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Accounting & Finance · head to head

ADP vs BambooHR

ADP logo

ADP

Accounting & Finance

Always Designing for People

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
BambooHR logo

BambooHR

All industries

HR software with heart

From
$10/month per employee
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: ADP no pricing is published; every quote is custom and driven by employee count and which services are taken; BambooHR organisations of 25 or fewer employees pay a flat rate starting at $250 a month, so a very small team pays far more per head than the listed per-employee price
  • They diverge on capability: ADP covers Payroll, BambooHR covers Employee database.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADP and BambooHR actually diverge.

Attributes where ADP and BambooHR differ
AttributeADPBambooHR
Starting price$29/month$10/month per employee
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Ios, Android, Api
CategoryAccounting & FinanceAll industries
Founded19492008

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in ADP

  • Payroll
  • Tax services
  • HR management
  • Time & attendance
  • Benefits administration
  • Sage
  • Oracle
  • SOC 1/2

Only in BambooHR

  • Employee database
  • Time-off management
  • Benefits tracking
  • Performance reviews
  • Onboarding
  • Reporting & analytics
  • Mobile access
  • Document management

Both cover

  • QuickBooks

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

ADP

  • Payroll processing and tax filingnot BambooHR
  • HR administration and employee recordsnot BambooHR
  • Time and attendance trackingnot BambooHR
  • Benefits administrationnot BambooHR
  • Talent management on the mid-market and enterprise productsnot BambooHR

BambooHR

  • HR system of record with employee data and documentsnot ADP
  • Time off tracking and approvalsnot ADP
  • Applicant tracking and onboardingnot ADP
  • Performance reviews and 1:1s on the Pro tiernot ADP
  • Compensation planning and benchmarking on Elitenot ADP

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

ADP

  • No pricing is published; every quote is custom and driven by employee count and which services are taken
  • Split into three separate products by company size, RUN for 1 to 49 employees, Workforce Now for 50 and above, and Lyric HCM for enterprise, so growing across a threshold means changing product rather than plan

BambooHR

  • Organisations of 25 or fewer employees pay a flat rate starting at $250 a month, so a very small team pays far more per head than the listed per-employee price
  • Per-employee pricing starts at 26 employees, from $10 on Core
  • Performance management, 360 reviews and recognition all require Pro at $17 per employee per month
  • Compensation management, salary benchmarking and advanced analytics are Elite only at $25 per employee per month
  • Compliance training is rationed by tier, at 1 course on Core against 300 on Elite

Pricing, plan by plan

ADP

$29/month
  • Essential$79/month
    • Payroll
    • Tax filing
    • Direct deposit
  • Enhanced$139/month
    • HR tools
    • Background checks
    • Job posting

BambooHR

$10/month per employee

No published plan breakdown. See the BambooHR review.

Which should you pick?

Choose ADP if

  • You need payroll.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want tax services.
ADP review

Choose BambooHR if

  • You need employee database.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want time-off management.
BambooHR review

Questions people ask

Is ADP or BambooHR better?
Neither clearly leads. ADP starts at $29/month and BambooHR at $10/month per employee, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADP or BambooHR?
ADP starts at $29/month and BambooHR at $10/month per employee.
Does ADP or BambooHR run on more platforms?
ADP runs on Web, Ios, Android. BambooHR runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
What is ADP best used for?
ADP is most often used for payroll processing and tax filing, hr administration and employee records, time and attendance tracking, benefits administration. Of those, payroll processing and tax filing and hr administration and employee records are not what BambooHR is typically brought in for.
What can ADP do that BambooHR cannot?
ADP covers Payroll, Tax services, HR management, Time & attendance. BambooHR covers Employee database, Time-off management, Benefits tracking, Performance reviews. Both handle QuickBooks.
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