RUN Powered by ADP® vs. HRdirect Smart Apps

It is a very simple payroll processing platform. I would recommend the platform to any small business looking to outsource the process. Its pay-per-person policy also makes it adaptable to businesses with minimal employee counts. I think it may not be as useful for employers who have consistent hourly employees that do not fluctuate as often.

Incentivized

UPDATE 3/20/2020: I initially gave HRDirect a "0" recommendation due to all the issues we had with the PTO Module. However, since purchasing the Harassment Training Module ($90), this product is the best value for the money and puts us in compliance with mandated requirements. It is easy to use and well-presented. At this point in time, with the issues and frustration level of all our employees, managers, and payroll department, it would be difficult for me to recommend this app as suitable in any scenario. However, should HRdirect fix the issues and get the app to perform as it was originally designed, it would be a great product for a small to medium company that has limited resources yet wants a good product for the money. In our experience, the new hire portal did not appear to be functioning properly; our new hires were not able to access the blank documents. They could see them but not open them (PDFs).

Incentivized

• Payroll runs are consistent, timely, and error‑free, even when handling multiple pay rates, deductions, or changes. Direct deposits process smoothly and predictably.
• RUN Powered by ADP® manages federal, state, and local tax withholding, filings, and payments without requiring manual oversight. This significantly reduces compliance risk and administrative workload.
• Common actions—running payroll, adding new employees, updating pay rates—are straightforward and guided, which helps prevent mistakes.

Incentivized

• Initially, you were able to see all activity and drill down for details.
• It was easy-access for all our employees in the 7 states we operate in.
• It provided tracking for the managers.
• Payroll had access to all PTO requests.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• HRdirect performed an upgrade in 2019 and that's where things went awry.
• You could no longer drill down through the calendar to see the details - i.e. Doctor's appointment, illness, childcare issues, vacation, etc.
• Previous year PTO requests were not archived and you now had to scroll through hundreds of PTO requests to see the most current.
• Previous PTO requests were listed oldest to most current, resulting in much frustration trying to locate specific ones.
• The print option was not longer functional.
• The online help request form was no longer accessible.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

As previously described, there are too many unresolved issues.

Incentivized

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!

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

Due to the fact that we were patient for more than 6 months with no resolution in sight, we decided to end our relationship with HRdirect for PTO tracking. 3/20/2020: We have purchased the Harassment Training Module. Excellent product with great value for the money.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

very easy to learn i think it took maybe one payroll to have it down and we were up and running

Incentivized

Make sure there's plenty of time between payrolls for the implementation and be sure to test all the manually inputted fields.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

• 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

Incentivized

• Initially, HRdirect was proving to be an excellent tool, and we were getting a quick turnaround on small issues. However, the upgrade messed things up on our accessibility, with no resolution in sight.
• Harassment training module is excellent.

Incentivized