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ADP Workforce Now vs Workday Human Capital Management 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 Cloud HCM
11th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (7th), Talent Management (16th), HR Analytics Software (5th)
Workday Human Capital Manag...
Ranking in Cloud HCM
13th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
8
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 Workday Human Capital Management is 0.8%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ADP Workforce Now1.9%
Workday Human Capital Management0.8%
Other97.3%
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.
Amit_Rai - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
Automation has transformed hire to retire processes and delivers powerful HR analytics
In Workday Human Capital Management, I feel that the security part needs to be improved. Workday gives complete control to the implementers regarding security and who is going to see what data. There are sometimes loopholes that are not identified unless fully tested. If Workday had a security alert system, even a small alert would help the security architect secure all information better, especially sensitive data such as payroll. Additionally, customization is another area of improvement, as Workday provides a default blue and yellow theme, which may not align with a company's branding. If Workday provided the option to customize themes based on a company's preferences, it would enhance the user experience.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"The platform is on a private cloud that is fully secure with no way for hacker penetration."
"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 most valuable features are the reporting and benefits piece."
"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."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The most valuable feature to me is performance management because we just started using that."
"The product is a complete solution for security."
"Workday Human Capital Management's most valuable feature is self-service."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a cloud-based system and easy to use."
"The solution has good accessibility; it's easy to use and not very confusing."
"The unique selling point of Workday is its easy-to-use user interface, which is quite difficult in other ERP systems such as SAP or Oracle Fusion."
"The reports I can download with compensation details come in a very organized manner, and I can record any future payments through the software, such as deferred cash bonuses that need to be paid one year later."
"According to me, the most valuable feature is autonomy of business processes and the security configuration within the tenant, specifically the configuration. The solution is highly stable. It’s designed to handle most tasks automatically. I rate it a nine out of ten. The solution is highly scalable. I rate it an eight out of ten. This solution consistently supports its customers through its implementation partners or sales support. The setup is designed to be user-friendly and straightforward. Workday HCM is user-friendly and easier to implement within the organization"
"Workday Human Capital Management is a user-friendly solution."
 

Cons

"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 report functionality is not as good as competitive products."
"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."
"Its benefits portal could be user-friendly."
"The complexity is the key challenge with a tool like ADP ."
"The compensation module is not dynamic enough or flexible enough to accommodate the complexities in our salary structure."
"We have had issues with respect to incidents."
"In Workday Human Capital Management, I feel that the security part needs to be improved."
"The tool has certain shortcomings when it comes to its integration capabilities with other systems in our company, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The solution should focus more on user experience and less on the technical side."
"Currently, the product's payroll feature works only in four countries. It should work for more countries."
"It would be good if the solution provided more extensive training sessions."
"The solution should enhance its flexibility and promptly incorporate the brainstormed ideas into the upcoming releases. Typically, after their brainstorming session, it takes one or two update cycles for the changes to reflect in the tenant."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution 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."
"It is expensive."
"I give the pricing a seven out of ten."
"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."
"The solution’s pricing is better than SAP SuccessFactors."
"Each module comes with an additional cost. It operates on a mid-price model. So, there is an additional payment for each module needed. The solution might be costlier for smaller companies, making it more suitable for mid to large-sized enterprises."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Legal Firm
6%
No data available
 

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 Business1
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise7
 

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 Workday Human Capital Management?
The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a cloud-based system and easy to use.
What needs improvement with Workday Human Capital Management?
I have not directly encountered issues in Workday Human Capital Management, but my manager mentioned that the compensation module is not dynamic enough or flexible enough to accommodate the complex...
What is your primary use case for Workday Human Capital Management?
My usual use cases for Workday Human Capital Management are that I am part of the total rewards team. My work cases involve viewing different employees' salary splits, compensation changes, when co...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lawrence and Schiller, The Children's Center, The Kansas City Royals
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about ADP Workforce Now vs. Workday Human Capital Management and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.