ADP
Workday
| Feature | ADP | Workday |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $79/mo | Contact sales |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.1 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | small-businesses, mid-market-companies, enterprises, multi-state-employers | large-enterprises, global-companies, hr-departments, finance-teams |
| Founded | 1949 | 2005 |
| Payroll Processing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Tax Filing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Benefits Administration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Time Attendance | ✓ | ✗ |
| Hr Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Talent Management | ✓ | ✓ |
| Compliance | ✓ | ✗ |
| Hcm | ✗ | ✓ |
| Payroll | ✗ | ✓ |
| Financial Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Workforce Planning | ✗ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
| Learning | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ ADP Pros
- Industry leader with 70+ years of payroll expertise
- Scalable from 1 employee to 100,000+
- Automatic tax filing and compliance updates
- Comprehensive benefits and retirement administration
✗ ADP Cons
- Pricing requires custom quote (not transparent)
- Interface feels dated compared to modern HR tools
- Customer service quality varies by region
✓ Workday Pros
- Unified HR and finance in one cloud platform
- Excellent reporting and analytics capabilities
- Regular feature updates with continuous delivery
- Strong compliance and global payroll support
✗ Workday Cons
- Very expensive (enterprise pricing only)
- Long implementation timelines (6-12+ months)
- Complex configuration requires certified consultants
The Verdict
ADP is built for small businesses and mid market companies, with a focus on payroll-processing and tax-filing. Workday targets large enterprises and global companies and leads with hcm and payroll.
Workday uses custom enterprise pricing, while ADP starts at $79/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Neither tool offers a free plan, so factor the subscription cost into your decision from the start.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.