Softwr

Accounting & Finance · head to head

ADP vs Bonsai

ADP logo

ADP

Accounting & Finance

Always Designing for People

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Bonsai logo

Bonsai

Freelancers

All-in-one business management for freelancers and agencies

From
On request
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; Bonsai elite plan, the only tier with custom permissions, timesheet locking and Xero integration, requires a 3 user minimum at $49/user/month

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADP and Bonsai actually diverge.

Attributes where ADP and Bonsai differ
AttributeADPBonsai
Starting price$29/monthOn request
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
CategoryAccounting & FinanceFreelancers
Founded1949Unknown

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
  • QuickBooks
  • Sage
  • Oracle

Only in Bonsai

Nothing recorded that ADP does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

ADP

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

Bonsai

No use cases recorded yet. See the Bonsai review.

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

Bonsai

  • Elite plan, the only tier with custom permissions, timesheet locking and Xero integration, requires a 3 user minimum at $49/user/month
  • Invoices, proposals, contracts and the client portal are withheld from the entry Basic plan and only unlocked on Essentials at $19/user/month
  • Monthly billing costs noticeably more than annual, for example $15/user/month versus $9/user/month annually on Basic
  • Free trial is limited to 7 days

Pricing, plan by plan

ADP

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

Bonsai

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Bonsai 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 Bonsai if

Nothing in the data separates Bonsai from ADP on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Bonsai review

Questions people ask

Is ADP or Bonsai better?
Neither clearly leads. ADP starts at $29/month and Bonsai at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADP or Bonsai?
ADP starts at $29/month and Bonsai at On request.
Does ADP or Bonsai run on more platforms?
ADP runs on Web, Ios, Android. Bonsai runs on Web.
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 Bonsai is typically brought in for.
What can ADP do that Bonsai cannot?
ADP covers Payroll, Tax services, HR management, Time & attendance.
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