The verdict
Rounds split 3–3; Paylocity edges it on total score.
There's no universal winner — ADP goes wider with PEO and HR depth, Paylocity goes deeper on payroll accuracy and employee experience, so match the platform to whichever gap actually costs you money.
Choose ADP if…
- • You want a real path to full PEO co-employment plus HR Pro's dedicated advisor
- • Your business needs background checks, hiring, and HR compliance beyond payroll
Choose Paylocity if…
- • Your finance team already runs NetSuite or Sage Intacct
- • Employees care about a single app that also handles HSA/FSA accounts
Round by round
- Round 1Pricing & TransparencyADP winsADP4/10
~$79 + $4/employee
Estimated RUN Essential price; no published rate card above it
- Ballpark estimate exists for the entry RUN Essential tier
- No published pricing for Select, Pro, or Enterprise
- Reviewers report hidden/add-on fees inflating cost
Source: Industry pricing trackers
Paylocity3/10$22-33/employee/mo
Estimated full-suite range; no published price, plus 10-20% implementation fee
- Modular pricing lets buyers pick only the HCM modules they need
- No public rate card at all
- 10-20% implementation fee stacked on top of PEPM cost
Source: Analyst pricing estimates
Neither publishes real pricing, but Paylocity stacks an implementation fee on top of the mystery.
- Round 2Core Payroll & Tax FilingPaylocity winsADP7/10
1 in 6 US workers
All 50 states, automatic fed/state/local filing — but multi-jurisdiction complaints
- All 50 states with automatic federal/state/local filing
- Processes payroll for roughly 1 in 6 US workers
- Reviewer-reported issues handling multiple local jurisdictions
Source: ADP company data
Paylocity8/109.4/10 Direct Deposit
Payroll Entry rated 9.1/10 on G2 — strong accuracy marks
- 9.4/10 Direct Deposit accuracy score on G2
- 9.1/10 Payroll Entry score on G2
- No comparable scale claim to ADP's 1-in-6-workers stat
Source: G2 category ratings
ADP wins on scale; Paylocity wins on how the payroll actually runs day to day.
- Round 3HR Features, Benefits & PEO OptionADP winsADP8/10
700,000+ worksite employees
TotalSource PEO co-employment, dedicated HR advisor + legal hotline on HR Pro
- TotalSource PEO offloads employer-of-record risk
- Dedicated HR business advisor plus legal hotline on HR Pro
- Best HR tools gated behind higher, custom-quoted tiers
Source: ADP TotalSource data
Paylocity7/10Grayscale acquisition, 2026
Deep native HCM suite — onboarding, PTO, LMS, performance, analytics
- Recruiting/ATS added via 2026 Grayscale acquisition
- Performance management and workforce analytics built in natively
- No PEO or co-employment option at all
Source: Paylocity product announcements
ADP will actually become your employer of record if you want; Paylocity never will.
- Round 4Integrations & EcosystemADP winsADP8/10
Hundreds of apps
QuickBooks, Xero, Checkr, ZipRecruiter, time clock/POS hardware
- Hundreds of apps via ADP Marketplace
- Native background-check and hiring integrations
Source: ADP Marketplace
Paylocity7/10NetSuite + Sage Intacct
Deeper ERP/finance integrations than most payroll platforms
- Native Oracle NetSuite and Sage Intacct integrations
- REST API, webhooks, EDI, and SFTP for custom builds
- Smaller integration marketplace than ADP's hundreds of apps
Source: Paylocity integrations page
ADP wins on raw marketplace size; Paylocity wins on ERP depth for finance teams.
- Round 5Mobile App & Employee ExperiencePaylocity winsADP7/10
~4.7-4.9/5
ADP Mobile Solutions employee app; separate RUN admin app
- Strong 4.7-4.9/5 rating on Google Play
- Separate admin app to run payroll from a phone
- No unified HSA/FSA account access in-app
Source: Google Play ratings
Paylocity9/104.8/5 on the App Store, ~580k ratings
- 4.8/5 on App Store across ~580,000 ratings
- HSA/FSA account access built into the same app
Paylocity's app does something ADP's genuinely doesn't: HSA and FSA accounts in the same place.
- Round 6Customer Support & TrustPaylocity winsADP4/10
4.6 / 1.2-1.4
One of the widest G2-Capterra-vs-Trustpilot gaps in payroll, 3,000+ Trustpilot reviews
- 4.6/5 on Capterra from 1,529 reviews
- 1.2-1.4/5 on Trustpilot across 3,000+ reviews
- Reviewer-reported 'nightmare' setup/support experiences
Source: G2/Capterra/Trustpilot ratings
Paylocity5/104.5 / 1.3
BBB A+ accredited since 2013 despite a 'Bad' Trustpilot rating
- 4.5/5 on G2 from 5,172+ reviews
- BBB A+ accreditation since 2013
- 1.3/5 'Bad' rating on Trustpilot
- Account-rep quality reported as inconsistent
Source: G2/Trustpilot/BBB ratings
Both have a real G2-versus-Trustpilot gap, but Paylocity's BBB A+ track record is the tiebreaker.
Which one is for you?
Business wanting a full offload to PEO co-employment
→ ADP · ADP TotalSource manages 700,000+ worksite employees
Mid-market business already running NetSuite or Sage Intacct
→ Paylocity · Paylocity integrates natively with both ERP platforms
Employees who want HSA/FSA management in one app
→ Paylocity · 4.8/5 App Store rating built around unified HSA/FSA access
Business juggling several overlapping local tax jurisdictions
→ Paylocity · No documented multi-jurisdiction complaint, unlike ADP
Side by side
- RUN Essential estimated near $79/mo + $4/employee
- Automatic tax filing included on every RUN tier
- Decades of compliance scale — pays 1 in 6 US workers
- ADP TotalSource is a full co-employment PEO, distinct product
- Pricing scales with negotiated contract length
- High G2 scores for payroll accuracy at scale
- Automatic filing across all 50 states
- Full HCM suite: recruiting, learning, engagement, analytics
- No published, self-serve pricing anywhere
- Reported termination fees up to ~50% of remaining contract value
- Reviewers report inconsistent handling of multiple local jurisdictions
- Background checks and HR support center locked behind higher RUN tiers
- No public rate card, hard to comparison-shop
- Implementation fee and multi-year contract pressure add real cost
- Overkill depth for a small business
- Requires a sales quote to get started