ADP Workforce Now vs. Dayforce

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ADP Workforce Now
Score 8.0 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
ADP Workforce Now is a cloud-based HR platform for mid-sized businesses. It features customizable modules of various HR services that businesses can tailor to their specific needs, as well as regulatory monitoring and alerts to help businesses remain compliant.N/A
Dayforce
Score 7.9 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Dayforce is a people platform that simplifies HR operations. As a unified HCMS, it delivers HR, payroll, benefits, workforce management, talent, and analytics—helping organizations boost productivity, stay compliant, and make smarter decisions with embedded intelligence and personalized experiences.N/A
Pricing
ADP Workforce NowDayforce
Editions & Modules
Essential
Contact sales team
Enhanced
Contact sales team
Complete
Contact sales team
HR Pro
Contact sales team
Payroll Essentials
Contact sales team
HR Plus
Contact sales team
Hiring Advantage
Contact sales team
Performance Plus
Contact sales team
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ADP Workforce NowDayforce
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredOptional
Additional DetailsPlease contact ADP for a product demo and ask about a hands-on "test drive" of Workforce Now.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ADP Workforce NowDayforce
Features
ADP Workforce NowDayforce
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.9
Ratings
1% above category average
Dayforce
8.2
Ratings
4% above category average
Employee demographic data8.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Employment history7.80 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.40 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.90 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Organizational charting8.00 Ratings6.50 Ratings
Organization and location management8.00 Ratings6.50 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)6.80 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.8
Ratings
2% below category average
Dayforce
8.7
Ratings
9% above category average
Pay calculation8.50 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors6.70 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.40 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.50 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.40 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.70 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.20 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
Ratings
4% below category average
Dayforce
9.0
Ratings
12% above category average
Approval workflow7.60 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Balance details7.30 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment8.10 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
Ratings
5% below category average
Dayforce
8.3
Ratings
3% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Update personal information7.70 Ratings8.50 Ratings
View company policy documentation7.90 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Employee recognition7.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
View job history7.70 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
Ratings
29% below category average
Dayforce
8.6
Ratings
6% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets6.00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.8
Ratings
10% below category average
Dayforce
6.2
Ratings
19% below category average
Report builder7.80 Ratings6.30 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.20 Ratings6.30 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data5.30 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.2
Ratings
9% below category average
Dayforce
8.7
Ratings
10% above category average
New hire portal7.60 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Manager tracking tools6.90 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
Ratings
3% below category average
Dayforce
8.6
Ratings
8% above category average
Corporate goal setting7.50 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.60 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.90 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Performance tracking7.60 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.5
Ratings
19% below category average
Dayforce
8.1
Ratings
3% above category average
Performance plans6.90 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Performance improvement plans6.30 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Review status tracking5.50 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Review reminders7.00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Multiple review frequency6.50 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
Ratings
26% below category average
Dayforce
8.5
Ratings
8% above category average
Create succession plans/pools5.80 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Candidate ranking5.80 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Candidate search6.30 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Candidate development6.20 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.6
Ratings
16% below category average
Dayforce
9.3
Ratings
18% above category average
Job Requisition Management7.50 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Company Website Posting7.40 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Publish to Social Media6.90 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting6.60 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention2.30 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking7.20 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts7.90 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ADP Workforce NowDayforce
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ADP Workforce NowDayforce
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.2
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
Usability
2.2
(0 ratings)
4.2
(0 ratings)
Availability
7.3
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
6.4
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.3
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.2
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Online Training
5.8
(0 ratings)
7.3
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
1.5
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.1
(0 ratings)
7.3
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.4
(0 ratings)
9.9
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
5.2
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.1
(0 ratings)
9.9
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ADP Workforce NowDayforce
Likelihood to Recommend
well suited for folks in manufacturing or building (jobs and tasks required). Good for small and big business, ease of forming to what you want rather then getting oversold on items that you will not use. Lots of training options available
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Dayforce has great customer support, and you can always count on them to get you the professional help you need. It is a great place to store all your personal data in a very secure manner by assigning different user roles. The only thing where I wouldn't see it appropriate is for very small-scale companies, less than 50 people.
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Pros
  • HRIS that is personalized for the employee and addresses DE&I needs.
  • Payroll, of course! The system addresses all needs, such as deductions, additional pay, premium OT, and shift differentials.
  • Onboarding is an excellent way to stay in compliance and have all documents completed.
  • Tax and Banking and resolution to any issues.
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  • Payroll - it shows everything in real time and it runs quickly.
  • People - Having all employee details from the offer letter to W2 information in the same spot.
  • Dayforce Wallet: The on-demand feature is fully integrated with Timesheets and Payroll. What shows in one will be in the other.
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Cons
  • Customized pre-process payroll reports (Limited on pre-process payroll reports)
  • Labor Allocation (Allocations make payroll reporting very hard to review and find any errors )
  • Recruiting (ATS is very basic)
  • Geofencing (should be able to change shape rather than a circle)
  • Pay Classes (should be able to change at Practitioner level rather than reach out to support)
  • Cookies and Cache have to be cleared on a regular basis
  • Only able to see employee documents/acknowledgements one at a time in the employee file
  • Timecards can only be managed/viewed by 1 person
  • Timeoff emails do not have a link
  • Cost per payroll - not just monthly fee so cost with off cycle payrolls
  • Separate I9 step not needed - during onboarding - 2nd Everify step
  • ADP Workforce Now does not pull in allowances for Houly employees into payroll ONLY Salaried employees
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  • In payroll, there are sometimes issues with calculating pay when people’s rates change mid-pay period
  • Would love to see an option to assist with building SQL or XML statements in the future (maybe co-pilot AI?)
  • Would love an easy way to store pre-hire documents with candidates that syncs over to their HR profile when hired
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Likelihood to Renew
We are happy with the service and options offered by ADP. Although the cost is a bit high for a not-for-profit organization, it is essential that we have multi-jurisdictional support for the 20 plus states where employees work and reside. As our company is diminishing in size, we may need to look at making a change to conserve costs. At this time, that would be the only reason we would not renew our WFN contract.
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We are highly invested in Ceridian's Dayforce product. It give us the flexibility and scaling that our growing company needs. Its potential reaches beyond the basic HR functions to the decision making that our Management Team needs. Ceridian is always innovating the employee and employee experiences to offer cutting edge options.
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Usability
Lack of documentation and test environment make it extremely difficult to deploy work processes through the system. While there are a handful of things throughout the system that work well, particularly from an employee's perspective, many tasks, which would be simple for practitioner users in other systems, require these users to ask for administrator support. Additionally, the ghosts in the ADP machine cause established process (e.g. automated report delivery) to stop working with no notice and no error report.
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I give Dayforce a 10 because it was easy to integrate into our network since it was cloud-based. It is also user friendly and easy to maneuver around the web site. We were able to integrate three separate applications into just one site which made it easier for employees to access the tools they need
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Reliability and Availability
ADP outages are very rare
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Dayforce's high availability ensures that our HR processes are supported around the clock, which is critical for a global organization like ours. The platform is cloud-based, offering reliable access from any location at any time, allowing our employees, managers, and HR teams to stay connected regardless of time zones or geographic locations. This level of availability ensures that payroll processing, employee self-service, and real-time data access continue uninterrupted, even during peak periods or unforeseen disruptions. The system’s robust infrastructure minimizes downtime, which is vital for operations that span multiple regions. Additionally, having a centralized platform that’s always available helps keep our teams aligned, ensures compliance, and facilitates timely decision-making across all our locations.
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Performance
Overall, I think the functionality of the program works pretty well. Sometimes, certain browsers do not work well for the policy function of ADP, but that is the only issue thus far
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We haven't noticed any slow-down due to the integration of Dayforce WFM with our Ceridian HPL products (HRIS and Payroll). The new HTML view of the timesheets don't load as quickly as the old Silverlight view - however, we have gotten used to the change.
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Support Rating
Most of it is not local, which impacts barriers and customs. I do think they know a lot, but not the cohesive piece. Some naturally know more about certain things than others. The payroll section should be broken out more because payroll is a big topic with many problems, so it can be hard to get the right person who can actually help you.
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This is dependent on what type of support that is needed. Ceridian has opportunities to make improvements relating to support on the global/UK side. I find it challenging to get problems solved quickly with our UK Native payroll. The US side is different. We tend to get our issues resolved quickly when we encouter issues on the US side.
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In-Person Training
In-person training was pretty good - I think this significantly depends on the trainer. Our trainer was really good and showed what ADP can do - but I know that all trainers are not the same - and this truly makes such as difference. Overall, our training went pretty well.
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This training was at insights, it was great once we have been on the system for a while so it makes sense.
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Online Training
At the time training was not as expansive as it is now. If it could go wrong it did for me so the process was difficult and lengthy. I needed to have more in person walkthroughs of things to ensure the transition was done correctly. Not sure what else I can say, we were part of the initial move to Workforce Now when it was introduced.
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The courses are very interactive and informative. There are classes for every topic, which allows you to make the most of the system. There are also some "go at your own pace" course which is a great option for a busy schedule.
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Implementation Rating
Either assign more than one specialist to the implementation process, or assign less clients to the implementation specialist. The process requires attention to detail and the ability to test and re-test as well as verify the information. It also requires a lot of back and forth between the client ant the implementation specialist, so they need to be readily available during the whole implementation process.
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Have a strong internal team. Communicate with your implementation team - they are there to make it work for you. Take the time to really think about how you want the system to work for you - in some cases, you may need to rethink your own business practices to see if you are working harder when the system could do it for you
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Alternatives Considered
I also used UltiPro (way back -- it didn't even appear in dropdown). Recommend ADP Workforce Now above all others. Paycor and Paycom were both very clunky. I even helped implement Paycom and could never get it to work how the business needed it to.
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Having Payroll, HR, Time, and Benefits all in a single application with Dayforce has significantly improved efficiency and accuracy. Unlike other solutions with third-party integrations, Dayforce eliminates data silos, reduces errors, and saves time by streamlining processes, providing a more cohesive and user-friendly experience. Dayforce also had a competitive price point versus competitors
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Scalability
We have been able to grow with ADP from just a few hundred employees to over 10,000 so it's actually very scalable for payroll usage. We do not use the benefits and onboarding offerings for most of our employees but they are built to scale easily enough for when our corporate team has over 1,000 FTE.
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Overall, we are extremely happy with the Dayforce WFM module. Our biggest pain point is concerning the twice annual software upgrades - which is the only reason I haven't rated them as a '10'. Because every customer is configured differently, the upgrades can sometimes have adverse effects on our current configured policies/rules. And although they roll-out the upgraded version in a test environment several weeks before go-live, not all testing is accurate in that environment. Some issues do not present themselves until you are working with live punches.
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Return on Investment
  • ADP Workforce Now handles all of our tax filing which frees up our time to do other things. They keep us compliant communicating updates on a timely basis.
  • Calculates payrolls accurately. Our management and employees have built a level of confidence due to the ease of pulling statements, year end documents etc.
  • A really nice feature is the follow up email what a change has been made to banking information. There were a couple of times the employee did not make changes to their account information. This kept their funds from getting routed into the wrong hands.
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  • Easy to integrate to SAP Fiori an BlueWorx
  • The efficiency within Ceridian DayForce has allowed our payroll department of only 2.5 FTE handle paying ~3,000 employees.
  • Easily handles the differences and nuances in our multiple bargaining agreements. Everything from different pay schedules and unique rates/bonuses for some of the most detailed/granular CBA details.
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ScreenShots

ADP Workforce Now Screenshots

Screenshot of ADP Workforce Now: a simple and complete human capital management solutionScreenshot of Benchmarking by ADP DataCloud: an application with an extensive data set ... available to ADP Workforce Now clientsScreenshot of ADP Workforce Now clients can equip their employees with the ADP Mobile self-service app

Dayforce Screenshots

Screenshot of Dayforce HubScreenshot of Human Resources (Position Management)Screenshot of Dayforce Reporting & AnalyticsScreenshot of People AnalyticsScreenshot of Dayforce HR Service DeliveryScreenshot of Dayforce Flex Work