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ADP RUN Alternatives, and What They Really Cost

ADP does not publish a price for RUN. Here are the payroll options that do, and an honest note on where TimeTracker fits, which is not payroll.

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Why people switch

Why people look for an ADP RUN alternative

What it is

An ADP RUN alternative is another payroll provider you move to when RUN stops being worth what you pay. Cost is almost always the trigger, and the awkward part is that you cannot check it. ADP's RUN page shows no price at all, just a quote form and a phone number, so buyers compare by calling a salesperson. Start here: TimeTracker is not payroll software. It has no payroll run and no tax filing, so it cannot replace ADP RUN. This page names the tools that can, then explains the one narrow thing a time tracker is still good for once you have picked one.

Who needs this

A service business that sells its people's time and needs to know, in real time, whether each client project is still making money.

Meet both products

Compare the two products at a glance

TimeTracker and this competitor cover the same job in different ways. Here is what each one includes.

Best fit

TimeTracker

Every task carries operational and financial context together. Tracked time, budget impact, and invoicing live in one connected system, so you know if a project is still profitable before it becomes a problem.

Best for
Agencies and consultancies of 2 to 50 people who bill clients for time and need to see project profit, not just hours.
Pricing
Free for up to 3 people, no credit card needed. Pro is $15 per user a month, or $12 per user a month billed yearly, with a 14-day trial.
  • One-click task timers
  • Timesheet submission and approvals
  • Effective-dated billing and cost rates
  • Live project budgets and profitability
  • Client invoicing and payments
  • Client portal with a cost firewall
  • Reports and dashboards
  • Expense tracking with billable markup
Start tracking free

RUN Powered by ADP

Runs payroll and files the taxes for you, with the compliance weight of the biggest payroll company in the United States behind it. Pricing is quote-only, so there is no published number to compare.

Best for
Small businesses with 1 to 49 staff that want payroll, tax filing and HR handled by the largest provider in the market.
Pricing
Not published. ADP's RUN product page shows no price at all, only a quote request and a sales phone number, so the cost depends on headcount, pay frequency and which package you are sold.
  • Full payroll runs and direct deposit
  • Automatic payroll tax filing
  • New-hire reporting
  • HR support and handbooks on higher tiers
  • Employee self-service portal
  • Time and attendance add-on
Full comparison

See how the alternatives stack up

Pricing, best fit, and top strengths for TimeTracker and every tool in this comparison.

Comparison dimensionTimeTrackerBest fitRUN Powered by ADPPaychex FlexQuickBooks TimeHomebase
CategoryProject time trackingTime and attendanceTime and attendanceTime and attendanceTime and attendance
Best forAgencies and consultancies of 2 to 50 people who bill.Small businesses with 1 to 49 staff that want payroll, tax.Small and mid-size businesses wanting payroll, benefits.Small and mid-size field service or construction.Single-site small businesses like cafes and shops that.
Starting price$12/user/monthFreeFree$10/user/monthFree
Top strengthTies every time entry to a task, so hours and money are.Files payroll taxes for you, which is the whole reason.A named service rep, which small businesses often rate.Deepest native integration with QuickBooks Online and.A real free plan that covers scheduling and a time clock.

Pricing checked 2026-07-30. Confirm current pricing on each vendor's site.

Every option, in full

Each RUN Powered by ADP alternative, and who it suits

Each tool below covers a different kind of team, so this is not a ranking. We list what each one does badly as well as what it does well, with the date we last checked its pricing.

TimeTrackerOurs

Best for

Agencies and consultancies of 2 to 50 people who bill clients for time and need to see project profit, not just hours.

Pricing

Free for up to 3 people, no credit card needed. Pro is $15 per user a month, or $12 per user a month billed yearly, with a 14-day trial.

Checked 13 July 2026

Every task carries operational and financial context together. Tracked time, budget impact, and invoicing live in one connected system, so you know if a project is still profitable before it becomes a problem. A service business that sells its people's time and needs to know, in real time, whether each client project is still making money.

Where it wins

  • Ties every time entry to a task, so hours and money are the same record instead of two systems to reconcile
  • Live budget and profitability rollups instead of a month-end spreadsheet
  • Timesheet approval locks numbers before they hit an invoice, so billed hours cannot silently drift
  • No screenshots, keystroke logging, or GPS tracking, by design

Where it falls short

  • Newer product than long-established time trackers, so its integration marketplace is still small
  • No native payroll run; timesheets export for an external payroll tool instead
  • Built for client-project delivery, not a general work OS, so it will not replace a wiki or a sprint board

RUN Powered by ADP

Best for

Small businesses with 1 to 49 staff that want payroll, tax filing and HR handled by the largest provider in the market.

Pricing

Not published. ADP's RUN product page shows no price at all, only a quote request and a sales phone number, so the cost depends on headcount, pay frequency and which package you are sold.

Checked 30 July 2026

Runs payroll and files the taxes for you, with the compliance weight of the biggest payroll company in the United States behind it. Pricing is quote-only, so there is no published number to compare. A small business owner who wants payroll and tax filing off their desk entirely and will pay a premium for a provider that handles compliance.

Where it wins

  • Files payroll taxes for you, which is the whole reason most small businesses outsource payroll
  • Deep compliance coverage across every US state, which smaller rivals struggle to match
  • Scales into ADP's larger products as a business grows past 49 staff

Where it falls short

  • No published pricing, so you cannot compare it without talking to a salesperson
  • Widely reported as more expensive than newer rivals once add-ons are included
  • Time tracking is an add-on rather than part of the core product
  • Aimed at paying people, not at tracking what client work costs

Paychex Flex

Best for

Small and mid-size businesses wanting payroll, benefits and HR from one provider, with a named service contact.

Pricing

Largely quote-based. Paychex publishes an entry figure for its simplest payroll product but routes anything with HR or benefits to a sales conversation, so the real cost depends on the bundle.

Checked 30 July 2026

More on Paychex Flex

ADP's closest rival, selling the same payroll-plus-HR bundle with a dedicated service representative, and pricing that is also mostly quote-based. A 10 to 200 person business that wants payroll, benefits and HR bundled with a person to call, rather than the cheapest self-service tool.

Where it wins

  • A named service rep, which small businesses often rate above self-service software
  • Payroll, benefits and HR from one provider, so there is one place to call
  • Long compliance track record across US states

Where it falls short

  • Pricing is mostly quote-based, so comparing it against a published price is hard
  • Add-on fees for extras are a common complaint, much like ADP
  • Heavier than a small team needs if all they want is payroll
  • No client billing or project profitability, because it is an HR product

QuickBooks Time

Best for

Small and mid-size field service or construction businesses already running QuickBooks Online or Payroll.

Pricing

No free plan. Time Premium $20/mo base + $10/employee/mo; Time Elite $40/mo base + $12/employee/mo. Intuit now also sells Workforce Premium and Elite alongside these.

Checked 30 July 2026

More on QuickBooks Time

Owned by Intuit and built to sync natively with QuickBooks Online and Payroll, so timesheets and payroll share one data source. A construction or field service company of roughly 5 to 100 employees already on QuickBooks that wants timesheets feeding job costing.

Where it wins

  • Deepest native integration with QuickBooks Online and Payroll of any rival
  • Mature, well-tested GPS and mobile clock-in tools
  • Scheduling is included on every plan, not gated to the top tier

Where it falls short

  • Geofencing, mileage tracking, and project tracking need the Elite plan
  • Base fee plus per-employee pricing makes total cost less predictable
  • Full value depends on already using QuickBooks Online or Payroll

Homebase

Best for

Single-site small businesses like cafes and shops that want free scheduling and a time clock for a small crew.

Pricing

Free for 1 location up to 10 employees. Essentials about $24/location/mo annual ($30 monthly), Plus about $56, All-in-One about $96, all per location.

Checked 30 July 2026

More on Homebase

Priced per location instead of per user, and free for one location with up to 10 employees, which makes it the cheapest real option for a single small site. A single cafe, shop, or restaurant with under 10 hourly staff that wants a rota and a clock without paying anything.

Where it wins

  • A real free plan that covers scheduling and a time clock for up to 10 staff
  • Per-location pricing is cheap when one site has a lot of part-time people
  • Bundles hiring and messaging, so a small shop needs fewer tools

Where it falls short

  • Per-location pricing gets expensive fast once a business runs several sites
  • Built for hourly shift work, with no client billing or project profitability
  • The free plan stops at one location and 10 employees
Why switch

Reasons teams switch

Popular features

Timesheets

Timesheets your team submits on time

Hours build into a timecard as people work. Send the week for approval, lock it once it is signed off, and bill from a number that cannot quietly change.

Explore Timesheets→
Time Tracking

Employee time tracking your team will actually use

One click starts a timer, or people type hours in by hand. Every entry ties to a client, project, and task, so the record stays clean.

Explore Time Tracking→
Data Ownership

Export structured CSV records whenever you need

Download clean spreadsheets for time entries, invoices, and expenses.

Explore Data Ownership→
Use cases

Use cases this solves

More comparisons

Compare other tools

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is ADP RUN expensive?
Nobody outside ADP can answer that from published information, which is the real problem. ADP's RUN product page carries no price at all, only a quote request and a sales phone number, so cost depends on your headcount, pay frequency and the package you are sold. Checked July 2026.
What is the difference between ADP Workforce Now and ADP RUN?
RUN is ADP's small business product, aimed at roughly 1 to 49 employees. Workforce Now is the mid-market platform, with deeper HR, benefits and reporting for larger headcounts. Businesses usually start on RUN and are moved to Workforce Now as they grow.
Can TimeTracker replace ADP RUN?
No. TimeTracker has no payroll run, no tax filing and no direct deposit, so it cannot pay anybody. If you need payroll, look at Paychex Flex, QuickBooks or Homebase. What TimeTracker does is track and approve the hours you then feed into payroll, through timesheets.
Is ADP RUN better than QuickBooks?
They suit different setups. ADP RUN puts compliance and tax filing first and sells through a rep. QuickBooks is the easier pick if your books are already in QuickBooks, because payroll and accounting sit together. If neither the books nor the compliance load is complicated, cheaper published-price options beat both.
Does TimeTracker sync with ADP?
No. There is no ADP integration and no payroll-provider sync of any kind. Hours leave TimeTracker as a CSV export that you upload into whichever payroll system you use. If a direct sync is a requirement, this is the wrong tool, see data export for exactly what comes out.
What is the easiest payroll system to use?
For a very small team, the easiest is usually whichever one sits next to your existing books or scheduling, because there is nothing to reconcile. Homebase suits a single site that already rosters staff there. QuickBooks suits anyone already keeping books in it. Ease is mostly about what you already run.
Which ADP alternative publishes its pricing?
Homebase does, from about $24 a location a month with a free tier for one site and up to 10 staff. QuickBooks Time publishes a base fee plus a per-employee rate. Paychex Flex is mostly quote-based like ADP. See the Homebase alternatives for how that pricing works in practice.
Do I still need time tracking if I switch payroll provider?
You need hours from somewhere, and payroll only asks how many. If you bill customers for that same time, tracking it against a client and a project tells you something payroll never will, which is whether the work was worth doing. See time tracking by client.
Is switching payroll provider risky mid-year?
It is the one software move where timing matters, because year-to-date totals and tax filings have to carry across cleanly. Most accountants suggest moving at a quarter boundary, and ideally at the start of a tax year, so the new provider files a complete period.
Which of these should I actually pick?
Payroll and tax filing off your desk with a person to call, Paychex Flex. Books already in QuickBooks, QuickBooks. One site that also needs rotas, Homebase. And if what you really needed was to know what client work costs rather than what payroll costs, that is project profitability, which is TimeTracker's job and not a payroll one.
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