Rippling, founded in 2016 by Zenefits co-founder Parker Conrad, is a modern all-in-one workforce platform. Its PEO tier adds Rippling's employer-of-record infrastructure to the core product: HVAC owners get access to large-group health plans from Aetna, Humana, and Blue Cross Blue Shield, often priced 6-8% below ACA small-group community rates because the PEO is an aggregated large employer. Dental, vision, life, disability, HSA/FSA, and commuter benefits round out the menu.
What differentiates Rippling from legacy PEOs is the software. Payroll, benefits, time tracking, workers' comp, compliance, and even technician laptops or phones can be managed from a single admin console. New-hire onboarding auto-provisions email, ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro accounts, and benefit elections in one flow. For growing HVAC shops adding locations across state lines, Rippling automates multi-state tax registration and pay-as-you-go workers' comp so expansion does not require a dedicated HR hire.
Rippling PEO has a five-employee minimum, no annual contract requirement, and per-employee pricing. Shops switching in can typically go live in 30-45 days. The tradeoff versus specialist benefits-only brokers is that Rippling wants to be the central HR/payroll system of record, so value is maximized when the shop commits to using Rippling as its primary operating platform rather than bolting it onto existing tools.