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ADP vs PostgreSQL

ADP logo

ADP

Software

Always Designing for People

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PostgreSQL logo

PostgreSQL

Software

The world's most advanced open source relational database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only PostgreSQL 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; PostgreSQL requires manual scaling across multiple machines for very large deployments
  • They diverge on capability: ADP covers Payroll, PostgreSQL covers ACID Compliance.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADP and PostgreSQL actually diverge.

Attributes where ADP and PostgreSQL differ
AttributeADPPostgreSQL
Starting price$29/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidLinux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Unix
Founded19491996

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 PostgreSQL

  • ACID Compliance
  • JSON/JSONB Support
  • Full-text Search
  • Extensibility
  • Advanced Indexing
  • Partitioning
  • Replication
  • pgAdmin

What people use each for

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

ADP

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

PostgreSQL

  • Transaction processingnot ADP
  • Data storagenot ADP
  • Application backendnot ADP
  • Reportingnot ADP
  • Data analyticsnot 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

PostgreSQL

  • Requires manual scaling across multiple machines for very large deployments
  • Performance tuning requires deep knowledge of database internals
  • No built-in graphical admin interface; command-line tools are primary method

Pricing, plan by plan

ADP

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

PostgreSQL

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the PostgreSQL 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 PostgreSQL if

  • You need acid compliance.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Unix.
  • You also want json/jsonb support.
PostgreSQL review

Questions people ask

Is ADP or PostgreSQL better?
Neither clearly leads. ADP starts at $29/month and PostgreSQL at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADP or PostgreSQL?
PostgreSQL has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for ADP and Free for PostgreSQL.
Does ADP or PostgreSQL run on more platforms?
ADP runs on Web, Ios, Android. PostgreSQL runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Unix.
Can I use PostgreSQL for free?
Yes. PostgreSQL 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 PostgreSQL is typically brought in for.
What can ADP do that PostgreSQL cannot?
ADP covers Payroll, Tax services, HR management, Time & attendance. PostgreSQL covers ACID Compliance, JSON/JSONB Support, Full-text Search, Extensibility.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

PostgreSQL: Is PostgreSQL completely free?

Yes. PostgreSQL is completely free and open source with no licensing fees or restrictions on use.

Source
PostgreSQL: What platforms does PostgreSQL run on?

PostgreSQL runs on all major operating systems including Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, and commercial Unix variants, and has been proven highly scalable managing terabytes to petabytes of data.

Source
PostgreSQL: What procedural languages are supported?

PostgreSQL supports stored functions and procedures in multiple languages including PL/pgSQL, Perl, Python, Tcl, Java, JavaScript, R, and Rust.

Source
PostgreSQL: What is ACID compliance in PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL has been ACID-compliant since 2001, ensuring data integrity through atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability guarantees for all transactions.

Source
PostgreSQL: Does PostgreSQL support JSON data?

Yes. PostgreSQL supports JSON and JSONB data types for storing and querying JSON documents, along with XML and other document formats.

Source
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