ADP Workforce Now vs. TriNet

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ADP Workforce Now
Score 7.9 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
TriNet
Score 4.9 out of 10
N/A
TriNet provides small and medium size businesses (SMBs) with full-service HR and payroll solutions tailored by industry. TriNet also offers specialized services through client access to HR representatives for advice and notifications on impactful regulatory changes.N/A
Pricing
ADP Workforce NowTriNet
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 NowTriNet
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
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 NowTriNet
Considered Both Products
ADP Workforce Now
Chose ADP Workforce Now
We have received quotes from Paychex and TriNet. Their competitors seem to have a more streamlined process. The only problem is they want to bundle their services with human resource management and our company already has in-house HR administration.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
I have exited 3 PEOs now and brought my business to ADP in house. My experience is with TriNet's PEO, Paychex's PEO and ADP Workforce Now. ADP beats both TriNet PEO and Paychex PEO as I couldn't wait to exit from TriNet and Paychex. Workforce Now will eventually be in a …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
The clarity of reporting was why I chose ADP - as well as the robustness of the employee portal & the mobile app. The payroll function is relatively standard, but we chose it for the level of control and flexibility it afforded, especially after coming out of a PEO solution …
TriNet
Chose TriNet
better technology and consistency, more streamlined and the ADP product was not PEO
Chose TriNet
We switched from ADP to TriNet for better pricing, more user friendly interfaces for the HR and the employee side, and more pricing transparency.
Chose TriNet
Response time is much better with TriNet. All parts of their site are well-designed for a smooth user experience. Administration costs are reasonable (some others are offensively high and remind you that you could just hire another FT employee to do this work).
Chose TriNet
HR Support and Time tracking for Meal Penalty.
Chose TriNet
TriNet outperforms ADP, Paycom, and paychex is support and compliance for sure. The only other system I've tried that has anything on TriNet's capabilites and interface is BambooHR... If I could mash the 2 systems together, I would!
Chose TriNet
ADP allowed for customization and access to change everything on their portal on behalf of employees.
Chose TriNet
TriNet provides lots of very personalized client service unlike ADP.
Chose TriNet
We prefer TriNet because of the ease of use, and because several of us are familiar with TriNet from previous companies. Many employees also preferred TriNet for the same reasons. Employees appreciate having access to all their paystubs, W-2 forms etc. even long after they …
Chose TriNet
BambooHR is what we use Company-wide. We absolutely love it for its simplicity and user-friendliness, on that it really beats TriNet. That being said, we don't use BambooHR for payroll where TriNet seems to cover it really well and with the TriNet HR support team, we can always …
Chose TriNet
We evaluated a few products for payroll and for benefits and at the time TriNet was the only one we found which offered a wide range of health care plans. We are considering evaluating other options again to see if there are cost savings or if down the line a product emerges …
Chose TriNet
It is difficult to compare companies and services, but I really appreciate the personal attention and care my clients get from TriNet.
Chose TriNet
ADP is not nearly as easy to communicate with or too helpful when assistance is needed. Nor do they assist with benefits administration.
Chose TriNet
TriNet's system is similar in many respects to the HRIS and payroll systems offered by the other providers; what sets TriNet apart is the one stop shop for HR; everything is available under one provider with linked system functionality. In addition, most providers give you a …
Features
ADP Workforce NowTriNet
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.8
1039 Ratings
1% below category average
TriNet
3.4
674 Ratings
79% below category average
Employee demographic data8.0917 Ratings3.2472 Ratings
Employment history7.8954 Ratings3.2508 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.3904 Ratings4.1478 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.9932 Ratings4.3565 Ratings
Organizational charting8.0652 Ratings2.4391 Ratings
Organization and location management8.0715 Ratings2.3415 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)6.7659 Ratings4.3529 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
1051 Ratings
4% below category average
TriNet
4.8
731 Ratings
50% below category average
Pay calculation8.51012 Ratings3.4705 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors6.7396 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.4304 Ratings4.1227 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.5804 Ratings4.1716 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.31000 Ratings5.6665 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.6782 Ratings4.4586 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.1477 Ratings3.7361 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
858 Ratings
4% below category average
TriNet
2.5
470 Ratings
105% below category average
Approval workflow7.6780 Ratings3.2387 Ratings
Balance details7.3811 Ratings2.1449 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment8.0658 Ratings2.1365 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.6
1031 Ratings
6% below category average
TriNet
3.2
714 Ratings
86% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.0994 Ratings4.4692 Ratings
Update personal information7.7983 Ratings4.4706 Ratings
View company policy documentation7.9794 Ratings3.3601 Ratings
Employee recognition7.0373 Ratings1.4211 Ratings
View job history7.732 Ratings2.2527 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
12 Ratings
29% below category average
TriNet
1.0
1 Ratings
156% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets6.012 Ratings1.01 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.7
955 Ratings
11% below category average
TriNet
3.5
599 Ratings
73% below category average
Report builder7.7938 Ratings4.2512 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.1934 Ratings4.2566 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data5.3557 Ratings2.0284 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.2
127 Ratings
9% below category average
TriNet
3.9
588 Ratings
68% below category average
New hire portal7.5123 Ratings4.2587 Ratings
Manager tracking tools6.8100 Ratings3.6363 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
318 Ratings
3% below category average
TriNet
1.8
98 Ratings
126% below category average
Corporate goal setting7.5246 Ratings1.485 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.6297 Ratings1.495 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.9243 Ratings1.484 Ratings
Performance tracking7.6291 Ratings3.294 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.4
411 Ratings
20% below category average
TriNet
3.4
174 Ratings
79% below category average
Performance plans6.9368 Ratings3.3151 Ratings
Performance improvement plans6.3316 Ratings3.2142 Ratings
Review status tracking5.5372 Ratings1.5138 Ratings
Review reminders6.9388 Ratings1.6147 Ratings
Multiple review frequency6.5322 Ratings7.23 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
7 Ratings
26% below category average
TriNet
4.2
74 Ratings
60% below category average
Create succession plans/pools5.86 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking5.86 Ratings8.21 Ratings
Candidate search6.37 Ratings3.269 Ratings
Candidate development6.26 Ratings1.464 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.6
425 Ratings
16% below category average
TriNet
3.8
111 Ratings
68% below category average
Job Requisition Management7.5370 Ratings1.483 Ratings
Company Website Posting7.5361 Ratings5.51 Ratings
Publish to Social Media6.9290 Ratings1.367 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting6.6323 Ratings3.284 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention2.38 Ratings9.11 Ratings
Applicant Tracking7.2365 Ratings3.390 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.0386 Ratings3.297 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ADP Workforce NowTriNet
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 NowTriNet
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(1106 ratings)
3.3
(748 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.2
(82 ratings)
3.9
(52 ratings)
Usability
2.3
(79 ratings)
3.6
(643 ratings)
Availability
7.3
(14 ratings)
6.6
(19 ratings)
Performance
6.4
(13 ratings)
6.8
(19 ratings)
Support Rating
7.2
(477 ratings)
3.3
(729 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.2
(9 ratings)
8.7
(6 ratings)
Online Training
5.8
(17 ratings)
8.7
(8 ratings)
Implementation Rating
1.5
(34 ratings)
6.8
(28 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(10 ratings)
7.6
(11 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
7.2
(3 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.1
(8 ratings)
7.8
(7 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.4
(767 ratings)
8.4
(18 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
8.1
(5 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
5.2
(8 ratings)
7.7
(15 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.1
(8 ratings)
7.9
(15 ratings)
User Testimonials
ADP Workforce NowTriNet
Likelihood to Recommend
ADP
During COVID, ADP Workforce Now was great about keeping up with changing laws and regulations. They built reports that helped us apply for PPP loans and then later apply for forgiveness. Webinars and other training avenues were well constructed, accurate, and informative. We were all at a loss together and having a partner who ensured the legal side was met was one less worry. They can easily do the day-to-day compliance and regulatory things. COVID highlighted how quickly it could be done.
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TriNet
TriNet is a great option as a PEO and EOR and is able to provide excellent benefit options, especially for smaller businesses that would not be able to get the same plans by themselves. It makes management of our US and Canadian workforce very straightforward and provides customer service if any questions are raised by the employee or employer.
Read full review
Pros
ADP
  • 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.
Read full review
TriNet
  • Extensive variety of benefit program plan designs and partners. Something for everyone.
  • One stop shopping for all health and wellness benefits.
  • Continue to add new offerings, such as access to Salary.com at a discount and access to Carta at a discount to manage employee stock programs.
  • On top of compliance by state.
Read full review
Cons
ADP
  • 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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TriNet
  • Time Clock More User Friendly
  • On Staff Admin ability to assist employees is slightly less than I'd like. I don't like being told to have the employee contact for platform issues. I'd like to advocate more for my employees.
  • Expense Reimbursement better integrated with the payroll functionality.
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Likelihood to Renew
ADP
Due to the lack of support from the sales and service center we are looking at other options outside of ADP. Again it is a good system, it just lacks the support it deserves from the company employees. It is just unimaginable that you will need to reach out to a service provider several times for the same issue and not get it resolved.
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TriNet
This is one stop shopping perse. They provide tools for Benefits and 401k. There reports are easy to read and the support given from Trinet support is awesome. Having everything in one place is best then having multiple places for things. Why change if things are working well? All the information is all there when needed.
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Usability
ADP
I would give it a 10 however I do not like when ADP does facelifts in Workforce Now which does not add any value other than having to relearn navigation. I am also not a big fan of being forced to refer to the Bridge. We have Google which gives the same results. If I understood the answer I would not contact our Account Rep.
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TriNet
Being only 8 months into using the product there are still some things I need to learn, but I am sure as we start to use the product to it's full potential the usability score will go up. The expense interface is a little clunky to what we have used in the past, but the employees are happier that they can have their expenses direct deposited instead of getting an expense check.
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Reliability and Availability
ADP
ADP outages are very rare
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TriNet
We had an issue with application errors - took TriNet 5 months to fix it, mean while we had someone manually tracking and keeping up with many requests and questions about the application error which affected time off. When we were all registering for Benefits during open enrollment there were lots of bugs that caused issues with registering for benefits or being able to see what benefits were available
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Performance
ADP
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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TriNet
For the most part pages load quickly. Working for a software company we understand performance is everything, even a few seconds delay can feel like a lifetime, that being said, we ran into a few times where pages didn't load, information didn't load correctly, and an influx in users (like open enrollment) cause things to slow down
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Support Rating
ADP
this is my only down side of ADP, they dont transfer you around a lot (Good) and try to tackle the issue right there, but the english barrier is sometimes a huge brick that stands in the way, and can result in the wrong outcome. There has been times I have asked for someone else as I thought it was getting done wrong, and was still able to get the assistance I needed, just took me explaining it twice
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TriNet
again tough to say. Our account manager - 10 most others - 6 Benefits - 5 HR support - 2 (the joke in my team is "why ask, he's just going to say "do this and then check with your legal dept.") If we have to do our own research why do we need you. Like I said, great for smaller companies that don't have an HR team. There is almost an attitude of "we are TriNet, this is how we do it, deal with it. You're in our platform now". Every client may have different needs and TriNet needs to be able to adapt to them. The new role of strong HR teams is business partners - TriNet struggles with this and seems to be stuck in old "tell you what to do", plan the Christmas party and buy cake once a month for birthdays. Its timer to move forward!
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In-Person Training
ADP
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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TriNet
it's been awhile, but I recall them being helpful. I got through a lot of it and when I needed help, they can walk me through it over the phone. It's also pretty user friendly in general at a platform. I don't really know what else to type, but they came and helped me in person and also when there was something new, they came and talked to me. They have not done that since with the new model that I hate
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Online Training
ADP
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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TriNet
Since this was already implemented. I have another employee briefly train me. Then Trinet rep gave me some training as needed for things that came up. For one payroll preview report I figured it could be done, but I had asked the rep to be sure. One important training was when there was an employee leaving the company.
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Implementation Rating
ADP
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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TriNet
not applicable as I implementation was done 5 years ago and have no recollection of the details of the process. Above it says to skip question if not involved in the process but it will not allow me to skip it as it states explanation requitred thus making this process extremely frustrating.
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Alternatives Considered
ADP
They pale compared to ADP because they each have broken systems that do not flow from beginning to end. Another system is required to support all of the functions needed to process payroll. That puts too much on me, the person, instead of the system. We should work smarter, not harder.
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TriNet
I liked Rippling's software better than TriNet. However, the pricing on employee benefits was through the roof, and they don't offer many selections/options. If it was a software only decision, I would go with Rippling (the 2.0 version of Zenefits which TriNet offers). However, the software isn't a major need, compared to smooth payroll and benefits that I get from TriNet (and great service). I'm happy at TriNet long term as long as the health insurance rates aren't exhorbinant.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
ADP
No answers on this topic
TriNet
I was not part of the process
Read full review
Scalability
ADP
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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TriNet
We are a small company, do we use it across departments and sites? Yes, we are all remote working, so there are as many sites as there are people. We also have our entire staff using TriNet, so every department from Accounting, Admin, HR, Development, QA, and Management are all using this. Can't say for sure how great the scalability is as we are only about 30 employees
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Professional Services
ADP
No answers on this topic
TriNet
Not sure it was used or not as the implementation was completed before I started working for the company
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Return on Investment
ADP
  • ADP WorkforceNow has provided a positive ROI for our company. It has saved me countless hours in the time I used to spend preparing reports, managing benefits, and annual enrollment, recruitment tracking, and much more.
  • The integration with Payscale has allowed our company to take every position in our organization and benchmark it to industries and job titles. This has allowed us to be more competitive on recruitment and retention.
  • We have used the new DE&I dashboard to provide valuable information on the landscape of our workforce, as well as areas of our organization that may not be as diverse.
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TriNet
  • We have saved money on benefits and been able to broaden benefit options
  • It has improved our expense tracking processes
  • It has made tracking time off so much easier for both employees and management
  • It has kept us in compliance
  • It has made employee reimbursement much easier
Read full review
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