ADP Workforce Now vs. Paychex Flex

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
Paychex Flex
Score 6.6 out of 10
N/A
Paychex Flex, of Paychex' Online Payroll Services, is a cloud-based human resource management and payroll platform. Paychex offers core and specialized services, and scales to meet the needs of small businesses, SMBs, and large enterprises.
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Pricing
ADP Workforce NowPaychex Flex
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
Paychex Go
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Paychex Flex Service
Contact sales team
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ADP Workforce NowPaychex Flex
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 NowPaychex Flex
Considered Both Products
ADP Workforce Now
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now is the best HR Software tool in the market because it offers multiple solutions. Other tools in the market only offer one tool and this one offers it all. This makes our HR departments jobs easier and they save a lot of money only have to purchase one tool …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
not particularly different, except I think the customer service is worse with ADP Workforce Now.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
I have been with the practice for 11 years, never once have I had to deal with issues that ADP has caused. The burden, lack of professionalism and the inability to perform basic, entry level tasks, is mind blowing
Chose ADP Workforce Now
I have exited 3 PEOs now and brought my business to ADP in house. My experience is with TriNet's PEO, Paychex's PEO and ADP Workforce Now. ADP beats both TriNet PEO and Paychex PEO as I couldn't wait to exit from TriNet and Paychex. Workforce Now will eventually be in a …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
We selected ADP due to its value and included capabilities. I find it to be very similar to the majority of the major payroll providers and in hindsight [I] am not sure this is the route we [should] have gone. If you have a robust HR/Payroll team, I think the product is fine, …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
We were a Paychex customer for approximately 14 years prior to reaching out for bids on a new platform. In the last year of our involvement with Paychex, we were moved to a new flex platform that just didn't seem to work for us, and the customer service to get answers or …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
I selected ADP over Paychex with the hope that customer support would be more responsive to my needs. I was wrong.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now has the ability to be an all-in-one HRIS, Payroll system, ATS, and benefits management system without having any continuity issues. Easy to use and logical to use. Things are where you would think they would be without research, more of a common sense-built …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Many companies say they have seamless integration, provide a wide-array of reporting capabilities to help achieve compliance, company objectives, analytics. In my experience, only WorkForce has been able to say it and bring it to fruition.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Paychex offered little to no customer service. Paychex was unable to provide us with online timesheets that would fit our accrual and pay profiles. Paychex HR and Payroll did not process in the same module. Extra HR modules needed to be purchased, and those did not flow to …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP [Workforce Now] is definitely much better than these two products. It is more user-friendly and has many more features; however, they are significantly more cost-effective, which is why they were used. ADP has the monopoly.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Selected ADP because I thought the software was better. It ended up being the wrong choice.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP provides greater support for our payroll due to the volume of different unions, pay scales, and work rules that we deal with. Also, it appeared to offer better functionality for the Affordable Care Act reporting.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
They all are pretty much the same. It's about who has the best bang for the buck. ADP seems to have very expensive add ons with no "all in one" package. I see my organization's bills for ADP and I feel like we're being taken to the cleaners with the cafeteria-style options.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
I would hands-down pick ADP WOrkforce Now over Paylocity or Darwin any day of the week. I feel Paychex is pretty similar, so I wouldn't be mad if my company decided to switch to them.
Paychex Flex
Chose Paychex Flex
I have used both ADP Workforce Now and ADP Run for smaller companies. ADP is a great program and does what it does well but it does not compare to Paychex Flex. When I call Paychex Flex, I'm routed to my account representative immediately. If my rep isn't available, I'm …
Chose Paychex Flex
All solutions we have reviewed offer the same solutions, and all have pros/cons. Price is a factor, and we have found slightly less costly solutions, though any cost savings are negated in transition costs.
Chose Paychex Flex
I would choose Paychex every time!!
The customer service is outstanding!
All of the payroll/HRIS systems are similar in content, but Paychex outshines them in service the delivery of what we need.
Chose Paychex Flex
With ADP we didn't feel we had good customer support. The cost is also pretty high compared to Paychex. Though it has some good sides like system speed and custom reporting, it lacks basic customer support and it was very tight with Payroll submission deadlines reaching out to …
Chose Paychex Flex
We had Paychex Flex first and left them for ADP Workforce as we believed at that time we were going to get more functions, capabilities, cost tracking, and options. To be honest, I wish we could go back to Paychex Flex. We process payroll through a cumbersome construction …
Chose Paychex Flex
Most of the reporting is a little easier to find and create in Paychex Flex. Most of the web interfaces for submitting payroll are fairly easy just like Paychex Flex.
Chose Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex was easier to navigate. Our budgeting and PTO tracking flowed better with Paychex Flex, and as a manager, I felt more comfortable with working /with/ my employees instead of them carrying the load on their tracking. Plus, Flex has given us the ability to be more …
Chose Paychex Flex
I was not part of the decision to purchase Paychex Flex. It was good for the company's needs at the time, but when I joined the company we needed software that was more robust for our needs.
Chose Paychex Flex
It’s great that Paychex is one place for all things, however workday in combination with a financial institution for managing 401ks is a cleaner and easier to use system. That being said, we didn’t utilize all the components of Paychex
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
ADP Workforce NowPaychex Flex
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
Paychex Flex
6.7
247 Ratings
16% below category average
Employee demographic data8.1903 Ratings8.0197 Ratings
Employment history8.2939 Ratings8.1220 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.0890 Ratings6.8155 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.5917 Ratings7.3154 Ratings
Organizational charting6.7643 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Organization and location management7.5704 Ratings7.9138 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.6648 Ratings7.5132 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
Paychex Flex
8.5
288 Ratings
6% above category average
Pay calculation8.7995 Ratings9.0271 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.5389 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.9294 Ratings9.1136 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.9798 Ratings7.2156 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.7983 Ratings9.2270 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.9769 Ratings8.5193 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.7468 Ratings7.9105 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
Paychex Flex
7.0
144 Ratings
14% below category average
Approval workflow8.0766 Ratings6.3102 Ratings
Balance details7.6800 Ratings7.5136 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment7.6648 Ratings7.3110 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
Paychex Flex
8.5
249 Ratings
5% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.3977 Ratings8.6228 Ratings
Update personal information8.6968 Ratings9.0239 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.2782 Ratings7.7111 Ratings
Employee recognition7.0366 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history7.732 Ratings8.7168 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
Paychex Flex
7.8
40 Ratings
1% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets6.012 Ratings7.840 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
Paychex Flex
6.1
164 Ratings
22% below category average
Report builder7.4927 Ratings5.8134 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.6923 Ratings6.8154 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.4550 Ratings5.683 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.2
116 Ratings
11% below category average
Paychex Flex
8.0
158 Ratings
0% below category average
New hire portal7.6112 Ratings8.0151 Ratings
Manager tracking tools6.892 Ratings7.9100 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
Paychex Flex
-
Ratings
Corporate goal setting7.9240 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.9291 Ratings00 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.5238 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking7.9284 Ratings00 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
Paychex Flex
-
Ratings
Performance plans7.3361 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.2309 Ratings00 Ratings
Review status tracking7.5366 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders7.3378 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.2313 Ratings00 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
Paychex Flex
-
Ratings
Create succession plans/pools5.86 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking5.86 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search6.37 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate development6.26 Ratings00 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
Paychex Flex
8.5
59 Ratings
9% above category average
Job Requisition Management7.6366 Ratings9.732 Ratings
Company Website Posting8.1358 Ratings9.730 Ratings
Publish to Social Media7.1287 Ratings6.823 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.3321 Ratings6.730 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention2.38 Ratings6.828 Ratings
Applicant Tracking7.1362 Ratings9.633 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.3383 Ratings9.853 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ADP Workforce NowPaychex Flex
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ADP Workforce NowPaychex Flex
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(1089 ratings)
7.7
(298 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.3
(82 ratings)
8.9
(42 ratings)
Usability
6.2
(78 ratings)
8.0
(240 ratings)
Availability
7.3
(14 ratings)
9.3
(10 ratings)
Performance
6.4
(13 ratings)
9.1
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
7.1
(463 ratings)
7.7
(245 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.1
(9 ratings)
4.5
(1 ratings)
Online Training
5.8
(17 ratings)
7.0
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.8
(34 ratings)
9.4
(11 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(10 ratings)
7.6
(8 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.1
(8 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.5
(751 ratings)
9.3
(10 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
5.2
(8 ratings)
8.9
(31 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.1
(8 ratings)
9.2
(32 ratings)
User Testimonials
ADP Workforce NowPaychex Flex
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
Paychex, Inc.
In my experience, Paychex Flex is well suited for small to medium sized businesses. It has been helpful in streamlining the onboarding process and it is easy to update and maintain employee profiles and records. It has worked will in a non-profit environment where there is clergy pay and housing, which can get quite complicated. I cannot think of a scenario where it would be less appropriate.
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
Paychex, Inc.
  • I like I can enter payroll and if I need to leave the program, I can resume at a later time and my information is saved.
  • I like the analytics & reports features.
  • I like how all my employees have easy access to their portal.
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
Paychex, Inc.
  • Reporting writing is difficult to figure out
  • Employee turnover inside Paychex was a problem, until we were assigned to Neil Williams - since that time it has settled down
  • Pressure to convert personal connection with payroll advisor to using automated service
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
Paychex, Inc.
Overall I like the features that Paychex Flex offers. I am sure that there are other features that I am unaware of, so I am excited to see if there is more that Flex is capable of to make my job easier. The basic features are really user friendly and easy to access. If there ever is an issue customer service is great
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
Paychex, Inc.
Some things could be streamlined. For example, we could do custom options for the "add items" tab which has so many options that we never use. "Medical Pay" could be something that the system remembers for the applicable employees. Salaried employees' salaries should definitely be auto-filled. Overall the system works well but I think it could be improved to be easier to use and read.
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Reliability and Availability
ADP
ADP outages are very rare
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
We have not experienced any difficulties with unplanned outages. Notifications are always made for outages, and they do not effect normal business operations.
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
Paychex, Inc.
Unless there is lag time within the internet, the Paychex Flex website loads exceptional fast, pages load quickly and reports that I need to print or download load quickly. If I need to create a specialized report, once I complete it I receive an e-mail telling me my report is ready to be downloaded. Changing between web pages is fast as well.
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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
Paychex, Inc.
Our dedicated representative is one of the main reasons we are sticking with Paychex Flex. If it were not for this person, other platforms could provide the same/similar functionality. It is the ability to speak with someone that understands our business and is willing to get questions answered in a timely fashion that keeps us with Paychex Flex.
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
Paychex, Inc.
We did online training only
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
Paychex, Inc.
It was easy to understand and follow along. I do like the informational videos that we can utilize before we opt to call in for customer service support. It has made a difference since sometimes that resolves the issue I may have had and saved myself a phone call to Paychex support.
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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.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
Implementation was very smooth. The most cumbersome task was entering the current employees into the system during initial set up, but Paychex staff handled most of that and verified against prior system reports as well as internal reports provided to ensure 100% accuracy.
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
Paychex, Inc.
We still use QB Desktop Pro to maintain a Check Register / Overall Balance for the company, but once having tried QB Payroll Online for about 3 months prior to finding Paychex Flex I can tell you that there's just no comparison. QB online is VERY EXPENSIVE and not so user-friendly. I hated every minute of those 6 payrolls we ran through QB online.
Read full review
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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Paychex, Inc.
Employees can log in at home and get up to date information on their FSA balance and any medical bill reimbursements they may have uploaded. At renewal time they have the ability to make changes to their FSA or for new employees star the enrollment.
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
Paychex, Inc.
  • I do not believe we have saved anything additionally. The time we've had to spend to get things to hopefully work is sad. This is the reason we've had to turn off all extra "products" of Paychex Flex. Time and Attendance is horrible. Benefits management is horrible. The user experience is horrible.
  • One thing I do not understand is why are updates for states, cities, counties, school districts, etc. not automatically updated? Should we not get a big red flag if we have an employee living/working, being paid in CA, but they aren't set up for CA sick time? If it is required to be on the paycheck stub to show the balance of the sick time, why would we not be notified that we are out of compliance?
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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

Paychex Flex Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of