Switcher’s Guide to the Best ADP Competitors and Alternatives

ADP is used to pay around 40 million people globally every year and is one of the top payroll platforms for small businesses. But with run-of-the-mill help and support and a fairly opaque pricing structure, it won’t be a perfect fit for every business.

If you’re after a strong alternative to ADP, Rippling is the best payroll software we’ve reviewed. It offers businesses more control over their payroll process and boasts stronger help and support options than ADP. On top of this, Rippling’s pricing structure is more transparent than ADP’s, which means it’s much easier to find out how much you’ll be paying.

With strong features, great analytics, and broad functionality that extends to HR resources and payroll, ADP does offer a solid way to pay your employees’ salaries. But no provider is perfect – and in this guide, we’re going to take a closer look at five payroll software platforms that give ADP a run for its money.

Whether you’re looking to switch from ADP to another software, or are just curious about how similar options like ADP and Gusto stack up against each other, read on for our full reviews of the best ADP alternatives. Or, if you’d rather us do the heavy lifting, take our free payroll quiz and get matched to a provider in under a minute.

In this guide:

• Best ADP Competitors
• What About QuickBooks and Square?
• Payroll Software Buying Guide
• How to Switch From ADP to Another Payroll Software
• Methodology: How Do We Compare Payroll Providers?
• Which Is The Best ADP Alternative?

The Best ADP Competitors in 2024

ADP has five high-quality competitors for payroll software:

1. Rippling
2. Paychex Flex
3. Gusto
4. Zenefits
5. OnPay

Depending on your business needs, any one of these might be a more appealing option for you. As technology evolves — in 2024, AI is the latest game-changer — new opportunities might make one payroll solution more attractive than the next.

We don’t mean to say that ADP isn’t worth getting: It remains one of our favorite payroll services. But you should consider all your options.

Here’s our look at why each competitor’s service might be worth getting instead, based on the thorough research and testing conducted by our expert team.

1. Rippling: Best for Payroll Overall

In our independent testing, Rippling performed extremely well and proved itself to be a versatile payroll software solution. In fact, Rippling was the best small business payroll software we reviewed.

Due to its customizable packages and its assortment of unique features — including automated legal compliance alerts, open AI, and international payment capabilities — we found it outperformed every other provider we’ve tested. The service’s Implementation Managers are another standout, as they offer custom training to clients. This is in sharp contrast to similar providers that lack any live training support, such as Zenefits and OnPay.

Rippling also shines when it comes to payroll expertise. The software provides useful resources on payroll-related tax requirements and offers in-depth training material to new users – including a top-tier online knowledge base. Rippling also keeps adding features, like a new tool delivering AI-powered candidate feedback summaries for Rippling Recruiting, its hiring service add-on.

Yet, despite its accolades, Rippling lacks ready-made integrations with large-scale HCM platforms like SAP and Oracle. This makes it less suited than ADP for businesses looking to scale to a large HR platform.

Rippling software offers popups in order to walk users through key functions.

How Does Rippling Compare to ADP?

When we put Rippling and ADP head to head, Rippling came out on top — but the two are close. Here’s how they compare on key factors:

• Control: Both are great, but Rippling gives users better control over their payroll than ADP because of its customizable plans and highly specialized tools, such as change reports and employee apps.
• Expertise: Both providers excel at subject expertise, filing taxes on behalf of the user at the state and federal level, and offering tax education resources and compliance alerts.
• Data security: Both Rippling and ADP also have impeccable data security, offering encryption, certifications, and role-based accounts. Both also have data centers in the US.
• Scalability: Both services offer open APIs and core integrations with accounting, benefits, and attendance software, but unlike Rippling, ADP comes ready to integrate with a variety of HCM tools such as SAP and Oracle, making it the superior option for businesses looking for scalability.
• Customer support: ADP and Rippling both offer live training, pre-recorded training, and setup instructions, but ADP lacks 24/7 support hours and has no email-based support, which puts Rippling ahead of ADP for support options.

Rippling’s Pricing

Rippling’s pricing structure is unique, as businesses are able to build custom packages to fit their particular needs. Rippling certainly offers more transparency than ADP, which requires customers to ask for a custom quote, although both providers have the same 12-month contract minimum.

Rippling’s main Unity plan costs $35 per month plus $8 per user, per month. This plan includes onboarding and offboarding features, time tracking, and full-service payroll capabilities.

Businesses can also add on extra modules for the following prices:

• Global payroll for $20 per user, per month
• Global contractor payroll for $20 per user, per month
• An employee of Record (EOR) for $599 per user, per month
• Benefits administration for custom prices
• App, device, and computer inventory management for $8 per user per month

Read our full Rippling review for more information on its pricing and features.

2. Paychex Flex: Most Flexible Payment Options

Paychex Flex is a slick piece of payroll software that lets employers pay their staffers in real-time – a feat that no other provider we’ve reviewed was able to achieve. But its accolades don’t stop there. Paychex Flex is also the best payroll vendor for flexible reporting tools, thanks to its collection of over 20 reporting options and its real-time report designer.

Paychex Flex also shines when it comes to help and support, letting you make queries through email, phone, or live chat options.

However, unlike ADP, Gusto, and Zenefits, Paychex Flex doesn’t have an employee-focused app for clocking in and out of shifts, limiting its benefits for workers. Paychex Flex lacks live and video-based training material too, and has a data policy that leaves much to be desired, which is why it’s not able to top our frontrunners Rippling or ADP.

Paychex includes an option for automatic pay runs.

How Does Paychex Flex Compare to ADP?

Toe to toe, ADP is just a little better on the whole than Paychex Flex, although it’s a close call. The two services both have great data analytics and reporting options, but ADP pulls slightly ahead in a few categories.

• Control: Paychex Flex and ADP both offer great flexibility for off-cycle payments, time tracking, vacation days, and much more, but even ADP’s very good 24-hour payment timing can’t beat Paychex’s real-time deposits.
• Expertise: Both offer state and federal filing, but ADP still offers better tax aid than Paychex Flex: ADP has compliance alerts while Paychex Flex does not.
• Data security: Paychex and ADP are matched for security, with both offering the full range of needed qualifications, from encryption and certifications to role-based accounts.
• Scalability: ADP makes scaling up a little easier than Paychex, even though both have all the standard integrations (accounting, benefits, time and attendance, and HR) and an open API. This is because ADP offers international payments, while Paychex does not.
• Customer support: Paychex easily beats ADP for support, as it offers phone, email, and live chat support 24/7, while ADP doesn’t offer an email support channel and isn’t available to contact around the clock.

Check out our full comparison of ADP vs Paychex.

Paychex Flex’s Pricing

Paychex Flex offers three plans: one with fixed pricing, and two quote-based packages, each with more features than the last. Unlike ADP and its opaque prices, you’ll know what you’re getting with Paychex Flex (although Paychex has no free trial, whereas ADP does offer one).

As with Gusto, HR functionality becomes available on the more costly Paychex Flex plans.

• Essentials – $39 per month, plus $5 per employee per month
• Select – Custom price; quote needed
• Pro – Custom price; quote needed

Check out our full guide to Paychex’s pricing for more.

3. Gusto: Best for Maintaining Compliance

Gusto is a Human Capital Management (HCM) platform for small businesses – its basic plans focus on payroll features, but if you upgrade to a more advanced plan down the road, you’ll be able to handle general HR functions through the interface as well.

It’s a good interface, too: Gusto ranks at or near the top of our charts when it comes to core features, including analytics. It’s easy to use, letting users cancel at will and offering free support for data migration, aiding users who are switching providers.

Gusto’s payroll, HR, and tax knowledge base is also very impressive. The vendor offers educational resources on taxes, in-depth training material, and even notifies businesses if they’ve breached local or federal labor law with its helpful compliance alerts, which Paychex Flex doesn’t have.

Gusto makes it easy to edit healthcare plan information for each employee.

How Does Gusto Compare to ADP?

Comparing the two across a range of factors, we’d say that Gusto is a decent alternative to ADP, but it’s still not as strong across the board. The two services are evenly matched for features and industry expertise, but ADP will more smoothly scale up with the evolving needs of your business.

• Control: Gusto and ADP are tied for the level of granular control they give users: Both services offer nearly everything you’ll need, from PTO calculations to off-cycle payments, but both also lack the same thing, which is the ability to view change reports.
• Expertise: Gusto and ADP both offer the same great tax aid, since they both file state and local taxes, offer resources, and send you compliance alerts.
• Data security: Gusto and ADP are once again matched for top-notch security, both delivering on certifications, encryption, US-based data centers, and role-based accounts.
• Scalability: ADP beats Gusto for scalability, as it can make international payments and offers a learning management system, neither of which Gusto provides.
• Customer support: Gusto is better for support than ADP, given that ADP lacks email support — but neither service has 24/7 support hours at all, leaving Paychex Flex as the top dog in this category.

Gusto’s Pricing

Gusto’s transparent pricing structure puts it ahead of ADP’s very opaque pricing, and since neither of them have a money-back guarantee, that’s a wash. When it comes to Gusto’s pricing, there are four payment plans to choose from — although one is aimed entirely at paying contractors, not employees: 

• Contractor– $6 per contractor per month (no base monthly fee)
• Simple – $40 per month, plus $6 per employee per month
• Plus – $80 per month, plus $12 per employee per month
• Premium – Exclusive pricing

Gusto Simple will give you the basic features, while Plus adds next-day direct deposit, time tracking and project management tools, and Premium bundles in HR resources. The cost for the Plus plan rose back in 2023, up from $60 per month and $9 per additional employee, while the Simple plan costs have remained stable.

4. Zenefits: Excellent Data Security

Zenefits takes data security very seriously. The provider boasts SOC II certification – signifying that it’s following industry-standard security measures to keep user information as safe as possible. Because of valuable features like this, our team of researchers couldn’t find Zenefits lacking for anything when it comes to security.

Outside of security, Zenefits is a multifaceted HR and payroll solution that gives businesses a granular level of control over their payroll processes, with tools for PTO calculations, time-tracking, multiple pay rates, off-cycle payments, and more. Just like Rippling, the platform has its own employee app which lets employees clock in and out of shifts. This tool makes it easy for workers on hourly contracts to keep a clear record of their payroll history.

Similarly to Gusto, Zenefits is also able to scale into a comprehensive HR solution, which makes the solution an asset to businesses looking to streamline their HR processes as they grow, and gives it the edge over providers like Rippling and OnPay.

Zenefits lists all employees on the payroll, even including a big red “remove from payroll” button.

How Does Zenefits Compare to ADP?

ADP payroll and Zenefits both have top-notch security safeguards and let businesses fine-tune their payroll processes to their unique needs. However, our researchers found that ADP was stronger overall because it offers a higher level of payroll expertise and is much easier to scale with growing businesses.

• Control: Zenefits and ADP both offer almost all the payment tools you’ll need, including time tracking, PTO calculations, non-employee payments and much more; however, both services lack change reports, and ADP’s 24-hour payment timing undercuts Zenefits 2-4 day wait times.
• Expertise: Zenefits and ADP both file state and local taxes, and both offer tax explanation resources, but Zenefits does not send compliance alerts, while ADP does.
• Data security: Zenefits and ADP are evenly matched for security protocols, with encryption, certification, US-based data centers, role-based accounts, and a history of no data breaches in recent years.
• Scalability: Zenefits lacks a few scaling functions that ADP has, namely international payments and learning management tools.
• Customer support: Zenefits beats ADP, since it has an email support channel, even though both lack 24/7 hours.

ADP also offers stronger setup and training tools than Zenefits, including live training courses. Since Zenefits lacks this capability, it will likely take businesses more time to get to grips with the software.

Zenefits’s Pricing

Zenefits offers three core pricing plans: Essentials, Growth, and Zen. It’s another example of a payroll service that has clear public pricing, in contrast to ADP’s lack of price transparency. They’re otherwise matched for price factors, as both services offer a free trial and a 12-month contract minimum, while neither one has a money-back guarantee. The plans and prices from Zenefits are:

• Essentials – $8 per user, per month
• Growth –$16 per user, per month
• Zen – $27 per user, per month

What’s new with Zenefits? As of our March 2023 update, all three plans have increased pricing: Essentials was $8 rather than $10 per user, per month; Growth was $16 rather than $20 per user, per month; and Zen was $27 rather than $33 per user, per month.

With the exception of Zen, these are HR plans: To add payroll, you’ll need to get the $6 per month per employee add-on. If you’re only interested in basic payroll capabilities like time off tracking, analytics, and scheduling, Essentials plus the add-on will be more than enough.

Zenefits’ Growth plan includes extra compensation and performance management tools for businesses with slightly more advanced needs, while Zen users can benefit from the provider’s People Hub — a communication platform for employees and managers.

5. OnPay Payroll: Great for Customizing Your Payroll Process

OnPay is an affordable payroll software with a feature set that gives top dogs like Rippling and ADP a run for their money. OnPay is one of the best options for employee payroll customization, since the platform lets managers set up their needed tax exemptions, pay run calculations, and determine whether or not they will carry over the same hours from the previous payroll.

The OnPay solution offers the tools small businesses need to manage and streamline employee payments, including a self-serve mobile app, and an assortment of payment and reporting tools — all of which further bolsters its customizability.

However, OnPay hasn’t achieved any data security certifications, so it falls short of every other provider on this list when it comes to data security. The platform lacks 24/7 support hours as well, making it best suited for businesses that won’t need much help with payroll software.

OnPay’s dashboard offers quick links to upcoming pay runs, important dates, and charts of recent activity.

How Does OnPay Compare to ADP?

If you’re torn between OnPay and ADP, we recommend ADP. The payroll software outperformed OnPay in most of our research categories, offering stronger data protection, more specialist options like a more granular employee app, and more hands-on training features.

• Control: Both providers have great tools including time tracking, off-cycle payments, and more, but OnPay requires two to four working days for a payment to reach an employee’s bank account, compared to under 24 hours with ADP.
• Expertise: ADP beats OnPay for tax aid because, while both file state and federal taxes, ADP is the only one to offer compliance alerts that warn users if they’ve breached a labor law.
• Data security: Both services have role-based permissions, encryptions, and data centers based in the US, but ADP has an ISO 27001 certification while OnPay does not.
• Scalability: OnPay lacks many tools that ADP delivers on, including international payments, applicant tracking, learning management, and ready-made integrations with popular HR mangement systems.
• Customer support: Neither ADP nor OnPay offers support around the clock, but OnPay does have email support channels, while ADP does not.

Read our full guide to ADP’s pricing to learn more.

OnPay’s Pricing

OnPay stands out in comparison to ADP when it comes to costs. In addition to beating ADP’s lack of price transparency, OnPay has no minimum contract length, which makes it much more flexible than ADP and its 12-month minimum.

OnPay doesn’t offer traditional pricing tiers: The service costs businesses a base rate of $40 per month, and an additional $6 per user, per month.

OnPay offers a 30-day free trial, allowing businesses to test the software before committing to a lengthy contract.

What About QuickBooks and Square?

You may have noticed that big names like QuickBooks and Square haven’t appeared on our list. This isn’t an oversight. After collecting swathes of data on the leading payroll providers — and speaking to businesses on the ground to understand their pain points — we found that the payroll solutions were not worthy alternatives to ADP RUN.

Both QuickBooks and Square offer limited HR capabilities and are ill-equipped for scaling with businesses as their payroll needs evolve. This won’t be a dealbreaker for all businesses, especially smaller ventures with no future plans for expansion. However, it rules the providers out from standing as viable ADP alternatives, since ADP RUN is the best software we reviewed for growing firms, as our in-house research found it offers great scalability tools like the rare functionality for international payments.

Want to learn more about these options? Read our full guides to QuickBooks Payroll’s pricing and Square Payroll’s pricing.

Payroll Software Buying Guide

How can you pick between ADP and other payroll services? We’d recommend investigating seven key issues when figuring out which option is for you:

• Price: Monthly charges, one-time setup fees, and contract lengths can all impact how much you spend on payroll. Be sure to look out for free trials or demos.
• Customizability and flexibility: Each payroll run may require a broad range of functions that your software may or may not make possible, including automatic sick day and vacation calculations, time-tracking, off-cycle payments, deductions, non-employee payments, and multiple pay rates. You should also consider the time it takes for a payment to actually reach an employee’s bank account.
• Payroll expertise: How much support or resource does the payroll provider offer for federal, state, or local taxes? Does it send compliance alerts?
• Employee accessibility: Does the software come with an employee self-serve app? Does each employee get a custom dashboard and access to tax reports, change reports, and other wage information?
• Data security: The payroll provider should have encryption, certifications, and a clean bill of health when it comes to data breaches, as well as offer role-based accounts to further protect data.
• Scalability: If your company is growing, your payroll software should offer perks like benefits and learning management, applicant tracking, or even international payments, to cater to the more advanced needs you’ll develop as your team expands.
• Software integrations: Can the software integrate with tools for HR, accounting, or time and attendance? Would you take advantage of an open API, if the provider has one?
• User support: Think about how you’d prefer to get in contact with your provider if you have a technical issue or query – do they have a live chat? A phone line? Are they available to contact 24/7 or during limited hours?

How to Switch From ADP to Another Payroll Software

If you’re researching ADP alternatives because you plan to stop using ADP Run, you’ll need to know how to make the transition from ADP to your new payroll service.

The actual steps will vary depending on the new provider. However, the transition process will always involve a data export of the years or decades’ worth of historical data your company has logged within ADP’s interface. For this data export, consult your IT team to see if they can get the data themselves by creating and running custom reports.

The alternative might be easier: Getting ADP to export the data for you. If you opt for this, you’ll likely just have a few meetings to establish a timeline that works for you, and ADP will handle it from there. Your timeline will likely last at least a few months, but may be longer.

After that, you’ll just need to get set up with your new payroll providers. Most major services will offer one-on-one onboarding help, including data export/import management. You’ll typically need an Excel file of your payroll data. We recommend signing up for a free trial of the new software in order to figure out how their specific process works.

Methodology: How Do We Compare Payroll Providers?

With each piece of payroll software offering its own strengths and suitabilities, comparing the market is no easy feat. To make sure we make the most informed recommendations possible, we’ve created our own unique research framework for ranking and reviewing payroll providers.

After talking to US businesses directly and finding out their biggest pain points, we focused on five main touchpoints when researching the services:

• Control: We examined tools including automatic sick pay & holiday calculations, time-tracking, auto salary deductions, multiple pay rates, off-cycle payments, automatic payroll runs, payment timings, and non-employee payments.
• Data security: We looked into user permissions, encryption type, certifications, data center locations, and data breaches from the past two years.
• Employee experience: We evaluated what it’s like to use each provider’s mobile apps, website logins, and viewable payslips.
• Scalability: We asked whether the vendors offer related services like international payments, HR support, an applicant tracking system, benefits management and learning management?
• Customer support: We considered the type of support available, (phone, email, chat, knowledge base) and whether live support is 24/7.

We then gave each provider a mark out of five for each respective category and used an aggregate of these scores to give them an overall rating. These ratings help us compare payroll services against each other (i.e, how ADP stacks up to its fellow competitors) and indicate their suitability for different types of businesses.

We research every type of business technology a little differently at Tech.co. You can learn more about our rigorous research process here.

If you’re just looking for direct quotes, we’ve got you covered. Our team of experts has developed a free payroll quiz that helps businesses whittle down the market by getting matched to a solution. It takes less than a minute, so get started today!