How Much Does ADP Payroll Cost?

Updated on August 8, 2026 | Written by Alec Pow
This article was researched using 13 sources. See our methodology and corrections policy.

ADP payroll can cost as little as $39 per month plus $5 per worker paid through Roll by ADP, while RUN Powered by ADP uses custom quotes for its small-business payroll packages. Current Roll by ADP billing terms set the normal base fee at $39 per month plus $5 for each W-2 employee or 1099 contractor actively paid that month after any qualifying free-trial period.

RUN Powered by ADP does not publish a national starting rate in 2026. ADP currently requires a quote for Essential Payroll, Enhanced Payroll, Complete Payroll & HR Plus, and HR Pro Payroll & HR. Older figures such as $59 per month plus $4 per employee or $79 plus $4 per employee should be treated as reported or historical pricing rather than current official RUN rates.

The real ADP bill depends on which ADP product is being quoted, worker count, payroll frequency, HR features, contractor payments, year-end forms, integrations, and other services. Roll has transparent monthly pricing. RUN trades that transparency for a broader package ladder and more payroll and HR options.

Article Highlights

• Roll by ADP has a public monthly base price plus a charge for each worker paid during the month.
• RUN Powered by ADP has four current small-business packages, and all four require a custom quote.
• RUN payroll fees can increase when payroll is processed more frequently.
• Year-end forms and contractor processing can create charges beyond the recurring payroll quote.
• For a small payroll-only team, Roll can price below several competitors with public monthly rates.

How Much Does ADP Payroll Cost?

ADP now has two very different small-business pricing models. Roll is the simpler product with a published monthly formula. RUN is the larger payroll and HR platform, and ADP asks the business for information before returning a price.

ADP option	Current pricing	Best pricing interpretation
Roll by ADP	$39 (at $30 per hour, earning that amount would take about 1.3 hours of work, before taxes)/month + $5/paid worker	Published recurring price after any qualifying trial. Only workers paid during the month trigger the per-worker fee.
RUN Essential Payroll	Custom quote	Payroll, tax filing, direct deposit, reporting, employee access, onboarding, and other core functions.
RUN Enhanced Payroll	Custom quote	Adds services such as SUI management, job costing, labor-law poster compliance, and recruiting tools.
RUN Complete Payroll & HR Plus	Custom quote	Adds HR HelpDesk, handbook tools, HR tracking, forms, and training resources.
RUN HR Pro Payroll & HR	Custom quote	Adds higher-level HR support, applicant tracking, learning tools, and legal-assistance access.

The package names and quote-only pricing come from ADP’s current RUN package comparison. The same page currently advertises a three-month-free promotion on RUN packages, but promotional eligibility and timing can change, so the normal recurring quote matters more than the headline offer.

What You’re Actually Buying

ADP is not one payroll subscription sold under several labels. Roll is designed around a conversational app experience for smaller employers that want payroll calculations, tax filing, worker payments, and basic guidance without a large HR package. RUN is a broader payroll and HR platform for businesses that want more ways to process payroll, more support channels, multi-jurisdiction payroll, onboarding, reporting, compliance features, and a path into recruiting, time tracking, retirement, workers’ compensation, and health insurance services.

The choice is not simply cheap ADP versus expensive ADP. A business paying only for payroll has a different cost structure from one using ADP as part of its HR, benefits, time, and compliance workflow. The quote becomes more useful when every requested service is named before the sales conversation starts.

RUN Packages

ADP’s own RUN versus Roll comparison says RUN pricing varies by package and capabilities, while Roll is listed at $39 (about 1.3 hours of work at $30 per hour) per month + $5 per employee. RUN also offers 24/7 phone and online support, with live HR help in higher tiers, while Roll centers support inside the app.

Independent pricing references are useful only when they are labeled properly. Forbes currently says users report a RUN starting point around $59 per month + $4 per employee, but it also states that ADP does not publish RUN pricing on its own site. That makes the figure a market signal, not an official rate, in the current Forbes ADP RUN review. Capterra’s July 2026 listing likewise shows RUN’s starting price as contact vendor rather than supplying a fixed number in its current software profile.

This is why an old $79 + $4 formula should not be used to calculate a modern RUN invoice. A quote can change with payroll schedule, worker count, package tier, add-ons, and negotiated promotions.

Payroll Frequency

Payroll frequency is one of the easiest ADP cost drivers to miss. RUN says businesses can process payroll outside their regular schedule, but that payroll fees increase with frequency. A weekly employer can receive a different annual price from a similar employer running biweekly or semi-monthly payroll, even when headcount is identical.

Roll handles this differently. Its recurring charge is monthly rather than priced by normal pay-run count, so a 10-worker business paying all 10 workers during a month uses the same basic formula whether its regular schedule is weekly or biweekly. At $39 + (about 1.3 hours of work at $30 per hour) 10 × $5, the recurring Roll cost is $89 per month. Twelve months at that rate equals $1,068.

The difference matters when comparing a RUN sales quote with a flat monthly competitor. Ask the sales representative whether the quote assumes weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, or monthly payroll and what an extra payroll run costs. Without that detail, two annual quotes can look similar while covering different numbers of payroll cycles.

Fees Outside Payroll Quote

The base package is not always the whole invoice. ADP’s RUN package page states that W-2 and 1099 creation and delivery carry an additional fee. Its contractor-payment FAQ also says the contractor bundle uses a monthly base price plus a per-contractor charge and applies year-end processing fees.

Integrations can create their own monthly line items. One current ADP Marketplace listing charges $40 per month for a payroll-to-401(k) integration for businesses with 1 to 25 employees, rising to $60 for 26 to 50 employees and $80 for 51 to 100 employees in the published integration pricing. For a 20-person company, $40 × 12 adds $480 per year before the RUN subscription itself. That is a third-party marketplace service tied to RUN, not a universal fee on every ADP account.

Time and attendance, retirement services, workers’ compensation, health insurance, recruiting tools, expedited payment features, and other services can also change the total. The useful sales question is not “what does ADP cost?” but “what will appear on my recurring invoice, annual invoice, and year-end invoice with this exact configuration?”

ADP vs Gusto, OnPay, and QuickBooks

Transparent competitors make a useful benchmark because their public formulas can be calculated without a sales call. For a company paying 10 workers each month, current list pricing creates a clear starting comparison.

Gusto Simple currently costs $49 per month + $6 per person, according to Gusto’s current pricing page. Ten workers bring the monthly total to $109.

OnPay Payroll Essentials is also $49 per month + $6 per worker, with unlimited pay runs included, according to OnPay’s current rate sheet. Ten paid workers cost $109 per month.

QuickBooks Workforce Payroll lists a normal base price of $50 per month + $7 per employee, while its current promotion cuts the base fee to $25 per month for the first three months on the QuickBooks payroll page. At normal pricing, 10 employees cost $120 per month.

Roll’s $89 normal monthly total for 10 paid workers is $20 per month below Gusto Simple and OnPay, and $31 per month below QuickBooks Workforce Payroll at normal list pricing. Across 12 months, that is a difference of $240 versus Gusto or OnPay and $372 versus QuickBooks before add-ons, discounts, or changing headcount.

Three ADP Cost Scenarios

Five-person business using Roll: The current Roll subscription terms set the recurring formula at $39 plus $5 for each worker actively paid that month. Five paid workers produce $64 per month. If all five are paid every month for a full year, the recurring subscription total is $768. Qualifying new U.S. clients can currently receive three months free, but the recurring price is the better long-run budget number.

Ten-person business comparing payroll-only options: At the public rates used in the competitor comparison, Roll has the lowest recurring total of the four products for a team that pays all 10 workers every month. That is useful for a payroll-only buyer, but RUN may include capabilities the lower-priced Roll configuration does not provide.

Small employer adding a paid integration: A 20-person company using a payroll-to-401(k) connection should budget the integration separately from the RUN subscription. Once the integration, year-end forms, payroll frequency, and any other paid services are listed beside the base quote, the business can compare the annual invoice rather than only the sales headline.

Who RUN Makes Sense For

RUN earns its premium when the business needs more than a payroll calculator and tax-filing engine. Roll can be attractive for a small employer that wants a predictable base formula, while RUN makes more sense when payroll sits inside a larger HR and compliance operation.

Makes sense if:

• You need phone support, multi-jurisdiction payroll, or a broader payroll workflow.
• You expect to add HR support, recruiting, time tracking, retirement, insurance, or related services.
• You want several payroll and HR functions under one vendor relationship.
• The written annual RUN quote is competitive after every required feature and fee is included.

May not make sense if:

• You have a very small team and only need straightforward payroll and tax filing.
• You prefer a public monthly price over negotiating a custom quote.
• You run frequent payrolls and the RUN frequency charges make the annual price climb.
• You would pay for higher-tier HR features that your business will not use.

Related business costs

Businesses comparing payroll platforms can also check the cost of Paychex payroll, current QuickBooks Online pricing, and the cost of professional tax preparation. Payroll software and tax preparation overlap around wage records and filings, but they are separate services and should not be budgeted as substitutes.

What We Verified

• Checked: ADP’s July 2026 corporate results state that the company serves more than 1.1 million clients across 140+ countries in its fiscal 2026 results release.
• Confirmed: Roll’s current billing FAQ says there is no annual contract, cancellation requires 30 days’ notice, and the per-worker fee is not charged for employees who are not paid during a given month.
• Cross-referenced: ADP’s current payroll product page still shows the four RUN small-business tiers as quote-only products rather than publishing a fixed starting rate.

Answers to Common Questions

How much does ADP cost for 10 employees?

Roll by ADP costs $89 per month for 10 workers paid during the month. RUN Powered by ADP requires a custom quote, so there is no current official 10-employee RUN price.

Does ADP still cost $79 plus $4 per employee?

ADP does not currently publish that formula for RUN. Treat it as an older reported price rather than a current official starting rate.

Is Roll by ADP cheaper than RUN?

Roll has a published $39 + $5 per paid worker formula. RUN is quote-only and carries a broader package and add-on structure, so the final comparison depends on the services included in the RUN quote.

Does ADP charge more for weekly payroll?

For RUN, ADP states that payroll fees increase with processing frequency. Ask for an annual quote based on the exact payroll schedule rather than assuming a monthly price covers every frequency.

How much does ADP Workforce Now cost?

ADP does not publish a fixed national Workforce Now subscription price. Businesses should request a quote based on employee count, selected modules, implementation needs, and service scope rather than relying on old small-business estimates.