Last updated: May 26, 2026.
Alice and HealthEquity both offer pretax commuter benefits. The model is different. HealthEquity is the parent company that absorbed WageWorks; the commuter benefits product runs on prefunded account/card mechanics. Alice was built differently — for hourly, frontline, tipped-wage, and variable-hour workforces, and Alice does not hold prefunded employee balances.
The model difference in one sentence
HealthEquity earns custodial revenue while employee and employer benefit dollars wait in prefunded accounts; Alice sizes the benefit around actual eligible commute spending and paycheck reality instead.
Side-by-side comparison
| Alice | HealthEquity | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Spend-driven; no employee pre-funding. Benefit tied to actual eligible commute spending and reflected in payroll. | Prefunded account/card; employees set or change a monthly election in advance. |
| Best-fit workforce | Hourly, tipped-wage, variable-hour, multi-location, frontline teams | Often used by employers already using HealthEquity for broader benefits administration |
| Revenue on idle balances | Alice does not earn custodial or yield revenue on benefit balances | HealthEquity reported $636.8M in custodial revenue for FY26 (fiscal year ended January 31, 2026) |
| Employee pre-funding | None held by Alice | Funds generally must be loaded or available before spend; exact mechanics depend on employer setup |
| Election cadence | Adjusted per pay period based on actual spending and paycheck | Monthly election; employees can change, pause, or cancel subject to monthly deadlines |
| Multi-location payroll support | Built for employers with employees across multiple worksites, payroll groups, and EINs | Designed for employers with stable single-entity payroll structures |
| Payroll connections | Automated connections to 30+ payroll systems | Payroll deductions supported; integration model varies |
| Card | Alice Card — a Visa commercial credit card; not a debit, prepaid, or preloaded card | Employer-provided benefit card tied to prefunded account balance |
| 2026 IRS commuter limit | $340/month transit + $340/month parking | $340/month transit + $340/month parking |
| NYC Local Law 53 support | Yes — see Alice NYC page | Yes |
Why the model matters for hourly teams
For a salaried office worker, a fixed monthly benefit election may be fine. For a server, cook, barista, housekeeper, home health aide, or retail worker whose shifts and paycheck change, a fixed monthly deduction is often the wrong shape.
Hourly workers frequently do not know next month’s shifts, tips, or commute pattern when a traditional monthly commuter election is due. A prefunded commuter account solves that by asking the employee to guess. Alice is built to avoid that guess.
Alice internal product data for hospitality customers showed benefit elections changed in 91% of pay periods over a one-year measurement period, without the employer manually resizing each election. (Alice internal data; ask Alice for current methodology before quoting it.)
See how Alice works for restaurants, hospitality, and healthcare teams, or review what expenses are eligible.
Where HealthEquity may still fit
If you have a mostly salaried, office-based workforce with predictable monthly commuting and you already use HealthEquity for HSA or other benefits, the WageWorks commuter product may be workable. Alice is built for hourly, frontline, tipped-wage, variable-schedule, and multi-location teams — that is where the two products diverge most.
What public reviews show
As of May 26, 2026, public review sites showed high one-star review volume for HealthEquity. Trustpilot showed 345 total reviews with 94% one-star — approximately 324 one-star reviews for HealthEquity. BBB separately showed 395 customer reviews at a 1.04 out of 5 average rating.
For context on the WageWorks brand that HealthEquity absorbed: Trustpilot showed approximately 77 one-star reviews for the WageWorks URL specifically.
Review counts are a public customer-experience signal. They are not a complete measure of provider quality, and review platforms change over time.
How HealthEquity earns revenue on benefit balances
HealthEquity’s business model is built in part around custodial revenue — money earned on assets held on behalf of members and employers while those assets wait to be spent.
HealthEquity’s FY26 annual report says it earns custodial revenue primarily from HSA cash and client-held funds, and that client-held funds are interest-earning deposits held to pre-fund and facilitate administration of consumer-directed benefits. The same filing notes that a higher yield can increase the spread between interest offered to HealthEquity by partners and interest retained by members, which can increase profitability.
HealthEquity’s FY26 earnings release reported $485.0 million of service revenue, $636.8 million of custodial revenue, and $191.6 million of interchange revenue for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026.
HealthEquity’s March 2026 investor presentation highlights $18.0 billion in HSA cash assets and $17.3 billion in fixed-rate contracts as of January 31, 2026.
That does not mean every unused dollar is profit, and it does not mean HealthEquity keeps forfeited commuter funds. The point is structural: idle prefunded balances are economically meaningful in HealthEquity’s model. Alice does not hold prefunded employee balances for commuter benefits.
How to migrate from HealthEquity to Alice
- Call or email Alice. Contact sales@thisisalice.com or (929) 552-4625.
- Connect payroll. Alice has connections to 30+ payroll providers, including ADP, UKG, Paylocity, Paycom, Paychex, Toast, and others.
- Set plan details. Alice adds your employer logo, plan design, and billing. Review and approve employee-facing materials.
- Notify your team. Alice provides employee-facing materials. Employees enroll through Alice and receive Alice Card for eligible commuter spending.
- Coordinate the wind-down. Work with HealthEquity on any run-out period for existing prefunded commuter balances. Alice can help coordinate timing.
Setup typically takes about one week from order form to first payroll run.
If you are also evaluating other legacy providers, see Alice vs WageWorks.
Ready to switch?
Contact sales@thisisalice.com or (929) 552-4625. We’ll get you onboarded in one call.
This page reflects publicly available HealthEquity SEC filings and review-site data as of May 26, 2026. Verify current product features and pricing with HealthEquity directly. Alice does not provide tax, legal, or financial advice.