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Software · head to head

ADP vs Cockroach Labs

ADP logo

ADP

Software

Always Designing for People

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Cockroach Labs logo

Cockroach Labs

Software

The cloud-native distributed SQL database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Cockroach Labs has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: ADP no pricing is published; every quote is custom and driven by employee count and which services are taken; Cockroach Labs basic and Standard tiers limited to AWS and GCP (select regions only)
  • They diverge on capability: ADP covers Payroll, Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADP and Cockroach Labs actually diverge.

Attributes where ADP and Cockroach Labs differ
AttributeADPCockroach Labs
Starting price$29/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidAWS, GCP, Azure
Founded19492015

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Cockroach Labs

  • Distributed SQL
  • Automatic Sharding
  • Multi-region Replication
  • Geo-partitioning
  • ACID Transactions
  • Horizontal Scaling
  • Survivability
  • PostgreSQL Compatibility

What people use each for

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

ADP

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

Cockroach Labs

  • Distributed SQL database for scalable applicationsnot ADP
  • Multi-region deployment and failovernot 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

Cockroach Labs

  • Basic and Standard tiers limited to AWS and GCP (select regions only)
  • Azure support restricted to Advanced tier only
  • Basic tier limited to 50 million RUs and 10 GiB storage per month
  • Advanced tier starts at $0.60/hour for 4 vCPUs minimum
  • 3 TiB maximum storage on Basic and Standard tiers, 10 TiB per node on Advanced

Pricing, plan by plan

ADP

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

Cockroach Labs

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cockroach Labs 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 Cockroach Labs if

  • You need distributed sql.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on AWS, GCP, Azure.
  • You also want automatic sharding.
Cockroach Labs review

Questions people ask

Is ADP or Cockroach Labs better?
Neither clearly leads. ADP starts at $29/month and Cockroach Labs at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADP or Cockroach Labs?
Cockroach Labs has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for ADP and Free for Cockroach Labs.
Does ADP or Cockroach Labs run on more platforms?
ADP runs on Web, Ios, Android. Cockroach Labs runs on AWS, GCP, Azure.
Can I use Cockroach Labs for free?
Yes. Cockroach Labs has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. ADP starts at $29/month.
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 Cockroach Labs is typically brought in for.
What can ADP do that Cockroach Labs cannot?
ADP covers Payroll, Tax services, HR management, Time & attendance. Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL, Automatic Sharding, Multi-region Replication, Geo-partitioning.
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Related pages

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