ADP Workforce Now vs. BambooHR

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ADP Workforce Now
Score 7.9 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
BambooHR
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
BambooHR is an on-line human resources solution that provides onboarding, payroll, and benefits management. It also offers automated time-off management and employee self-service.
$250
per month
Pricing
ADP Workforce NowBambooHR
Editions & Modules
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
Core
$250
per month
Pro
$250
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ADP Workforce NowBambooHR
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredOptional
Additional DetailsPlease contact ADP for a product demo and ask about a hands-on "test drive" of Workforce Now.No matter what HR looks like at your company, we have the perfect plan for you!
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ADP Workforce NowBambooHR
Considered Both Products
ADP Workforce Now
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now is quite robust on the payroll side, but my overall favourite is BamooHR.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
We went with ADP because our thousands of per diem nurses were already in the system so we got an extremely substantial discount to utilize ADP as our HRIS for our corporate employees.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Between the different HRISs and ATSs I have had experience with, ADP is probably the most robust. It is pretty difficult to find a system that incorporates all the essential HR functions (people data, time and attendance, PM, ATS, etc) and does it all seamlessly for large …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
The ease of use for ADP Workforce Now (i.e. setup, integration with benefits offerings, etc.) is second to none. I came into the role as the organization's Executive Director with very little HR and Payroll experience and had minimal difficulty "keeping the trains running on …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
I think e-recruit is a little more difficult than ADP. ADP Workforce Now is more user friendly and has an easier way to find information.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
They are fairly comparable. Bamboo has less features and data is spread across multiple pages instead of a simple employee snapshot like ADP.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now was cheaper and a lot more user-friendly.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
BambooHR is extremely user-friendly and is significantly cheaper than the add-ons available with ADP. The HR functions like getting employees to sign policies and fill out forms are really easy to navigate and track. I also really liked their verbiage in that software--not …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Namely is a terrible system and they have awful customer service. I would never recommend them. We left them after a few months.
I've evaluated BambooHR because I've heard great things about it as an HRIS, but it doesn't have payroll and I prefer all-in-one systems when it comes …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
We previously used Paychex for payroll only and Bamboo HR for certain employees. We used manual spreadsheets to track vacation and pay. We selected ADP because it was the best tool to fit all of our needs. We were able to consolidate into one system. We no longer use a …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP is so much easier. I don't have to modify my process to work with the system. The system works with my company and when you are subject to multiple compliance checks (banking/finance industry) that is key. The interface is intuitive, streamlined and easy to use.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
We are currently looking at Pressgold as a possible new payroll provider. Comparing price and product.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now is much easier to use than BambooHR. I remember BambooHR was underutilized in the organization I was at previously, and it was difficult to navigate. ADP is much more robust and easy to use in comparison. It is customizable by the administrators to be able to …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
My company chose ADP, probably because they are the leading payroll solution. To re-iterate, if there was another alternative that was as prevalent and established, I'm sure they could make a better end product as far as features and especially usability goes. They need some …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
We used BambooHR and really liked it. Selected ADP because we did not want to find integrations for benefits and payroll - we wanted it to be "all in one," which is what ADP Workforce Now could provide. This was the same with Zenefits.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now falls well short when compared to the other similar players in the cloud HCM space (Bamboo, Ultimate, Dayforce, etc.,), as well as the big three (Workday, Success Factors, Oracle Fusion).
BambooHR
Chose BambooHR
We started implementation with ADP Workforce Now and it was a 6 month nightmare of complicated protocols and our company having to bend our processes to fit their platform. It was hard to get assistance and answers from their support team were very vague. We ultimately …
Chose BambooHR
BambooHR is easier to use and has a more pleasant experience as a user. The dashboards are also easier to comprehend.
Chose BambooHR
BambooHR is much more user friendly. What it lacks in technical/complexities it is working to improve.
Chose BambooHR
BambooHR was much more user-friendly.
Chose BambooHR
BambooHR pricing leaves it a bit harder of a sell than some of the competitors we have used in the past. If it was fully featured rich with an overflow of integrations that might be different, but as it stands, without a pricing change, I think that bridge is a harder sell for …
Chose BambooHR
I used to use that software but couldn't meet up my demand. But in BambooHR workforce management platform features are really amazing than that. Platforms, content and overall everything of BambooHR is work-worthy.
Chose BambooHR
Other tools with a more unified platform (including a more mature payroll solution) have been much more robust in terms of their data and reporting capabilities. BambooHR, however, has the edge on having a flashier look that may be more appealing to some up-and-coming …
Chose BambooHR
Feels more intuitive and easier to use. ADP is working to catch up to the digital transformation while BambooHR was born digital.
Chose BambooHR
Again, BambooHR is a great choice for companies with contracted or hourly employees to track but there are other, more user friendly tools like ADP.
Chose BambooHR
I haven't used many products similar to BambooHR. One that is kind of close is SecureDocs, but it doesn't nearly match the depth of BambooHR. They are about the same when it comes to storing documents, but BambooHR is great in that it does so much more! That's where it really …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
ADP Workforce NowBambooHR
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
1039 Ratings
3% below category average
BambooHR
8.3
183 Ratings
5% above category average
Employee demographic data8.1917 Ratings8.4160 Ratings
Employment history8.1954 Ratings8.8164 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.1904 Ratings8.5160 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.6932 Ratings8.6151 Ratings
Organizational charting7.2652 Ratings7.3166 Ratings
Organization and location management7.7715 Ratings8.5157 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.2659 Ratings8.386 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.8
1051 Ratings
3% below category average
BambooHR
8.4
114 Ratings
4% above category average
Pay calculation8.51012 Ratings8.679 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.0396 Ratings8.163 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.7304 Ratings8.453 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.9804 Ratings9.086 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.51000 Ratings8.983 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.7782 Ratings8.589 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.7477 Ratings7.048 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.6
858 Ratings
7% below category average
BambooHR
9.0
155 Ratings
10% above category average
Approval workflow7.8780 Ratings9.2152 Ratings
Balance details7.5811 Ratings9.0142 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment7.7658 Ratings8.9126 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.8
1031 Ratings
4% below category average
BambooHR
8.8
176 Ratings
8% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.1994 Ratings8.5112 Ratings
Update personal information8.2983 Ratings9.2174 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.0794 Ratings8.9146 Ratings
Employee recognition7.0373 Ratings8.7108 Ratings
View job history7.732 Ratings8.9165 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
12 Ratings
27% below category average
BambooHR
8.5
74 Ratings
7% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets6.012 Ratings8.574 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.9
955 Ratings
10% below category average
BambooHR
8.2
146 Ratings
8% above category average
Report builder7.4938 Ratings8.5140 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.4934 Ratings8.3138 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data5.8557 Ratings7.895 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.1
127 Ratings
12% below category average
BambooHR
9.0
151 Ratings
11% above category average
New hire portal7.5123 Ratings9.0145 Ratings
Manager tracking tools6.7100 Ratings9.0132 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.8
318 Ratings
4% below category average
BambooHR
8.5
93 Ratings
5% above category average
Corporate goal setting7.9246 Ratings8.666 Ratings
Individual goal setting8.0297 Ratings8.689 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.7243 Ratings8.666 Ratings
Performance tracking7.7291 Ratings8.481 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.9
411 Ratings
15% below category average
BambooHR
8.1
105 Ratings
1% above category average
Performance plans7.0368 Ratings7.895 Ratings
Performance improvement plans6.8316 Ratings8.180 Ratings
Review status tracking6.7372 Ratings8.294 Ratings
Review reminders7.1388 Ratings8.198 Ratings
Multiple review frequency6.8322 Ratings8.088 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
7 Ratings
28% below category average
BambooHR
8.0
79 Ratings
0% above category average
Create succession plans/pools5.86 Ratings7.146 Ratings
Candidate ranking5.86 Ratings8.365 Ratings
Candidate search6.37 Ratings8.066 Ratings
Candidate development6.26 Ratings8.558 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.7
425 Ratings
16% below category average
BambooHR
8.6
123 Ratings
9% above category average
Job Requisition Management7.5370 Ratings8.690 Ratings
Company Website Posting7.9361 Ratings8.7101 Ratings
Publish to Social Media6.9290 Ratings8.889 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.1323 Ratings8.595 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention2.38 Ratings7.485 Ratings
Applicant Tracking7.0365 Ratings8.9112 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.2386 Ratings9.1115 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ADP Workforce NowBambooHR
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.2 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.2 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
ADP Workforce NowBambooHR
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(1106 ratings)
9.0
(188 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.3
(82 ratings)
9.2
(14 ratings)
Usability
4.9
(79 ratings)
8.8
(115 ratings)
Availability
7.3
(14 ratings)
9.3
(5 ratings)
Performance
6.4
(13 ratings)
8.7
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
7.1
(477 ratings)
8.8
(93 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.2
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
5.8
(17 ratings)
9.2
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
3.2
(34 ratings)
8.8
(6 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(10 ratings)
8.6
(4 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
8.3
(3 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.1
(8 ratings)
9.6
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.4
(767 ratings)
8.9
(5 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
5.2
(8 ratings)
8.9
(4 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.1
(8 ratings)
9.1
(4 ratings)
User Testimonials
ADP Workforce NowBambooHR
Likelihood to Recommend
ADP
It is well suited for companies that have over 50 employees working in multiple departments and should be allocated in specific ways. It can help get all their information from the beginning point of interviews to the end in which a check is produced, allowing the employee to update their information and add their direct deposit.
Read full review
BambooHR
Bamboo is well suited for organization and making things easier for employees and management. I really don't have anything negative to say about Bamboo. I love all of its features, and I also love that it allows us to upload photos. It's such a wonderful app!
Read full review
Pros
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
BambooHR
  • I have contacted Customer Service several times and everyone I have spoken to has been amazing. I always get my questions answered in a friendly, professional and efficient manner.
  • BambooHR is extremely user-friendly and easy to navigate.
  • I love that I can customize certain features according to our company's needs.
Read full review
Cons
ADP
  • I would like it if better communication was sent out about new product updates. Sometimes, I go into a screen and things are different and I have to relearn it on the fly.
  • Editing the mobile app - I would like it if what is shown on the desktop version was automatically on the app. WAY more of my employees use the app, but I put the most important information on the desktop version because it is easier to update.
Read full review
BambooHR
  • I would love the ability to override e-signatures if needed. Sometimes, they get stuck in a person's inbox because that particular person is out on PTO. As the admin, I would love the ability to override that if needed.
  • I hope the benefit portal has more connected carriers. That would be a bonus.
  • We are allowing re-hires to complete onboarding paperwork before their hire date. They can't access Bamboo HR until the hire date.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
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.
Read full review
BambooHR
There's nothing wrong with this platform. I would recommend it to any business starting with more than 10 employees. I will continue to use the program for as long as I need to, hoping they continue being tremendous and finding other ways to incorporate more technology.
Read full review
Usability
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.
Read full review
BambooHR
BambooHR makes things so easy. It's a very user-friendly application, with most things being easy to understand inherently and the handful of things that aren't easy to learn either via help from customer service or the hundreds of training videos and documents available to you. I've seamlessly taught the platform to multiple employees, some of them contractors and not very good at computer things.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
ADP
ADP outages are very rare
Read full review
BambooHR
Yes, there is a huge team in the back of the online platform or it looks like it because I have never been left without an answer when I have a question or waiting from a response on my chat .... There must be a huge team, this is so great and I always seem to have someone that is very knowledgeable too. So many times in the past I had to leave with customer service that would connect you with someone else because of the expertise, here everyone seems to be some kind of an expert in the HR function.
Read full review
Performance
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
Read full review
BambooHR
I love BambooHR. Reports are easy to run and download and it usually covers any types of requests I get from the management team. You get excel or .csv downloads/reports and it is fast and simple, not too crowded so it is easy to read through. We don't integrate the tool yet but again, soon we will. we just did not had the time to utilize it yet but that's the plan.
Read full review
Support Rating
ADP
I have contacted support multiple times and have always been happy with the results. ADP's support staff is always helpful and makes easy work of solving problems. I love my Payroll Account Manager, as well as my Enhanced Time Account Manager.
Read full review
BambooHR
BambooHR support is very responsive, which I appreciate. They really aim to provide the answer on the first attempt, and if they have clarifying questions, they dive right into them to assist and fully come to a conclusion. If there is no solution to your roadblock, they will submit or ask you to submit a product enhancement request for consideration.
Read full review
In-Person Training
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.
Read full review
BambooHR
I didn't have in-person training besides teaching my managers how to use the program. However, I couldn't omit this question (maybe a system glitch).
Read full review
Online Training
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.
Read full review
BambooHR
As far as I can recall, everything went well with doing it online and got questions answered. Was thankful to work with a dummy file to get used to some practices prior to getting our own domain within bamboo to then place our personnel information in the system, this helped a lot!
Read full review
Implementation Rating
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.
Read full review
BambooHR
BambooHR's initial implementation team was amazing. We loved having a dedicated person we could call, email or speak to during the entire process. I feel that's so important when you are new to a software. Our process was time consuming, but well worth the final product.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
ADP
Although this SAS takes longer to perform the everyday functions related to payroll and HR data input, the difference in this software and our previous software is like night and day. We were on a very old server platform and had too many issues with continuous need for backup.
Read full review
BambooHR
BambooHR was a significant cost savings for us compared to Paylocity. As we compared both systems, Paylocity might have a few more bells and whistles, but BambooHR's simplicity and price tag made It a much better fit for us as we transitioned to an HRIS and payroll platform.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
ADP
No answers on this topic
BambooHR
Since my organization has dropped with employees, I always find ways to reduce costs. I thought there would be a cheaper option, but I was glad that my package included a lot for the price, and downgrading would cost more. The rep could have let me downgraded and taken me to a higher package. I am thankful that didn't happen.
Read full review
Scalability
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.
Read full review
BambooHR
There is so much you can do with this platform, it is incredible and so welcoming. We don't utilize it 100% yet just because we are growing and the HR team has not been able to concentrate on other areas offered to us but but we will soon. Which is also why we got the product, specifically because what BambooHR can do to help us meet our growing business needs.
Read full review
Professional Services
ADP
No answers on this topic
BambooHR
VERY professional!
Read full review
Return on Investment
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.
Read full review
BambooHR
  • Gave more time back to HR, Directors, and Managers by providing options for easy reports and a place to have all the information.
  • PTO! This has given so much time back to accounting as they no longer have to manually calculate PTO and it's also allowed our team to feel more comfortable to take time off by having an official way to ask off and see what their balances are.
  • Onboarding and offboarding: this has helped HR with the many many tasks of helping team members come onboard as well as when they leave a company.
  • Professionalism: the ability to create forms and has stepped up our game for new hires and even tracking things we have needed our team to fill out!
Read full review
ScreenShots

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

BambooHR Screenshots

Screenshot of BambooHR's Reporting