ADP Workforce Now vs. Namely

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ADP Workforce Now
Score 7.5 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
Namely
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Namely is an end-to-end HR, benefits, and payroll solution for mid-sized businesses. The cloud-based platform can be used to manage the entire HR process.N/A
Pricing
ADP Workforce NowNamely
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 NowNamely
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
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 NowNamely
Considered Both Products
ADP Workforce Now

No answer on this topic

Namely
Chose Namely
So much easier to use and better adapted to employees who are looking for a good UI.
Chose Namely
The reason I continued to choose Namely at multiple employers is due to the continuity of employee experience. And the features have continued to grow since I initially onboarded in 2014. Also, through the years, I have had terrific benefits teams. The customer service has been …
Chose Namely
We're currently evaluating alternatives, but there appear to be only features to gain no matter where we look.
Chose Namely
I did not select Namely. I inherited it. My predecessors chose it because they thought it "looked good" and that employees would like it. ADP and Ultipro are both better. Namely might be fine for 50-100 per some employers, but it gets painful beyond that point.
Chose Namely
I did not choose Namely, the previous head of HR selected it. I do not find Namely to be better in any area than the tools Ive used in the past. Specifically the user interface - some of my employees have limited experience with technology and this system is not intuitive.
Chose Namely
I have forever loved ADP, since they are, after all, the gold standard for payroll and HCM. Namely is now top of my list, followed by ADP. Namely's reporting is extremely helpful and easy to create, which is why for me, it's ranked above ADP. Plus, it is easy to navigate …
Chose Namely
Namely is a for sure improvement in capability, time commitment and ease of use over the systems I have used in the past. I would prefer not to share other systems I looked at while assessing Namely. The reasons for not choosing other platforms had to do with price or not …
Chose Namely
ADP is really limiting, and not appealing to look at.
Chose Namely
We now use one platform instead of a mix of old technologies
Chose Namely
Namely helped us ditch ADP Workforce and Zenefits. We were using a combination of both of them to meet the needs of time off reporting and payroll. Namely does both and so much more! It's been an awesome resource for managers and employees to have better visual on all things HR.
Chose Namely
Namely's reporting capabilities are easier to utilize. Also, compliance maintenance has been maintained since implementation.
Features
ADP Workforce NowNamely
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.8
1058 Ratings
4% below category average
Namely
9.5
144 Ratings
16% above category average
Employee demographic data8.4935 Ratings8.0133 Ratings
Employment history8.2974 Ratings9.8139 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.2924 Ratings9.831 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.6951 Ratings9.7133 Ratings
Organizational charting7.3666 Ratings9.7135 Ratings
Organization and location management7.6731 Ratings9.8130 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.0673 Ratings9.983 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
8.0
1069 Ratings
2% below category average
Namely
9.1
128 Ratings
11% above category average
Pay calculation8.81030 Ratings9.9112 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.7408 Ratings10.054 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.0321 Ratings9.758 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.5817 Ratings8.0110 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.91017 Ratings9.9114 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.3800 Ratings9.8101 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.5488 Ratings6.657 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.9
875 Ratings
3% below category average
Namely
9.8
125 Ratings
18% above category average
Approval workflow7.7797 Ratings9.7122 Ratings
Balance details8.0829 Ratings9.8117 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment8.1673 Ratings9.996 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.8
1050 Ratings
5% below category average
Namely
7.3
142 Ratings
12% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.31013 Ratings9.9130 Ratings
Update personal information8.31003 Ratings9.9141 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.0811 Ratings7.0128 Ratings
Employee recognition6.5382 Ratings2.5117 Ratings
View job history7.732 Ratings7.1135 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
12 Ratings
28% below category average
Namely
5.9
53 Ratings
30% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets6.012 Ratings5.953 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.8
974 Ratings
10% below category average
Namely
7.9
122 Ratings
5% above category average
Report builder7.6957 Ratings8.0118 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.2952 Ratings8.0113 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data5.6569 Ratings7.574 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.2
142 Ratings
10% below category average
Namely
6.5
117 Ratings
21% below category average
New hire portal7.6138 Ratings8.1111 Ratings
Manager tracking tools6.9112 Ratings5.086 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.0
329 Ratings
14% below category average
Namely
6.2
97 Ratings
26% below category average
Corporate goal setting7.0255 Ratings5.087 Ratings
Individual goal setting6.8307 Ratings3.194 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.0252 Ratings9.873 Ratings
Performance tracking7.1302 Ratings6.990 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.5
426 Ratings
20% below category average
Namely
6.3
108 Ratings
23% below category average
Performance plans6.6383 Ratings5.097 Ratings
Performance improvement plans6.3328 Ratings5.069 Ratings
Review status tracking6.1386 Ratings7.096 Ratings
Review reminders7.0402 Ratings7.099 Ratings
Multiple review frequency6.5335 Ratings7.485 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
7 Ratings
26% below category average
Namely
5.9
21 Ratings
28% below category average
Create succession plans/pools5.86 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking5.86 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search6.37 Ratings5.921 Ratings
Candidate development6.26 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
5.9
438 Ratings
26% below category average
Namely
8.8
6 Ratings
14% above category average
Job Requisition Management7.1383 Ratings8.95 Ratings
Company Website Posting6.8374 Ratings8.85 Ratings
Publish to Social Media5.0300 Ratings8.85 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting6.0336 Ratings8.95 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention2.38 Ratings8.85 Ratings
Applicant Tracking6.8378 Ratings8.95 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts7.1399 Ratings8.66 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ADP Workforce NowNamely
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.4 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.2 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ADP Workforce NowNamely
Likelihood to Recommend
7.9
(1123 ratings)
7.1
(145 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.6
(83 ratings)
8.1
(10 ratings)
Usability
2.5
(80 ratings)
8.4
(71 ratings)
Availability
7.3
(14 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
6.4
(13 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
6.5
(494 ratings)
6.1
(28 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.2
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
5.8
(17 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
1.5
(34 ratings)
5.5
(85 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(10 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.1
(8 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.7
(785 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
5.2
(8 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.1
(8 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
ADP Workforce NowNamely
Likelihood to Recommend
ADP
During COVID, ADP Workforce Now was great about keeping up with changing laws and regulations. They built reports that helped us apply for PPP loans and then later apply for forgiveness. Webinars and other training avenues were well constructed, accurate, and informative. We were all at a loss together and having a partner who ensured the legal side was met was one less worry. They can easily do the day-to-day compliance and regulatory things. COVID highlighted how quickly it could be done.
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Namely
Namely is aesthetically very pleasing and navigates like other social media platforms which can be appealing to potentially a remote workforce who interacts more online than in person. Unfortunately, it did not serve our population well as we are primarily manufacturing where people are not as interested in utilizing the HRIS for interactions when they would rather connect in person.
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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
Namely
  • Namely has helped with our COVID sick leave response. It has made a major difference both with the weekly payroll and the 941 tax filing
  • Keeping track of our multiple PTO plans. Thank goodness for Namely, I have shredded my old PTO spreadsheets.
  • Employees like the convenience of the cell phone app. As a payroll administrator, I like the Geo Tracking tool where I can see where some are when the clock is in or out.
  • The flexibility inside of the payroll system both as you are finalizing an employee profile and when you are processing payroll is a major advantage.
  • The reports I get out of Namely in Excel format work well for me.
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Cons
ADP
  • Customized pre-process payroll reports (Limited on pre-process payroll reports)
  • Labor Allocation (Allocations make payroll reporting very hard to review and find any errors )
  • Recruiting (ATS is very basic)
  • Geofencing (should be able to change shape rather than a circle)
  • Pay Classes (should be able to change at Practitioner level rather than reach out to support)
  • Cookies and Cache have to be cleared on a regular basis
  • Only able to see employee documents/acknowledgements one at a time in the employee file
  • Timecards can only be managed/viewed by 1 person
  • Timeoff emails do not have a link
  • Cost per payroll - not just monthly fee so cost with off cycle payrolls
  • Separate I9 step not needed - during onboarding - 2nd Everify step
  • ADP Workforce Now does not pull in allowances for Houly employees into payroll ONLY Salaried employees
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Namely
  • Limits to custom reporting
  • No direct feed for Ohio Workers Comp (now a manual process on our end)
  • No option to place an employee on Leave of Absence and exclude them from payroll while they are "inactive"
  • No option to suppress certain deductions for certain pay types (i.e. allow 401K for commissions but block remaining deductions - also now a manual process to uncheck the suppress box for 401K for each commission check)
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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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Namely
Administrators and employees love Namely. It is very easy to use and streamlined. Employees stay engaged with news feed updates and enjoy all the self service options. The time cards are very easy to access and clocking in and out for non-exempt employees is a breeze. Namely is part of our family.
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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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Namely
It is very simple to use for myself, the HR team, and our employees. I find the payroll process very user-friendly. Reporting is simple to navigate and produce the required information requested. I know our employees enjoy the self-service feature and use it on a regular basis, which saves me time.
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Reliability and Availability
ADP
ADP outages are very rare
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Namely
No answers on this topic
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
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Namely
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
ADP
this is my only down side of ADP, they dont transfer you around a lot (Good) and try to tackle the issue right there, but the english barrier is sometimes a huge brick that stands in the way, and can result in the wrong outcome. There has been times I have asked for someone else as I thought it was getting done wrong, and was still able to get the assistance I needed, just took me explaining it twice
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Namely
Namely platform has pretty good support: knowledgeable and relatively fast response times. Namely Payroll and Namely Benefits are very much depending on the quality of the support agent or CSM: we have had knowledgeable and attentive ones, but also ones that have provided erroneous information or failed to respond to urgent asks in a timely manner
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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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Namely
No answers on this topic
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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Namely
No answers on this topic
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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Namely
Implementation was a bit complicated and our company had to carry most of the weight. It often felt like our implementation manager was giving us extra work that she did not want to do herself. It also took much longer than expected - I believe almost 2 months. I believe our company carried a bit too much of the weight.
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Alternatives Considered
ADP
They pale compared to ADP because they each have broken systems that do not flow from beginning to end. Another system is required to support all of the functions needed to process payroll. That puts too much on me, the person, instead of the system. We should work smarter, not harder.
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Namely
The reason I continued to choose Namely at multiple employers is due to the continuity of employee experience. And the features have continued to grow since I initially onboarded in 2014. Also, through the years, I have had terrific benefits teams. The customer service has been the worst part of the experience outside of the benefits team.
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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.
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Namely
No answers on this topic
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.
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Namely
  • We were able to transition to a fully digital onboarding process which saved us hours in time per new hire and made the process smoother for the new hire.
  • Namely is our first HRIS and has helped the HR department to find data and information quickly.
  • Namely helped us digitize our performance management process which the company undergoes on an annual basis.
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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

Namely Screenshots

Screenshot of the Namely employee dashboard. This creates a central hub to access payroll and benefits info, share announcements, celebrate milestones, and navigate everything HR, from a desk or on the go.Screenshot of Namely Payroll, which is backed by automation and built-in compliance.Screenshot of the Onboarding interface, for new hires.Screenshot of the Applicant Tracking interface, which supports processes from job posting to onboarding with tools for hiring teams and candidates.Screenshot of the Benefits Administration interface, which supports open enrollment, plan changes, and employee elections.Screenshot of the Workforce Management interface. From here, viewers can track time, manage schedules, and handle complex workforce needs.