Softwr

Accounting · head to head

ADP vs Recurly

ADP logo

ADP

Accounting

Always Designing for People

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Recurly logo

Recurly

Accounting

The subscription management platform built for growth

From
$249/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; Recurly starter is $249 a month plus 0.9 percent of billing volume above the first $40K, so the cost rises with revenue rather than with usage
  • They diverge on capability: ADP covers Payroll, Recurly covers Subscription billing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADP and Recurly actually diverge.

Attributes where ADP and Recurly differ
AttributeADPRecurly
Starting price$29/month$249/month
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Api
Founded19492009

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

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 Recurly

  • Subscription billing
  • Revenue recovery
  • Payment gateway optimization
  • Analytics
  • API
  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Braintree

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

Recurly

  • Subscription billing and recurring invoicingnot ADP
  • Dunning and failed payment recoverynot ADP
  • Trials, plan changes and promotionsnot ADP
  • Revenue recognition through the RevRec add-onnot ADP
  • Shopify-native subscriptions with subscribe and savenot 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

Recurly

  • Starter is $249 a month plus 0.9 percent of billing volume above the first $40K, so the cost rises with revenue rather than with usage
  • All-Access is quoted at under 1 percent of billing volume with a $1M minimum, putting it out of reach of smaller merchants
  • Only one dunning campaign on Starter; multiple campaigns need All-Access
  • SSO, multicurrency and payments orchestration are All-Access only
  • Revenue recognition and the Engage churn tooling are separate add-ons at $850 and $1,600 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

Recurly

$249/month
  • Starter$249/month
    • Automated global subscription billing
    • Flexible plans and static churn-prevention tools
    • 1 dunning campaign
  • All-Access$null/month
    • Everything in Starter plus AI-powered agents and analytics
    • Intelligent churn-prevention with multiple dunning campaigns
    • Advanced pricing and promotions
  • All-Access for Shopify$null/month
    • Intelligent churn-prevention and customized bundles
    • Subscribe and save, prepaid/gift subscriptions
    • Hybrid subscription support and cancel-save flows

Which should you pick?

Choose ADP if

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

Choose Recurly if

  • You need subscription billing.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want revenue recovery.
Recurly review

Questions people ask

Is ADP or Recurly better?
Neither clearly leads. ADP starts at $29/month and Recurly at $249/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADP or Recurly?
ADP starts at $29/month and Recurly at $249/month.
Does ADP or Recurly run on more platforms?
ADP runs on Web, Ios, Android. Recurly runs on Web, Api.
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 Recurly is typically brought in for.
What can ADP do that Recurly cannot?
ADP covers Payroll, Tax services, HR management, Time & attendance. Recurly covers Subscription billing, Revenue recovery, Payment gateway optimization, Analytics. Both handle Web support.

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
Recurly: What does Recurly's Starter plan cost?

Recurly Starter plan costs 249 USD monthly plus 0.9 percent of billing volume, with the first 40000 USD monthly volume included in the base fee.

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
Recurly: What is the minimum commitment for Recurly's All-Access plan?

All-Access plans require a minimum 1 million USD annual commitment, billed annually at less than 1 percent of billing volume.

Source
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