ADP Workforce Now vs Workday comparison

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ADP Workforce Now

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Workday and ADP Workforce Now are two leading solutions in the human resources management category. Workday appears to have the upper hand in comprehensive features and integration capabilities, while ADP Workforce Now is preferred for payroll and flexibility in pricing.

Features: Workday offers comprehensive HCM functionalities, ease of integration, and a user-friendly interface, making it suitable for automating benefits enrollment and ensuring compliance. It also features extensive reporting and a unified HR platform design. ADP Workforce Now excels in payroll management, performance monitoring, and offers customizable reports, though it lacks the same integration depth as Workday.

Room for Improvement: Workday can expand its analytic capabilities, improve mobile app support, and extend payroll functionalities globally. Users also face challenges with complex reporting and workflow configuration flexibility. ADP Workforce Now needs to enhance international payroll processing, improve custom reporting options, and simplify the user interface for smaller businesses, as complexity can be a hurdle for some users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Workday offers flexible deployment in public, private, and hybrid cloud settings, with robust community support, although response times can be delayed. ADP Workforce Now is typically deployed on public or private clouds and is praised for responsive technical support and helpful community resources, but may require more external support for customization.

Pricing and ROI: Workday is known for high pricing, similar to luxury products, based on headcount and module selection, but often provides substantial ROI through process efficiencies. ADP Workforce Now's pricing is premium, tiered by employee usage and capabilities; while it provides good functionality, users sometimes find the cost high without matching value in customer support or feature enhancements.

To learn more, read our detailed ADP Workforce Now vs. Workday Report (Updated: June 2026).

ADP Workforce Now vs. Workday

June 2026

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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

15th

Ranking in Cloud HCM

11th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

HR Analytics Software (5th)

Workday

Ranking in Benefits Administration

1st

Ranking in Talent Management

2nd

Ranking in Cloud HCM

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Talent Acquisition (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of ADP Workforce Now is 2.2%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Workday is 8.6%, down from 18.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud HCM Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Workday	8.6%
ADP Workforce Now	2.2%
Other	89.2%

Cloud HCM

Q&A Highlights

it_user477510

VP, Chief Information Officer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Jul 12, 2016

Compare ADP WFN vs Workday for Payroll Administration & Processing

https://www.trustradius.com/reviews/adp-workforce-now-2016-01-08-11-09-24 That's my guideline from; My Mentor Christopher Carey, HRIP

Custom reporting tool with field grabber, easy modules for recruitment and provides numerous options for integration

Featured Reviews

Vineeth John

Director, People & Culture at a agriculture with 201-500 employees

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.

Read full review

Eslam Abo Elnaga

Senior people and systems analyst at B_labs & Mylo

Has improved HR process efficiency through intuitive workflows and responsive support

There is something that could be improved in Workday, specifically in the time tracking module. While I am not working on Workday now, I was a regional HRIS working for Egypt, Malta, India, and China. I mention these countries to relate to high population countries and companies. In our company, we use assigned work schedules for our teams. Because we work with the time tracking module, we need to assign shifts. In the manufacturing industry, we might need to change shifts every day or week. Manufacturing teams are huge, approximately 50 to 200 people in one team. If this team has one leader, the leader needs to assign a work schedule for each person individually. While there is mass upload functionality where we can load shifts for all people or specific groups, we need to select multiple people and assign them to a schedule from the interface itself. I have requested this functionality many times. When extracting business processes awaiting actions report, I can select different processes in one box, hit okay, and the report comes up. However, the same functionality does not work for work schedule assigning. If implemented, it would help many people in companies with high populations and big teams.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"The product allows for accurate, consistent payrolls."

"The most valuable feature to me is performance management because we just started using that."

"The most valuable features are the reporting and benefits piece."

"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."

"It is a scalable solution."

"The platform is on a private cloud that is fully secure with no way for hacker penetration."

"For small to mid-sized companies, Workforce Now is one of the better products on the market, clean with an easy interface that is simple to maneuver around, stable, and will continue to improve into the future."

More ADP Workforce Now pros

"The solution is easy to use and provides great flexibility and security."

"Technical support is always available."

"The solution is stable."

"It is quite user-friendly, and we can store all the employee data information on it."

"I would say that we have definitely seen a return on investment."

"We use this solution to manage financials, payroll and recruiting."

"The technical support services are excellent."

"Workday is highly intuitive from a customer experience perspective, and it was effortless for us to understand what to do even though we didn't have any related training, making it easy to use without guidance."

More Workday pros

Cons

"The Call Centre: The extension number takes too many digits to get through and the wait time is too long."

"The workflow is a bit weak."

"The complexity is the key challenge with a tool like ADP ."

"The report functionality is not as good as competitive products."

"Support leaves a lot to be desired."

"ADP provides a quarterly Error Notification Report that allows you to check for compliance errors based on payments made to employees that quarter. The report only shows employees by their file #; however, the recent ADP upgrade has an "Archive" feature that makes it impossible to search for employees by file number so currently, there is no way to identify the employees listed on the report without calling ADP."

"I would like to see the payroll side improved and there are a few kinks that need to be worked out."

"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."

More ADP Workforce Now cons

"It is good that much of the development is based on community input but often that can lead to details being ignored and small, nagging issues are ignored."

"There are other enhancements that go untended that have been languishing for years."

"I would be happy if it was faster. Currently, when I try to navigate within the solution itself, it is a bit slow in terms of the page load time. When I click on something, it usually takes time to load. When you click on different icons or areas on the website, it is slow. Even when you navigate between different models, it is a bit slow. I would like to see a bit faster performance and a better user experience."

"Workday could improve by adding other features, such as messaging to candidates and other recruiting capabilities that other new-age solutions have."

"Reporting systems should be improved. If you want to report it on paper, if you want something more BI oriented, more high level predictive or more data-driven, it should be improved."

"There is so much information floating around Workday that it becomes overwhelming to digest all of it."

"They do a great job of selling the tool, but for support, you are kind of on your own."

"For time management, it does not have a calendar generator. For example, if you want to have a shift calendar for an entire year, you need to push the entire year's calendar into the system instead of being able to generate it using a time management pattern."

More Workday cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive and everyone complains about the price."

"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."

"The solution is expensive."

"I give the pricing a seven out of ten."

"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 pricing is good from an HR perspective, although management gets upset after spending $500,000 a year, every year."

"You have the license fee per module, and then you have a kind of annual training fee, which is a kind of add-on. I wouldn't say it is exhaustive; it is minor. Licensing is pretty transparent for most of the part."

"It's very, very expensive."

"I need to pay for a license. It is expensive."

"The solution is flexible in terms of pricing."

"With a bigger budget, I would recommend SAP."

"I rate the product’s pricing a ten out of ten."

"By and large, Workday is expensive. It is based on the headcount. I'd probably rate it a three or four out of five in terms of pricing. It'd be like buying a Mercedes or a high-end car. It's expensive, but there's a specific value that you're getting with additional features and things of that nature. Using that metaphor, Workday probably tends to be more of a luxury. There are others like ADP that can do your payroll, your time off, and other things, but they don't do it as well."

More Workday pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Healthcare Company

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

University

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	43

Questions from the Community

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I implemented Workday in 2024 and without having previous Workday experience, it was very challenging. I spent most of 2025 putting out fires and cleaning up the business processes that came with l...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Workday?

If you go with the launch implementation approach, the solution is generally not very expensive. If you want to add more features to your subscription, Workday becomes expensive. The solution is fl...

Dayforce HCM vs ADP Workforce Now

Comparisons

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Compared 4% of the time

Sage People vs ADP Workforce Now

Compared 3% of the time

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SAP SuccessFactors vs Workday

Compared 22% of the time

UKG vs Workday

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle HCM Cloud vs Workday

Compared 6% of the time

SAP HCM vs Workday

Compared 6% of the time

Sage People vs Workday

Compared 1% of the time

More Workday Competitors

Product Reports

Download ADP Workforce Now product report

ADP Workforce Now

June 2026

Download Workday product report

May 2026

Overview

ADP Workforce Now is a comprehensive platform offering robust payroll and HR integrations, minimal IT support needs, and seamless management tools, all through an intuitive, customizable interface with mobile access.

ADP Workforce Now facilitates efficient management of payroll and human resources functions with features such as secure cloud storage, custom reporting, performance management, and diverse analytics. Despite having strong integration options through ADP's marketplace and applications, users report limitations in workflow, admin security, and customer support. The absence of international payroll capabilities, complex reporting systems, and insufficient talent management are also noted challenges. There is a demand for better data management, position control, and an enhanced benefits portal.

What are the most important features?

Payroll and HR Integrations: Seamless handling of payroll with solid HR support.
Mobile Access: Enables management on the go through intuitive interfaces.
Customizable Reporting: Generate reports tailored to specific needs.
Secure Cloud Storage: Safeguard sensitive data with secure cloud solutions.
Diverse Analytics Tools: Utilize insightful analytics for informed decision-making.
General Ledger Interface: Streamline financial reporting and analysis.

What benefits or ROI should users look for?

Efficient Payroll Processing: Streamlined management of payroll operations.
Enhanced HR Automation: Simplified HR tasks through automation.
Cost Efficiency: Reduced operational costs with integrated solutions.
Improved Data Security: Strengthened protection for organizational data.

ADP Workforce Now is deployed in cloud-based environments and often integrated with systems like SAP SuccessFactors. Companies rely on it to manage payroll, track time and attendance, and administer benefits. It supports applicant tracking and benefits integration, proving essential for diverse industry applications.

ADP

Workday provides a cloud-based platform offering robust human capital management features, emphasizing security, user-friendliness, and operational efficiency through workflow automation.

Workday is utilized by organizations for human capital management, supporting everything from employee recruitment to retirement, payroll processing, and performance tracking. It centralizes HR operations to increase efficiency and manage employee data effectively. Its business process framework allows for drag-and-drop functionality, which along with real-time reporting, enriches the user experience. Workday's modules cover talent, compensation, benefits, and learning, enhancing the workforce management approach. Though integration with external systems can be complex, its usability and flexible configuration support adaptability. Users seek enhancements in customization, reporting, interface usability, and speed, particularly in financial, timekeeping, and payroll modules. Expanding automation, API connectors, language support, and introducing country and industry-specific modules would significantly boost its capabilities. Pricing remains a concern among users.

What are Workday's most important features?

Security: Ensures data protection with robust measures.
User-Friendliness: Intuitive design for ease of use.
Centralized Data Management: Consolidates employee information in one platform.
Real-Time Reporting: Delivers up-to-the-minute insights for decision-making.
Workflow Automation: Streamlines processes to reduce manual tasks.

What benefits should be evaluated when considering Workday?

Operational Efficiency: Automation streamlines HR processes and reduces redundancies.
Enhanced Usability: Integrated modules improve user interaction and efficiency.
Scalability: Adaptable configurations meet diverse business requirements.
Integration Capabilities: Connections with other systems bolster functionality.

Workday is implemented in a range of industries, including finance, healthcare, and technology, offering specialized HR management solutions tailored to each sector's unique requirements. These implementations improve workforce management and align HR strategies with organizational goals, showcasing its adaptability across different business landscapes.

Sample Customers

Lawrence and Schiller, The Children's Center, The Kansas City Royals

AAA, Allied Global, Avago Technologies Limited, Aviva, Cardinal Health, CareFusion, Chiquita Brands International, Equifax, Flextronics, HP, Life Time Fitness, McKee Foods, MGM Resorts International, Sanofi, ServiceSource International, Symantec, TripAdvisor, Yahoo!