Benefits Studio Launches to Fill the Missing Middle of Benefits Navigation at $49/mo
MIAMI, FLORIDA, Oct. 14, 2026. Benefits Studio launched a platform today that lets insurance brokers and HR teams publish a branded employee benefits website in about five minutes, with an AI assistant that answers employee questions from the employer's own plan documents and cites the page. The company is built for what founder Rick Ramos calls the missing middle of benefits navigation: small and mid-market employers that have outgrown a folder of PDFs but don't need a per-employee navigation contract.
Many employees don't know what their benefits include. A recent study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Lincoln Financial found that employers reported offering accident insurance at a 46% rate, while only 28% of employees said they had access to it. The gap was widest at organizations with fewer than 500 employees. Among employees who knew they had the coverage, 70% enrolled.
The term benefits navigation covers products that have almost nothing in common, and buyers often compare a $49 tool with a staffed service priced per employee as if they did the same job. Benefits Studio sees benefits support as a five-level market:
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Benefits information. Plan documents, carrier links and an HR inbox. It costs almost nothing and leaves employees to find answers on their own.
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Benefits website. A branded site employees can browse, typically built with a general website platform and largely static from year to year.
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Benefits guidance. A benefits-specific site that stays current with the plan year and can answer employee questions using the employer's actual plan documents.
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Concierge navigation. Provider search, cost guidance and human concierge support, typically priced per employee per month.
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Full-service healthcare navigation. Nurses, advocates, and claims and care management, at higher per-employee prices.
Large employers are moving up that ladder quickly. Business Group on Health found 60% of large employers already use AI for benefits navigation and support, and HR platforms such as Workday are adding AI benefits guidance for their enterprise customers. Small and mid-market employers have mostly been served by products at the first two levels, while more advanced navigation has been designed and priced for larger employers and bigger budgets. Few products are specifically built for the space between a benefits website and full-service navigation.
Benefits Studio covers both of those levels. Brokers and HR teams can start with a benefits website that carries over from one plan year to the next, then add AI guidance that answers from the employer's own plan documents. The platform is built for employers with 50 or more employees, including companies with more than 1,000.
"The big navigation platforms are built for large companies, and their pricing shows it," said Ramos. "An 80-person company doesn't need a nurse line on contract. It needs a benefits site that stays current and answers everyday questions from its own plan, and that shouldn't cost more every time the company hires someone."
How it works
Benefits Studio replaces the general website builder many brokers and HR teams use for benefits sites today. A broker or HR administrator uploads the plan documents. Benefits Studio extracts the key plan information, which the broker or HR administrator reviews before the site goes live. Employees get a branded site they can open on any phone without an account or with an optional site-wide password. Sites are organized by plan year, so a new year doesn't mean rebuilding the site.
The plans are designed around the second and third levels of the market. Essentials ($49/month) is a purpose-built benefits website. Professional ($99/month) and Advanced ($199/month) add Benny, the company's AI assistant, which answers employee questions in plain language and points to the page in the plan document where each answer lives. Pricing is one flat rate per site, with no per-employee fees.
Pricing and availability
Benefits Studio is available today at benefitsstudio.com. Every new account gets a free 30-day site, with no credit card required. Brokers managing 10 or more sites get volume discounts on annual billing.
About Benefits Studio
Benefits Studio builds AI-powered employee benefits websites for employee benefits advisors and HR teams at small and mid-market employers. Brokers and HR teams can publish a branded benefits site in about five minutes, and Benny, the company's AI assistant, answers employee questions from the employer's own plan documents with page citations. Pricing is a flat rate per site with no per-employee fees. Founder Rick Ramos previously served as CMO and founding team member at HealthJoy. Learn more at benefitsstudio.com.
