RUN Powered by ADP® vs. ADP Workforce Now

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
RUN Powered by ADP®
Score 9.1 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
The RUN Powered by ADP® cloud-based solution is used to pay employees. It also includes HR and hiring tools, as well as benefits, helping small businesses grow and manage their teams.N/A
ADP Workforce Now
Score 7.5 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
ADP Workforce Now is a cloud-based HR platform for mid-sized businesses. It features customizable modules of various HR services that businesses can tailor to their specific needs, as well as regulatory monitoring and alerts to help businesses remain compliant.N/A
Pricing
RUN Powered by ADP®ADP Workforce Now
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Essential
Contact sales team
Enhanced
Contact sales team
Complete
Contact sales team
HR Pro
Contact sales team
Payroll Essentials
Contact sales team
HR Plus
Contact sales team
Hiring Advantage
Contact sales team
Performance Plus
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
RUN Powered by ADP®ADP Workforce Now
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional DetailsPlease contact ADP for a product demo and ask about a hands-on "test drive" of Workforce Now.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
RUN Powered by ADP®ADP Workforce Now
Considered Both Products
RUN Powered by ADP®
Chose RUN Powered by ADP®
Run is much easier to implement and maintain than Workforce Now, especially if you don't have a dedicated payroll manager. If you do have a dedicated payroll and HR department there are more advanced features in Workforce Now. We returned from Workforce Now to RUN because of …
Chose RUN Powered by ADP®
I prefer Run to QuickBooks in all aspects except price. However, the quality of the ADP product is worth the premium if the customer can afford it. Run is very comparable to Workforce Now in its core function but is obviously less robust in terms of functionality.
Chose RUN Powered by ADP®
ADP Run is above and beyond easier for small businesses. ADP Workforce Now is a great product but fits bigger companies. RUN is more payroll on demand, as it can run payroll the day before with a very short processing time. Connects the GL to your accounting software for …
Chose RUN Powered by ADP®
We switched from RUN Powered by ADP® to Toast and then switched back to RUN Powered by ADP® a year later. This was before Toast purchased the company stratex but at the time the other company had some major issues with the tax filing. But this was also in 2020 when COVID …
Chose RUN Powered by ADP®
I selected RUN Powered by ADP after a detailed demonstration from one of the executives in the franchise team. It seemed to do what I needed it to do and I was not happy with the payroll providers at other companies I had worked for before. So I went with ADP right from the …
Chose RUN Powered by ADP®
Easy setup with the future plan to move to WFN platform which is used by the Parent Company.
Chose RUN Powered by ADP®
ADP is more user friendly overall. ADP also sets you up for success with their training portal, the Bridge, online communities, and often provides training based on your organizations individual needs. ADP really tries to build you up for success.
Chose RUN Powered by ADP®
The above systems are more in depth and more pricey [than RUN Powered by ADP]. If you need a more basic system and to not spend a lot of money than RUN is better. Also, it is better for smaller companies. Workforce Now at times include EZ Labor Manger.
Chose RUN Powered by ADP®
I went from RUN to workforce now and see now that it was a very bad decision. I enjoy not having to do things with regard to inputting new hires, etc. I am hoping RUN can adopt the option of sending an email to new hires that allows them to put their own information in similar …
ADP Workforce Now
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now [has] more features and [is] easier to use [than] RUN Powered by ADP.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
We loved RUN Powered by ADP, but it was no longer compatible with how big the company was. We currently use and love Monday and Slack. QuickBooks Time is very important to our company, especially construction because it allows GPS tracking of employees. 7shifts is great for …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
The main benefit of ADP Workforce Now was combining payroll and time and attendance into one platform.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
We used to use an ADP product that allowed us to keep the data on a local hard drive. That product was phased out. We were assigned to Workforce Now.

Chose ADP Workforce Now
Kronos has a HUGE learning curve. Basically I had to BUILD out the workflows before I could implement. ADP already has the shell built so it is much easier to just customize your work flow instead of building it from scratch. I appreciate the ease of ADP. I felt like I needed …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
At the present time, we are very happy with ADP Workforce Now and have no intentions of going to another payroll system.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Workforce Now is so much more robust than the other two. Workforce Now is an all-around solution for HR and Payroll, while the other two were mostly focused on the act of getting people paid. Workforce Now allows us to not only pay people, but also improve our business and …
TrustRadius Insights
RUN Powered by ADP®ADP Workforce Now
Highlights

TrustRadius
Research Team Insight
Published

ADP Run is payroll management software designed to work well for companies with 50 or fewer employees. ADP Workforce Now is HR management software designed to provide robust HR management features for larger enterprises.

Features

ADP Run and ADP Workforce Now both contain basic payroll and HR management features, but there are a few key differences between the two. ADP Run is designed to provide essential HR features for small businesses, this includes payroll processing, tax filing, new-hire onboarding, and employee self-service. ADP Run does not contain features that aren’t offered by ADP Workforce Now.

ADP Workforce Now is a more fully-featured HR Management Software built with large businesses in mind. It includes time and labor and benefits analytics that aren’t available in ADP Run. ADP Workforce Now also includes various add-ons that can be purchased to add features such as retirement planning.

Pricing

ADP Run offers 4 packages, all of which are priced depending on the company. The basic package offers essential payroll features. The Enhanced package adds features like wage garnishments and integration with Ziprecruiter. The Complete package includes HR features like employee handbooks, document storage, and HR training tools. Lastly, the HR Pro package includes features like legal assistance and business tools/advice.

ADP Workforce Now’s pricing is dependent on the business. Quotes are available from the vendor. Additional features for Workday can be purchased as individual add-ons at any time.

Features
RUN Powered by ADP®ADP Workforce Now
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
8.4
360 Ratings
2% above category average
ADP Workforce Now
7.9
1069 Ratings
3% below category average
Pay calculation9.5349 Ratings8.81030 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors8.6104 Ratings7.6408 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment9.1254 Ratings8.0321 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.8161 Ratings7.5817 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.6339 Ratings8.81017 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.8266 Ratings7.3800 Ratings
Reimbursement management5.138 Ratings7.6488 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
1058 Ratings
5% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings8.3935 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.2974 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings8.2924 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings7.6951 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings7.3666 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings7.7731 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings7.0673 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
ADP Workforce Now
7.9
875 Ratings
3% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings7.7797 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.9829 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings8.1673 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
ADP Workforce Now
7.8
1050 Ratings
5% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings8.31013 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings8.31003 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings8.0811 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings6.5382 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings7.732 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
12 Ratings
28% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings6.012 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
ADP Workforce Now
6.8
974 Ratings
10% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings7.6957 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings7.2952 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings5.6569 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
ADP Workforce Now
7.2
142 Ratings
10% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings7.6138 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings6.9112 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
ADP Workforce Now
7.0
329 Ratings
14% below category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings7.1255 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings6.8307 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings7.0252 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings7.1302 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
ADP Workforce Now
6.5
426 Ratings
20% below category average
Performance plans00 Ratings6.6383 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings6.3328 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings6.1386 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings6.9402 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings6.5335 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
7 Ratings
26% below category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings5.86 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings5.86 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings6.37 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings6.26 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
ADP Workforce Now
5.9
438 Ratings
26% below category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings7.1383 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings6.8374 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings5.0300 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings6.1336 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings2.38 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings6.8378 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings7.1399 Ratings
Best Alternatives
RUN Powered by ADP®ADP Workforce Now
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.4 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.2 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
RUN Powered by ADP®ADP Workforce Now
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(390 ratings)
7.9
(1123 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(35 ratings)
7.6
(83 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(24 ratings)
2.5
(80 ratings)
Availability
9.5
(12 ratings)
7.3
(14 ratings)
Performance
9.7
(12 ratings)
6.4
(13 ratings)
Support Rating
8.4
(36 ratings)
6.6
(494 ratings)
In-Person Training
7.7
(7 ratings)
8.2
(9 ratings)
Online Training
9.3
(5 ratings)
5.8
(17 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.9
(20 ratings)
1.5
(34 ratings)
Configurability
7.5
(9 ratings)
6.4
(10 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(4 ratings)
6.1
(8 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.5
(13 ratings)
7.7
(785 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.7
(8 ratings)
5.2
(8 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.7
(9 ratings)
6.1
(8 ratings)
User Testimonials
RUN Powered by ADP®ADP Workforce Now
Likelihood to Recommend
ADP
RUN Powered by ADP has proven very flexible with creating a salary for certain hourly staff who have repeating hours so hours do not have to be input each payroll. Also, some staff earn pto like full time staff though they do not work full time. Creating these categories, inputting and tracking is easy. Separating the hours worked from the pto area would make things more clear.
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ADP
During COVID, ADP Workforce Now was great about keeping up with changing laws and regulations. They built reports that helped us apply for PPP loans and then later apply for forgiveness. Webinars and other training avenues were well constructed, accurate, and informative. We were all at a loss together and having a partner who ensured the legal side was met was one less worry. They can easily do the day-to-day compliance and regulatory things. COVID highlighted how quickly it could be done.
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Pros
ADP
  • Payroll - special categories, pay circumstances, and tracking.
  • Onboarding - the ease of getting your team in the know.
  • Workers Compensation - not having to do the reconciliation!
  • State specific mandatory training for our staff - done through the APP!
  • Record keeping - tracking PLAWA, Vacations.
  • The many ways you can stay connected - the Podcasts, Advisory Circle, and webinars are fabulous.
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ADP
  • HRIS that is personalized for the employee and addresses DE&I needs.
  • Payroll, of course! The system addresses all needs, such as deductions, additional pay, premium OT, and shift differentials.
  • Onboarding is an excellent way to stay in compliance and have all documents completed.
  • Tax and Banking and resolution to any issues.
Read full review
Cons
ADP
  • When processing bonuses, it would be nice to have a NET pay selection, in addition to the GROSS pay selection.
  • I receive WAY too many emails asking me to purchase additional services, including some that we already have through ADP.
  • I receive(d) daily requests for our Section 125 Compliance documentation, which I sent over four times to each different individual who requested them. ADP "mentioned" they'd charge us $350 for this compliance plan, even though we have it and proved it by submitting the "required submission" of the policy multiple times. It's very frustrating, and it causes me to worry about (A), the validity of the request and (B) ADP's recordkeeping, since they can't keep up with the document I've sent multiple times.
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ADP
  • Customized pre-process payroll reports (Limited on pre-process payroll reports)
  • Labor Allocation (Allocations make payroll reporting very hard to review and find any errors )
  • Recruiting (ATS is very basic)
  • Geofencing (should be able to change shape rather than a circle)
  • Pay Classes (should be able to change at Practitioner level rather than reach out to support)
  • Cookies and Cache have to be cleared on a regular basis
  • Only able to see employee documents/acknowledgements one at a time in the employee file
  • Timecards can only be managed/viewed by 1 person
  • Timeoff emails do not have a link
  • Cost per payroll - not just monthly fee so cost with off cycle payrolls
  • Separate I9 step not needed - during onboarding - 2nd Everify step
  • ADP Workforce Now does not pull in allowances for Houly employees into payroll ONLY Salaried employees
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Likelihood to Renew
ADP
It is much better than the payroll system I used previously. The integrations that RUN has for on-boarding new hires are very convenient when they work properly. It saves a tremendous amount of time being able to email a link to new employees that allows them to enter much of their own demographic information. Payroll feature alerts me when someone's pay is significantly less or more than usual.
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ADP
Due to the lack of support from the sales and service center we are looking at other options outside of ADP. Again it is a good system, it just lacks the support it deserves from the company employees. It is just unimaginable that you will need to reach out to a service provider several times for the same issue and not get it resolved.
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Usability
ADP
I have been using this system for years and they have actually made it easier and easier. The system is always making great upgrades that don't necessarily require any additional information or training. I love when I log in and see a new feature or button that I get to use to make my life easier!
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ADP
I would give it a 10 however I do not like when ADP does facelifts in Workforce Now which does not add any value other than having to relearn navigation. I am also not a big fan of being forced to refer to the Bridge. We have Google which gives the same results. If I understood the answer I would not contact our Account Rep.
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Reliability and Availability
ADP
We've had very little issue with RUN availability, only a couple times there were outages when least expected which occurred on our actual payroll due date
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ADP
ADP outages are very rare
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Performance
ADP
ADP Run loads a bit slowly at times, once I put in my credentials. However, that said, I think my perception of the time it takes is impacted by our "instant gratification" expectation of being able to get into everything quickly.
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ADP
Overall, I think the functionality of the program works pretty well. Sometimes, certain browsers do not work well for the policy function of ADP, but that is the only issue thus far
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Support Rating
ADP
I appreciated having that issue finally take care of. it was extremely disheartening to see the issue had not been resolved. I also had my employees looking to me and thinking I was not trying to resolve the issue so it reflected poorly on my character. I do not know if i was because of a miscommunication, but nonetheless I was happy it was taken care of
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ADP
this is my only down side of ADP, they dont transfer you around a lot (Good) and try to tackle the issue right there, but the english barrier is sometimes a huge brick that stands in the way, and can result in the wrong outcome. There has been times I have asked for someone else as I thought it was getting done wrong, and was still able to get the assistance I needed, just took me explaining it twice
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In-Person Training
ADP
they helped up with the 1st payroll after that we were fine - it is very user friendly- they wanted to be sure everything had imported correctly.
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ADP
In-person training was pretty good - I think this significantly depends on the trainer. Our trainer was really good and showed what ADP can do - but I know that all trainers are not the same - and this truly makes such as difference. Overall, our training went pretty well.
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Online Training
ADP
very easy to learn i think it took maybe one payroll to have it down and we were up and running
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ADP
At the time training was not as expansive as it is now. If it could go wrong it did for me so the process was difficult and lengthy. I needed to have more in person walkthroughs of things to ensure the transition was done correctly. Not sure what else I can say, we were part of the initial move to Workforce Now when it was introduced.
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Implementation Rating
ADP
Make sure there's plenty of time between payrolls for the implementation and be sure to test all the manually inputted fields.
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ADP
Either assign more than one specialist to the implementation process, or assign less clients to the implementation specialist. The process requires attention to detail and the ability to test and re-test as well as verify the information. It also requires a lot of back and forth between the client ant the implementation specialist, so they need to be readily available during the whole implementation process.
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Alternatives Considered
ADP
RUN Powered by ADP® is stronger than QuickBooks Online for payroll and HR because it offers advanced HR tools (job postings, compliance support, employee handbooks), friendly, extended hours live support, and integration with numerous platforms. QuickBooks focuses mainly on payroll/accounting, while ADP provides broader HR capabilities, scalability, and compliance expertise along with extensive training.
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ADP
They pale compared to ADP because they each have broken systems that do not flow from beginning to end. Another system is required to support all of the functions needed to process payroll. That puts too much on me, the person, instead of the system. We should work smarter, not harder.
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Scalability
ADP
Every summer, we hire three new college interns who have to be entered into the system. They can enter their information themselves, which takes a load off me. The onboarding is quite straightforward, and today's college kids are techy enough to be able to understand it.
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ADP
We have been able to grow with ADP from just a few hundred employees to over 10,000 so it's actually very scalable for payroll usage. We do not use the benefits and onboarding offerings for most of our employees but they are built to scale easily enough for when our corporate team has over 1,000 FTE.
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Return on Investment
ADP
  • I will say ADP in general is not cheap, I think the cost to implement and use RUN Powered by ADP® is higher than some of the other products out there
  • I like the fact that RUN Powered by ADP® can handle payroll deductions for other vendors easily (401k, Insurance plans)
  • Wish we would use RUN Powered by ADP® more when it comes to job costing - trying to determine if a job we are managing is profitable or not
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ADP
  • ADP WorkforceNow has provided a positive ROI for our company. It has saved me countless hours in the time I used to spend preparing reports, managing benefits, and annual enrollment, recruitment tracking, and much more.
  • The integration with Payscale has allowed our company to take every position in our organization and benchmark it to industries and job titles. This has allowed us to be more competitive on recruitment and retention.
  • We have used the new DE&I dashboard to provide valuable information on the landscape of our workforce, as well as areas of our organization that may not be as diverse.
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ScreenShots

RUN Powered by ADP® Screenshots

Screenshot of the RUN Dashboard with the business' key info front-and-centerScreenshot of the payroll interfaceScreenshot of access to payroll reports and liability amountsScreenshot of the RUN Powered by ADP mobile app, used to process payroll on the goScreenshot of the ADP mobile app, where employees can access their historical payroll statements and year-end tax documents

ADP Workforce Now Screenshots

Screenshot of ADP Workforce Now: a simple and complete human capital management solutionScreenshot of Benchmarking by ADP DataCloud: an application with an extensive data set ... available to ADP Workforce Now clientsScreenshot of ADP Workforce Now clients can equip their employees with the ADP Mobile self-service app