Introducing App Studio: The end of one-size-fits-all software

Every business has different needs. Different teams. Different processes. Different ways of working. But most software doesn’t care.

All-in-one suites often force you into rigid templates and fixed workflows, built around someone else’s idea of how your business should run.

So you start filling the gaps. You buy a patchwork of point solutions for every edge case, each one disconnected from the next. You duct-tape together spreadsheets and forms. You beg engineering or IT to build something custom, only to watch it break the moment your org changes.

Every option is a compromise.

That's why we built App Studio.

It’s a place inside Rippling where anyone across the company, from ops leads to HRBPs to finance analysts, can build high-impact applications on top of a foundation that already understands your business. No more brittle workarounds. No more rigid systems.

What teams are building already

You don’t need to be an engineer to build real, scalable software in Rippling. If you understand how your company works, you can build tools that improve it, no coding required.

Here are a few examples of how companies building with App Studio drive efficiency, eliminate bottlenecks, and empower their teams to work smarter every day:

Visa Tracking App

Red Clay is a 200+ person professional services firm that helps utility companies modernize their operations through Oracle implementations around the world.

As the company expanded internationally, tracking work visas in spreadsheets became risky, time-consuming, and difficult to scale—putting employee livelihoods and compliance at stake.

Red Clay replaced its manual process with a custom-built Visa Tracking App in Rippling, giving the team a centralized, real-time system for managing authorizations, costs, and renewals.

The result: immigration data that's 10x faster to access, lower risk of compliance issues, and a smoother, more secure experience for every international employee. Here's more on Red Clay's story.

Sales Top Asks App

As Rippling grows, keeping sales and product aligned on what’s launching, and when, has become increasingly complex. Feature requests lived in spreadsheets, Salesforce, and scattered meetings, making it easy to miss opportunities or slow down deals.

So we built the Top Sales Asks app in App Studio. It combines Salesforce data, product launch timelines, and Rippling’s employee graph to power real-time updates, automated Slack digests, and role-specific views for every team.

The result: better visibility, faster decisions, and millions in revenue unlocked by surfacing the right features at the right time.

Employee Interest & Life Events App

Teleport is a 160+ person technology company that helps organizations securely access infrastructure anywhere in the world. 

As the team grew, their HR leaders struggled to track employee interests and life events in spreadsheets—making it hard to scale thoughtful, personalized programs.

Teleport replaced messy spreadsheets with a custom-built Employee CRM in Rippling, creating a centralized, always-up-to-date hub for employee interests, life events, and hobbies.The result: a more personal, people-focused HR experience that saves time, scales with the company, and makes every employee feel seen. Read Teleport's story.

IT Access Management App

At Rippling, we needed a better way to manage access to sensitive systems, especially for employees who only needed it temporarily.

As we scaled, our IT team was spending too much time granting and revoking permissions manually, and we knew that over-provisioned access posed a security risk.

So we built a Just-in-Time Access Management app using App Studio. Now, employees can request access for a specific system and time window, and the app automatically grants it based on role, logs the approval, and revokes access when the time’s up.

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The result: stronger security, less manual work, and a more scalable way to manage access as our team grows.

A few more examples of the limitless possibilities:

With App Studio, any team can turn institutional knowledge into purpose-built software that fits their exact needs, without waiting on engineering.

The result: faster operations, fewer dropped balls, and a workplace that runs the way it should.

The full power of Rippling, behind every app

Every app you build in App Studio inherits the full power of Rippling.

Build around the heart of your business: Your people

We believe employee data isn’t just for HR, it’s the backbone of every business process.

Take product launches for example. Before App Studio, we were juggling spreadsheets, disconnected task trackers, and status updates scattered across Slack, docs, and email. It worked, barely. But we were constantly chasing down owners, approvals, and launch status across teams.

So we built our own Product Launch Tracker in App Studio.

It automatically routes reminders to the right people based on their role, department, and level. It captures all of the product information and sets deadlines tied to the launch date. It notifies stakeholders when dependencies are cleared and shows real-time progress across every function involved.

And because it’s built in Rippling, we didn’t have to manually configure any of that. The app already knows who your product managers are. Your designers. Your sales leads. It understands who reports to whom, who needs visibility, and who signs off, so workflows just work.

This is what happens when you build on top of a system that already understands your people.

Whether you’re coordinating launches, managing vendor onboarding, or tracking certifications, App Studio gives you the power to build software that works across teams, automatically and at scale.

Enterprise-grade governance and approvals

Every application you build in App Studio inherits customizable airtight controls out of the box. You don’t need to bolt on governance logic. It’s already there.

• Permissions: Define who can view or edit data with logic based on role, level, department, and more.

• Approvals: Create dynamic approval chains based on any business logic that incorporates any people or business data.

Automate anything. Report on everything.

One place for all of your people and business data. Every app you build in App Studio connects with Rippling’s workflow engine and reporting tools:

• Trigger actions or alerts based on any field or status

• Build reports in minutes that show up in your app

• Visualize anything from office attendance to license status by team

Built-in reporting makes it easy to monitor activity like bonus requests across teams.

Build apps in minutes, not months

It’s easy to build an app in App Studio without code:

The drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to visualize your app and edit it in real-time.

If you want to go deeper, you can build custom elements, calculations, and integrations in code, right inside Rippling.

Add dynamic logic with JavaScript, embed third-party data via APIs, or design advanced interfaces that go beyond drag-and-drop. Whether you're extending a no-code app or building something completely bespoke, App Studio gives you full flexibility when you need it, without forcing complexity when you don’t.

Start simple. Scale as you go. Build exactly what your business needs, down to the last detail.

Built-in adoption

Most internal tools struggle to get adoption. Apps built in Rippling don’t, because they’re already inside a system your employees know. 

There’s no new login. No new system to learn. Just new functionality, right where your people are already working. 

The future of business software

With App Studio, Rippling becomes more of the system you not only run your business on—but also build it with.

For the first time, you can build on top of a system that already knows your people. You can configure, extend, and invent new applications that plug directly into the heart of how your business runs.

No more point solution sprawl. No more rigid all-in-ones. No more settling.

Just software that fits your business like a glove, and evolves as fast as your company does.

But this is about more than software.

How to get started

You can start building your own application in Rippling today. And if you’d like help, our team of experts can guide you through it, from idea to launch.

Learn more about App Studio: https://www.rippling.com/app-studio