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ADP vs PlanetScale

ADP logo

ADP

Software

Always Designing for People

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PlanetScale logo

PlanetScale

Software

The MySQL-compatible serverless database

From
$15/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; PlanetScale eBS High Availability requires 3-node configuration with replication overhead
  • They diverge on capability: ADP covers Payroll, PlanetScale covers Database Branching.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADP and PlanetScale actually diverge.

Attributes where ADP and PlanetScale differ
AttributeADPPlanetScale
Starting price$29/month$15/month
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidCloud-hosted (AWS, GCP, Azure)
Founded19492018

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), 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 PlanetScale

  • Database Branching
  • Non-blocking Schema Changes
  • Insights
  • Horizontal Scaling
  • Connection Pooling
  • Query Caching
  • Automatic Backups
  • Global Replication

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

ADP

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

PlanetScale

  • MySQL database hosting with automatic failover and replicationnot ADP
  • Vitess-based sharding for horizontal scaling across large datasetsnot ADP
  • Cloud provider flexibility across AWS, GCP, Azure with 60+ regionsnot ADP
  • Cost-effective database clusters using ARM64 architecture optionsnot 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

PlanetScale

  • EBS High Availability requires 3-node configuration with replication overhead
  • EBS Non-HA single-node option lacks redundancy and automatic failover
  • Pricing varies by cloud provider and region, requiring queries for specific rates
  • ARM64 architecture only available on EBS tier, not Metal deployments

Pricing, plan by plan

ADP

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

PlanetScale

$15/month

No published plan breakdown. See the PlanetScale 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 PlanetScale if

  • You need database branching.
  • You work on Cloud-hosted (AWS, GCP, Azure).
  • You also want non-blocking schema changes.
PlanetScale review

Questions people ask

Is ADP or PlanetScale better?
Neither clearly leads. ADP starts at $29/month and PlanetScale at $15/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADP or PlanetScale?
ADP starts at $29/month and PlanetScale at $15/month.
Does ADP or PlanetScale run on more platforms?
ADP runs on Web, Ios, Android. PlanetScale runs on Cloud-hosted (AWS, GCP, Azure).
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 PlanetScale is typically brought in for.
What can ADP do that PlanetScale cannot?
ADP covers Payroll, Tax services, HR management, Time & attendance. PlanetScale covers Database Branching, Non-blocking Schema Changes, Insights, Horizontal Scaling. Both handle Web support.
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