Best Human Resources Software (Updated for January 2025)

Overall score

3.95/5.00

HRIS and reporting

4.63/5.00

Payroll and benefits

4.38/5.00

Pricing

2.69/5.00

Platform/interface

3.80/5.00

Workforce management

4.13/5.00

Talent acquisition

4.00/5.00

Employee relations

3.66/5.00

Support

3.88/5.00

User scores

4.40/5.00

Pros

Narrative insights to assist with people data analysis.
Optional HR advisory services for enhanced compliance.
Extensive product line for fast-growing companies.
Global payroll support for over 140 countries.

Cons

Benefits administration is only available on the Plus plan and higher.
Time and labor management is only available in the highest subscription tier.
Several features, like recruiting, are powered through acquisitions or third-party partnerships.
Users report slow customer service and turnaround times.

Why I chose ADP Workforce Now

ADP Workforce Now’s scalability makes it the king of HR software. It bridges the gap between simple human resources information systems (HRIS) and full-scale human capital management (HCM) platforms. In fact, ADP uses Workforce Now as the software to facilitate many of its optional services, like it’s PEO, TotalSource, and global payroll.

True, Workforce Now lost points for its hard-to-navigate interface and for forcing users to purchase its top plans for access to workforce management and benefits administration modules. Yet, ADP is making moves to make the software less clunky so that it is more accessible for small and large teams alike. For example, the addition of ADP Assist, its AI assistant is a huge improvement for finding information and streamlining HR processes.

Workforce Now’s add-on modules, massive product and services catalog, and open API make it stand out among competitors. Choosing Workforce Now also reduces the likelihood of having to jump to a new solution in the future if you grow or shrink since the platform can accommodate your business shifts.

ADP Workforce Now is an all-in-one human resources management system (HRMS) with a range of features to support the employee life cycle from recruitment to separation. Its business services, customization options, and extensive integration library make it the best HR software overall.

ADP Workforce Now’s 3.95 straddles the line between the needs of both small and large businesses. For example, small businesses can take advantage of its many HR services, including human resources outsourcing (HRO) or professional employer organization (PEO) and employers of record (EOR). Enterprises, meanwhile, will like its workforce analytics to help with strategic initiatives, like reducing turnover.

Be aware though: ADP Workforce Now is a legacy system, meaning that its interface is more old-fashioned than platforms like BambooHR. Setting up a new hire can also be tedious since that number of customization options means jumping through several steps before the new employee can complete the onboarding workflow. But this is more of a minor inconvenience if you have unique process cadences, reporting, or payroll needs.

What’s the right ADP product for me?

ADP Workforce Now is best for small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with over 50 employees but less than 1,000. Although this makes it an excellent option for most, startups and enterprises might want to look for leaner or more robust alternatives.

ADP’s vast product catalog means there are solutions for all companies, regardless of size or industry, but finding the right product is intimidating. Here’s a breakdown of ADP’s other major products:

Roll by ADP

Best for solopreneurs or small businesses with 2–10 employees. Roll is not a full HR suite, but its simple mobile-only interface is great for maintaining an employee database and processing payroll. And if you’re tech-averse, Roll’s unique AI chat function allows you to run payroll from a simple text conversation.

Visit Roll by ADP

RUN Powered by ADP

Best for businesses with 2–49 employees. RUN offers basic payroll and tax support. In its higher price tiers, you can also access unemployment insurance management, a basic applicant tracking system (ATS) powered by CareerPlug, handbook creation, and a learning management system (LMS).

Visit Run Powered by ADP

ADP Vantage HCM

Best for businesses with over 1,000 employees. ADP Vantage HCM offers advanced HR capabilities, particularly in workforce analytics. Although ADP Vantage has features similar to RUN and Workforce Now, it focuses on using your huge people dataset for more strategic decision-making, like minimizing business costs.

Visit ADP Vantage HCM

Note: ADP also released its newest cloud-native product, ADP Lyric HCM, in September 2024. I’ll update this as I learn more about how it differs from ADP Vantage HCM.

Breadth of integrations

ADP Workforce Now clients have access to ADP Marketplace. Here, you can find solutions to integrate with ADP Workforce Now and consolidate your data among your entire HR tech stack.

With integrations available for performance management, time tracking, employee engagement, recruiting, learning management, and financial wellness, you do not have to sacrifice the HR platforms you already use to start with ADP.

Robust payroll functionality

ADP is well-known for its advanced payroll features. You can easily create multiple payroll schedules from ADP Workforce Now’s payroll dashboard to cover different employee classifications. Plus, once you finalize payroll, you can click a button and automatically prepare and download a general ledger file to upload into your. accounting system.ADP also accommodates more industry- or company-specific payroll needs. For example, if you’re a federal contractor, ADP can help you run certified payroll. Or, if you’re in a service industry like food or hospitality, ADP can calculate tip credits for your service staff to reduce the likelihood of payroll errors.

Benchmarking

ADP Workforce Now is the only platform on my shortlist with benchmark information for understanding how your business compares to the competition. Using ADP’s U.S. client base of more than 42 million employees, you can see benchmark numbers in your industry and location for:

Creating fair and competitive total compensation packages.
Comparing turnover rates.
Tracking average time to fill in various roles.

Because Workforce Now offers this natively in-app with data that updates in real time, you don’t have to rely on third-party sources for this information—whether through integration or from outdated compensation survey reports. This is also a huge advantage if you’re a small business since access to this information is typically reserved for larger HCM platforms or requires manual input. For comparison, in Rippling, you need to add salary ranges by hand.

ADP displays a dashboard for configuring fields on an employee roster report. — Setting up a customized report. Source: ADP

ADP displays a salary benchmark report for a software engineer position. — Setting up a customized report. Source: ADP

ADP Workforce Now offers three subscription tiers to choose from: Select, Plus, and Premium. However, it does not reveal starting prices for any of its plans; you must contact ADP’s sales team for a quote.

In my re-evaluation, Workforce Now’s pricing score dropped from 3.13 to 2.69. This is in part due to the quote that I received, which revealed additional costs for HRIS implementation, your payroll schedule, and annual W2 and 1099s processing. For a business with 50 employees and a weekly pay schedule, ADP quoted me $8 per employee, per month (PEPM) plus $180 per month. There’s also a $500 implementation fee.

This means ADP can be slightly more expensive overall considering the fees for all of its services, such as check signing and delivery. Still, ADP is one of the only platforms to offer such expanded service options, so if this is a priority for you, going with Workforce Now is your best bet.

ADP Workforce Now plans

Select

Plus

Premium

Includes:

Payroll and tax.
Basic reporting and analytics.
Onboarding/offboarding workflows.
ADP Assist (AI virtual assistant).
Voice of the Employee (employee engagement surveys).
Digital recordkeeping and unlimited storage.

Includes everything in Select and:

Benefits administration.

Includes everything in Plus and:

Time tracking.
Leave management.
Scheduling.

ADP Workforce Now add-on modules

Talent acquisition.
Performance management.
Compensation management.
HR assist (regulatory compliance assistance).
Analytics and enhanced insights.
Learning management.

Is ADP Workforce Now the right fit?

ADP is one of our favorite HR software vendors, featuring in many of our top product pages and comparisons. For more information on Workforce Now’s capabilities, check out some of our articles below:

Deel: Best for startups

Overall score

3.64/5.00

HRIS and reporting

3.99/5.00

Payroll and benefits

4.31/5.00

Pricing

3.94/5.00

Platform/interface

4.30/5.00

Workforce management

3.45/5.00

Talent acquisition

0.88/5.00

Employee relations

3.60/5.00

Support

4.38/5.00

User scores

4.06/5.00

Pros

Immigration services to hire and relocate talent from across the globe.
On-demand payroll support for direct and EOR employees.
Light and dark mode functionality for increased accessibility.
Diverse account payment options, including cryptocurrency using Coinbase.

Cons

Difficult to navigate user interface (UI).
Can only pay employees by direct deposit.
Does not support weekly payroll schedules.
Lacks recruiting features.

Why I chose Deel

Deel replaces my previous pick for the best HR software for startups, Gusto, by a narrow margin. Deel’s 3.64 beats Gusto’s 3.50 because of the former’s global capabilities that allow you to pay and retain employees worldwide. In fact, despite Gusto’s foray into EOR services in early 2024, it currently only supports 12 countries compared to Deel’s more than 150.

Deel’s platform is also better equipped to handle the challenges of fast-growing startups than others in this roundup. Need extra support services for your new business? Deel’s PEO, EOR, and U.S. Payroll services provide 24/7 support, a dedicated customer service manager, and white-glove benefits implementation. Need essential employee management tools? Use Deel HR for free to manage compliance, sign documents, and even get access to a basic employee time tracker.

Need to complete HR operations without interrupting the flow of work? Use Deel’s Slack plugins to control everyday HR tasks, like requesting and approving time off. This is a much simpler solution if your startup has distributed teams working on various schedules.

Although Deel started as an EOR service provider similar to Oyster and Papaya Global, it’s exploded in recent years with the additions of its Deel HR, U.S. Payroll, Deel PEO, and Deel Engage products for more HR functionality. As a result, Deel is one of the top players in the HR system market, including heavy hitters like Rippling (with which it shares a rather entertaining rivalry).

However, because Deel started as an EOR, the core of its software aims to carry out global payroll and contract management in sync with its more than 100 international partners. This makes its platform somewhat confusing to navigate since its original purpose was to pull employee information from your onboarding platform or HRIS to facilitate global payroll.

Even with Deel HR’s more modern appearance, including a customizable homepage with widgets that mimic BambooHR, expect a bit of a learning curve. That said, its affordability, white-labeling, global capabilities, and workplace communication abilities give Deel a leg up for startups with scrappier HR teams who flow between administrators, employee advocates, and company marketers in the span of one afternoon.

Contractor management

Deel isn’t unique when it comes to system features aimed at contractors. Gusto, for example, supports contractor payments in more than 120 countries. But I find Deel’s capabilities far more expansive and versatile.

While Deel’s and Gusto’s contractor features are similar—step-by-step onboarding workflows, contract management, and in-app time trackers—Deel’s benefit offerings for contractors are more robust. For example, Deel offers 15 ways to pay contractors, including through its Deel Card. Gusto’s equivalent, the Gusto Wallet Spending account, is limited to direct employees.

And, for a compliance nerd like myself, Deel’s the only vendor in my roundup with the contractor of record services to avoid the risk of worker misclassification. This is incredibly helpful for a startup where the line between contractor and employee is blurry and varies worldwide.

Tools for distributed teams

Deel used to be among my honorable mentions for its global capabilities. Unsurprisingly, these tools come in handy for startups where talent may be located across the globe and don’t work a normal nine-to-five. Some tools include its new time-tracking widget, overnight shift support, and mobile app with expense management.

But Deel’s Slack plugins, such as employee recognition, are my favorite tools for distributed teams. Slack allows for more free-flowing conversations between coworkers so that peer-to-peer recognition (“Kudos”) feels less like a chore and easier to offer in the moment—a critical component of building up company culture in your startup. Even better is that these plugins are free to use if you have Slack; you don’t need a Deel subscription.

Deel displays its organizational chart with a bubble titled "Wayne Enterprises" at the top and a series of lines connecting executives to managers and individual contributors. — Deel’s organizational chart. (Source: TechnologyAdvice)

Deel displays a chat bubble with text explaining that Germany is the most expensive country to set up an entity abroad to answer the question, "What country do we spend the most in labor costs?" — Deel’s organizational chart. (Source: TechnologyAdvice)

You can start using Deel HR at the low price of free. You can also leverage other tools from Deel at no cost, including its Slack plugins (as long as you have a Slack subscription) and global employee cost calculator. This earned Deel a 3.94 in pricing, second only to Gusto’s 4.00. In fact, you can conceivably manage all your employee operations in Deel HR and do payroll yourself for the most cost savings, especially if you have fewer than 10 employees (although I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re new to payroll).

However, if you want to start paying employees through Deel, it becomes expensive once you have more than three U.S.-based employees since you pay $19 PEPM. I’d turn to Gusto or other small business payroll software instead if you just need pay processing. But if you’re looking for global payroll support, either through your own entities or using an EOR, Deel’s pricing is one of the more competitive. Deel also frequently offers discounts if you decide to pay annually.

Deel Hiring and Payroll Products

Deel Contractor

Deel EOR

Deel Payroll

Deel U.S. Payroll

Deel U.S. PEO

Starts at $49/contractor/mo.

Includes:

Misclassification support.
Local tax agreements.
15 contractor payment options in 120+ currencies.
Deel card access.
24/7 support for contractors.

Starts at $599 PEPM.

Includes:

Hire and pay international employees.
Compliance support.
Country-specific benefits packages.
Spending, retention, and compensation reporting.
Integration marketplace.
Local HR and legal expert support.
24/7 support and dedicated CSM.

Starts at $29 PEPM.

Includes:

Access to payroll experts.
Payslip creation and delivery.
Salary and tax payments (including local).
Benefits and deductions.
Customizable reports.

Starts at $19 PEPM.

Includes:

Federal, state, and local tax filing and remittance.
W-2, W-4, 1099, and new hire filing support.
Payroll compliance support.
24/7 support and dedicated CSM.

Starts at $89 PEPM.

Includes:

Federal, state, and local tax filing and remittance.
W-2, W-4, 1099, and new hire filing support.
Compliance support: training, unemployment, and workers’ comp.
Access to Fortune-500 benefits.
Access to HR experts, 24/7 support, and a dedicated CSM.

Deel HR Products

Deel IT

Deel Immigration

Starts at $20 PEPM.

Includes:

Performance management, including appraisals and goal tracking.
Learning management, including custom course creation.
Career management.
Employee engagement surveys.

Free.

Includes:

Employee database and org charts.
Country localization.
Time off and expenses.
Global reports and dashboards.
Store and sign documents.
Time tracker.
Onboarding and offboarding workflows.

Starts at $99/mo.

Includes:

Device lifecycle management.
App management.
IT support.

Contact sales.

Includes:

Coverage in 50+ countries.
Free eligibility checks.
Process timelines and in-app tracker.
Dedicated case manager.

BambooHR: Best for small businesses

Overall score

3.64/5.00

HRIS and reporting

4.25/5.00

Payroll and benefits

3.56/5.00

Pricing

2.63/5.00

Platform/interface

4.43/5.00

Workforce management

3.66/5.00

Talent acquisition

3.38/5.00

Employee relations

3.06/5.00

Support

3.69/5.00

User scores

4.44/5.00

Pros

Refreshed new interface for easier navigation.
Ability to change platform colors and logos to reflect your brand.
Customizable homepage and profile dashboards.
Automated wellbeing surveys to track employee happiness over time.

Cons

Reports have limited customization settings.
No modules for employee training or scheduling.
Does not support paying employees outside of the U.S.
Requires integration with Cronofy for in-app candidate interview scheduling.

Why I chose BambooHR

With a total score of 3.64 out of 5, BambooHR is my top choice for small businesses because it is by far the easiest platform to use on my shortlist. It strikes a perfect balance between simple pre-built workflows for HR teams looking for no-fuss process implementation and features to support processes from hire to retire.

In fact, BambooHR is one of the few solutions in my roundup that pays as much attention to the employee experience as system administrators. Besides a modern but user-friendly homepage where employees can see PTO banks, request time off, or clock in for a shift with one click, BambooHR also offers a platform where they can collaborate with peers in Employee Community. This is huge for small businesses where subscribing to standalone employee experience, recognition, and communication platforms can be a costly added expense.

BambooHR is one of the most popular HR software solutions for its simple, effective UI and out-of-the-box workflows and reports. If you only need to centralize your people data and processes but don’t need the granular customization of HR platforms like Rippling or SAP SuccessFactors, then BambooHR may be for you.

BambooHR focuses on creating a platform accessible for your tech-savvy and tech-averse HR teams. It comes with pre-built reports and analytics visualizations that you can use for fundamental insights into your organization, like turnover and time-off usage. System administrators can even customize BambooHR’s homepage with widgets to access this information as soon as they log in.

The one drawback of BambooHR is that its focus on plug-and-play workflows result in you molding your processes to fit BambooHR rather than your daily processes. Training course assignments, for example, are focused around employee start dates, without options to assign courses based on role or other company priorities. This means you may consider training only during the course of onboarding, rather than an ongoing priority essential to employee growth and development.

Digital record-keeping

BambooHR lets you upload, share, and store company and personnel documents directly within the platform. You can also create digital, legally recognized forms from the documents you use daily with eSignature to move away from paper processes and to an entirely digital filing system.

Creating these documents can be time-consuming, but it’s worth it. After you upload your PDF or .docx document to BambooHR, you can drag and drop the fields you want employees to complete into the appropriate areas. You can then send your electronic documents to the necessary employees for signatures and store the completed forms in their electronic personnel files.

Employee self-service

Like most modern HRIS, BambooHR has employee self-service features like preboarding checklists, benefits enrollment, and paystub access. What sets BambooHR apart is that employees can also update their information, request time off, clock in and out of shifts, update professional goals, and track training assignments from the same place.

Plus, if you’re a small business with frontline workers, BambooHR allows employees to access all this information from their mobile device instead of a desktop computer. It even made it into my list of the best HR apps for mobile as a result.

BambooHR displays its Creat Job Opening workflow, with steps like job information, application details, and job pipeline on the left, and checkboxes to choose application questions on the right. — Creating a job opening in BambooHR. (Source: TechnologyAdvice)

BambooHR offers two subscription plans to choose from: Core and Pro. The Core plan includes basic HRIS functions, like employee recordkeeping and leave management. It also offers onboarding workflows, an ATS, leave management, and employee wellbeing surveys.

But despite BambooHR’s focus on small businesses, it only earned a 2.63 for pricing since it’s quite costly to start. For comparison, if you have fewer than 15 employees, you can purchase Gusto Plus and access everything in BambooHR Core plus payroll, benefits administration, and time-tracking modules and pay less.. This makes BambooHR a better choice for well-established small businesses with limited long-term growth goals.

BambooHR plans*

Core**

Pro**

Price:

1–25 employees: $250 per month.
25+ employees: $10 PEPM.

Includes:

HRIS and reporting.
Hiring and onboarding.
Time off and benefits tracking.
Employee experience.
Access to integrations marketplace.

Price:

1–25 employees: $425 per month.
25+ employees: $17 PEPM.

Includes everything in Core plus:

Performance management.
Employee community.

BambooHR add-on modules*

Payroll⁺
- 1–25 employees: $190 per month.
- 25+ employees: About $7.47 PEPM.
Benefits administration
- 1–25 employees: $140 per month.
- 25+ employees: $5.48 PEPM.
Time tracking
- 1–25 employees: $3 PEPM.
  25+ employees: $2.97 PEPM.

* Volume discounts apply to all plans and add-ons after 25 employees. BambooHR also offers a 15% discount when you bundle Payroll and Benefits Administration with the Core or Pro plan.

** There is a one-time implementation fee for the Core and Pro plans. If you have fewer than 25 employees, you can opt for Quickstart implementation for $399 in the Core plan and $499 in the Pro plan.⁺ Please note that additional factors, like the number of FEINs or states where you need payroll, can affect this price. Please contact BambooHR for specific pricing quotes.

Why is BambooHR so popular?

BambooHR is a versatile HR suite that covers a lot of ground in the world of HR. As a BambooHR aficionado, I frequently include it in my HR software shortlists—check them out:

Rippling: Best for midsize businesses

Overall score

4.05/5.00

HRIS and reporting

4.33/5.00

Payroll and benefits

4.56/5.00

Pricing

2.50/5.00

Platform/interface

4.54/5.00

Workforce management

4.31/5.00

Talent acquisition

4.38/5.00

Employee relations

3.56/5.00

Support

3.44/5.00

User scores

4.78/5.00

Pros

Employee profile translation and localization for more than 150 countries.
Finance and IT management tools available.
EOR, PEO, ASO, COBRA, ACA, and global payroll services available.
Ability to use Excel formulas in reports for more detailed insights.

Cons

There is no free trial, and it may be too expensive for basic HR needs.
Scheduling requires Time and Attendance purchase and lacks automatic schedules.
Limited employee engagement and recognition features.
API access is now an add-on to Rippling Platform.

Why I chose Rippling

Rippling is one of the most adaptable HR programs I’ve demoed, resulting in an overall score of 4.05. With customizable workflows and approvals, you don’t need advanced IT training to automate most HR administrative processes in the app. This alone makes Rippling appealing to midsize businesses with a larger headcount, where HR automation is a must.

Rippling’s global expense and inventory management also means it supports a growing company’s more varied working cadences. Expense reimbursement, global payroll, and scheduling modules cover the needs of everyone, from frontline workers to remote employees and traveling professionals. Pair this with Rippling’s ability to create custom data fields, and you can get as specific as you need with your HR, finance, and other work policies.

Rippling is the best option if you’re a fast-growing SMB that has outgrown a simple HRIS and needs to unite HR, corporate spending, and IT under one system. It rivals major HCM platforms despite its comparatively small product library.

Ripping allows you to start moving away from the day-to-day operations of HR and to more strategic ones. It offers customizable reports that aggregate and visualize any dataset plus tactical modules like headcount planning. This allows you to create a plan, manage approval workflows, and sync with recruiting and spend modules to help you visualize and control your people costs.

Rippling also has one of the fastest new feature release schedules of any of the competitors in my roundup, which is both a strength and a limitation. Its constant innovation means you get access to new features quickly but at the expense of existing modules. (Yay finally for candidate self-scheduling now in Rippling’s ATS!) Rippling also doesn’t have the same level of enterprise-grade tools of titans like Workday and SAP, noticeably lacking a generative AI assistant, predictive analytics, and benchmarking tools.

Workflow automation

Rippling is the only product on my shortlist with a workflow builder tool to create custom automation from scratch. This is unlike SAP SuccessFactors, which requires IT knowledge to develop cross-module workflows, or BambooHR, which comes with pre-defined workflows for onboarding, offboarding, and approvals.

Instead, with Rippling’s Workflow Studio, you can set a trigger in one module to set off an action in another in its new blueprint-like builder. You can drag and drop actions, collaborate with others, and even add true/false conditional logic and wait times. For example, I used Workflow Studio to assign tasks to appropriate stakeholders in the event of a workplace accident, reducing the need for me to follow up on critical paperwork that could affect the injured employee’s work comp benefit coverage.

Compliance assistance

Rippling comes standard with Compliance 360, which monitors and notifies you of potential federal, state, or local labor law infractions. Although this doesn’t replace training your HR teams on employment laws and taking proactive steps to stay compliant, it is a great backstop as your team grows.

For example, if you’re a midsize business starting to hire employees in a new state, you might be unfamiliar with state labor laws like minimum wage or paid sick leave. Compliance 360 can notify you of these regulations during employee onboarding to ensure compliance. Or, if a law changes during the employee’s tenure with you, Rippling will alert you to the change.

Rippling lists open compliance issues by dates, employees, resolution deadlines, urgencies, and types, such as minimum wage issues and overtime violations. — Rippling’s Compliance 360 dashboard. (Source: TechnologyAdvice)

Rippling displays a custom workflow screen with text boxes connected by lines to illustrate actions like “Complete first report of injury” occurs after the trigger “on injury or illness date.” — Rippling’s Compliance 360 dashboard. (Source: TechnologyAdvice)

Rippling Platform, Rippling’s base product, starts at $40 per month plus $8 PEPM. You can choose from two subscription plans, Core and Pro, which include basic onboarding, workflow automation, and reporting functions. More advanced processes are relegated to Rippling’s add-on modules, including critical HR software features like payroll and benefits administration.

This lack of transparency around platform and implementation costs dropped Rippling’s pricing score from 2.88 to 2.50. Since you have to pay more for access to functionality that comes standard in platforms like ADP Workforce Now and Gusto, Rippling is not the best choice for your first HR software. But I argue it’s worth the investment if you’re a small to midsize business scaling quickly and want to keep your HR processes in one place.

Rippling Platform plans

Starting at $40/mo. + $8 PEPM

Core

Pro

Rippling Platform add-ons

Includes:

Global employee graph.
Workflows and automation.
Role-based permissions.
Compliance management.
Leave management.
Onboarding and offboarding.
Compensation bands.
Policy and document management.
Auto-localization.
Workflow Studio (custom onboarding events only).

Includes everything in Core plus:

Workflow Studio (10 custom workflows).
Formula fields.
Advanced reports.
Webhooks in workflows.

Unlimited workflows.
Custom apps.
Rippling API platform.

Rippling add-ons

HCM

Spend

US and Global Payroll.
Time & Attendance.
Benefits Administration.
Flex benefits: FSA, HSA & Commuter.
ACA & COBRA Administration.
Scheduling.
Recruiting.
Learning Management.
Headcount Planning.
Performance Management.
Surveys.
PEO Services.
ASO.
Global Employer of Record Services.
HR Help Desk: HR Support.

Identity and access management.
Device management.
Inventory management.

Corporate cards.
Expense management.
Bill pay.

HR software battle: ADP Workforce Now vs. Rippling

You may be wondering why I picked ADP Workforce Now as the best HR software despite Rippling’s higher score. Very perceptive—let me explain!

If you look strictly at the platforms, Rippling dominates. Rippling has an eye for intuitive platform design, where all modules “talk” to each other without delays or hiccups—this is the advantage Rippling has in building all of its platform capabilities natively.

In contrast, ADP’s long lifespan means many of its products stitch together functionality from acquisitions or partnerships. For example, Workforce Now’s recruiting capabilities are possible through its partnership with ZipRecruiter.

This isn’t necessarily bad, but it can create a disjointed user experience. Think of pop-up windows to enter different modules, feature settings in multiple areas, or a different platform appearance depending on what you’re doing, like payroll or recruiting. The biggest downside can also be possible data silos.

Despite this, Workforce Now reigns supreme when it comes to extensibility, scalability, and service variety. ADP’s decades of business experience also means its Workforce Now add-ons and services fit more business use cases than Rippling. Rippling is definitely catching up, though, and I’m excited to see how it continues to differentiate itself.

SAP SuccessFactors HCM: Best for large enterprises

Overall score

3.81/5.00

HRIS and reporting

3.98/5.00

Payroll and benefits

3.88/5.00

Pricing

2.50/5.00

Platform/interface

3.80/5.00

Workforce management

4.31/5.00

Talent acquisition

4.38/5.00

Employee relations

3.96/5.00

Support

3.75/5.00

User scores

3.92/5.00

Pros

Intelligent text-based employee sentiment analysis.
24/7 customer support via online chat, phone, or email.
Accessibility support, including zoom, high contrast themes, screen reader support, and keyboard navigation.
Native integration with SAP’s entire product line.
More than 2,000 standardized HR metrics.

Cons

Too expensive for small teams.
Confusing line of product tiers and integration options.
Complex user interface.
Few plug-and-play integrations outside of SAP products and partners.

Why I chose SAP SuccessFactors HCM

With a score of 3.81 out of 5, SAP SuccessFactors impressed me with its number of customizable features and extensibility options aimed at enterprises. In fact, by combining its HCM suite with other SAP products, like ERP, supply chain management, financial management, and customer relationship management, you can create an open flow of data across traditionally siloed business functions. This enables you to uncover process inefficiencies and areas of the business that are driving unneeded costs. It also means you can operate virtually all of your business processes in one place.

Understandably, SAP SuccessFactors’ advanced features and complicated interface can be off-putting if you’re new to HR software or want something with a more modern look. If that’s the case, check out Rippling or Workday instead. But, with its advanced workforce planning tools, candidate relationship management (CRM) system, and AI for personalized HR processes, SAP SuccessFactors HCM remains my number one choice for complex, multinational corporations.

SAP SuccessFactors Human Capital Management (HCM) is an enterprise-grade HR platform that centralizes HR administration in one place. SuccessFactors users can access SAP’s entire line of products, including enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, to create one unified ecosystem for all business functions.

If you’re a global company, SAP SuccessFactors also supports your international workforce. Although its native payroll only supports around 50 countries, it can localize employee profiles to more than 100 countries, post job openings to over 4,000 global sourcing channels across 80 countries, and facilitate international benefits enrollment.

One thing to note about SAP SuccessFactors is that its vast feature set is primarily the result of its many acquisitions and partnerships—SuccessFactors itself was a company before SAP acquired it in 2012. Features often feel “bolted on” and create a rather disjointed user experience and confusing platform layout. But this also means you get access to innovative features ahead of other HCM solutions that build these functions natively.

Predictive analytics

SAP SuccessFactors uses data from its various modules to inform big-picture business decisions. Besides collecting on lagging indicators, like employee retention and sentiment, SAP SuccessFactors goes one step further by predicting data trends based on past performance.

SAP SuccessFactors uses its machine learning algorithm to forecast trends so you can proactively address business changes in areas like recruitment and retention.For example, SAP can predict your future male-to-female recruitment ratio based on your historical hiring rates. From this data, you can quickly adjust strategies so you have the best chance of success for you recruitment equity goals.

AI capabilities

SAP SuccessFactors leverages AI natural language processing to assist with workforce planning and streamline administrative HR tasks. One of my favorite use cases has been its AI writing assistant, which helps managers craft constructive feedback. If you have managers with several direct reports, this can ensure they complete performance appraisals timely.

SAP SuccessFactors is also the only platform on my shortlist to have a fully integrated generative AI assistant that operates much in the same way as ChatGPT. Its assistant, Joule, learns from the way you work and prior conversations you have to complete transactional, informational, and navigational tasks. For example, you can ask Joule to send requests for feedback, assign tasks, translate text, or confirm your PTO balance.

Considering SAP’s somewhat difficult-to-navigate user interface, Joule is also great for taking you directly to the pages to get you the information you need or complete a process. That way you don’t need to become an SAP expert.

Succession planning

SuccessFactors HCM’s succession planning tools take a skills-based approach to developing employees and filling talent pipelines for critical roles.

Using an organizational chart, SAP SuccessFactors can help you identify skills gaps that have a relatively high impact if they become vacant. The platform then uses data from employee profiles to surface high-potential, top-performing talent to start grooming for crucial roles. Besides preparing for future turnover, it keeps high performers invested in the company and their professional growth.

Using the AI Assistant, Joule, in SAP SuccessFactors HCM. (Source: SAP)

Like most enterprise HR software, SAP does not disclose pricing for its full SuccessFactors HCM suite so you must contact its sales team for a quote. The overall cost is based on the size of your company, the products you need, and the number of administrative users. This, plus the fact most products require a three-month to one-year minimum contract, resulted in a score of 2.50 for pricing.

However, SAP does reveal starting prices for several standalone products that comprise the HCM suite, which you can view in the chart below. I’ll also note that, since SAP uses a product and module-based pricing system, you typically have negotiating power during sales calls. Be sure to bring quotes from competitors and ask about discounts when bundling any of its products and services.

That said, be aware you’ll likely still be paying hundreds of dollars per year per employee if you decide to go with SAP SuccessFactors’s entire integrated suite.

SAP SuccessFactors HCM products

Core HR and payroll

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central

$75.60/user/yr.

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll

$120/user/yr.

SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking

$30.84/user/yr.

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Service Center

Undisclosed

SAP SuccessFactors Document Management Core by OpenText

Undisclosed

SAP U.S. Benefits Administration by Benefitfocus

Undisclosed

Talent management

SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting

$31.92/user/yr.

SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding

$14.16/user/yr.

SAP SuccessFactors Signature Management by DocuSign

Undisclosed

SAP SuccessFactors Performance and Goals

$44.64/user/yr.

SAP SuccessFactors Compensation

$23.40/user/yr.

SAP SuccessFactors Learning

$22.20/user/yr.

SAP SuccessFactors Succession & Development

$22.92/user/yr.

SAP SuccessFactors Opportunity Marketplace

$22.32/user/yr.

Employee experience management

SAP SuccessFactors Work Zone

$68.64/user/yr.

SAP Candidate Experience by Qualtrics

Undisclosed

SAP Employee Engagement Bundle by Qualtrics

Undisclosed

SAP Employee Lifecycle by Qualtrics

Undisclosed

SAP Employee Technology Experience by Qualtrics

Undisclosed

HR analytics and workforce planning

SAP SuccessFactors Workforce Analytics

$33.48/user/yr.

SAP Analytics Cloud

Undisclosed

Note: SAP SuccessFactors also offers several sales-specific modules, which I did not outline in the chart above. For more information, check out SAP SuccessFactors HCM’s Sales Performance Management.

AI in HR software

SAP is hardly the only HR vendor that offers AI tools. Recruitment platforms, for example, have used AI for years to sort and identify highly qualified candidates from applicant pools. However, with the rise of generative AI, many vendors are announcing plans to integrate more AI capabilities into their products.

Similar to SAP’s Joule, for example, Workday announced its Illuminate AI model to streamline business processes within the “flow of work.” Gusto also recently announced the upcoming release of its own small business AI tool, Gus, to help you get answers to compliance questions and receive personalized insights about your business.

But a word of caution: these tools are still in their infancy, so always double-check the information it provides. AI also shouldn’t replace your professional decision-making or your human efforts to improve the employee experience.

You can learn more by exploring AI in HR: 6 Ways Artificial Intelligence Impacts the Workplace and AI Recruiting: Uses, Advantages, & Disadvantages.

Honorable mentions

HR software is a broad and segmented product category. Below are some runners-up that I think performed well in specific categories and may better suit your business’s needs.

Paycor: Best for companies with field and frontline workers

Alternative for: Rippling and BambooHR

Overall score: 3.83/5.00

When to choose Paycor

Paycor returns to my honorable mentions list in 2025 after I replaced it with Paylocity in 2024. Although both Paycor and Paylocity offer similar features and services, Paycor takes the lead with a slightly more intuitive interface.

I’m fond of Paycor’s mobile and tablet kiosk apps, which provide multiple options for frontline and field workers to keep track of their HR records and work time. Paycor is also the only one in my roundup that allows managers to submit group punches for employees, which is great for deskless employees whose work locations change daily. Pair this with Paycor’s badge, PIN, biometric, or telepunch timeclock hardware for stronger time management processes, especially in industries like restaurants and manufacturing.

Why it didn’t make the list

Paycor is a much more dated-looking platform than competitors like Rippling. Much of its data is still formatted like an Excel spreadsheet, increasing the learning curve for small businesses. For example, its pay grid for payroll processing can significantly speed up payroll processing for advanced users but can be very confusing if you’re unfamiliar with payroll.

In the news

In January 2025, Paychex acquired Paycor for $4.1 billion. My sources shared that Paychex and Paycor will continue to offer their products separately, but they remain coy on whether they have plans to merge their products—similar to Kronos and Ultimate Software of yore. While the Paycor Stadium name will remain unchanged, I’ll keep you updated as I learn more. If you’re curious, Paychex Flex earned a 3.76 out of 5.00 in my evaluation.

Paylocity: Best for workforce management

Alternative for: ADP Workforce Now

Overall score: 3.76/5.00

When to choose Paylocity

Paylocity is an HCM platform best suited for midsized businesses looking to support day-to-day operational and strategic HR needs. In fact, it tied with Rippling and SAP SuccessFactors HCM for the top place in the workforce management criterion since it offers strong time-tracking, scheduling, and leave management features.

Like Paycor, Paylocity offers physical timeclock options plus geolocation and geofencing abilities. However, its AI algorithm’s ability to start labor forecasting after three months of collecting data, plus the recent addition of its headcount planning module, means Paylocity can offer a more holistic view of your current and future staffing needs so you can strategize accordingly.

It’s also the only platform where workers can send private messages to coworkers in-app without needing a third-party communication solution like Slack. As a result, you can leverage Paylocity for workforce planning and process implementation.

Why it didn’t make the list

Paylocity has one of the most confusing interfaces, comparable to my time demoing UKG Ready and Zoho People. It takes multiple clicks to find the data you’re looking for — and don’t be surprised if you need to jump between tabs in Self-Service and HR & Payroll to request time off or confirm your paid time off balance.

Moving between modules can sometimes cause a pop-up window or inexplicably sign you out. This is a pain, especially when doing focus-intensive tasks like performance appraisals, workforce planning, or payroll, where I see the potential for losing your work to be a real issue.

Gusto: Best for new businesses in the U.S.

Alternative for: Deel

Overall score: 3.50/5.00