ADP has 70 years of payroll history — and 70 years of UX debt. Hidden fees, a clunky interface, weeks-long setup, and no AI. HRGrove is what ADP would look like if it were built today.
$39/mo + $6/employee/month. Transparent. No per-transaction fees. No W-2 surcharges. Credit card required for trial.
ADP Run: ~$79/mo base + $4/ee/mo (Essential) up to $249/mo base + $4/ee/mo (HR Pro). Plus: W-2 fees, off-cycle payroll fees, garnishment fees, implementation fees.
ADP Run and Workforce Now are consistently rated as 'clunky,' 'dated,' and 'hard to navigate' across G2 and Capterra. HRGrove was built from scratch for 2024 — clean, intuitive, and operable by someone who's never used HR software.
ADP charges extra for off-cycle payroll runs, year-end W-2s, bank changes, and module add-ons. HRGrove has simple $39/mo + $6/employee pricing — what you see is what you pay.
ADP has no meaningful AI capabilities. Grove AI writes offer letters, generates onboarding checklists, drafts performance reviews, answers HR policy questions, and processes approvals — 32 actions, all in plain English.
ADP requires an implementation project, data migration, and often a dedicated rep just to get started. HRGrove gets you running in minutes — add your first employee in 5 minutes, guaranteed.
ADP's customer support is the single most common complaint across all review platforms — long wait times, inconsistent reps, and errors that take multiple contacts to resolve. HRGrove is built so you rarely need support, and when you do, we respond.
HRGrove vs ADP — what you actually get
| Feature | HRGrove | ADP |
|---|---|---|
| Core HR | ||
| Employee records & org chart | ||
| Document storage & e-sign | Limited on Run; better on WFN | |
| PTO & leave management | Add-on or higher tier | |
| Hiring | ||
| Built-in ATS | ADP Run has no ATS | |
| AI-generated offer letters | ||
| Onboarding | ||
| Onboarding workflows | Basic; Workforce Now only | |
| 5-minute first-hire setup | 2–4 week implementation | |
| Time & Attendance | ||
| Time tracking | Add-on fees apply | |
| GPS clock-in / multilingual kiosk | ||
| Payroll | ||
| Payroll — all 50 states | ADP's core strength | |
| Benefits | ||
| Benefits administration | Higher tiers / WFN only | |
| Performance | ||
| Performance reviews | Not in ADP Run | |
| AI performance review drafting | ||
| Analytics | ||
| People analytics & dashboards | WFN enterprise only | |
| Succession planning | ||
| AI | ||
| AI HR assistant (32 actions) | ||
| Portal | ||
| Employee self-serve portal | ||
| Multilingual portal (EN/ES) | Limited localization | |
| Security | ||
| MFA enforcement | ||
| Row-level data isolation | ||
| Full audit log | ||
| Integration | ||
| REST API | Complex / enterprise-gated | |
| Pricing | ||
| Transparent public pricing | ||
| No hidden transaction fees | W-2, off-cycle, garnishment fees | |
ADP's payroll compliance record is unmatched — but everything around it is dated, expensive, and frustrating. If you need a modern all-in-one HR platform with AI built in, transparent pricing, and an interface your team will actually use, HRGrove is the upgrade ADP hasn't made in 20 years.
More comparisons