RUN Powered by ADP® vs. Payroll by Wave

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
RUN Powered by ADP®
Score 8.6 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
RUN powered by ADP is a benefits administration and payroll platform for small businesses with light additional HR features. It runs on a cloud-based platform with mobile accessibility.N/A
Payroll by Wave
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
Wave Accounting headquartered in Toronto now offers Payroll by Wave, a payroll app for small businesses.N/A
Pricing
RUN Powered by ADP®Payroll by Wave
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
RUN Powered by ADP®Payroll by Wave
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
RUN Powered by ADP®Payroll by Wave
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
RUN Powered by ADP®Payroll by Wave
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
8.2
223 Ratings
2% above category average
Payroll by Wave
9.4
5 Ratings
16% above category average
Pay calculation9.4215 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.665 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.8143 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.994 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.4207 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management9.2161 Ratings9.55 Ratings
Reimbursement management5.138 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
RUN Powered by ADP®Payroll by Wave
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.3 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.6 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
RUN Powered by ADP®Payroll by Wave
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(290 ratings)
10.0
(6 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(20 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
9.8
(12 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
9.2
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.4
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.4
(23 ratings)
8.9
(2 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.5
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.3
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.4
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.5
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
RUN Powered by ADP®Payroll by Wave
Likelihood to Recommend
ADP
I feel that RUN Powered by ADP® is best suited for small businesses or businesses that are busy and want to rest assured their payroll is being taken care of. RUN Powered by ADP® has handled our payroll needs for over a year and we are extremely pleased with not only the error free payroll but the error free reporting and tax filings. This has allowed us peace of mind to know things are being handled by the experts.
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Wave
Great for small business payroll needs. Reports and taxes are taken care of, everything is automated and once you're set up it's literally just a matter of minutes to run payroll each time. You also get email reminders which is helpful. There are premium features available for companies with larger/more robust needs, and I would definitely recommend looking into this software if you are searching for a user friendly payroll solution
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Pros
ADP
  • Payroll calculation of Vacation time, Sick time, etc.
  • History of employee, able to run reports on hours worked and earned wages, for specific periods.
  • We are able to contact a live person for assistance when we cannot find what we need in RUN.
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Wave
  • An intuitive, clear UI helps you know where everything is, what options are at your disposal. Calendars and timelines show that Wave really thought out how to provide you with useful tool.
  • Pay day can be automated and straightforward.
  • Wave onboarding provides guidance at what information to input next until you are all set up.
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Cons
ADP
  • Our managers sometimes have trouble approving timecards and PTO requests. They don't always get alert when their team puts requests in. Also, they are often taken to the wrong page when they get a PTO request alert with a link in it. The link often takes them to Wisely instead of the proper page to approve requests.
  • We have two new entities that have upgraded timekeeping applications that are within RUN. I can only track hours based on pay periods, there is no monthly report that shows me hours worked. This is difficult because I need this number for a monthly KPI we track.
  • When I assign training videos in ADP, my employees will receive an email with a link to the training, however, the link never works or takes them to the correct page to watch the assigned videos. I am not sure why.
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Wave
  • Implement an employee time clock option through a separate link which automatically applies to the weekly time sheets.
  • Option to further customize payroll statements
  • Add a per employee payroll dashboard with the option to review rolling, quarterly, and weekly snapshot. Info to include gross pay, employer paid tax, employee paid tax, etc...
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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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Wave
No answers on this topic
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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Wave
Very simple & straightforward system to learn and when time is always of the essence the efficiency is much appreciated
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Reliability and Availability
ADP
I have never had an instance of an outage. It is always available as I have added data while travelling, on weekends, and in after work hours. Retrieving pdf's is also available at any time for employees and benefit participants.
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Wave
No answers on this topic
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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Wave
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
ADP
At times it takes a few minutes to reach someone and sometimes the ADP automated voice prompt does not recognize my name when I say it. Also, sometimes I am forwarded to different departments and I have to explain my issue 2 or 3 times. It is hard to know whether it is an ADP Run/payroll processing issue versus an ADP Time and Attendance issue. Over the last year or so that I have called ADP, sometimes I am left on hold for a very long time.
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Wave
Quick response times, personalized service. They offer in-depth videos and guides for helping to get set up. Any time I have a question about taxes or reporting, they answer quickly and give comprehensive answers. Members of the team with whom I've interacted have been courteous, friendly, and helpful. Overall, great support.
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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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Wave
No answers on this topic
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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Wave
No answers on this topic
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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Wave
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
ADP
The payroll side of RUN is pretty similarly useful as other products, but the HR side is definitely more useful. I appreciate the ability to talk with a rep about specific questions and the fact that there are so many articles, webinars, and podcasts available.
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Wave
First is the cost. Since QuickBooks removed the inhouse solution and moved everything to the cloud, the cost for a small business is prohibited. Wave is reasonable in cost. Support for QB isn't great they are always trying to upsell and commit. Wave support in comparison is 100% better, and most of the answers are in their manual
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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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Wave
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
ADP
  • By using RUN Powered by ADP for our payroll and related tasks, we free up the owners'/managers' time. This allows them to do more work directly related to clients, which increases our billable time, which has a huge impact on our bottom line. As a small business, this is essential.
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Wave
  • Peace of mind that all the payroll tax-related stuff is taken care of accurately and on time.
  • Easy to use interface saves time and helps ensure I am paid on time.
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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