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ADP Workforce Now vs SAP HCM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

ADP Workforce Now
Ranking in Benefits Administration
7th
Ranking in Talent Management
16th
Ranking in Cloud HCM
11th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
HR Analytics Software (5th)
SAP HCM
Ranking in Benefits Administration
3rd
Ranking in Talent Management
3rd
Ranking in Cloud HCM
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of ADP Workforce Now is 1.9%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP HCM is 5.4%, down from 15.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP HCM5.4%
ADP Workforce Now1.9%
Other92.7%
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

Vineeth John - PeerSpot reviewer
Director, People & Culture at a agriculture with 201-500 employees
Custom reporting tool with field grabber, easy modules for recruitment and provides numerous options for integration
The complexity is the key challenge with a tool like ADP because it has all the bells and whistles and all the key features you can possibly think of. If it isn't there, there's always a third-party vendor you can integrate that way. But the only issue is that because it's complex, there needs to be some sort of system, at least on the back end, for the admins to understand what leads to what. We expect AI to improve multiple things with HR processes. The most obvious and common one would be the self-service function for employees, like a chatbot to help with FAQs. We are also building an AI tool that can possibly help managers make better talent management decisions. This tool will pull from the performance management tool, the talent profile, and the reports that we generally have to score employees across all different dimensions.
SS
Assistant Manager at Kashiv Biosciences
Centralized global HR data has improved expense control and supports secure employee management
The features of SAP HCM are valued by me as it had a clear idea about what was expected from the user point. The person or the application has a lot of features and it had actually all the information needed from our part. That aspect is nice. Apart from that, the T-codes are really helpful to understand which particular option we need when we put the T-code in the search box. The stability and reliability of SAP HCM product are really nice, very helpful, and secured. It has no point of leakage and is mostly reliable, as most companies and organizations prefer SAP over many tools. As for security, it's already secured from the beginning itself, and that is the only reason our organization relies on it. Since it's very useful at a global scale, it is a very useful tool and is very easy to access and handle.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The platform is on a private cloud that is fully secure with no way for hacker penetration."
"The most valuable feature to me is performance management because we just started using that."
"The most interesting feature for me on ADP is the custom reporting tool. It's got something called a field grabber, which makes it so much easier to generate your own custom reports simply by pulling tabs from any feature."
"The way that ADP helped us improve our organization is by making the payroll process clean and efficient because if you make a mistake there, you're in big trouble."
"In my day-to-day work, attendance tracking would be most important. That's because I have a really diverse group of employees, and I have a subset of younger folks who are struggling with their attendance. So, that's the thing that I'm most involved with currently."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The most valuable features are the reporting and benefits piece."
"The stability and reliability of SAP HCM product are really nice, very helpful, and secured."
"Customers can create custom infotypes to store any custom data points."
"The payroll function in SAP HCM has been most beneficial for managing global workforces. We plan to use goal management and KPI features to link to payroll through the SAP SuccessFactors module."
"SAP HCM is a competitive and comprehensive tool that covers major programs in the enterprise and supports the global process."
"The functions are really important in the product in ReadyNodes."
"I like the talent, recruitment, and learning features the most."
"It has the best data management features."
"Payroll processing is my favorite HCM feature, and I like all the SuccessFactors talent modules also. SAP is making good progress on enhancements to the features in the SF modules."
 

Cons

"When I'm not working with the implementation team and I'm just talking to customer service or something, they're just not a lot of help. They don't understand how it works. They'll tell you to do something that I know would affect something else. So, it's less about the software and more about just training their folks to a higher level."
"I would like to see the payroll side improved and there are a few kinks that need to be worked out."
"The ease of developing and creating reports could definitely use some improvement."
"The complexity is the key challenge with a tool like ADP ."
"Its benefits portal could be user-friendly."
"The report functionality is not as good as competitive products."
"The setup process for SAP HCM is a bit complex; it is not simple."
"The product significantly improved our organization by automating many processes, which reduced paperwork and provided clearer, more accurate goals and competencies."
"It takes a long time to apply an update patch to the system."
"The implementation of the solution can be a bit difficult. They should make it easier. If it could be as simple as the SuccessFactors implementation that would be ideal."
"On the personnel administration side, it's very difficult to do custom development."
"SAP HCM's long and tedious transactions can be improved."
"There needs to be a renovation of the interface and functionalities of the talent management modules."
"It needs a lot of end user training as it is not intuitive at all."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive."
"The pricing is expensive and I would say it is below average for the value it provides based on the high cost."
"I give the pricing a seven out of ten."
"The solution is expensive."
"The solution is expensive and everyone complains about the price."
"I know some of what we're currently paying. Most customers would say it's too high, but I don't have a comparison to know that."
"The terms on which you buy licenses might change due to the way they license in a particular product."
"We purchase the product's yearly license."
"The pricing is around the middle, at a five out of ten. But it depends on the number of licenses. More licenses mean lower per-user costs. You need to understand how to play the volume game and the growth."
"For implementation, SAP offers little support unless you buy SAP Safeguarding from SAP Consulting."
"You pay per license. There not any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"I believe HCM is a little expensive, but I don't know the exact price because I'm involved with the sales team. However, I think the price must be reasonable because many organizations are migrating their current ERPs to SAP. It's excellent software, and the price is competitive."
"We have an annual license for this solution, and the price depends on the number of users."
"The solution is cheap."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Legal Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise39
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ADP Workforce Now?
The licensing is on the pricer side, given that there aren't a lot of other tools out there that are applicable, we just decided to go ahead with ADP anyway. I would definitely recommend ADP to oth...
What needs improvement with ADP Workforce Now?
The complexity is the key challenge with a tool like ADP because it has all the bells and whistles and all the key features you can possibly think of. If it isn't there, there's always a third-part...
What advice do you have for others considering ADP Workforce Now?
Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. It's got a lot of features. The reason I'm not giving it a full score is largely due to the complexity and the customer service.
What do you like most about SAP HCM?
SAP HCM is the one of the best ERP for an organization with a small to large scale business. It has the most efficient payroll functionality. Regards : SAP HR classes in pune
What do you like most about SAP HCM?
HCM is a very important module that each organization should want to use. It will help any organization to calculate and control the cost of their human resources.
What is better, SAP HCM or SAP SuccessFactors?
When it comes to user experience, SuccessFactors is unquestionably superior, as it provides end users with a new experience and an advanced user interface. Additionally, the entire concept of SF is...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP Human Capital Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lawrence and Schiller, The Children's Center, The Kansas City Royals
City of Cape Town, ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd., TransAlta Corporation, Keolis, PT XL Axiata Tbk, National Football League (NFL), Plan International, Yoh, A Day & Zimmermann Company, China Talent Group (CTG TMO), Umicore S.A., Butterfield Bank, Skrill Group Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about ADP Workforce Now vs. SAP HCM and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.