ADP Workforce Now alternatives: 11 payroll tools compared
The searcher is usually a finance or HR lead at a company of 50 to a few hundred people who signed Workforce Now when it was the safe default and now wants a price they can read, a contract they can leave, or payroll in countries ADP's mid-market product does not cover. They move to a payroll specialist, a platform that bundles HR and IT, or a global employment provider.
Short answer: Looking for a replacement for ADP Workforce Now? Paychex Flex, Rippling and Gusto come first in our payroll software ranking. Ranking order favours the challenger over the household name, so the best-known vendors begin at place 4 where the category allows it. Start with Paychex Flex if you want the same US payroll-and-HR service model from a different vendor. Each of the 11 alternatives sits in Best Payroll Software in 2026 and is described against ADP Workforce Now.
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Built for: A large employer that needs filing accuracy above all
Not for: A small company that wants a modern product
01
Why buyers look past ADP Workforce Now
01
No price until you talk to sales
ADP's product pages carry no figures. Workforce Now is offered in three packages (Select, Plus, Premium) behind a 'Get pricing' button, and the products overview points to a sales phone line. A buyer comparing three vendors cannot put ADP in the same spreadsheet until a quote arrives, which is the first reason people start looking.
02
One brand, several products with different size limits
ADP lists RUN for 1 to 49 employees, Workforce Now for 50 and up, Lyric HCM for 1,000 and up, TotalSource as a PEO and Global Payroll as a separate platform. A company that grows or opens a foreign entity can find itself re-implementing on another ADP product instead of extending the one it has.
03
Workforce Now is a payroll-and-HR suite, not a global tool
The Workforce Now page speaks about Canada and the United States, while the 140-country figure on the site describes ADP as a whole (payroll, global HCM and outsourcing). Anyone hiring abroad should ask which ADP product, and which partner, actually runs payroll in the country in question.
your employees are in the Netherlands and you want per-active-employee billing without a long contract
#5
03
What each one does differently
1
Paychex Flex
United States · On request
The nearest like-for-like swap: another US vendor that sells packages (Basic, Foundations, Advanced, Complete) with prices on request and an assigned payroll specialist on higher support levels. Payroll is aimed at US-based staff and contractors, so it solves a service complaint with ADP, not a geography one.
Switch from ADP Workforce Now if you want the same US payroll-and-HR service model from a different vendor.
Starts from $8 per employee per month plus a monthly base fee, with final pricing quoted by module. The pitch is one record for HR, payroll and IT, including global payroll as a module. You pay for each module you add, and the quote still involves a conversation.
Switch from ADP Workforce Now if you want payroll, HR and device or app provisioning driven from one employee record.
Three tiers, each a monthly base plus a per-person charge, so the bill can be worked out before talking to anyone. Payroll is a US product, and the entry tier covers one state. It targets small companies, so a 400-person employer with unions or complex time rules will outgrow it.
Switch from ADP Workforce Now if you are a US company under about 100 people and want a payroll cost you can calculate yourself.
Mostly a PEO, where Justworks becomes co-employer and carries benefits and compliance. A payroll-only plan now exists at a base fee plus a per-employee price, without co-employment. It is built for small US employers and drops the large-company HR depth that Workforce Now has.
Switch from ADP Workforce Now if you are a small US employer who would rather hand off benefits and compliance than run them.
Prices are published per product: Global Payroll from $29 per employee a month, employer of record from $599, contractors from $29, a US PEO at $99, with no base fee. It owns entities in its employer-of-record countries. Domestic US payroll depth is thinner than a dedicated US vendor.
Switch from ADP Workforce Now if your growth is abroad and you want to see a per-employee price for each country you enter.
Publishes contractor pricing from $49 a month and employer of record from $599 a month, plus a US PEO from $125, but shows no price for global or US payroll. It states 150-plus countries on the platform and 130-plus for employer of record. Built around people you hire across borders.
Switch from ADP Workforce Now if you pay contractors and remote hires in many countries and have little domestic headcount.
Israeli vendor whose pricing page is a quote request with 'starting from' figures: payroll from $29 per employee a month, employer of record from $499, contractor management from $5. It claims payroll operations in 180-plus countries and payments rails. Sits above local payroll providers, so complexity rises alongside coverage.
Switch from ADP Workforce Now if your payroll is already spread over many countries and the problem is consolidating data and payments.
An employer-of-record and global payroll vendor. Its own pages quote several different starting prices and country counts for the same service, so get one written quote and compare it with the others. No domestic US payroll engine of the kind Workforce Now is.
Switch from ADP Workforce Now if you need to employ individuals in countries without setting up entities, and will accept a quote-based comparison.
Belgian bureau with software on top, offering one contract and one SLA for payroll across 26-plus European countries, with data hosted in Europe and a partner network reaching about 120 countries. No price is published, and employer of record runs through a partnership with G-P.
Switch from ADP Workforce Now if your staff sit across Europe and you want a single outsourced provider with in-country experts.
French-founded payroll product with separate UK, French and Spanish sites. The UK site sells a monthly per-employee subscription with onboarding and UK payroll experts included, but gives no figures, only a demo route. It addresses companies from small up to 300-plus staff, nothing like ADP's enterprise reach.
Switch from ADP Workforce Now if your employees are in the UK, France or Spain and you want experts doing the payroll runs.
Dutch payroll and HR software owned by the Visma group, with Essential, Advanced and Advanced Pro packages that can be cancelled monthly and are billed on the number of active employees. The served pricing page shows placeholder amounts and invites a quote. Built around Dutch rules, not US filings.
Switch from ADP Workforce Now if your employees are in the Netherlands and you want per-active-employee billing without a long contract.
Stay with ADP if you run US payroll and HR at a size where Workforce Now's packages fit (the site targets 50 employees and up), if you already use ADP time, benefits or tax services that would have to be rebuilt elsewhere, or if you need the Canada plus United States coverage the product page describes. The lack of a published price is a cost of discovery, not proof that the quote is high: ask for a written quote with the package, term length and add-on fees listed, then compare it with two others before deciding.
05
What moving off ADP Workforce Now involves
01
Ask for the export before you give notice
Collect year-to-date payroll registers, tax filing history, accrual balances and employee records from ADP before the cut-off date. A mid-year switch means the new vendor needs year-to-date wages and taxes to produce correct year-end forms, and the quarter boundary is the cleanest point to move.
02
Run parallel payrolls and check the contract
Run one or two cycles side by side and reconcile net pay per employee. Read the ADP agreement for term, notice and fees tied to ending it, since the product pages do not state them. Keep benefits, time clocks and tax filing in mind, as each can sit on a different ADP service.
06
Questions about replacing ADP Workforce Now
7 answers
Does ADP publish Workforce Now prices?
Not on the pages we read on 30 October 2026. The Workforce Now page offers a 'Get pricing' route and names three packages, Select, Plus and Premium, and the products overview shows no amounts and directs buyers to sales.
Which ADP product is the mid-market one?
The products overview lists ADP Workforce Now for 50 or more employees, between RUN for 1 to 49 and Lyric HCM for 1,000 or more. TotalSource is the PEO and Global Payroll is listed as a separate platform.
Is there a cheaper alternative with published prices?
Several vendors on this list publish figures: Remote, Deel and Papaya Global for employer-of-record and payroll products, and Gusto and Justworks list a base plus per-person charge. They differ in scope, so check which employee locations a price covers.
What if I need payroll in several countries?
ADP's site describes services in more than 140 countries across the group, but the Workforce Now page itself talks about Canada and the United States. For multi-country payroll, ask each vendor which countries run on their own engine and which on a partner.
Can a small company move from a PEO model?
Justworks and ADP TotalSource are PEOs, where the vendor acts as co-employer. Moving to a payroll-only product means you take back benefits administration and compliance filings yourself, so budget for that work.
How long does a switch take?
Vendors do not publish a standard timeline for this, so we do not state one. Plan around a quarter boundary and at least one parallel run, and ask each vendor in writing how long their implementation takes.
Does Paychex differ much from ADP?
Both quote prices and sell packages with HR and payroll in the US. Paychex lists three support levels, including assigned payroll specialists, and its payroll is designed for US-based employees and contractors.
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Sources
Checked 30 October 2026
ADP Workforce Now product page: Select, Plus and Premium packages, 'Get pricing' route, no published amounts, Canada and US reference, 140-country group statement.
ADP products overview: RUN 1-49, Workforce Now 50+, Lyric HCM 1,000+, TotalSource PEO, Global Payroll listing.
Remote pricing: Global Payroll $29, EOR $599, contractor $29, US PEO $99, no base fee.
Papaya Global pricing: Quote-based, payroll from $29, EOR from $499, contractor management from $5, 180+ countries.
Deel pricing: Contractors from $49, EOR $599, US PEO $125, 150+ countries, no payroll price.
Rippling pricing: From $8 per employee per month plus base fee, modular, custom quote.
Paychex payroll services: Packages, no published prices, assigned payroll specialists, US-oriented payroll, PEO.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Author and fact-checker: Sebastiaan Smits. This page was last reviewed on 30 October 2026; our review process is public.
