Softwr

Accounting & Finance · head to head

ADP vs Personio

ADP logo

ADP

Accounting & Finance

Always Designing for People

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Personio logo

Personio

HR & Recruiting

All-in-one HR software for SMEs

From
$5/employee-per-month
Rated
-

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; Personio payroll processing only available in Germany, UK, and Ireland, limiting multi-country deployment
  • They diverge on capability: ADP covers Tax services, Personio covers HR Management.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADP and Personio actually diverge.

Attributes where ADP and Personio differ
AttributeADPPersonio
Starting price$29/month$5/employee-per-month
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Mobile (iOS, Android)
CategoryAccounting & FinanceHR & Recruiting
Founded19492015

Identical on both: 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

  • Tax services
  • HR management
  • Time & attendance
  • Benefits administration
  • QuickBooks
  • Sage
  • Oracle
  • SOC 1/2

Only in Personio

  • HR Management
  • Recruiting
  • Time Tracking
  • Performance Management
  • Onboarding
  • Offboarding
  • Slack
  • Microsoft 365

Both cover

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

Personio

No use cases recorded yet. See the Personio 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

Personio

  • Payroll processing only available in Germany, UK, and Ireland, limiting multi-country deployment
  • Recruiting module lacks advanced reporting and LinkedIn integration functionality
  • Limited reporting customization requires manual exports and workarounds
  • Mobile app has reduced capabilities compared to desktop experience

Pricing, plan by plan

ADP

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

Personio

$5/employee-per-month

No published plan breakdown. See the Personio review.

Which should you pick?

Choose ADP if

  • You need tax services.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want hr management.

Choose Personio if

  • You need hr management.
  • You work on Web, Mobile (iOS, Android).
  • You also want recruiting.

Questions people ask

Is ADP or Personio better?
Neither clearly leads. ADP starts at $29/month and Personio at $5/employee-per-month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADP or Personio?
ADP starts at $29/month and Personio at $5/employee-per-month.
Does ADP or Personio run on more platforms?
ADP runs on Web, Ios, Android. Personio runs on Web, Mobile (iOS, Android).
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 Personio is typically brought in for.
What can ADP do that Personio cannot?
ADP covers Tax services, HR management, Time & attendance, Benefits administration. Personio covers HR Management, Recruiting, Time Tracking, Performance Management. Both handle Payroll, Web support, Ios support, Android support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Personio: Does Personio offer payroll processing in my country?

Personio provides native payroll support in Germany, UK, and Ireland, with limited support in other European markets through integrations. Coverage varies by country.

Source
Personio: What is Personio's pricing model?

Personio uses a per-employee-per-month (PEPM) model starting at $5-15/employee/month depending on the plan and features. There is no public pricing page, and exact pricing requires a sales consultation.

Source
Personio: Can Personio integrate with other tools?

Yes. Personio provides a public API and maintains a marketplace of pre-built integrations. The Core Pro plan is required for API access and custom integrations.

Source

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