Is ADP or Microsoft Power Automate better?

Neither clearly leads. ADP starts at $29/month and Microsoft Power Automate at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, ADP or Microsoft Power Automate?

Microsoft Power Automate has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for ADP and Free for Microsoft Power Automate.

Does ADP or Microsoft Power Automate run on more platforms?

ADP runs on Web, Ios, Android. Microsoft Power Automate runs on Web, Cloud, Desktop.

Can I use Microsoft Power Automate for free?

Yes. Microsoft Power Automate 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 Microsoft Power Automate is typically brought in for.

What can ADP do that Microsoft Power Automate cannot?

ADP covers Payroll, Tax services, HR management, Time & attendance. Microsoft Power Automate covers Automated flows, Instant flows, Scheduled flows, Desktop automation. Both handle Oracle.

Software · head to head

ADP vs Microsoft Power Automate

ADP

Software

Always Designing for People

From: $29/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Microsoft Power Automate

Software

Automate tasks across cloud and on-premises apps

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Microsoft Power Automate 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; Microsoft Power Automate free plan limited to 750 flow runs/month and standard connectors only; premium connectors require paid plans
They diverge on capability: ADP covers Payroll, Microsoft Power Automate covers Automated flows.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADP and Microsoft Power Automate actually diverge.

Attributes where ADP and Microsoft Power Automate differ
Attribute	ADP	Microsoft Power Automate
Starting price	$29/month	Free
Pricing model	subscription	Unknown
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web, Ios, Android	Web, Cloud, Desktop
Founded	1949	2016

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
SOC 1/2

Only in Microsoft Power Automate

Automated flows
Instant flows
Scheduled flows
Desktop automation
Process mining
Business process flows
Approval workflows
500+ connectors

Both cover

Oracle

What people use each for

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

ADP

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

Microsoft Power Automate

Workflow Automationnot ADP
Data Integrationnot ADP
Process Automationnot ADP
App Integrationnot ADP
API Connectivitynot 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

Microsoft Power Automate

Free plan limited to 750 flow runs/month and standard connectors only; premium connectors require paid plans
Not suitable for long-running workflows; can fail unexpectedly without warning
Limited to simple linear logic; fails with complex workflows involving multiple stakeholders
Tasks cannot automate at scale when requiring more than approximately 60 users

Pricing, plan by plan

ADP

$29/month

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

Microsoft Power Automate

Free

FreeFree
- 750 flow runs/month
- Standard connectors only
- Basic cloud flows
Premium$15/user/month
- Cloud flows (DPA)
- Attended RPA
- 250 MB Dataverse database
Process$150/bot/month
- Unattended automation
- Cloud and desktop flows
- 50 MB Dataverse database
Hosted Process$215/bot/month
- Microsoft-managed virtual machine
- Unattended automation
- Same Dataverse entitlements as Process plan

Which should you pick?

Choose ADP if

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

ADP review

Choose Microsoft Power Automate if

You need automated flows.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Cloud, Desktop.
You also want instant flows.

Microsoft Power Automate review

Questions people ask

Is ADP or Microsoft Power Automate better?: Neither clearly leads. ADP starts at $29/month and Microsoft Power Automate at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADP or Microsoft Power Automate?: Microsoft Power Automate has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for ADP and Free for Microsoft Power Automate.
Does ADP or Microsoft Power Automate run on more platforms?: ADP runs on Web, Ios, Android. Microsoft Power Automate runs on Web, Cloud, Desktop.
Can I use Microsoft Power Automate for free?: Yes. Microsoft Power Automate 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 Microsoft Power Automate is typically brought in for.
What can ADP do that Microsoft Power Automate cannot?: ADP covers Payroll, Tax services, HR management, Time & attendance. Microsoft Power Automate covers Automated flows, Instant flows, Scheduled flows, Desktop automation. Both handle Oracle.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Microsoft Power Automate: Is Power Automate included with Microsoft 365?

Yes. If you have an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription, you can use Power Automate at no extra cost for flows relying only on standard connectors (SharePoint, Outlook, Teams). Premium connectors (Salesforce, SAP, Oracle) require paid plans.

Source

Microsoft Power Automate: How many flow runs are allowed on the free plan?

Power Automate's free tier (included with Microsoft 365) is limited to 750 flow runs per month and standard connectors only. Out of 900+ total connectors, the free plan only includes Microsoft ecosystem apps and limited third-party apps.

Source

Microsoft Power Automate: What's the difference between Premium and Process plans?

Premium ($15/user/month) provides attended automation with cloud flows and standard RPA. Process plan ($150/bot/month) enables unattended automation where bots run without human intervention on virtual machines for high-volume, repetitive tasks.

Source

Microsoft Power Automate: Does Power Automate support long-running workflows?

No. Power Automate is not suitable for long-lasting workflows because they can run without warning and fail unexpectedly. The platform is built for linear, branching logic (if-then) rather than complex, multi-step business processes involving multiple stakeholders.

Source

ADP vs Microsoft Power Automate

ADP

Microsoft Power Automate

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in ADP

Only in Microsoft Power Automate

Both cover

What people use each for

ADP

Microsoft Power Automate

Where each one falls short

ADP

Microsoft Power Automate

Pricing, plan by plan

ADP

Microsoft Power Automate

Which should you pick?

Choose ADP if

Choose Microsoft Power Automate if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on ADP

More on Microsoft Power Automate

Keep looking

Other head to heads