ADP Workforce Now vs. Zenefits Which HR solution is best? Explore their features, pricing, and benefits in this comprehensive comparison.

Both ADP Workforce Now and Zenfits offer payroll and HR software, but they each take a very different approach to their pricing structures. In this review, we compare ADP Workforce Now and Zenefits to help you decide on the best one for your needs.

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ADP Workforce Now vs. Zenefits: Comparison table

ADP Workforce Now vs. Zenefits: Pricing

ADP Workforce Now pricing

ADP Workforce Now offers three tiers of plans, but doesn’t actually disclose pricing information for any of them on its website. If you want a quote, you’ll have to contact the sales team. The three pricing plans are:

• Select: Includes payroll, employee engagement, recruiting, performance management and compensation management.
• Plus: Includes everything in Select plus benefits administration.
• Premium: Includes everything in Plus plus workforce management.

For more information, see our full ADP Workforce Now review.

Zenefits pricing

In addition to a free trial, Zenefits offers three main pricing plans:

• Essentials: $8 per employee per month billed annually or $10 per employee per month billed monthly.
• Growth: $16 per employee per month billed annually or $20 per employee per month billed monthly.
• Zen: $27 per employee per month billed annually or $33 per employee per month billed monthly (this plan includes payroll).

Zenefits also offers multiple option add-ons:

• Payroll: $6 per employee per month.
• HR services: $8 per employee per month.
• Benefits admin using your own broker: $5 per employee per month.
• Recruiting: starting at $62 per month.

For information, see our full Zenefits review.

ADP Workforce Now vs. Zenefits: Feature comparison

Payroll

ADP has an extremely popular payroll platform (Figure A) that can be used to run payroll in up to 140 countries, and payroll is included in each of the three ADP Workforce Now plans. Automated tax calculations help countries maintain compliance, and error detection can help administrators correct issues before they start. ADP reports also give your company insights into earning trends and payroll liability.

Figure A

Zenefits’ website makes it clear that it caters to businesses based in the United States, and it doesn’t explicitly say what countries payroll is available in. Zenefits’ payroll is an add-on for two of its pricing plans, while payroll is included in the highest-tier Zen plan. With Zenefits payroll, your company gets automatic tax calculating and filing, unlimited payruns, direct deposit, tips reporting, wage garnishments support, contractor payments and general ledger reporting.

Benefits administration

With ADP Workforce Now, you must upgrade to the Plus plan in order to get benefits administration. ADP’s benefits administration automates Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliance and automatically shares data with your benefit carriers to streamline enrollment. The employee self-service portal can be accessed via either the website or the mobile app, and ADP offers personalized decision support to help them choose.

Zenefits’ automated benefits system (Figure B) helps companies stay compliant with ACA regulations, and it also features a self-service option for employees. Use Zenefits shop for medical, vision and dental plans in all 50 states, or opt for the add-on that allows you to bring your own broker to the platform. Zenefits also supports numerous other benefits, including HSA, FSA, 401K, life insurance, disability insurance, commuter benefits and supplemental benefits.

Figure B

Time and attendance

ADP’s time and attendance fall into its workforce management tools, which are only available in the highest-tier Premium plan. The tool offers automated alerts, rules, overtime calculations, timecard approvals and exception reports. Employees can use the geolocation-enabled mobile app to clock in and out (Figure C), view work schedules and swap shifts or request time off.

Figure C

In contrast to some other Zenefits competitors such as ADP, Zenefits offers time tracking and scheduling for all pricing plans. Managers can create and edit shifts for employees, notify workers when a new schedule is ready and block out dates to work around individual schedules. Employees can clock in and out and request time off using the app, which offers time fraud detection services such as pictures taken at clock in.

Recruiting

ADP’s built-in talent acquisition tools allows companies to build a custom career website and create job postings, video and other content to connect with job seekers. ADP harnesses the power of ZipRecruiter to make it easy to post your jobs to multiple job boards at once. Streamline the selection process with automated reviews and resume sharing.

Zenefits’ recruiting tools are powered by JazzHR (Figure D), and it’s a separate add-on to the main pricing plan. With this add-on, you can create and post a job opening to multiple channels with just a few clicks. Use automation and rankings to identify the most promising candidates, then quickly generate an offer letter using prebuilt templates. Once the employee accepts the offer, they can be onboarded using Zenefits’ tools.

Figure D

ADP Workforce Now pros and cons

Pros of ADP Workforce Now

• Popular payroll system.
• Learning management included on all pricing tiers.
• Excellent mobile app.
• Native recruiting tools.

Cons of ADP Workforce Now

• No free trial available.
• Pricing isn’t transparent.
• Customer support can be improved.
• Number of features might be overwhelming for some small businesses.

Zenefits pros and cons

Pros of Zenefits

• Affordable, transparent pricing.
• Free trial available.
• Easy-to-navigate user interface.
• Simple benefits administration.

Cons of Zenefits

• No learning management system available.
• Payroll platform isn’t global.
• Limited number of reports available.
• Offers HR services but not PEO services.

Methodology

To compare ADP Workforce Now and Zenefits, we consulted product documentation and user reviews. We considered factors such as user interface design, pricing plans, free trials and customer support. We also considered features such as payroll, benefits administration, performance management, employee engagement, compensation management and applicant tracking.

Should your organization use ADP Workforce Now or Zenefits?

When deciding between ADP Workforce Now and Zenefits, consider your budget as well as what specific features you need. Each platform takes a different approach to what features are included in the different pricing plans. For instance, payroll is included on every ADP plan, but time and attendance can be accessed only through the most expensive Premium plan. ADP’s payroll is available in more countries, and it also offers a learning management system, while Zenefits doesn’t. If you definitely need payroll, then ADP’s pricing plans might make more sense.

In contrast, Zenefits includes time and attendance on each of its main pricing plans. However, its payroll is only included as part of its most expensive Zen pricing plan — though businesses can opt to add payroll to either of the other two pricing plans. Zenefits also includes benefits administration for all plans, while ADP confines it to the two most expensive plans. Recruiting is a paid add-on in Zenefits, but it’s included in all ADP Workforce Now plans.

If neither ADP Workforce Now or Zenefits sounds right for your needs, then check out our recommendations for the best HR software and the best payroll software.