ADP Workforce Now vs. Cornerstone OnDemand

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ADP Workforce Now
Score 8.0 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
Cornerstone OnDemand
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Cornerstone OnDemand is a cloud-based application for talent management. Cornerstone offers suites for recruiting, training, performance monitoring and planning, learning, and HR data management. It is scaled for enterprises.N/A
Pricing
ADP Workforce NowCornerstone OnDemand
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
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ADP Workforce NowCornerstone OnDemand
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredRequired
Additional DetailsPlease contact ADP for a product demo and ask about a hands-on "test drive" of Workforce Now.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ADP Workforce NowCornerstone OnDemand
Considered Both Products
ADP Workforce Now
Chose ADP Workforce Now
We tried ADP's performance platform and it failed for us. We now use Cornerstone for performance management.
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).
Cornerstone OnDemand
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Great for onboarding and training new hires. It sets everything up so well based on schedule and also a punch list effect.
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Cornerstone OnDemand, from an overall product for the areas they offer, is a good system. However, Ultimate Software has come a long way and if we were evaluating them tomorrow against each other with the pricing Cornerstone now has (along with implementation), I am not sure …
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
We purchased Ultimate Software after CSOD. Their module is much more simplistic and easier to use as an admin and an employee. For the size of our organization, it is an improvement.
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Cornerstone found the sweet spot among functionality, price, and user experience. While SuccessFactors was a viable solution at the time, key workers' prior experience with the system eliminated it from contention. At the time of selection, Cornerstone was a growing business …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
ADP Workforce NowCornerstone OnDemand
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
1022 Ratings
2% below category average
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Employee demographic data8.1903 Ratings00 Ratings
Employment history8.2939 Ratings00 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.0890 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.5917 Ratings00 Ratings
Organizational charting6.7643 Ratings00 Ratings
Organization and location management7.5704 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.6648 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
8.0
1034 Ratings
0% below category average
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Pay calculation8.7995 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.5389 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.9294 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.9798 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.7983 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.9769 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.7468 Ratings00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
844 Ratings
5% below category average
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Approval workflow8.0766 Ratings00 Ratings
Balance details7.6800 Ratings00 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment7.6648 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
8.0
1014 Ratings
1% below category average
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
View and generate pay and benefit information8.3977 Ratings00 Ratings
Update personal information8.6968 Ratings00 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.2782 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee recognition7.0366 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history7.732 Ratings00 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
12 Ratings
25% below category average
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Tracking of all physical assets6.012 Ratings00 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.1
944 Ratings
7% below category average
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Report builder7.4927 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.6923 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.4550 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.2
116 Ratings
11% below category average
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.2
132 Ratings
11% above category average
New hire portal7.6112 Ratings8.369 Ratings
Manager tracking tools6.892 Ratings8.0114 Ratings
Compliance tracking and reporting00 Ratings8.4125 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.8
311 Ratings
4% below category average
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.3
114 Ratings
13% above category average
Corporate goal setting7.9240 Ratings8.095 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.9291 Ratings8.8106 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.5238 Ratings8.194 Ratings
Performance tracking7.9284 Ratings8.1109 Ratings
Subordinate goal setting00 Ratings8.398 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.3
402 Ratings
8% below category average
Cornerstone OnDemand
7.8
119 Ratings
13% above category average
Performance plans7.3361 Ratings8.193 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.2309 Ratings7.781 Ratings
Review status tracking7.5366 Ratings8.396 Ratings
Review reminders7.3378 Ratings8.293 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.2313 Ratings7.082 Ratings
Plan weighting00 Ratings7.480 Ratings
Manager note taking00 Ratings7.969 Ratings
Rater nomination workflow00 Ratings7.664 Ratings
Workflow restrictions00 Ratings7.485 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings8.1113 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
7 Ratings
27% below category average
Cornerstone OnDemand
9.1
58 Ratings
24% above category average
Create succession plans/pools5.86 Ratings8.449 Ratings
Candidate ranking5.86 Ratings9.349 Ratings
Candidate search6.37 Ratings9.352 Ratings
Candidate development6.26 Ratings9.249 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.8
421 Ratings
13% below category average
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.6
66 Ratings
16% above category average
Job Requisition Management7.6366 Ratings8.745 Ratings
Company Website Posting8.1358 Ratings8.841 Ratings
Publish to Social Media7.1287 Ratings8.738 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.3321 Ratings8.638 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention2.38 Ratings8.840 Ratings
Applicant Tracking7.1362 Ratings8.841 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.3383 Ratings8.355 Ratings
Customized Application Form00 Ratings8.740 Ratings
Resume Management00 Ratings8.743 Ratings
Candidate Search00 Ratings8.641 Ratings
Collaboration00 Ratings8.836 Ratings
Task Creation and Delegation00 Ratings8.638 Ratings
Email Templates00 Ratings8.359 Ratings
User Permissions00 Ratings8.360 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings8.363 Ratings
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
-
Ratings
Cornerstone OnDemand
7.5
187 Ratings
6% above category average
Course authoring00 Ratings5.6138 Ratings
Course catalog or library00 Ratings8.4185 Ratings
Player/Portal00 Ratings7.8172 Ratings
Learning content00 Ratings8.2147 Ratings
Mobile friendly00 Ratings7.9135 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications00 Ratings7.4168 Ratings
Assignments00 Ratings7.8181 Ratings
Compliance management00 Ratings7.5162 Ratings
Learning administration00 Ratings7.6184 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics00 Ratings7.7183 Ratings
Social learning00 Ratings6.9116 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ADP Workforce NowCornerstone OnDemand
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Paycor
Paycor
Score 7.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Darwinbox
Darwinbox
Score 7.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Score 7.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ADP Workforce NowCornerstone OnDemand
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(1089 ratings)
8.2
(257 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.3
(82 ratings)
9.9
(37 ratings)
Usability
6.2
(78 ratings)
8.1
(37 ratings)
Availability
7.3
(14 ratings)
9.0
(5 ratings)
Performance
6.4
(13 ratings)
9.0
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
7.1
(463 ratings)
6.6
(36 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.1
(9 ratings)
8.6
(4 ratings)
Online Training
5.8
(17 ratings)
8.0
(10 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.8
(34 ratings)
8.0
(10 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(10 ratings)
7.3
(115 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.1
(8 ratings)
8.5
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.5
(751 ratings)
9.5
(4 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
5.2
(8 ratings)
7.0
(3 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.1
(8 ratings)
8.9
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
ADP Workforce NowCornerstone OnDemand
Likelihood to Recommend
ADP
If you are looking to automate processes and have the system handle administrative, boring tasks this is the system for you. They are continuing to evolve and are coming out with improvements constantly. Have a suggestion on an improvement they will listen and consider implementing.
Read full review
Cornerstone OnDemand
I feel Cornerstone OnDemand is a great solution for companies that have a large amount of compliance training that needs to be assigned and closely tracked. The features of dynamic groups (based on specific user criteria) allows you to target very specific audiences. The assignment functionality gives you great flexibility on when the assignment runs and how often, and also provides many options for due dates (static date or dynamic date - x days from hire date, date assigned, etc.). This has allowed us to have a clear and consistent user experience for both our newly hired employees and our seasoned employees.
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
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Automatic recurring assignments are easy to get that refresher training out without needing to assign it fresh each time.
  • Reporting 2.0 makes it easy to write and share your reports with just selected filters. Making it easy for people receiving it to just change what they need to see.
  • Learning Admin Console makes it easy to peek at what is going on in your portal and open up connected reporting when needed.
  • Success Center is a great resource for getting peer answers to questions and learning about the releases and suggesting changes that should be added to the roadmap.
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
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Sometimes finding the right answer to your support question can be a bit more difficult than it should be.
  • I would like to see more OSHA related courses.
  • At times, the administrative interface seems to need to be updated, but the tradeoff honestly might be the absolute rock-solid stability of the platform.
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.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
As long as pricing stays reasonable, we will likely stay with Cornerstone for at least one more contract renewal. It would be a large task to migrate all of our content to a new system. However, the LMS landscape is diversifying with new startups that are showing some real innovation.
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.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
Easy to use, easy to learn, lots of support during the learning process. There are a few parts of the system we don't use and I'm hesitant to begin using because other clients have said they're difficult and cumbersome (certifications) or outdated (libraries)
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Reliability and Availability
ADP
ADP outages are very rare
Read full review
Cornerstone OnDemand
I haven't really had any major availability problems. The service is practically impeccable but it is true that at times, due to server and latency problems, the application has been slower. But these have been specific issues that have resolved themselves.
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
Cornerstone OnDemand
Pages do not load quickly. Often times any action or selection of a box, drop down, check, pretty much ANY Javascript interaction causes the whole entire page to load/reload/start doing something in the background. This makes a nightmare for having to mass edit courses or upload ILT sessions. It's the one of the archaic web designs they use that really bugs me as an admin and makes working in the portal at times intolerable and insufferable
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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
Cornerstone OnDemand
Its always important to have support when you are facing problems and when you are the main admin of the organization. Cornerstone Support is very supporting when you have not found the answer in the help guide. its very useful to have a team support to guide you.
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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.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
we use also to admin all our training in person events and sessions. Its easy to admin this kind of trainings and automatize some processes we have. Also de user experience and the integration with other systems helps to the employees to use more. All modules integrated oriented to develop people is the principal reason to have CSOD. The training administration is very complete and allows to automate many processes.
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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.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
The online modules are pretty good. You can access them at any time, which we have done. You learn a lot in the beginning, but having the ability to retake short lessons when you are working on those items was very helpful.
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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.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
The implementation was pretty difficult. We felt they (Cornerstone) didn’t properly allocate the resources to complete our implementation in the timetable we wanted.

For example, we worked on Workday and SSO integrations - work that we had specifically contracted for in advance. When we were ready to work on that project, they didn’t have the people ready to help us, so it took a lot longer than necessary. That was my biggest pain point.

The implementation approach we went with was a self-led implementation. We would speak to the implementation manager once per week, and self-trained. We met with implementation manager to discuss issues, review things that we’d learned for 1 hour. We found that wasn’t enough. Other things would come up outside that one hour window that we couldn’t get answers to. We didn’t have anyone to ask about those things and we had to wait to ask during our weekly meeting.

The advantage of the self-led implementation approach was that it was really inexpensive – significantly less than the implementation cost for the other systems that we looked at. I also liked that we could pace ourselves. There were however big roadblocks. We would have to make sure the right resources were available. We had an implementation/project manager with a lot of experience and felt that the person was knowledgeable but missed on a few things.

In hindsight, I would still go with the self-led implementation, but knowing what I know now, I would ask for the integration person to be available more. I would work that into the contract. With single sign-on, we needed deep linking to build direct links through a Single Sign-On tool, e.g. when someone gets an email, it directs them to training. But it has to go through SSO to get them to the correct link. Deep linking wasn’t turned on in our system and they had to activate it. We encountered little things like that – sequencing pre-requisites which were problematic. We tried to troubleshoot ourselves.

I recommend you consider contracting for some extra implementation hours and determine when they are going to be available. Work it into the contract that you have the ability to call tech support during implementation. In addition to weekly implementation meetings, they have technical webexes – 4 every week, but 2 didn’t apply to us – one as we were using SSO. The challenge is they were not always relevant – we had specific questions that didn’t fall into those categories
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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
Cornerstone OnDemand
The user experience is a lot better than using SumTotal as an admin CSOD makes working easy. Without having workarounds. Reporting is a lot better than both platforms. Reporting in CSOD is complex however easy to manage and create when you understand the data points collected
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
ADP
No answers on this topic
Cornerstone OnDemand
It is important to be familiar with the terms and annual increases in licenses and other aspects of the contract. I recommend analyzing this from the beginning and the permanence is relevant because Cornerstone updates its modules and brings out new features that may allow you to leave a module to acquire another
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Scalability
ADP
It handles very well with very sensitive data of a company especially of employees. Even provides HR services regarding recruitment services like recruitment, providing notification, even handles increment cycle of employee, any awards achieved by employees. All of this services are handled by them in very efficient way.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
It's a great product with some pieces that are set but many things that can be customized as needed for individual needs
Read full review
Professional Services
ADP
No answers on this topic
Cornerstone OnDemand
As I have said before, I have no doubt that the services of the Cornerstone sales people were very good. In particular, our salesperson spent a lot of time in contact with us to make the process go smoothly. Perhaps being a large company in some cases the times were slowed down but it is something normal to take into account.
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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
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • We are in the process of trying to increase employee engagement through content expansion. We are in the early stages of this.
  • The Edge Import Tool, in conjunction with Reporting 2.0, has done a great job of helping to automate/semi-automate tasks for huge time savings.
  • Maintaining compliance. Achieved through dynamic/automated groups, assignments, communication, and reporting.
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

Cornerstone OnDemand Screenshots

Screenshot of A personalized, modern user experience and self-service capabilities to engage employees, ensure productivity, and centralize employee dataScreenshot of With Cornerstone Learning, go beyond compliance and training - truly develop an engaged and collaborative workforce.Screenshot of Cornerstone Recruiting takes care of all talent acquisition needs and provides candidates with an amazing experience.Screenshot of With Cornerstone Performance, benchmark your people's performance, align them with your strategy, and provide feedback that matters.Screenshot of Cornerstone HR offers a personalized, modern user experience and self-service capabilities to engage employees, ensure productivity, and centralize employee data.Screenshot of With Content Anytime, quickly deliver hundreds of eLearning courses covering key soft-skills such as communication, time management, leadership, teamwork, and emotional intelligence.