ADP
A payroll and HR institution whose RUN service brings decades of compliance muscle to small business.
ADP is the largest payroll provider in the US, and RUN Powered by ADP brings that depth to small business. It files taxes, handles compliance and offers HR, benefits and hiring add ons, with a clear upgrade path to Workforce Now as a company grows into the mid market and beyond. Few providers match its scale or compliance track record. The tradeoffs are transparency and feel: ADP rarely publishes full pricing, so most plans are quote based, the interface is more dated than newer rivals, and add on fees can make the true monthly cost hard to predict.
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The payroll institution built to scale with you, if you can live with quote based pricing.
In its favour
Held against it
Payroll depth and scale lead, transparency is the trade.
ADP scores high on payroll, compliance and benefits, backed by a path from small business RUN to enterprise Workforce Now. Ease of use and value are the soft spots, shaped by a dated interface and quote based pricing.
Scored against the same five weighted criteria we use across HR and payroll. See the rubric →
a business that wants deep, full service payroll and compliance with room to scale into enterprise HR.
you want modern, self serve software with flat published pricing, or you hire mainly abroad.
What it costs
Base fee plus per employee, quote basedPricing as of June 2026. ADP does not publish full pricing; the entry RUN Essential plan is estimated near $79 a month plus about $4 per employee, and the Enhanced, Complete and HR Pro tiers are quote based. Most small businesses report paying $100 to $300 a month. Check the vendor for current pricing.