Top 5 Zest Benefits Alternatives In 2026 Compared

Quick Summary

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.

Looking for an Alternative to Zest Benefits?

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.

Why Trust Us?

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. 

What Is Zest Benefits?

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.

Key Zest Benefits features

• Codeless benefit builder that simplifies complex benefits without developers.

• Total reward statements showing employees the full value of their compensation package

• Smart automation for benefits allocation, eligibility tracking, and reporting

• Self-service portal where employees can manage benefits on their own.

• Integration marketplace connecting with HR systems, payroll, and benefits providers for seamless data flow.

Why Look For Zest Benefits Alternatives?

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:

1. Neglects core benefits

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.

2. Limited global benefits support

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.

3. Customisation Constraints

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.

4. Pricing transparency concerns

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?

1. Kota

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.

Key Kota features

• Centralised benefits: Oversee health, life, retirement, and flex benefits through one central hub

• Flexible benefits wallet: Staff pick benefits that match their lifestyle in just a few clicks

• Broker-level support: 50+ years in benefits program design to build your offering and address staff questions

• Provider integrations: Partnerships with Allianz, Smart Pension, and Vitality minimise paperwork

• Automatic HRIS and payroll sync: Automatically updates joiners, leavers, and pay changes without requiring manual data

• Detailed analytics: Review expenditure and adoption across all benefits and regions

• Employee app: Lets staff handle their own enrolment and benefit choices

What Kota offers over Zest Benefits

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:

• No double admin: You're not updating employee data across providers, your benefits platform, AND your HRIS

• No broker fees on top of platform costs: Kota replaces your broker entirely with 50+ years of benefits expertise built into the platform

• True end-to-end automation: From onboarding to payroll reconciliation, Kota acts as benefits infrastructure, not just another admin tool

Zest's UK-only focus also creates limitations for growing teams. Kota supports the UK and Ireland through direct provider integrations.

G2 rating

5/5 

Praised for ease of use and flexibility, but some users want even more locations.

Pricing

Kota offers clear, transparent per employee pricing. No hidden add-ons

• Startup £199 base monthly platform fee (up to 20 people)

• Scaleup £9 per employee monthly platform fee (21 to 100 people)

• Midmarket £6 per employee monthly platform fee (101 to 500)

Best For

European/UK scaling startups and SMEs needing an all-in-one solution for core and flexible benefits without complexity. 

2. BambooHR

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

• Centralised database: Syncs payroll and benefits data in one place.

• Benefits administration: Allows employees to compare plans and choose benefits

• Robust reporting: Get real-time insights on benefits uptake and costs by department

• Self-service portal: Allows teams to manage benefits without burdening HR

• Mobile app: Access benefits anywhere from your smartphone

What BambooHR offers over Zest Benefits

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.

G2 rating

4.5/5 

Praised for usability but criticised for limited analytics customisation in benefits.

Pricing

BambooHR plans start at $10/month per employee. Benefits Administration is a paid add-on at a custom price.

Best for

Small to mid-sized companies that want HR, payroll, and benefits in one platform.

3. Happl

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.

Key Happl features

• AI-Powered personalisation: Tailors benefit recommendations based on employee preferences, interests, and goals

• Happl flex card: Roll out global allowances (wellbeing, L&D, WFH) on one smart card with built-in tax and policy controls

• 100+ HRIS integrations: Connects with BambooHR, Workday, and others to automate enrolment and offboarding

• Manager engagement tools: Gives managers budgets and insights to support and reward their teams

• Global compliance: Handles tax reporting, P11Ds, and local regulations across 160+ countries

What Happl offers over Zest Benefits

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.

Pricing

Happl offers tiered plans with custom pricing.

Best For

Scaling global teams that want AI-powered benefits personalisation.

4. Ben

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.

Key Ben features

• Ben Mastercard: Empowers employees to spend their benefits budget on approved categories

• Total reward statement: Unify equity, bonus, base, and benefits in one place

• Multi-country support: Roll out compliant benefits in 140+ countries

• Real-time analytics: Monitor usage across demographics and identify underused benefits

• Self-serve enrolment: Lets your team enroll from anywhere

What Ben offers over Zest Benefits

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.

G2 rating

4.6/5 

Given the thumbs up for flexibility and the thumbs down for limited non-UK support.

Pricing

Custom pricing based on the modules you want.

Best For

UK-based teams that want modern benefits experiences.

5. YuLife

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.

Key YuLife features

• Gamified wellbeing app: Lets employees do daily challenges that reward healthy behaviors

• Virtual GP: Gives employees 24/7 access to medical professionals.

• Team leaderboards: Create department competitions to boost engagement rates

• CSR integration: Donate to charity while building healthy habits

• Self-serve: Give your team immediate access to your employee wellbeing services

What YuLife offers over Zest Benefits

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.

G2 rating

4.4/5 

Appreciated for captivating engagement but condemned for repeating the same workouts.

Pricing

Customised based on company size, employee demographics, and coverage

Best for

Companies prioritising wellbeing and engagement.

Take Your Pick From These 5 Zest Benefits Alternatives

There is no single best Zest Benefits alternative.

It all depends on your team’s needs, stage, and goals:

• For core HR and basic benefits, get BambooHR.

• For AI personalisation, get Happl.

• For flexible benefits for UK-based teams, get Ben.

• For wellbeing and gamified rewards, get YuLife.

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.

👉 Get started today