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ADP vs Recurly

ADP logo

ADP

Software

Always Designing for People

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Recurly logo

Recurly

Software

The subscription management platform built for growth

From
$29/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.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADP and Recurly actually diverge.

Attributes where ADP and Recurly differ
AttributeADPRecurly
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Api
Founded19492009

Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), 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 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

$29/month
  • CoreFree
    • Basic billing
    • Revenue recovery
    • Analytics

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 $29/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 $29/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.
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