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Payroll · head to head

ADP Workforce Now vs Paychex

ADP Workforce Now logo

ADP Workforce Now

Payroll

All-in-one HR, payroll, talent, and benefits

From
$23/employee per month
Rated
-
Paychex logo

Paychex

Accounting

Outsourced United States payroll, tax filing, benefits and HR services with an assigned service representative

From
$29/month
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: ADP Workforce Now pricing not publicly available, making budget comparison difficult; Paychex pricing is quoted rather than published and varies between clients and between renewals, with separate charges for each payroll run, off cycle payments and year end processing, so two similar businesses regularly pay very different amounts for the same service and comparing quotes is difficult by design.
  • They diverge on capability: ADP Workforce Now covers Payroll Processing, Paychex covers Payroll processing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADP Workforce Now and Paychex actually diverge.

Attributes where ADP Workforce Now and Paychex differ
AttributeADP Workforce NowPaychex
Starting price$23/employee per month$29/month
Pricing modelUnknownsubscription
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, Ios, Android
CategoryPayrollAccounting
Founded19491971

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 Workforce Now

  • Payroll Processing
  • Tax Administration
  • HR Management
  • Benefits Administration
  • Time and Attendance
  • Talent Management
  • QuickBooks
  • Xero

Only in Paychex

  • Payroll processing
  • Payroll tax filing
  • Year end forms
  • Multi state payroll
  • Garnishments
  • Time and attendance
  • Benefits administration
  • Retirement plans

What people use each for

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

ADP Workforce Now

  • Processing payroll and tax compliance for 1 in 6 U.S. workersnot Paychex
  • Managing time tracking and labor cost forecasting across locationsnot Paychex
  • Coordinating benefits administration and retirement plan compliancenot Paychex
  • Running distributed hiring workflows for enterprises with global teamsnot Paychex

Paychex

  • A United States business with employees in several states that does not want to track differing withholding and unemployment rules internallynot ADP Workforce Now
  • A small employer whose accountant recommends outsourcing payroll tax filing so the penalty risk sits with a service providernot ADP Workforce Now
  • A growing company that wants payroll, benefits enrolment and a retirement plan administered together rather than through three vendorsnot ADP Workforce Now
  • A small employer seeking benefits pricing through a professional employer organisation that it could not negotiate on its own headcountnot ADP Workforce Now

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

ADP Workforce Now

  • Pricing not publicly available, making budget comparison difficult
  • Additional modules increase per-employee cost significantly
  • Requires minimum 50 employees, not suitable for small businesses
  • Setup fees of $2,000 or more for additional modules

Paychex

  • Pricing is quoted rather than published and varies between clients and between renewals, with separate charges for each payroll run, off cycle payments and year end processing, so two similar businesses regularly pay very different amounts for the same service and comparing quotes is difficult by design.
  • Charging per payroll run rather than per month penalises employers who pay weekly or who run frequent off cycles, so a business with hourly staff on a weekly cycle pays several times what a monthly salaried business of the same size pays.
  • Migrating mid year requires transferring year to date wage and tax figures for every employee in every jurisdiction, so in practice companies switch only at a calendar year end, which leaves you locked to the incumbent for the rest of the year whatever the service is like.
  • The service model depends on an assigned representative, and reported experience varies sharply with who that person is and how often the assignment changes, which means the quality of what you bought is not a property of the product you evaluated.
  • It is a United States service, so a company with employees abroad still needs a separate payroll provider in each country, and the group has no single view of employment cost without building one outside the system.

Pricing, plan by plan

ADP Workforce Now

$23/employee per month

No published plan breakdown. See the ADP Workforce Now review.

Paychex

$29/month
  • Flex Essentials$39/month
    • Payroll
    • Tax administration
    • Direct deposit
  • Flex Select$59/month
    • HR administration
    • State unemployment insurance
    • New hire reporting

Which should you pick?

Choose ADP Workforce Now if

  • You need payroll processing.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want tax administration.

Choose Paychex if

  • You need payroll processing.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want payroll tax filing.

Questions people ask

Is ADP Workforce Now or Paychex better?
Neither clearly leads. ADP Workforce Now starts at $23/employee per month and Paychex at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADP Workforce Now or Paychex?
ADP Workforce Now starts at $23/employee per month and Paychex at $29/month.
Does ADP Workforce Now or Paychex run on more platforms?
ADP Workforce Now runs on Web, Mobile. Paychex runs on Web, Ios, Android.
What is ADP Workforce Now best used for?
ADP Workforce Now is most often used for processing payroll and tax compliance for 1 in 6 u.s. workers, managing time tracking and labor cost forecasting across locations, coordinating benefits administration and retirement plan compliance, running distributed hiring workflows for enterprises with global teams. Of those, processing payroll and tax compliance for 1 in 6 u.s. workers and managing time tracking and labor cost forecasting across locations are not what Paychex is typically brought in for.
What can ADP Workforce Now do that Paychex cannot?
ADP Workforce Now covers Payroll Processing, Tax Administration, HR Management, Benefits Administration. Paychex covers Payroll processing, Payroll tax filing, Year end forms, Multi state payroll.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ADP Workforce Now: How much does ADP Workforce Now cost?

ADP Workforce Now pricing starts around $23 to $30 per employee per month as base cost. Additional modules like recruiting cost extra, typically $3 per employee per month plus $2,000 setup fee.

Source
Paychex: How much does it cost?

Paychex quotes per client rather than publishing rates, and the structure typically includes a base fee plus a per employee per payroll charge with extras for year end and off cycle runs. Get the full fee schedule in writing, including what a mid year change of plan costs.

ADP Workforce Now: What payroll features does ADP Workforce Now include?

ADP Workforce Now includes payroll processing, benefits administration, time and attendance tracking, compliance management, and AI-powered anomaly detection that flags potential payroll errors before processing.

Source
Paychex: Who is liable if payroll taxes are filed late or wrongly?

Contractually the provider generally accepts responsibility for errors it makes, but the employer remains the party the tax authorities pursue. Read the specific indemnity language rather than relying on the sales description.

ADP Workforce Now: Does ADP Workforce Now integrate with other systems?

Yes, ADP Workforce Now integrates with Workday through Flexspring connectors for near-real-time data sharing. Employee benefits, new hire data, and payroll information sync automatically between systems.

Source
Paychex: Can I switch providers mid year?

Technically yes, but you must carry year to date figures across for every employee and jurisdiction, and errors there surface at year end on employee tax forms. Most businesses switch effective 1 January for that reason.

ADP Workforce Now: Who is ADP Workforce Now suitable for?

ADP Workforce Now is built for organizations with 50 or more employees seeking comprehensive payroll and HR management with enterprise-grade features.

Source
Paychex: What is the difference between the standard service and the professional employer organisation option?

Under the professional employer organisation arrangement Paychex becomes a co-employer for tax and benefits purposes, which changes your benefits access and some of your employment administration. It costs more and it is harder to unwind, so treat it as a different decision from buying payroll.

Paychex: Does it work with my accounting software?

It exports a general ledger file and connects to the mainstream accounting products. Confirm the mapping to your chart of accounts during onboarding, because a generic export means your bookkeeper recodes every run.

Paychex: Is it suitable if we only have a few employees?

It will serve you, but very small employers often find the per run charges and the service tiering expensive relative to self service payroll products. The case improves once multi state complexity or benefits administration enters the picture.

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