# Rise Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Rise the right Payroll solution for you? Explore 154 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/163570/Rise/reviews --- Rise 4.2 (154) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/163570/Rise/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated June 8th, 2026 # Reviews of Rise Ease of use 4.2 Customer Service 4.4 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews AC Angel C QCImport and Export, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Well organized system for employee and employers to connect directly with employee profiles, pay changes, time off and reduce data entry and reduce errors and time.“ March 17, 2026 CH Carrie H Executive AssistantFurniture, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Not everyone wants to download an app for their job to their personal phone, and this is where the system is not ideal for my operations.“ June 5, 2026 MR Melany R Bookkeeper Secretary TreasurerEducation Management, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “Running payroll reports is quick and the ability to tailor reports for different needs is exceptional and easy for staff to get their own paystubs works very well.“ June 5, 2026 TF Theresa F OwnerRetail, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “I've been terrible at meeting the payroll deadline especially on Mondays or after a long weekend and while Rise always ensures my payroll gets approved, one thing that would help me is if it were easier to use on my phone.“ September 10, 2025 CH Carrie H Executive AssistantFurniture, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “I also appreciate the seamless integration of the Time Off, Scheduling + Time Approval, and Payroll modules.“ June 5, 2026 MB Mike B ManagerRetail, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “Our previous payroll system was overly complicated and stressful to use due to so many steps to generate a payrun.“ September 18, 2025 MR Melany R Bookkeeper Secretary TreasurerEducation Management, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “All communications have been positive and dealt with in a professional manner by the representatives. If there is an issue that needs further investigation "in the background" of the program has been dealt with quickly.“ June 5, 2026 AG ALLAN G PresidentWarehousing, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “We originally wasted so many resources manually calculating these inputs (and risked the possibility of manual input mistakes).“ September 18, 2025 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 154 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Jenny T. President Accounting Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Excellent value, great responsive support with live chat, terrible interface" April 18, 2018 4.0 Simplicity for small Canadian businesses running payroll. Pros The pricing of this product is great, they were offering free payroll for organizations with less than 10 employees at one point, but now it's something that has to be requested. Great value for the services provided and live chat support is convenient. I do recommend this software to minimize the complexity of payroll functions for small businesses. Cons It is not intuitive to use. Setup is very manual, requiring the user to download pdfs, sign them and re-upload. It's not very friendly towards accountants as the client has to create their own account. Creating a payroll run requires multiple steps, and T4 submission is not automatic. One selling feature of this product was that it integrates with QuickBooks or Xero. There is no integration. There is one guy that can create an Excel macro who requires the exact details of your accounting system setup. Review Source Response from Rise April 26, 2018 Hi Jenny, Thank you for taking the time to provide us with this feedback. We're glad that you feel you are getting good value for the services provided and that you would recommend us to other small businesses. Your feedback on the product is valuable and helps us better understand your needs. We are reviewing our payroll software to help streamline the pay run process in future releases and we are also currently building integrations with Quickbooks and Xero. Please feel free to reach out to us anytime if you have more specific comments or suggestions. All the very best, The Rise People Team info@risepeople.com 1-888-393-3483 PA Penny A. Bookkeeper Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Excellent Canadian Based Payroll Product with NPI Trained Support" September 24, 2025 5.0 Our implementation process was fantastic; we spent months with ADP working on their implementation and it failed miserably. Rise worked with us to get the implementation done in roughly 2 weeks and every pay we have processed has been easy. Pros The ease of processing payroll and the excellent customer support from a Canadian team certified by the National Payroll Institute, the customizability of the program Cons The time approval module requires missed shifts to be removed, rather than classified to a reason code and kept for reporting purposes Alternatives considered [Ameego](https://www.capterra.com/p/275558/Ameego/)[Payworks](https://www.capterra.com/p/235453/Payworks/) Reason for choosing Rise Canadian based, attractive user interface, features that we were looking for Switched from [ADP Workforce Now](https://www.capterra.com/p/155895/WorkforceNow/) Every payroll was a struggle as implementation did not go well and the system was not calculating vacation correctly and each payroll corrections had to be made for roughly 6 months Review Source BK Bev K. Owner and Administrator Education Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "I Recommend Rise - Give it a Try!" June 5, 2026 5.0 It's been a great experience from the start! We appreciated the tech support to familiarize ourselves with this service. We plan to use Rise long term! Pros The onboarding to this payroll system was seamless, due to the solid tech support. Our payroll is now simplified, and the fee is reasonable. We like the professionalism that comes with using a payroll company, and - as a business owner myself - I like to support local businesses! Cons I have no complaints! I appreciate the automaticity, and my staff like getting the auto-deposits every two weeks. Review Source PM Pam M. Payroll & Benefits Administrator Insurance Used the software for: 2+ years ### "We've been using Rise for two years now. Overall the software is user friendly and easy to use." April 16, 2018 3.0 I just answered this question in the survey! Pros The adhoc payroll process is a breeze, and very user friendly. ROE's are very quick, we've had a few issues with the addresses that were populated into the ROE's, so check closely before finalizing them. Chat feature is wonderful, and the support staff behind the scenes are always willing to help with issues. Being able to resolve an issue via a chat is wonderful. The chat hours being extended beyond 8 - 5 would be great. Quite often payroll works after hours (especially on Friday), so running into a problem after hours does cause issues. I recently had a situation where I called and got the answering service, and was told I had to call back on Monday. The answering service did pass my message to someone, and I did in the end get a call. It would have been better if the answering service had told me that they would pass my message on to someone, with the hopes that they'd return my call before Monday. Cons We've made several recommendations to Rise regarding things that could make the system a bit more user friendly. The response we've received is that any change would effect every client. Most of the changes we've suggested would probably be 'pain points' for any client using the system. This was a bit disappointing, as GroupHEALTH is a very client focused business, and I felt that Rise was as well. We do anything we can to have a better client experience. Review Source Response from Rise April 26, 2018 Thank you for your feedback, Pam! It's great to hear that the adhoc payroll process is a breeze, ROEs very quick, and the support staff and chat service are helpful. As a result of your feedback, we've made some changes to our support process: if you receive our answering service after hours, they will inform you that they will pass your message on to us immediately if it is an urgent matter and we will address your concern outside of business hours. We also appreciate your feedback on how to make Rise more user friendly. We take all product feedback from customers into consideration and include it when prioritizing new development and features, with our most commonly requested enhancements taking first priority. We look forward to continue working with you - thanks again for this feedback! All the very best, The Rise People Team info@risepeople.com 1-888-393-3483 MW Mairin W. Owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Rise is a good fit for small business owners!" June 9, 2026 5.0 Overall as a service provided Rise has been excellent, and they continue to innovate and improve their suite of services. Pros I switched to Rise (before it was Rise) coming from many years of tedious manual payroll operations for my small business. It was a game changer, and recaptured hours of my time that can be used more productively. Cons I have been with Rise through some early growing pains, but even as a small business owner I am impressed that my concerns have always been taken seriously. Review Source MB Mike B. Manager Retail Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great Program!" September 18, 2025 5.0 From first contact, to implementation, to going live was relatively easy. Our previous payroll system was overly complicated and stressful to use due to so many steps to generate a payrun. There is none of that with Rise. Using Rise is simple and straight forward. Pros Comparing Rise to our previous payroll program, Rise is much more user friendly. It is easy and intuitive to use and it isnt complicated to generate a payrun. Cons Well its difficult to complain about a system that is several steps above our previous payroll program. Alternatives considered [Rippling](https://www.capterra.com/p/172127/Rippling/) Reason for choosing Rise it was the Best value and ease of use is important to us. Switched from [Windward System Five](https://www.capterra.com/p/43189/Windward-System-Five/) Windward discontinued the payroll portion of their software Review Source TF Theresa F. Owner Retail Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Rise always rises to the occasion!" September 10, 2025 4.0 I've been a customer for about 6 years and I feel that I get great value from their services. I feel very fortunate to have such a great company helping me with an essential part of my business. Pros As a first time employer, I needed help understanding my responsibilities with regard to payroll reporting, deductions, completing pay runs and closing the year and the team at Rise has been helpful, patient and always helps me solve my issues. Cons I've been terrible at meeting the payroll deadline especially on Mondays or after a long weekend and while Rise always ensures my payroll gets approved, one thing that would help me is if it were easier to use on my phone. Alternatives considered [QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/) Reason for choosing Rise Rise was initially free and I only had two staff members at the time so I thought I would give it a try. Review Source MM Marietjie M. Director Finance & Analysis Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Rise does RISE to challenge" August 23, 2023 4.0 Users have really enjoyed using all the features, but still learning how to do things. Pros Time Off Management makes the process effective and efficient. Cons Performance Management still has a few gaps but they are more preferences than software problems. Alternatives considered [ADP Workforce Now](https://www.capterra.com/p/155895/WorkforceNow/) Reason for choosing Rise Ease of Use, adaptability and full suite of product offering Review Source SB Samantha B. Human Resource Manager Law Practice Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "First Impressions" February 27, 2023 4.0 Pros I like that there are many features that are important and the user experience is great for the employees. The chat feature is great and I've always had a positive interaction with those I'm connecting with there. Those that are part of the help-desk team in the chat feature are wonderful. The Goals section of the software is really great. Cons There could be some improvements made with the software specifically with the time off approval flows of having tiered approvals and some more flexibility with the performance review section and check-ins. The implementation lacked effective communication and there were times where we felt abandoned. We also implemented Rise Health as our broker and I'm disappointed to say that this was a terrible experience. After speaking with the \[sensitive content hidden\] of Rise, it appears that many of the procedures that are supposed to be followed were not and we're still having issues with the implementation at two months post launch. Until Rise and GSC can work more seamlessly together, I would not recommend implementing Rise Health. Review Source JL Janice L. HR Consultant Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Fan of Rise" June 8, 2026 5.0 It is a great HR platform for employees in Canada! Very easy to use and has a great UX. It was easy to make updates with the employee's profile. Pros Easy to onboard employees. It was easy to update the employee's pay and job titles. The layout was easy to navigate. Cons The employees did get confused how to sign in with their password. They did not know to use the last 4 digits of their SIN. Review Source MA Murray A. Manager Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Works Great for Payroll" March 9, 2022 5.0 Getting the Original companies setup. Simple, not complex, great support. Pros Ease of use and Customer support. ....... Cons So far everything has exceeded my expectations. Reason for choosing Rise Customer support. Switched from [ADP Workforce Now](https://www.capterra.com/p/155895/WorkforceNow/) ADP had no support. Extremely difficult program to implement and use. Errors continued on well past 3 months after implementation. Review Source Response from Rise March 14, 2022 Hi Murray, thanks for your review. We're happy to hear that Rise is exceeding your expectation by making Payroll easier for you! GL George L. CFO Medical Devices Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Good payroll and HR management for small to medium companies" April 4, 2023 5.0 Wonderful Pros Its easy to use and implement. Easy to administer too Cons The link between HR and payroll is still clunky - when you log out of payroll, it looks like you are still logged in Reason for choosing Rise It was the most cost effective Switched from [Dayforce Powerpay](https://www.capterra.com/p/198964/Dayforce-Powerpay/) Wanted to combine HR and payroll into one solution and also add PTO tracking and approval Review Source JH Jocelyn H. Grants Manager Civic & Social Organization Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Almost a year in, and loving Rise so far" August 15, 2023 5.0 We've had a great experience with Rise, and it has streamlined a lot of our processes, so we can have our onboarding, payroll, schedule, time off all tracked in the same software. Pros Rise is easy to use, and the payroll processing module works very well. It's easy to modify a pay run without having to do a lot of tedious back-and-forth with Rise, and there are many check points through the process to make sure that all the information entered is correct before approval. Cons We could use a standardized info sheet to give to new employees about how to use the timecards in Rise. We've found a few challenges getting new staff comfortable with the time tracking system. Switched from [ADP Workforce Now](https://www.capterra.com/p/155895/WorkforceNow/) ADP was more complicated than we needed. Review Source KT Kelly T. Controller Retail Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great product for Canadian payroll, time tracking and schedule and HR integration" July 20, 2023 5.0 We're super happy. We needed a more in-depoth, robust, integrated payroll and HR solution and this was perfect. Pros I like the scheduling and time tracking. We love the integration with Payroll. Saved SO much time as we were doing everything manually before. Cons I find it a bit overwhelming when figuring out how to set everything up - and where to go to access certain information, as some is stored in the HR section and some is stored in the Payroll section.Improvements can definitely be made in the scheduling and time tracking module. For example, the ability for other employees to see other employees schedules within the app - for more transparent shift delegation, capacity planning, shift-swapping, etc. Alternatives considered [ADP TotalSource](https://www.capterra.com/p/113109/ADP-TotalSource/) Review Source MH Michelle H. Operations Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great system that has everything" March 14, 2023 5.0 Pros It was so easy to implement and use and continues to update with new features. Cons There are always quirks but Rise does a good job of fixing bugs and taking feedback for new features. Review Source AH Ashanul H. HR Advisor Human Resources Used the software for: 2+ years ### "About rise" October 26, 2023 5.0 Easy to use. Pros The payroll function is easy to use . And we can easily modify it in the payroll sheet. Cons The HR function is a bit complicated—mostly the part of creating an employee profile. Reason for choosing Rise Easy to use.More convenient and great customer service. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Director Information Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Everything needed for payroll, stellar customer support" April 10, 2018 4.0 Pros Customer support is far and away the best part of this software. If anything goes wrong they will fix it. Cons The main interface hasn't changed a lot since Paysavvy and is showing its age. When I sign in, automatically create the next payroll if it's due soon, rather than making me click "Create Next Payroll". When I add a new rule or click Save, don't force a refresh of the whole page, but persist as is. When I click Submit, skip the need to "View Results" and go straight to a summary report that has all of the information broken out. I always need the invoice data. Detecting statistical exceptions would be great. For example, I once accidentally entered all of employee's time for a pay period as both regular time and overtime. It would be nice for Rise to point out when an employee's hours are significantly different from their median. Web Service API access to the invoice data in particular is something I've wanted for a while. I have a script that scrapes this data and inserts into my accounting system, because it takes a long time to do by hand. Review Source Response from Rise April 25, 2018 Thank you for your feedback - these are great suggestions. Your feedback is being reviewed by our product team for consideration. If you would like information about our API or would like to discuss access to data, please feel free to reach out to us using the contact details below anytime and we would be happy to help. All the very best, The Rise People Team info@risepeople.com 1-888-393-3483 MA Mike A. Controller Investment Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "They had potential, but proved to be very poor at what they claim to be great at" April 17, 2018 1.0 I didn't, I only received more costs. Pros I like the platform, it was easy to use and very convenient from anywhere I happened to be. Making changes to payroll on the fly was fairly easy and having support there gave the appearance of having a professional helping along the way. Cons The biggest complaint I have with Rise is that the software itself worked great, but the team behind the software is unfortunately incompetent. There are plenty of staff available to help, but none have the correct training or experience to actually help employers make decisions. On top of that when a mistake is made on their end they do not take ownership of it because "a company this size is unable to absorb a loss like that" is what I was told by the CEO. The blunders made by Rise ended up costing my company a five figure fine with CRA because they were not able to follow properly sent instructions on their intake forms. I have no problems with a smaller company needing to make mistakes in order to learn, but unless you're willing to own those mistakes, learn from them and then improve your systems you will never be sure you do not fall into those same mistakes again. Ultimately we left Rise as staying with a company that treats their clients poorly does not make sense. The costs may be higher with other larger companies, but I can assure you it is money well spent, avoid Rise at all costs. Review Source Response from Rise November 6, 2018 Thank you for your candor in your review of Rise. We're glad that you liked the platform and found it very convenient to use. To clarify, we've ensured that our client service team is PCP certified in order to provide the best possible payroll support to our clients. Unfortunately the review below is not an accurate reflection of the situation. The mistake was not made on our end and we made every effort to ensure that we provided the best support possible throughout this process. We value you as a client and would have very much liked the opportunity to continue our service for you. NK Natasha K. People Operations Manager Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "10/10 Customer Service" February 28, 2023 5.0 Pros Firstly, I want to provide a shoutout to the customer service department, in particular \[sensitive content hidden\]. \[sensitive content hidden\] answers my questions in a timely matter, will always help me and provide suggestions on how I can make things better for my employees. \[sensitive content hidden\] is wonderful!Overall, the product is very easy to use and onboard new employees. I like having everything I need in one system. Cons For performance management, I would be nice to have a better way to download results/feedback and have it automatically saved into employee files. Review Source Grace W. Financial Analyst & Payroll Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Ease to use it and it is all I need" April 10, 2018 5.0 It is easy to process the payroll. Time saver. Pros Export input to excel sheet. Import excel to the system. I can generate reports for all departments. The customize functions is very powerful. Cons Sometime the system is too slow. Especially on the rush hours, it is take time to go for next step. on the input sheet for search people, I would prefer more functions to search, for example, employee ID. Review Source Response from Rise April 25, 2018 Thank you for your feedback, Grace. We are glad to hear that you have been having a good experience with report generation and payroll processing. Thank you for your suggestions on improving our search functionality. Your comments have been forwarded to our product team for consideration. If you have any more feedback that you would like to share, please do not hesitate to get in touch using the contact details below. All the very best, The Rise People Team info@risepeople.com 1-888-393-3483 DQ Diana Q. Owner Restaurants Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Rise is the best payroll software " July 12, 2023 5.0 Everything is easy. People are friendly and helpful! Pros Ease to use. Unlike other payroll software, processing payroll thru Rise is easy and smooth. Nothing is tricky. Cons when employee takes vacation, I wish the vacation hours are automatically deducted from the regular hours. Review Source CG Catherine G. HR Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "RISE are incredibly customer focused. They spent a lot of time getting to know us and our needs." April 18, 2018 4.0 It moved our manual processes to automated for absence tracking, employee file management and access which made we could focus internally on more strategic objectives and allowed us to provide improved customer service to our staff. Pros Ease of interface for employees including employee photos. Ability to track all types of absence. Able to upload employee documents to their employee file which they can access online 24/7 access. Cons Some initial issues with Quebec set up in relation to payroll and benefits which involved our finance staff having to do a lot of work manually which was not anticipated. This has now been resolved. Review Source Response from Rise April 26, 2018 Thank you for your review, Catherine. We're so pleased to hear that Rise helped improve customer service to your staff and free up more of your time so you could focus more on strategic objectives. We also want to apologize for any issues related to the Quebec set up that may have caused you more manual work. We would very much appreciate any more feedback or comments you may have in future. Please feel free to reach out to us anytime using the contact details below. All the very best, The Rise People Team info@risepeople.com 1-888-393-3483 Helen W. Director of Finance and HR Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "So glad we moved to Rise from ADP" April 10, 2018 4.0 Pros Ease of use. When I get questions from staff, I can find the answers quickly. Great to see prior year reports all at my fingertips. Cons Doesn't connect well with Apple systems. So Rise staff need to prepare our journal entries for us. Also doesn't talk to Humanity and when choosing these 2 systems we were told that was something that would be happening. Review Source YN Yuzo N. Controller Computer Software Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great Onboarding, Great Customer Service. Great Products" April 10, 2018 5.0 The biggest benefit is the time savings in comparison to when we used ADP and spreadsheets Pros Rise's payroll system is super easy to use, reports are provided within seconds of processing, and the customer support for payroll is excellent. In terms of it's Hub/Time Off system, it has been great. No more spreadsheets tracking time off or vacation days! Cons Tracking vacation days actually used in Time Off reporting can be a bit tricky when employees request, get approved, but then cancel that request. Review Source Response from Rise April 25, 2018 Thank you for your feedback, Yuzo. We are so glad to hear that our system is easy to use and that our customer support has been helpful. We have noted your comments on tracking vacation days actually used in Time Off and have shared your feedback with our product team for review. If you have any additional comments or feedback, we would love to hear from you. Please feel free to get in touch with us anytime using the contact details below. All the very best, The Rise People Team info@risepeople.com 1-888-393-3483 SM Scott M. Chief Financial Officer Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Review Of Rise Software" April 8, 2020 4.0 Pros The process for biweekly payroll, T4s and ROEs are very easy to use. T4 reconciliations have always been a breeze and on the spot. The Rise People Team info@risepeople.com and their toll free 1-888-393-3483 & chat box are convenient avenues to get help. Cons Our accounting software is Adagio, which is rather obscure, but predominant in the Non-Profit world. There is no integration to import payroll data directly in Adagio. Review Source Response from Rise May 15, 2020 We're glad to hear that the process for biweekly payroll, T4s and ROEs is easy to use. We have a journal entry utility that maps journal entry codes to payroll codes and creates an import file that you can import directly into your accounting software. Please contact us at support@risepeople.com or 1-888-393-3483 and we will be pleased to help you. Thanks! Similar Products Featured ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.