Softwr

Accounting · head to head

ADP vs Medusa

ADP logo

ADP

Accounting

Always Designing for People

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Medusa logo

Medusa

E-Commerce

Open source Shopify alternative

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; Medusa the managed cloud meters four separate resources: edge requests, emails, compute hours and database storage
  • They diverge on capability: ADP covers Payroll, Medusa covers Open source.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADP and Medusa actually diverge.

Attributes where ADP and Medusa differ
AttributeADPMedusa
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
CategoryAccountingE-Commerce
Founded19492020

Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), 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 Medusa

  • Open source
  • Modular architecture
  • Multi-region support
  • Plugin system
  • Admin dashboard
  • Order management
  • Inventory tracking
  • Payment integrations

What people use each for

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

ADP

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

Medusa

  • Building a custom ecommerce backend on an open source headless platformnot ADP
  • Running a self hosted or managed commerce API with a custom storefrontnot 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

Medusa

  • The managed cloud meters four separate resources: edge requests, emails, compute hours and database storage
  • The Develop plan at $29 a month applies a hard limit of 1,000 emails, so it stops rather than bills
  • Compute hours are capped at 600 on Develop and 800 on Launch
  • Edge request overage is $0.3 per million and storage $0.5 per GB month above the plan allowance
  • Background workers and priority support require the Scale plan at $299 a month

Pricing, plan by plan

ADP

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

Medusa

$29/month
  • Develop$29/month
    • Base cloud hosting
    • Commerce features included
    • No GMV-tax
  • Launch$99/month
    • Enhanced features
    • No GMV-tax
  • Scale$299/month
    • Advanced features
    • No GMV-tax
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • Custom configuration

Which should you pick?

Choose ADP if

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

Choose Medusa if

  • You need open source.
  • You also want modular architecture.
Medusa review

Questions people ask

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

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ADP: How is ADP pricing organized?

ADP organizes pricing by business size: Small Business (1-49 employees), Midsized (50-999 employees), and Enterprise (1,000+ employees). Each segment receives customized pricing tailored to specific business needs.

Source
Medusa: What does Medusa charge for additional team members?

Additional seats on the Medusa Cloud development platform cost $30 per seat per month. Unlimited users can access the Medusa Admin Dashboard at no additional cost for commerce operations.

Source
ADP: Is there a current promotional offer for ADP payroll?

ADP currently offers 3 months free when signing up for small business payroll (promotion ends 9/24). Contact sales at 800-225-5237 for details and to request pricing based on your employee count.

Source
Medusa: Are there usage-based charges beyond the base Medusa plan price?

Yes. Beyond base plan costs, Medusa charges for edge request overages at $0.30 per 1M requests, email overages at $0.70 per 1,000 emails, data transfer at $0.125 per GB, and database storage at $0.50 per GB-month.

Source
Medusa: Can I cancel my Medusa subscription at any time?

Yes, users can cancel their Medusa subscription anytime. Plans are billed monthly in advance, with flex usage charges from the previous month added to the next invoice.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on ADP

More on Medusa

Keep looking

Other head to heads