Rise review
A broad HR and payroll platform for small nonprofits that need more than payroll.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Rise is a cloud-based people-management platform from Rise People, Inc. for Canadian businesses, with a feature set that can suit small nonprofits needing more than payroll alone. It combines employee records, payroll, direct deposit, tax remittance, onboarding, time off, recruiting, performance reviews, scheduling, time tracking, benefits, reporting, and mobile access. Employees can manage profiles, documents, pay stubs, time-off requests, and time entries, while managers and administrators handle approvals, workflows, compliance tasks, and employee data.
The published plans divide the platform into three tiers. Start includes a people directory, payroll, onboarding, time off, a mobile app, recruiting, and performance, and is advertised at 8 CAD per employee per month plus a base fee. Grow adds automated workflows, eSignatures, self-onboarding, time-off approvals, payroll integrations, and a mobile app; pricing requires contacting Rise. Optimize includes recruiting, performance reviews, 360-degree feedback, custom review processes, time-off management, and payroll integrations, with pricing also requiring contact with Rise. There is no free plan, so organizations should compare the paid tiers against the breadth of features they actually need.
Rise stands out for combining payroll with a wider employee-management system rather than concentrating narrowly on payroll administration. Its public API, OAuth-based integrations, calendar integration, and payroll integrations support connection with other systems, while web, iOS, and Android access extends employee and manager workflows beyond a desktop. Time tracking includes timesheets, mobile punches, and geofencing, and performance tools include reviews, feedback, and check-ins. Small nonprofits should pick Rise when they want payroll alongside structured HR processes; organizations seeking a nonprofit-specific payroll focus or a narrowly scoped payroll tool may prefer a more specialized option.
Rise pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Payroll includes direct deposit and tax remittance
- Covers onboarding, time off, performance, and time tracking
- Web, iOS, Android, public API, and OAuth integrations
- Where it doesn't
- Start adds a base fee alongside its per-employee price
- Grow and Optimize require contacting Rise for pricing
- Its focus is broad HR management, not nonprofit-only workflows
Rise fact sheet, pricing and score →
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