Comparing Zest Benefits alternatives? See how Kota stacks up against BambooHR, Rippling, and Ben and find the best benefits platform for your team in 2026.
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Looking for alternatives to Zest Benefits for managing your employee benefits program? This comprehensive guide explores five powerful platforms: Kota, BambooHR, Rippling, Ben, and YuLife. We'll compare key features, pricing, and real user experiences to help you find the perfect solution for your organisation.
Zest Benefits does a lot well.
It offers codeless benefit builders, solid automation, and strong UK coverage. But if you're scaling internationally, need deeper core benefits support, or want clearer pricing as you grow, it might not be the right long-term fit.
This guide covers five alternatives - Kota, BambooHR, Rippling, Ben, and YuLife - with an honest look at what each does best and where they fall short.
At Kota, we're rebuilding the infrastructure that powers employee benefits. Our expertise comes from solving benefits problems daily for leading modern People teams like Remote, Carwow, and Poolside.
Here’s a G2 review from one of our customers:
This guide draws on our deep market knowledge and real customer feedback.
Zest Benefits is a UK-based employee benefits platform. It helps companies centralise benefits administration and improve employee engagement. The platform focuses on benefits communication, enrolment, and broker collaboration.
There’s no doubt that Zest Benefits is a solid tool for benefits administration, especially for UK-based employers.
That said, while the software is powerful, it has limitations, and these gaps often push HR teams to explore Zest Benefits alternatives.
Here are four common Zest limitations reported by users:
Some customers feel the platform leans more towards flexible benefits.
Zest’s focus on AI-powered, intelligent, and flexible benefits means it neglects essential core benefits.
The platform does not integrate directly with health insurance and pension providers, so you’ll still need a broker or be left managing all the core benefit admin yourself. Zest can host the benefits, but it can’t remove any of the underlying work. So, if your team wants to offer core benefits, Zest won’t do. You must look elsewhere.
Zest Benefits is primarily built for the UK market.
The site uses UK-specific data, regulations, and partners across various pages and reports, clearly showing its strong UK focus.
Companies with international teams or expansion plans may find the platform lacks robust multi-country support for benefits compliance and localised offerings.
While Zest offers good flexibility, a user on Capterra mentioned they "would like to be able to configure more of the homepage design".
It seems certain elements aren't fully customisable. Organisations with specific branding requirements may feel restricted.
Zest doesn’t publicly display its prices on its website.
Multiple reviewers mention that pricing isn’t always clear upfront. Also, they say that costs can increase as headcount grows or features are added.
If any of these issues sound familiar, it may be time to consider more flexible, modern Zest Benefits alternatives.
Let’s dive into the intricacies of each tool, shall we?
Kota is a modern broker alternative that handles the entire benefits lifecycle for growing companies.
Instead of juggling brokers, benefit providers, and admin platforms, Kota connects directly from your HRIS to insurance carriers and pension providers. This direct integration approach eliminates the traditional middleman model, giving your team complete benefits infrastructure without broker overhead.
Zest focuses on hosting and administering existing benefits, but you'll still need a traditional broker for core benefits like pensions and health insurance.
Kota is different - it's built as a modern broker alternative that removes all the work involved in running benefits off your plate.
Unlike Zest which requires you to manage provider relationships separately, Kota syncs directly from your HRIS to end providers like Vitality, Bupa, Allianz, and Smart Pension. This means:
Zest's UK-only focus also creates limitations for growing teams. Kota supports the UK and Ireland through direct provider integrations.
5/5
Praised for ease of use and flexibility, but some users want even more locations.
Kota offers clear, transparent per employee pricing. No hidden add-ons
European/UK scaling startups and SMEs needing an all-in-one solution for core and flexible benefits without complexity.
BambooHR is a comprehensive HR platform trusted by companies in 150+ countries. It centralises employee data, payroll, time tracking, and benefits in one intuitive system.
It’s a leading choice for small and midsize businesses that want HR, onboarding, and benefits in one place.
Key BambooHR features
Zest Benefits focuses narrowly on benefits, which is great. But if your People team also needs HR management, BambooHR would be the better choice.
At its core, BambooHR is a human resources management software, an excellent one at that. As it grew, it then included other offerings. It’s now a massive all-in-one HR solution. With BambooHR, you can take care of everything: HR, payroll, and benefits in one platform.
4.5/5
Praised for usability but criticised for limited analytics customisation in benefits.
BambooHR plans start at $10/month per employee. Benefits Administration is a paid add-on at a custom price.
Small to mid-sized companies that want HR, payroll, and benefits in one platform.
Happl is an AI-native employee benefits platform designed for global teams.
The platform uses intelligent automations to eliminate admin while delivering personalised benefits experiences. It's particularly strong for companies with distributed workforces who want flexibility without complexity.
Zest focuses heavily on UK benefits administration. Happl takes a different approach, and is better for global companies who need flexibility across borders. Happl handles international compliance that Zest simply doesn't cover with support for 160+ countries and 70+ languages.
G2 rating
No reviews.
Happl offers tiered plans with custom pricing.
Scaling global teams that want AI-powered benefits personalisation.
Ben is a UK-based employee benefits platform focused on giving employees real choice.
It has a wide benefits marketplace, emphasizing choice and flexibility.
The platform's convenient Mastercards let teams tailor benefits to individual needs and life stages.
Zest has solid benefits but often feels traditional.
Ben is more modern, especially around benefits choice and presentation. In particular, the Ben Mastercard gives employees spending freedom and personalisation that Zest can’t match.
Besides flexibility, some reviewers claim that while both tools have powerful eligibility engines, Ben has a more intuitive user interface.
4.6/5
Given the thumbs up for flexibility and the thumbs down for limited non-UK support.
Custom pricing based on the modules you want.
UK-based teams that want modern benefits experiences.
YuLife combines group insurance with gamification and wellbeing incentives. Employees earn rewards for healthy habits.
This turns traditional benefits into an engaging experience while still delivering core coverage like life insurance, health benefits, and income protection.
Zest Benefits focuses more on admin. YuLife shines in engagement, especially for wellness-driven cultures.
Gamification drives consistent usage in ways traditional platforms like Zest can't match. Is your company focused on employee wellness beyond benefits administration? Then you’re likely to get better results from YuLife.
4.4/5
Appreciated for captivating engagement but condemned for repeating the same workouts.
Customised based on company size, employee demographics, and coverage
Companies prioritising wellbeing and engagement.
There is no single best Zest Benefits alternative.
It all depends on your team’s needs, stage, and goals:
But if you want a scalable all-in-one solution for your teams in the UK and Ireland, it’s Kota all the way. Replace your broker, spreadsheets, and scattered SaaS tools with one solution that does benefits the modern way.
Trevor Gardiner QFA, RPA, APA in Insurance. With 23 years of experience in Financial Services, I have a strong passion for Health Insurance and Pensions.
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