This can be common in the benefits world, so look for a benefits administration software provider that’s upfront about renewal rates.

Key features:

• Employee benefits dashboard
• Compliance management
• HIPAA compliant health insurance administration
• Online benefits enrollment
• Payroll management
• Employee self-service portal

Gusto is a straightforward, easy-to-use HR platform that offers super intuitive payroll software and other HR tools designed for small to mid-sized businesses. Aside from being one of the simplest platforms on the market with almost no learning curve, Gusto is best known for its benefits administration features. It offers a wide range of employee benefits—from health insurance and retirement plans to flex benefits and customizable perks—making benefits more accessible to businesses of all sizes.

While Gusto is one of the best-known benefits administration platforms for small businesses, it isn’t perfect. G2 reviewers point out that it’s missing key features that other software solutions offer, like localized compliance features.

Aside from that, Gusto’s biggest drawback is that it’s made for small businesses. If your company is larger or scaling, you may find that Gusto doesn’t have the features, depth, or configurability to keep up—and may wind up holding you back.

And despite being easy to use, setting up your Gusto account and onboarding your employees is a time-consuming, manual process that requires you to input each individual employee’s information one at a time. This is tedious and can be prone to human error, especially if you have a lot of employees.

Key features:

• Employee benefits dashboard
• Compliance management
• HIPAA compliant health insurance administration
• Online benefits enrollment
• Payroll management
• Employee self-service portal

6. BambooHR

BambooHR is a human resources management platform (HRIS) that offers an all-in-one HR system that combines hiring, onboarding, payroll processing, employee benefits, HR analytics, employee experience, and more—all in the same software platform, and without siloes. To make its platform as appealing as possible to small and mid-sized businesses, BambooHR is intuitive and easy to use. It also offers a convenient mobile app that customers can use to access all of its HR features in one place.

But BambooHR isn’t as comprehensive as some of the other all-in-one solutions on the market. For example, it doesn’t include some key HR functions, like learning management and headcount planning.

For those looking for comprehensive employee benefits administration, BambooHR’s biggest drawback is its limited compliance features. With BenAdmin, complying with federal, state, and local regulations is a crucial part of the job. BambooHR doesn’t issue proactive, employee-level notifications for compliance or automated resolutions, which could create more stress for your HR team.

Key features:

• Employee benefits dashboard
• HIPAA compliant health insurance administration
• Online benefits enrollment
• Payroll management
• Employee self-service portal

7. Justworks

Justworks offers a few different options for businesses looking for benefits administration software. Its original and more established offering is a PEO, which allows smaller businesses to streamline their administrative HR processes and access more affordable, comprehensive benefits than they may have been able to on their own.

Justworks’ other option is newer: an HR platform that offers payroll and other tools, including benefits administration as an options add-on. The downside is that Justworks is still building out the platform, so it’s missing some key functions, like global payroll and device management. Some businesses also find it isn’t as scalable as they may need—it’s mainly built for organizations with fewer than 200 employees, and larger or growing businesses may find it isn’t suitable as a long-term solution.

Key features:

• Employee benefits dashboard
• Compliance management
• HIPAA compliant health insurance administration
• Online benefits enrollment
• Payroll management
• Employee self-service portal

Why do you need a benefits administration software tool?

Having the right employee benefits solution in place can come with many advantages for your entire organization—not just your benefits administrators or HR department. Here are some key reasons why companies invest in benefits administration tools.

Centralizing and automating benefits administration

Centralizing benefits administration into a single platform gives your HR department the ability to manage all employee benefits from one place. Coupled with the automation tools that many Ben Admin software solutions provide, adopting a technology platform often means that HR departments can eliminate manual processes, reduce errors, and save valuable time. This allows them to focus on strategic work that drives larger business goals for your organization.

Ensuring legal compliance

Navigating the complexities of employee benefits regulations can be a significant challenge. Benefits administration software helps ensure compliance with laws on federal, state, and local levels through automation and expert support. This reduces your organization’s risk of compliance-related penalties, which can include fines, reputational damage, and legal issues.

Accurate and efficient enrollment

It can be daunting for benefits administrators to face open enrollment periods and ongoing employee benefits changes without the right tools. Benefits administration software simplifies the entire process by giving both your HR department and your employees a user-friendly platform for selecting, updating, and managing their benefits. This can mean more accurate data entry, less administrative burden, and a better overall employee experience when benefits information is easily accessible.

Rippling: The best employee benefits administration platform

Benefits selection has never been easier than with Rippling.

Create the perfect employee benefits package with Rippling, which provides access to health insurance, 401(k), commuter benefits, and more. This includes  large and small group benefits with more than 4,000 plans from Aetna, Humana, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and other leading carriers. You can bring your own preferred broker—or use ours. You can even bring your current coverage and connect it to Rippling’s benefits administration software—coverage is fully transferred and managed in less time than it takes to make a coffee run.

Automate new hire enrollment, open enrollment, reporting, many compliance tasks, and so much more.

Rippling makes benefits administration easy so your HR team can focus on important work.

Frequently asked questions

What are the main features to look for in benefits administration software?

When choosing benefits administration software, focus on features that will best fit your company’s needs. Some key features you might want to consider:

• A user-friendly interface with self-service options for employees.
• Integrations with other HR systems, payroll software, and accounting software.
• Automated compliance to reflect changes in benefits regulations and laws.
• Reporting and analytics features to track employee benefits usage, costs, and trends.
• Scalability, so the platform can grow with your organization and accommodate increasing numbers of employees and benefits programs.

Why is it important to offer benefits to your workforce?

Many jurisdictions require employers to offer certain benefits, such as health insurance and retirement plans. You’ll need to meet these requirements to avoid legal penalties.

But even if they aren’t required, offering benefits packages can help your company attract top talent and reduce employee turnover. Employees who feel valued and supported through benefits are more likely to be engaged and productive. Additionally, providing valuable benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off enhances employee well-being and job satisfaction. 

Why is Rippling a good benefits management software option for mid-sized businesses?

Rippling combines HR, IT, and finance in a single, integrated platform, allowing you to automate just about any workforce management process, from employee onboarding to benefits administration to device management and more. 

This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of July 29, 2024. 

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.