RUN Powered by ADP® vs. Sage Accounting

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
Sage Accounting
Score 7.7 out of 10
N/A
Sage Accounting is online accounting software made to simplify life for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and freelancers by providing the functions needed to take care of daily business to-dos. Users can create and send professional quotes and invoices, track income and expenses and know where the business' financials stand. Every Sage Business Cloud Accounting subscription includes unlimited access to support as well as automatic backups and product updates.
$19
per month
Pricing
RUN Powered by ADP®Sage Accounting
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
RUN Powered by ADP®Sage Accounting
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsVersions and pricing listed are for CA products. Versions available and pricing may vary by country. * 2 months free to start, or free for 1 month to try, then $19/$43/$62 +tax/mo (tier depending). Offer valid for new customers only on monthly subscriptions of Sage Business Cloud Accounting. After the promotional period, the monthly subscription rate will renew at the then current rate. May not be combined with any other offers or discounts. To ensure continuous service the subscription plan is an automatically renewing plan. Subsequent months will automatically be billed to the same credit card each month on the anniversary date of purchase. Plans can be terminated at any time prior to the renewal data and not charged for renewal.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
RUN Powered by ADP®Sage Accounting
Considered Both Products
RUN Powered by ADP®
Chose RUN Powered by ADP®
Sage is clunkier than ADP, in that it's more difficult to manually adjust changing salaries. Also, one must separately enter paycheck EFTs into one's online banking account after completing payroll. Doing everything at one time in ADP RUN saves me up to 45 minutes each payroll …
Sage Accounting

No answer on this topic

Features
RUN Powered by ADP®Sage Accounting
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
8.4
364 Ratings
2% above category average
Sage Accounting
9.3
19 Ratings
21% above category average
Pay calculation9.5352 Ratings10.015 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors8.6105 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment9.1258 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.8162 Ratings9.312 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.6343 Ratings8.812 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.8269 Ratings9.410 Ratings
Reimbursement management5.138 Ratings9.112 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
Sage Accounting
8.5
23 Ratings
11% above category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings9.120 Ratings
Plug-ins00 Ratings7.917 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
Sage Accounting
9.7
42 Ratings
17% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings9.931 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings9.539 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
Sage Accounting
9.2
44 Ratings
17% above category average
Dashboards00 Ratings8.140 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings9.844 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings9.735 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
Sage Accounting
8.7
108 Ratings
14% above category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings8.293 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings9.945 Ratings
Cash management00 Ratings8.084 Ratings
Bank reconciliation00 Ratings7.2102 Ratings
Expense management00 Ratings9.934 Ratings
Time tracking00 Ratings6.611 Ratings
Fixed asset management00 Ratings8.228 Ratings
Multi-currency support00 Ratings9.918 Ratings
Multi-division support00 Ratings9.918 Ratings
Regulations compliance00 Ratings9.529 Ratings
Electronic tax filing00 Ratings6.760 Ratings
Self-service portal00 Ratings10.025 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings9.18 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings9.515 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings8.011 Ratings
Localizations00 Ratings8.39 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings9.033 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings7.010 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings9.218 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings8.88 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings9.520 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
Sage Accounting
6.9
17 Ratings
6% below category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings6.717 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings8.36 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings5.87 Ratings
Manufacturing module00 Ratings7.05 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
RUN Powered by ADP®
-
Ratings
Sage Accounting
8.1
28 Ratings
8% above category average
Pricing00 Ratings9.917 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings7.615 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings8.218 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings7.520 Ratings
Order Orchestration00 Ratings7.56 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings7.67 Ratings
Order exception Resolution00 Ratings8.75 Ratings
Best Alternatives
RUN Powered by ADP®Sage Accounting
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.4 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 6.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.2 out of 10
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
Score 7.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
RUN Powered by ADP®Sage Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(390 ratings)
7.9
(100 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(35 ratings)
8.2
(11 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(24 ratings)
8.2
(68 ratings)
Availability
9.5
(12 ratings)
9.0
(7 ratings)
Performance
9.7
(12 ratings)
8.9
(7 ratings)
Support Rating
8.4
(36 ratings)
9.5
(21 ratings)
In-Person Training
7.7
(7 ratings)
9.2
(2 ratings)
Online Training
9.3
(5 ratings)
9.2
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.9
(20 ratings)
7.3
(6 ratings)
Configurability
7.5
(9 ratings)
8.6
(6 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(2 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(4 ratings)
4.2
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.5
(13 ratings)
6.6
(7 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.7
(8 ratings)
7.5
(5 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.7
(9 ratings)
7.5
(5 ratings)
User Testimonials
RUN Powered by ADP®Sage Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
ADP
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.
Read full review
Sage
Sage is frustrating to work with, and the only way I seem to be able to communicate with them is by chatbot, which never knows the answer to my questions. I always have to wait days for an answer. It is not well-suited for small businesses or non-accounting professionals.
Read full review
Pros
ADP
  • 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.
Read full review
Sage
  • Sage Accounting makes it easy to pay my invoices with an automated QR code that opens a payment portal.
  • Sage Accounting automatically shows my bank account balance and that's pretty neat.
  • Sage Accounting has excellent security with 2 factor authentication and I trust my money is kept safe.
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.
Read full review
Sage
  • The packages for integrating with Sage50 desktop application files are not backwards compatible, so we must store many copies in order to support multiple versions of the Sage50 application that our customers use, in case they aren't immediately updating to the latest version at all times.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Sage
We're very happy with the functionality and overall experience of using Sage Accounting for our accounting needs. Currently, we are not even considering whether we would need to look around for a different option. The only things that would make us consider changing would be a significant increase in price or changes to the software which reduce it's ease of function.
Read full review
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!
Read full review
Sage
We have been using Sage Accounting ever since the original Simply Accounting versions. All through the versions, we've noticed that the app has remained consistent with its screen usage; therefore, retraining of staff is not necessary between versions. As well as the ability to have staff members put down and pick up the use of Sage Accounting
Read full review
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
Read full review
Sage
Sage has been always available when I want it. If there is any maintenance work to be done by the Sage team, you are told well in advance. Maintenance is generally carried out late at night or before the day begins for most of us. It continues to be the most reliable software I use.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Sage
Performance is top notch, if it is not, it is probably your wi-fi connection. It has happened that pages load slowly because of an error on Sage side but almost never. Overall reports load fine, the site is fast, navigation is fine. I have a client that has so many invoices, it is slow or gets stuck when you try to load a report for a whole year but it is just too many invoices, it makes sense. Just take 2 report for 6 months and combine them, its not an issue for me. I am happy with Sage Accounting's performance.
Read full review
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
Read full review
Sage
Sage Accounting are easy to contact and have knowledgeable and helpful staff. Whenever I've encountered a problem I've always been able to get assistance and guidance and it feels like the person at the end of the phone/screen knows the product well.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Sage
Staff are always friendly, and patient, always work at a speed that suits you. You are never rushed, and In only a short time they seem to be able to help you make great strides. It has been a pleasure not a chore, learning how SAGE Accounting works and benefits me and the company.
Read full review
Online Training
ADP
very easy to learn i think it took maybe one payroll to have it down and we were up and running
Read full review
Sage
I find the online training was very informative and they answered all my questions. I am also certified in Sage One and provided online training in the program which I have set up several people on and they love how it keeps them organized.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Sage
The clients' business owner worked with Sage on implementation before I began working for them. After consultation with them it is clear the process was quickly performed and without complication. The key takeaway was that Sage is seen as a partner to the business. That said, it was always necessary to engage with an accountant such as myself to extract the best out of the software.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Sage
All Sage products work together, and the systems are set up in similar ways, making training/learning easier. Sage is used by many companies locally and internationally, making managing accounts for both providers and clients/customers easier. It is a complete package for macro enterprises.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
ADP
No answers on this topic
Sage
The pricing structure is fair and offers good value for money. The billing is done through their online system and you can access your bills at any time. Most contacts only require 30 days' notice, so no need to feel tied in, although I can't imagine why you would want to leave Sage.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Sage
You can use Sage in your company for various aspects/positions such as bookkeepers, invoicing clerks, accountant, purchasing etc. Everyone can have their own user login and permissions can be set that specific people can do specific jobs without being able to access other peoples progress or accounts of the company.
Read full review
Professional Services
ADP
No answers on this topic
Sage
Do not use
Read full review
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
Read full review
Sage
  • Being cloud-based, meaning I can work from anywhere, has had a massive ROI, as I am no longer tied to the office.
  • CoPilot has meant we can spend more hours creating work for our business than chasing for payments.
  • Statement Runs mean we do not have to spend half a day carrying out the tasks individually.
Read full review
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

Sage Accounting Screenshots

Screenshot of the All-in-One DashboardScreenshot of the Accounting DashboardScreenshot of an Invoicing Quote EstimateScreenshot of the Purchases TrackerScreenshot of Stock InventoryScreenshot of a VAT Returns List