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ADP Workforce Now vs Dayforce 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 Talent Management
14th
Ranking in Cloud HCM
11th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (7th), HR Analytics Software (5th)
Dayforce HCM
Ranking in Talent Management
18th
Ranking in Cloud HCM
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Talent Intelligence (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of ADP Workforce Now is 2.3%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dayforce HCM is 2.6%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ADP Workforce Now2.3%
Dayforce HCM2.6%
Other95.1%
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.
TracyBritan - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Learning & Development at Ampersand
Frustrating support and difficult customization prevent optimal use of learning system
Customizing the home screen was difficult; I could not remove certain tabs that were irrelevant to our users. The search functionality is poor as there's no way for administrators to tag keywords to training courses, making it hard for people to find content. Additionally, there is no way to send a direct link to training if someone asks about it. The reporting is subpar; you can only report by course and not by person unless you go into specific Dayforce reports, which do not match the fields in the learning module. The support is also terrible, with slow response times and a lack of useful knowledge-based articles.

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."
"I love the integration of HR, payroll, tax filing, benefits, time and attendance, GL, ACA, employee/manager self-service, reporting and analytics."
"It is hard to go wrong with choosing ADP as a solution for nearly any company."
"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."
"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."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The most valuable feature to me is performance management because we just started using that."
"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 tool has improved a lot in the area of its mobile application, especially considering its added security features, like single sign-on capabilities."
"Reporting I can pull anything out of Dayforce."
"The implementation was through a team assigned to us by Ceridian. They were extremely knowledgeable and it made the implementation go very smoothly."
"Ceridian Dayforce HCM is a stable product."
"We have been able to automate many of our manual processes."
"I have not encountered many bugs, and in the rare instances where problems occurred, Ceridian Dayforce HCM promptly fixed them. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten."
"The product has a pretty clean look."
"We paid for the implementation costs in the first year with the money that we saved by switching to Dayforce HCM."
 

Cons

"Their “new and improved” message center (where you get notifications and go to approve things like time off) is actually not as easy as it used to be."
"The complexity is the key challenge with a tool like ADP ."
"The Call Centre: The extension number takes too many digits to get through and the wait time is too long."
"Its benefits portal could be user-friendly."
"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 workflow is a bit weak."
"I would like the solution to improve its customer service communication."
"Our current software program offers a home page with important company documents and a place for company announcements. Unfortunately, Ceridian Dayfoce does not offer this."
"It would be nice if retro pay calculations were made automatically for salaried payroll, so a calculation and manual entry do not have to be done."
"I would like to see more built-in forms, like government issued forms (T2200). This would save a lot of time during the year-end process."
"Management and reporting of the GL costing could be improved."
"The solution's initial setup was difficult. Also, the solution's initial deployment took around six months."
"The solution has a lot of glitches."
"I would like to see more built-in forms. This would save a lot of time during the year-end process."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I give the pricing a seven out of ten."
"The solution is expensive."
"It is expensive."
"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 solution is expensive and everyone complains about the price."
"The pricing is expensive and I would say it is below average for the value it provides based on the high cost."
"Ceridian continually enhances Dayforce HCM. Some of these enhancements they charge for and some are just straight enhancements with no extra charge."
"We paid for the implementation costs in the first year with the money that we saved by switching to Dayforce HCM."
"In terms of pricing, the product is expensive. However, it is crucial to take into account the manner in which the solution will be utilized and the availability of other alternatives."
"Negotiate for everything you want."
"Earlier, the price of the product was reasonable. Under present circumstances, the price or cost of the product has been increased."
"We found the setup costs and pricing to be very reasonable."
"I rate the solution's pricing a seven on a scale where one is the lowest and ten is the most expensive."
"The XOXO program associated with Dayforce allows you to earn credits towards registration and accommodations at their annual Insight Conferences, which can be a real savings to the company when sending employees to the conference."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
Healthcare Company
5%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Construction Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

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 Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise5
 

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 needs improvement with Ceridian Dayforce HCM?
Customizing the home screen was difficult; I could not remove certain tabs that were irrelevant to our users. The search functionality is poor as there's no way for administrators to tag keywords t...
What is your primary use case for Ceridian Dayforce HCM?
We have used Dayforce HCM for our HR functionalities and for the learning module over the last five years. We actually just migrated to a new learning management system.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ceridian Dayforce HCM?
The Learning Module add-on to Dayforce HCM was relatively inexpensive per user compared to other LMS’s.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Ceridian Dayforce HCM, Ascender Talent Management, Ceridian Ideal
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lawrence and Schiller, The Children's Center, The Kansas City Royals
ACCO Brands
Find out what your peers are saying about ADP Workforce Now vs. Dayforce HCM and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.