ADP is often the first brand that comes to mind when a small business seeks payroll software. However, there are numerous ADP competitors and payroll alternatives, many of which offer similar services at much lower prices. Many of the ADP competitors are also easier to set up and use and may provide better customer support.
In this article, we’ll compare the price and features of 6 ADP competitors. As a benchmark, we’ll use an every other week payroll for 25 employees, which would cost over $4000/year using ADP Run — ADP’s product geared toward small businesses. Let’s see which ADP alternative is best for your business.
| ADP Alternative | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gusto | Best overall ADP alternative for small business. | |
| Paychex Flex | Businesses that want to manage payroll via a mobile app. | |
| Paycor | Fast growing companies that need payroll setup quickly and easily in less than a week. | |
| Inova | Specific industries, particularly retail, hospitality, and healthcare businesses. | |
| Intuit Basic Payroll | Businesses that are already using QuickBooks and want a no frills payroll solution. | |
| Zenefits | Businesses who want HR functions included as part of their payroll package. |
How We Evaluated the Top ADP Competitors
To compare alternatives to ADP Run, we evaluated cloud-based payroll software programs that can do the following:
- Run payroll calculations
- Manage payroll deductions — including 401k and garnishments
- Track benefits deductions and ensure ACA compliance
- Pay employees via direct deposit, paper check or pay card
- Process state and local tax deductions and payments
- Manage federal tax deductions and tax filings, FUTA, FICA
- Process employees and contractors year end W-2s and 1099s
- Provide basic reports such as payroll runs and new hire reporting
Many of the ADP alternative payroll software programs, depending on add-ons they have, also provide additional options, such as managing workers comp, integrating with HR systems, providing labor law posters, tracking time (or importing time clock data), managing vacation and PTO balances, and providing custom reports.
As we review each of the ADP competitors, we’ll discuss these additional benefits and services.
Gusto
Gusto screenshot showing payroll history
Who Gusto is Right For
Based on its low price, ease of use, great reviews, and robust features, Gusto is the best option for small businesses that want great payroll software, like ADP, without the ADP price tag. Gusto offers payroll in all 50 states, and it’s the same price whether you need to run payroll in one state or in several. It’s also no additional charge to run payroll more often.
Gusto has all the features mentioned above even though it costs just half of what ADP costs. On top of that, Gusto provides basic HR functions like a co-worker directory and org chart, which ADP Run doesn’t have. So in a way, you’re getting more for less. And if you’re in one of the 17 states where Gusto provides benefits insurance, that’s a nice bonus to be able to offer to your employees.
Gusto offers a 1-month free trial that starts with your first payroll run. To learn more about Gusto, check out our Gusto review, how Gusto compares to Paychex, and how Gusto compares to QuickBooks and Patriot. Gusto continues to be our top pick for small business payroll software.
Gusto Pricing
Gusto costs $39/month plus $6 per user per month. For our comparative pricing using a company with 25 employees paid every other week as an example, Gusto would cost $189/month. By comparison, ADP Run, which charges per payroll run, would cost over $300/month.
So on an annual basis, Gusto would cost about half as much as ADP (see below), and there is no additional cost if you have employees in multiple states. And unlike ADP that charges for every payroll run, including if you have to re-run a payroll due to an error, Gusto’s rate is based on the number of employees you have, not number of payroll runs, ensuring your payroll costs remain predictable.
Best of all, there is NO annual contract and NO setup fee with Gusto. ADP charges a $200 setup fee and requires you to commit to at least one year.
How Gusto Works
Gusto provides payroll as part of an HR/payroll software package that includes electronic document storage. So in addition to payroll processing, you also get basic HR functionality, such as employee data and PTO tracking, at no extra charge. Gusto offers both 2-day and 4-day payroll payment processing. The 2 day payroll is no additional cost, but Gusto would need banking information to get your business approved and on the 2-day program. Worker’s compensation administration is also included, and year end W-2s and 1099s are included in this price.
With ADP Run, you have to pay extra for year end tax docs and extra payroll runs such as a year-end bonus. That adds up. For additional details, check our our side-by-side comparison of ADP, Paychex, and Gusto.
ADP Run vs. Gusto Comparison Summary
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | +$200 setup fee | NO setup fee |
| Run payroll & manage pre- and post-tax deductions: 401k, benefits, garnishments | ||
| 401K Enrollment | ||
| Benefits Enrollment & ACA Compliance | ||
| Workers Compensation | ||
| Time & Attendance | ||
| Payment Methods | +Paycard available with Enhanced Payroll | |
| State and Local Taxes | ||
| Compliance and Tax Filings | ||
| Year End W2s/1099s | ||
| Labor Law Posters | ||
| Reports | ||
| Mobile Access & Employee Self Service | ||
| Integrations | Deputy, Xero | Freshbooks & More |
| Support | Web, Chat, Facebook 24 hours/7 days a week | Web, Chat & Email 6a-6p M-F |
| Add Ons | Time & Labor Worker’s Comp | Benefits Insurance HR Advisory Services 401k plans/529 plans FSA/HSA Commuter Benefits |
What Gusto is Missing
Gusto is missing customer support on the weekend (although their support gets good reviews for solving any issues), and there’s no check printing option within the software. (You can print checks offline). Unlike ADP, Gusto does not offer labor law posters, but that’s not a huge downside because you can download them for free from the DOL.
Gusto also doesn’t have a mobile app for employees to view their pay stubs, but neither does ADP. Garnishments (money taken out of wages for certain legal reasons, such as a court order to pay child support) are processed by Gusto in all states except So. Carolina. And although their reviews are mostly positive, there are some naysayers — for more information, check out our Gusto Review.
Paychex Flex
Paychex flex payroll screen showing widgets
Who Paychex Flex Is Right For
One of the cool benefits of Paychex Flex is the ability to run payroll from your mobile app. Neither APD Run nor Gusto does that. And when you run payroll, it runs your reports for you, so they’re ready to view. You don’t have to run them yourself, or wait while they process. That saves time.
Otherwise, Paychex Flex offers similar features to ADP and Gusto, including basic HR data, like hire data and employee contact info, mobile access to paystubs, tracking of balances like 401K, ability to put an employee on leave, and ACA compliance.
Paychex Flex also offers something called “open API” which allows software developers (or your internal programmers) to integrate payroll data with your custom or proprietary software.
Paychex Flex Pricing
Like ADP Run, Paychex Flex bases its pricing on the number of payroll runs, so in our example of a company with 25 employees and every other week payroll, the price would be about $217 per month for 26 pay runs a year. There’s no setup fee. However there are multiple pricing tiers and small upcharges, such as $10 for payroll delivery. Paychex Flex, like Gusto, is nearly half the cost of ADP Run. For other Paychex pricing tiers, read our review of Paychex Flex.
We used pricing from Paychex Flex Pro which is most similar to ADP Run, but you could also get an option that has time keeping functionality for about $1 more per employee if you need both timekeeping and payroll. ADP Run also has a timekeeping option at $2.60 per person per payroll run — more than double the price of Paychex.
How Paychex Flex Works
Like ADP, Paychex Flex runs payroll, and you can purchase add ons such as time keeping, and HR applications that allow it to function like an all-in-one package, similar to Gusto. Paychex Flex includes pre-employment background screenings, and an employee handbook builder in their offering that ADP doesn’t have. Paychex also includes labor posters. ADP charges extra for posters and Gusto doesn’t provide them at all.
Paychex also offers an employee portal for self service, similar to Gusto, so employees can do things like update their tax withholdings. Employees can use a mobile app to view pay stubs. These are time savers that mean you don’t have to do as much payroll administration work yourself.
Otherwise, check out our robust comparison of these top 3 vendors, ADP, Paychex and Gusto to see how similar they are.
ADP vs. Paychex Flex Comparison Summary
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Run payroll & manage pre- and post-tax deductions: 401k, benefits, garnishments | ||
| 401K Enrollment | ||
| Benefits Enrollment & ACA Compliance | ||
| Workers Compensation | ||
| Time & Attendance | ||
| Payment Methods | +Paycard available with Enhanced Payroll | |
| Mobile Access & Employee Self Service | ||
| State and Local Taxes | ||
| Compliance and Tax Filings | ||
| Year End W2s/1099s | ||
| Labor Law Posters | ||
| Reports | ||
| Integrations | Deputy, Xero | plus Developer API |
| Support | Web, Chat, Facebook 24 hours/7 days a week | 24 hours/7 days a week |
| Add Ons | Time & Labor Worker’s Comp | Timekeeping HR, Onboarding Applicant screening, tracking Benefits Insurance PEO |
What Paychex Flex is Missing
The biggest thing missing with Paychex Flex are integrations to external timekeeping and accounting software, probably because they have their own packages and allow developers access to their code. As far as pricing they’re much less than ADP, but still a bit higher than Gusto. Like ADP, they charge extra for year end W2s, whereas Gusto includes W2s and 1099s at no extra charge.
Inova
Inova Payroll Employee Dashboard Screenshot
Source: Inova.com
Who Inova Is Right For
The key benefit of Inova Payroll, in addition to a great price as compared to ADP, is that it scales as you grow your business. Inova provides HR functionality like Gusto, and also adds I-9 verification through e-Verify which is a benefit in regulated industries like healthcare. Over time, with Inova you can add everything a large scale human capital management (HCM) provider might offer — from benefits plans and 401k programs to background checks and performance reviews as you add additional employees. ADP Run doesn’t have any offerings like that.
Inova was designed with specific industries in mind. For example, it integrates with POS systems for retail and hospitality, which ADP Run doesn’t do. Like ADP, Inova can manage the robust payroll requirements within the healthcare industry, such as shift differential pay.
Inova Pricing
Inova bases their pricing per pay run and per check, similar to ADP. For our comparison of 25 employees with every-other-week payroll Inova averaged under $200/month for payroll. Inova also offers a discount for non-profit organizations.
But, there’s a catch. The annual payroll processing price includes federal, but doesn’t include state tax payments, and for those, you’ll pay about $300 extra for each state that your employees work in. The state upcharge will be added as a separate line item on your proposal. That’s fine if all your employees are in only one state. But it can be expensive if your employees are in 5 or more states, adding an additional $1500/year ($300 per state) to your payroll costs. Like ADP, time tracking is available at an extra cost.
How Inova Works
Like ADP Run, Inova is cloud based, but is more like Paychex Flex with cool benefits like a mobile app for employees and an employee dashboard for self service. Inova provides automated new hire reporting, and unlimited deductions. It also processes payroll calculations real-time (so you don’t have to run a process to see and verify the net check amount).
Inova had one of the best reporting options out of all the ADP competitors we tested. All their standard payroll reports are customizable on the fly, and report data can be downloaded in multiple formats — from .xls to .html.
ADP vs. Inova Comparison Summary
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Run payroll & manage pre- and post-tax deductions: 401k, benefits, garnishments | ||
| 401K Enrollment | ||
| Benefits Enrollment & ACA Compliance | ||
| Payment Methods | +Paycard available with Enhanced Payroll | |
| Worker’s Comp | ||
| Time & Attendance | ||
| Mobile Access & Employee Self Service | ||
| State and Local Taxes | ||
| Compliance and Tax Filings | ||
| Year End W2s/1099s | ||
| Labor Law Posters | ||
| Integrations | Deputy, Xero | integrations based on industry like restaurants and healthcare |
| Support | Web, Chat, Facebook 24 hours/7 days a week | Web or email 8AM–5PM CDT, M–F |
| Add Ons | Time & Labor Worker’s Comp | Health Insurance Background Screening 401K Plans Timekeeping Human Capital Mgmt (HCM) |
What Inova is Missing
Inova’s prices are not posted on their website, so you’re required to sit through a 90-minute demo before they’ll share pricing with you. And their tax processing fees go up based on the number of states you have employees in. That can get costly if you have employees working in multiple geographic locations.
Intuit Basic Payroll
Intuit payroll screenshot showing deductions
Who Intuit Basic Payroll Is Right For
Intuit Basic Payroll is designed for anyone already using QuickBooks. Both products are made by Intuit, and Intuit Payroll integrates with QuickBooks for general ledger and taxes. So if you’re already using QuickBooks, Intuit Basic Payroll can be a quick and easy payroll solution.
While you don’t need QuickBooks to run just the cloud-based Intuit Basic Payroll, you’ll find it saves you time by avoiding duplicate data entry if you have both Intuit applications (Intuit Basic Payroll is compatible with QuickBooks Online or a 2015 or newer version of QuickBooks Desktop).
Intuit Payroll is also great for anyone who wants to be able to run payroll even while out of the office, since you can run payroll from your laptop, iPad, or even your smartphone, like Paychex Flex.
Intuit Basic Payroll Pricing
Intuit Basic Payroll pricing starts at $225 per year with an additional $2 per employee per month if you pay annually. On the surface, Intuit Basic Payroll appears to cost significantly less than ADP Run (at $825 year for 25 employees vs. $4,000 year with ADP Run) or any of the ADP competitors. However, the way that Intuit Basic payroll is priced, fees start adding up if you add worker’s compensation, direct deposit and year end tax processing, since those aren’t included in the Intuit Basic Payroll base price. Once you factor in the add-on costs, Intuit payroll will likely run about the same as other ADP competitors annually. But if you’re just doing bare bones no frills payroll, with no direct deposit, it may be a good option.
Unlike ADP, there is no charge per payroll run and you can even run salaried and hourly payrolls on different pay dates — for example, you may wish to pay hourly staff weekly, and pay salaried employees every other week. If you run weekly payroll, and print your own paper checks, Intuit Basic Payroll might be the best value. And you can upgrade to get additional features like timekeeping when you need them. Learn more about Intuit’s different pricing tiers here.
Also, ask about specials. At the time this was written, Intuit was offering first month free. If you buy QuickBooks and Intuit QuickBooks Payroll at the same time, you can save 50% off both.
How Intuit Basic Payroll Works
Intuit Basic Payroll has versions that run with or without QuickBooks. You input your payroll hours, and run payroll. Employees can be paid via check, pay card (like a credit card to pay employees without bank accounts), or direct deposit. You team members can view their pay stubs online via smart phone.
However, you’ll pay a fee for each direct deposit. Like ADP, Intuit also provides Labor Law posters, workers comp, and 1099s for an upcharge. For an in-depth review of how Intuit payroll compares to Gusto and others, read our review.
ADP vs. Intuit Basic Payroll Comparison Summary
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Run payroll & manage pre- and post-tax deductions: 401k, benefits, garnishments | ||
| 401K Enrollment | ||
| Benefits Enrollment & ACA Compliance | ||
| Workers Comp | ||
| Time & Attendance | ||
| Payment Methods | +Paycard available with Enhanced Payroll | Direct Deposit costs $2 per check bank processing fee |
| Mobile Access & Employee Self Service | ||
| State and Local Taxes | ||
| Compliance and Tax Filings | Enhanced Payroll, +$165/year |
|
| Year End W2s/1099s | ||
| Labor Law Posters | (price varies by state) |
|
| Reports | ||
| Support | Web, Chat, Facebook 24 hours/7 days a week | Sa 6a-3p, plus an online support center with faqs, users guides and tutorials |
| Integrations | Deputy, Xero | |
| Add Ons | Time & Labor Worker’s Comp | Time Tracking Labor Law Posters |
What Intuit is Missing
You have to upgrade or pay extra with Intuit Basic Payroll to get automated year-end tax forms. However, the data is provided so you can give year end payroll and tax data directly to your tax accountant. Like ADP, Intuit also has no access to benefits providers, and can manage only the benefits deduction, not enrollment. Intuit also doesn’t have ACA compliance, so as you grow past 50 employees it might not be the best option.
And, the biggest complaint of current users is the fee charged for each direct deposit; however, given the overall annual savings and QuickBooks compatibility, Intuit may still be the right ADP alternative for you.
Paycor
Paycor image showing summary after payroll run
Who Paycor Is Right For
Paycor is one of the easiest payroll platforms to get started on. That’s nice if you’re in a hurry. Once you decide to use it, you can be set up in days and will have a dedicated customer support team to answer questions. Inova, which offers similar features, requires a 4-6 week set up timeframe. Paycor also has an interface that uses widgets (boxes on the screen) for commonly used functions, like the company communication option that allows you to send out reminders to employees about payroll, or any topic, such as next month’s holiday schedule.
In addition to payroll, Paycor has lots of add ons, such as managing PTO and vacation balances, work flow that reminds you to do things like add a bonus, and customizable views. Their payroll data displays on a pay grid, which looks like a spreadsheet on steroids and allows you to view all data at once, exactly as you want to see it including base pay, overtime commissions, etc. Once payroll runs, the reports provide visual data with color charts.
Paycor Pricing
Paycor starts at $49/month for up to 10 employees and works out to about $188/month for 25 employees. That price includes year end tax processing — ADP and some others charge extra for that. Paycor is less expensive than ADP run by about 50%, similar to most of the other ADP alternatives. Adding functions, such as ACA compliance when you get to 50 employees, is also not expensive with Paycor at only about $2 per employee. And time and attendance options are available at a cost of $3 per month plus setup fee.
Paycor also has a more entry level payroll system which we didn’t compare. And since their pricing isn’t available on their website, you’ll need to contact them directly to learn more about it.
How Paycor Works
Paycor Perform provides the basic payroll functions along with employee data administration. Employees can view their pay stubs via mobile phone. But Paycor, like many of the ADP alternatives, offers much more in its packages, such as PTO and vacation tracking, workflow, and communication tools.
Paycor payroll is built on their Perform platform, and that means you can add functionality as your business grows. They have clients of all size from 1-10,000 employees, so you won’t have to change payroll companies if you grow past 100 employees and realize you want to add features like a new hire onboarding checklist, applicant tracking or training tools. They also provide software integrations to systems like QuickBooks and more.
Their chat feature lets you provide software feedback directly on their website. They use that customer feedback to determine their software improvement priorities.
ADP vs. Paycor Payroll Comparison Summary
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Run payroll & manage pre- and post-tax deductions: 401k, benefits, garnishments | ||
| 401K Enrollment | ||
| Benefits Enrollment & ACA Compliance | ||
| Workers Compensation | ||
| Time & Attendance | ||
| Payment Methods | +Paycard available with Enhanced Payroll | |
| Mobile Access & Employee Self Service | ||
| State and Local Taxes | ||
| Compliance and Tax Filings | ||
| Year End W2s/1099s | ||
| Labor Law Posters | ||
| Reports | ||
| Integrations | Deputy, Xero | |
| Support | Web, Chat, Facebook 24 hours/7 days a week | |
| Add Ons | Time & Labor Worker’s Comp | Time Clock Onboarding, Applicant Tracking Learning Management Labor Costing |
What Paycor is Missing
Paycor was difficult to get in touch with via web/email. After completing the online form for a quote, and viewing a demo we received daily system generated marketing emails which some might consider spam. However, we never received a personal response via phone or email until we called directly and asked to speak to someone in the sales department.
However, once you reach them, they set you up with a quick 30 minute demo and give you pricing right away. Therefore, if you want a quote it’s best to call them at 800-381-0053, since they’re slow to respond to email and web inquiries.
Zenefits
Zenefits showing a sample payroll run
Who Zenefits Is Right For
Zenefits is HR software that does payroll. It’s designed for those businesses looking for HR options in addition to payroll — such as hiring, onboarding, company directory, and org chart — which are not available with ADP Run. So if you’re planning on adding HR tools anyhow, then you could do so with Zenefits getting both HR and payroll for less than you’d pay for ADP Run’s payroll software alone.
Unlike Zenefits, where HR features are included, some of the other ADP alternatives like Paycor and Inova have an upcharge for HR features. However, Zenefits does payroll processing in only 29 states + Wash DC, while ADP and most other ADP alternatives process payroll in all US states.
Zenefits Pricing
Zenefits costs $40 a month plus $5 per employee per month for their HR software, and another $5 per employee per month to add payroll. Since they price based on monthly rates rather than per pay run like ADP and Paychex, they may be less expensive for payroll if you run payroll weekly, or need to process extra payroll runs for retro pay, bonuses or commissions. There is an extra cost of $2 per check if you pay 1099 contractors and vendors.
If you pay for an annual contract, you can get up to 25% off. Even without the discount, the cost of Zenefits would be $290/month for 25 employees paid every other week to get HR and payroll, compared to ADP which would cost about $330 for payroll alone.
How Zenefits Works
Zenefits provides a demo and a free trial, so you can really evaluate the software before you commit. We recently wrote an article reviewing Zenefits, and another on Zenefits competitors in the HR/Payroll market. With employee HR and payroll integrated, all your employee data is in one place so there’s no need for duplicate data entry, saving you time and reducing mistakes.
ADP vs. Zenefits Comparison Summary
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | +$200 setup fee | |
| Run payroll & manage pre- and post-tax deductions: 401k, benefits, garnishments | (Currently accepting new clients in these states only) |
|
| 401K Enrollment | ||
| Benefits Enrollment | Compliance is an upgrade | |
| Workers Comp | ||
| Time & Attendance | ||
| Payment Methods | +Paycard available with Enhanced Payroll | deposit & paycards |
| Mobile Access & Employee Self Service | ||
| State and Local Taxes | ||
| Compliance and Tax Filings | ||
| Year End W2s/1099s | ||
| Labor Law Posters | ||
| Reports | ||
| Integrations | Xero, Quickbooks & More |
|
| Support | Web, Chat, Facebook 24 hours/7 days a week | guaranteed 24 hour response via phone or email, plus robust Help Center |
| Add Ons | Time & Labor Worker’s Comp | Benefits Compensation Management Time & Attendance |
What Zenefits is Missing
While Zenefits tracks garnishment deductions, it doesn’t remit them to a third party, so you’ll have to do (and track) that manually. One of our reviewers said the time-off request function in Zenefits was clunky as compared to ADP. And if you pay employees via commissions only, Zenefits can’t help. Also, Zenefits currently doesn’t offer payroll processing in all 50 states, whereas ADP and most of the ADP alternatives do.
Other Alternative Payroll Providers
In addition to direct competitors of ADP, your small business has options from free to low cost payroll providers that may be missing some of ADPs features to a professional employer organization, PEO that can provide full service co-employment for your business.
Bottom Line on ADP Competitors
All of the ADP competitors we described above cost less than ADP Run, which is ADP’s small business package. So although ADP has almost 20% of the payroll market, they’re not the only option. In fact, most ADP alternatives cost less and are a better fit for smaller companies.
And while some of the ADP alternatives, like Gusto and Paychex offer similar services, others like Zenefits, Inova and Paycor provide a full HR suite. So before you sign an annual contract with ADP, take a look at the competition out there. You may find payroll software you like better, that does more, and you might just save some money.
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