Softwr

Accounting & Finance · head to head

ADP vs Carta

ADP logo

ADP

Accounting & Finance

Always Designing for People

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Carta logo

Carta

Accounting & Finance

Equity management & valuations

From
$29/month
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; Carta free plan eligibility as captured 19 January 2024 was capped at companies with fewer than 25 stakeholders and less than $1M raised in funding
  • They diverge on capability: ADP covers Payroll, Carta covers Cap table management.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADP and Carta actually diverge.

Attributes where ADP and Carta differ
AttributeADPCarta
Founded19492012

Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting & Finance).

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 Carta

  • Cap table management
  • 409A valuations
  • Equity plans
  • Investor reporting
  • Fund administration
  • Gusto
  • Slack
  • SOC 2

Both cover

  • QuickBooks
  • Web support
  • Ios support
  • Android support

What people use each for

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

ADP

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

Carta

  • Equity managementnot ADP
  • 409A valuationsnot ADP
  • Fund administrationnot 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

Carta

  • Free plan eligibility as captured 19 January 2024 was capped at companies with fewer than 25 stakeholders and less than $1M raised in funding

Pricing, plan by plan

ADP

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

Carta

$29/month
  • LaunchFree
    • Cap table
    • Stakeholder management
  • Seed$360/year
    • 409A valuations
    • Option exercising
    • Scenarios

Which should you pick?

Choose ADP if

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

Choose Carta if

  • You need cap table management.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want 409a valuations.
Carta review

Questions people ask

Is ADP or Carta better?
Neither clearly leads. ADP starts at $29/month and Carta at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADP or Carta?
ADP starts at $29/month and Carta at $29/month.
Does ADP or Carta run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 Carta is typically brought in for.
What can ADP do that Carta cannot?
ADP covers Payroll, Tax services, HR management, Time & attendance. Carta covers Cap table management, 409A valuations, Equity plans, Investor reporting. Both handle QuickBooks, Web support, Ios support, Android support.
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