The real choice is payroll-first vs RUN’s HR stack
Not SurePayroll vs ADP the company, and not a sticker-price contest.
For most small businesses comparing SurePayroll with ADP, the relevant ADP product is RUN Powered by ADP. ADP positions RUN for 1–49 employees. Workforce Now is ADP’s 50+ / midsize–enterprise product. TotalSource is a PEO. Roll by ADP is a separate simpler payroll line ADP has described with its own starting price. Comparing SurePayroll to “ADP” as one giant company is how this search goes wrong.
SurePayroll (a Paychex company) currently lists Full Service at $29/month plus $7 per employee: taxes calculated, filed, and deposited; W-2 and 1099; unlimited payroll runs; free 2-day direct deposit; cancel anytime. A cheaper No Tax Filing plan is $20 + $4 per employee if you file and deposit taxes yourself. RUN does not publish those numbers. You request pricing. Packages run Essential Payroll through HR Pro Payroll & HR. Tax filing is included across packages; W-2 and 1099 carry an additional fee; time, retirement, workers’ comp, and health insurance are add-ons.
Choose SurePayroll when the business is still payroll-shaped: a small crew, one or a few states, and a monthly cost you can calculate before talking to sales. Choose RUN when payroll is only the start—onboarding volume, HR helpdesk, recruiting, time and attendance, or a package path you expect to grow into. Do not pick on sticker price alone: SurePayroll’s published rate omits year-end forms, extra states, local taxes, and add-ons, and ADP’s quote can bundle services SurePayroll sells separately. If you will not use RUN’s HR stack, you are shopping complexity, not value.
Pricing and product details verified August 2026 from SurePayroll’s published pricing page and ADP’s RUN Powered by ADP 1–49 payroll-packages documentation. ADP does not publish RUN dollar prices; this page does not treat third-party estimates as facts. BeltStack has not run payroll, filed taxes, migrated a client, or received an ADP quote through either platform.
Comparison summary
Winner for published payroll cost
SurePayroll
SurePayroll lists Full Service at $29/mo + $7 per employee. RUN still requires a quote.
Winner for payroll + HR infrastructure
ADP
RUN’s packages add onboarding, HR helpdesk, recruiting, and a path to Workforce Now—if you will use them.
SurePayroll vs ADP: what are you actually comparing?
SurePayroll is a small-business payroll product from Paychex. Its public plans are Full Service and No Tax Filing, plus add-ons for accounting integration, timeclock, employment-law tools, 401(k), workers’ comp, and health insurance. It is not ADP, and it is not Paychex Flex. Owners who want Paychex’s fuller full-service stack should compare Paychex, not treat SurePayroll as a back door into the same product.
ADP is a family of products. For this search, the counterpart is RUN Powered by ADP. ADP’s own comparison of RUN vs Workforce Now assigns RUN to small businesses (1–49) and Workforce Now to midsize and enterprise (50+). RUN sells four packages: Essential Payroll, Enhanced Payroll, Complete Payroll & HR Plus, and HR Pro Payroll & HR. All include payroll, tax filing, 24/7 phone and chat, employee access, new-hire reporting, GL export, and new-hire onboarding. Higher packages add garnishments, job costing, ZipRecruiter, live HR helpdesk, handbook tools, ATS, LMS, and legal assistance.
Workforce Now, TotalSource, and Roll are the usual mix-ups. Workforce Now is the next ADP product after RUN’s stated 1–49 band—not the product most “SurePayroll vs ADP” shoppers should price first. TotalSource is a PEO (co-employment), a different buying motion. ADP’s 1–49 FAQ also mentions Roll (“Simple payroll by Roll”) with a published starting example; that is not RUN. If a sales quote is for Workforce Now or Roll, you are no longer in the same comparison as SurePayroll Full Service.
The practical mismatch: a five-person plumber comparing SurePayroll’s $64/month Full Service math to an ADP enterprise demo will over-buy. A 40-person multi-location shop comparing SurePayroll’s payroll-first product to Workforce Now will under-buy. Stay on Full Service vs RUN unless your headcount, HR staff, or PEO need has already left that band.
Quick decision guide
Which product fits your situation.
Choose SurePayroll if…
- Payroll and tax filing are the main problem; you do not need hiring, HR helpdesk, or workforce modules yet.
- You want a published rate you can calculate before a sales call (currently $29/mo + $7 per employee on Full Service).
- You want unlimited payroll runs and cancel-anytime billing without a quote cycle.
- A small service crew (or mixed W-2 + 1099) in one primary state is the actual operation.
- You are willing to add timeclock, accounting export, extra states, and year-end forms as line items rather than a platform package.
Choose ADP (RUN) if…
- You want ADP’s small-business platform (RUN), not a payroll-only tool, and you expect to use onboarding, HR tools, or recruiting.
- 24/7 phone and chat, multi-jurisdiction payroll, garnishments, or job costing matter more than a public price table.
- You want a package ladder (Essential → Enhanced → Complete → HR Pro) and a later path toward Workforce Now if you cross ADP’s 50+ line.
- Time tracking, retirement, workers’ comp, or health benefits will be bought through the same vendor, not bolted on later from a spreadsheet.
- You will get a written quote that matches SurePayroll’s included tax filing, year-end forms, and add-ons before you compare cost.
Consider neither if:
- You want accounting-native payroll (QuickBooks Payroll) rather than a standalone payroll product.
- You mainly pay 1099 contractors and barely run W-2 payroll—contractor-first tools may be a better fit.
- You need international payroll or EOR, which neither SurePayroll nor RUN is built to be.
- You want published payroll + HR in one modern product (Gusto, OnPay) rather than Paychex-family payroll-first or ADP packages.
- You specifically want Paychex Flex / fuller Paychex HR—not SurePayroll—and should compare Paychex vs ADP instead.
Ratings comparison
How we score each product.
| Category | SurePayroll | ADP |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | 4.4 | 4.2 |
| Features | 4.0 | 4.7 |
| Pricing | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Support | 4.5 | 4.6 |
| Integrations | 4.0 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
This table is SurePayroll vs RUN Powered by ADP. It is not SurePayroll vs Workforce Now or vs ADP TotalSource.
| What you’re comparing | SurePayroll | ADP |
|---|---|---|
| Relevant product | SurePayroll Full Service (Paychex company). No Tax Filing is a cheaper self-file plan. | RUN Powered by ADP (1–49). Not Workforce Now (50+), TotalSource (PEO), or Roll. |
| Pricing visibility | Published: Full Service $29/mo + $7/employee; No Tax Filing $20 + $4/employee. Cancel anytime. | Quote required. ADP lists four RUN packages and “Get pricing.” No public dollar card for RUN. |
| Payroll tax filing | Full Service: SurePayroll calculates, files, and deposits. No Tax Filing: you file and deposit. | Included on all RUN packages: calculate, file, deposit, reconcile; ADP states it pays fines/penalties if it makes a tax-filing error. |
| Tax guarantees | Full Service: No Penalty Tax Filing Guarantee (client still liable if at fault; client always pays the taxes). Self-service: Tax Calculation Guarantee. | ADP: if ADP makes a tax filing error, it pays resulting fines/penalties. Client-caused errors are a different issue—read the service agreement. |
| Year-end W-2 / 1099 | Published annual fee: $50 base + $5 per form. | W-2 and 1099 listed as an additional fee on every RUN package. Ask for the dollar amount in the quote. |
| Payroll runs | Unlimited payroll runs on the published plans, including auto-schedule. | Off-cycle payroll is allowed; ADP states payroll fees increase with frequency. Some states set a minimum frequency. |
| Direct deposit | Free 2-day direct deposit. Expedited 1-day and same-day available for an extra fee (cutoffs in CT). | Direct deposit included. Wisely pay card listed as included. Delivery of paper checks is in the feature set. |
| Contractors | 1099 payments and year-end 1099-NEC on the same payroll product. | 1099 contractor payments supported. ADP also sells a contractor payment bundle (monthly base + per-contractor + year-end fees). |
| Multi-state / local | First state included; additional states $9.99/mo. Local taxes: separate fee (amount not listed as a flat public rate on the pricing calculator). | Multi-jurisdiction payroll included on RUN packages. Ask how the quote treats extra states and localities. |
| Time tracking | Optional timeclock from $5/mo + $3 per employee. | Time and Attendance is an add-on on all RUN packages—not included in Essential by default. |
| HR outside payroll | Employment-law add-on from $30/mo. Basic employee self-service and mobile. Not an ATS/HRIS suite. | Essential is payroll-forward. Enhanced+ adds recruiting/posting tools; Complete+ live HR helpdesk and handbook tools; HR Pro adds ATS, LMS, legal assistance. |
| Benefits / WC / retirement | Workers’ comp and health insurance offered as services; 401(k) is a custom add-on. | Health insurance, retirement, and workers’ comp are add-ons on all RUN packages. |
| Accounting / integrations | Accounting integration add-on $4.99/mo. | GL export to QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, Creative Solutions, and generic included. Broader ADP Marketplace / POS / business-system integrations on the RUN stack. |
| Support (availability) | Customer service described as Monday–Friday. Do not treat that as a quality score. | 24/7 phone and chat listed on all RUN packages. Availability, not a BeltStack support-quality test. |
| Contract | Billed monthly; cancel anytime (SurePayroll). | ADP states you do not have to sign a contract and services can be terminated at any time. Still confirm on your quote. |
| Best complexity profile | Payroll is the product. You outgrow it when HR/workforce admin becomes the larger problem—not at an official headcount cap. | Built as a small-business payroll/HR platform with a documented next product (Workforce Now) at 50+ on ADP’s side. |
| Biggest tradeoff | You can see the price. You do not get RUN’s HR package ladder or 24/7 support hours. | You get ADP infrastructure and package depth. You cannot verify monthly cost from a public page, and unused HR modules are paid complexity. |
Pricing comparison
What to expect to pay.
SurePayroll currently publishes two small-business plans. Full Service (listed as most popular) is $29/month plus $7 per employee and includes tax calculation, filing, and deposits, W-2 and 1099, unlimited payroll runs, free 2-day direct deposit, auto-schedule, mobile for employers and employees, new-hire reporting, and free onboarding. No Tax Filing is $20/month plus $4 per employee with the same payroll features except you file and deposit taxes. First state is included; additional states are $9.99/month. Local taxes carry a separate fee. Year-end W-2 / 1099-NEC is billed annually at $50 plus $5 per form—not in the monthly calculator total. Optional add-ons include accounting integration at $4.99/month, timeclock from $5/month plus $3 per employee, employment law from $30/month, and custom 401(k). SurePayroll states cancel-anytime monthly billing. Household/nanny pricing is a different product (the pricing page listed $39/month including one employee) and is not this comparison.
ADP does not publish RUN package prices. The 1–49 payroll-packages page is “Get pricing.” ADP describes RUN pricing as tiered (four packages) versus custom pricing for Workforce Now—still without dollar amounts for RUN. ADP says payroll software pricing depends on how often you run payroll, how many people you pay, how often you add or remove payees, and add-on services. Off-cycle payroll is allowed but fees increase with frequency. W-2 and 1099 are an additional fee on every package. Contractors can be billed as a separate bundle (monthly base plus per-contractor plus year-end fees). Implementation fees are not listed as a public number. Confirm them on the quote. ADP’s 1–49 FAQ mentions Roll starting as low as $39/month plus $5 per employee; that is Roll, not RUN. Do not use it as a RUN or SurePayroll-vs-ADP price.
What to ask ADP before you compare the price: (1) total monthly and annual cost for your headcount and pay frequency; (2) what is monthly vs per-payroll; (3) implementation or setup fees; (4) whether tax filing is included at the quoted package (it is on the public package table—confirm the quote matches); (5) W-2 and 1099 year-end dollar amounts; (6) extra-state or local-tax charges; (7) Time and Attendance, HR HelpDesk, ZipRecruiter, ATS, retirement, workers’ comp, and health-insurance add-on prices if you will use them; (8) contractor-bundle fees if you pay 1099s; (9) confirmation of no required long-term contract and how cancellation works on your order form; (10) support hours and whether anything is gated behind a higher package. Ask for the same scope SurePayroll Full Service already prices: tax filing, unlimited-equivalent run frequency, direct deposit, employee access, and year-end forms. Then add only the RUN modules you will use.
What does payroll cost at 5, 10, 25, and 50 employees?
Cost per booked job, not cost per raw lead.
These SurePayroll figures are published-rate estimates for Full Service (base + per employee only), one included state, no local-tax fee, no timeclock, no accounting add-on, and no year-end forms. They are not invoices. Year-end adds $50 plus $5 per W-2/1099. A second state adds $9.99/month.
5 employees: $29 + $35 = $64/month. 10 employees: $29 + $70 = $99/month. 25 employees: $29 + $175 = $204/month. 50 employees: $29 + $350 = $379/month. ADP at every row: quote required. There is no responsible way to fill an ADP column with a public monthly number in August 2026.
Is ADP worth the extra complexity? Only if the business will use it. A five-person plumbing company that needs direct deposit, tax filing, and a known monthly bill is buying SurePayroll’s product. Paying RUN for recruiting, LMS, or HR helpdesk it will not open is not a sophistication upgrade. A growing multi-location crew that is already drowning in onboarding, time cards, garnishments, or benefits deductions is shopping RUN’s stack, not a $64 vs unknown quote contest.
You do not outgrow SurePayroll at a published employee cap. SurePayroll does not publish a “switch at 25” or “max 49” limit. You outgrow it when payroll is no longer the main problem: multiple locations, recruiting volume, handbook/HR admin, time and scheduling, benefits administration, or reporting that a payroll-first product treats as add-ons. ADP’s own 50+ line is the RUN-to-Workforce Now handoff inside ADP—not a SurePayroll fact. A 50-person company can still run SurePayroll Full Service at the published math above; whether it should is an operations question.
Apples-to-apples quote request
Send ADP your employee count, 1099 count, states, pay frequency, and whether you need time tracking, HR helpdesk, recruiting, workers’ comp, retirement, and health benefits. Ask them to price Essential vs the package that includes the HR tools you will use. Compare that total—including W-2/1099 and implementation—to SurePayroll Full Service ($29 + $7 × employees) plus the add-ons you would actually buy (timeclock, extra state, accounting export, year-end forms). Ignore unused RUN modules in the “value” column.
Pros and cons
Strengths and trade-offs.
SurePayroll
Pros
- Published Full Service price: $29/mo + $7 per employee
- Unlimited payroll runs; cancel anytime
- Full Service tax filing plus a cheaper No Tax Filing plan if you self-file
- W-2 and 1099 on the same product; year-end fee is published
Cons
- HR, timeclock, and accounting export are add-ons, not a platform ladder
- Support is described as weekday, not 24/7
- No ADP Marketplace-style HR/recruiting package stack
- Year-end, extra-state, and local-tax fees sit outside the headline monthly rate
ADP
Pros
- RUN is the correct 1–49 ADP product for this search, with a documented path to Workforce Now
- Tax filing included across packages; 24/7 phone and chat
- Package ladder for onboarding, garnishment, job costing, HR helpdesk, ATS, LMS
- GL export included; time, retirement, WC, and health available as add-ons
Cons
- No public RUN dollar prices—comparison requires a quote
- W-2/1099 extra fee; contractor bundle and off-cycle frequency can change the bill
- Paying for Complete/HR Pro without using HR tools is unused infrastructure
- Easy to compare the wrong ADP product (Workforce Now, TotalSource, or Roll)
Best for
Which tool fits your situation.
5-person plumbing company
SurePayroll Full Service is usually the better fit: $64/month at published rates for five people, tax filing, unlimited runs, and 2-day direct deposit. RUN is only the better buy if you already need ADP’s HR/recruiting packages or 24/7 support enough to justify a quote you have not seen yet.
10-person landscaping crew
Still a SurePayroll-shaped problem if the office manager runs payroll and time is a clipboard or a cheap timeclock add-on. Choose RUN if you want time and attendance, job costing (Enhanced+), or hiring volume through ZipRecruiter/ATS inside the same vendor.
Seasonal HVAC employer
Headcount that jumps in summer and shrinks in winter favors a published per-employee fee you can drop when you terminate (SurePayroll) and unlimited runs for off-cycle bonuses. Ask ADP how seasonal adds/removes and off-cycle frequency hit the quote—ADP states fees increase with payroll frequency and that some plans charge by people paid each cycle.
W-2 employees plus 1099 subcontractors
Both pay contractors. SurePayroll includes 1099-NEC in the year-end form fee ($50 + $5 per form). ADP supports 1099s and also sells a contractor bundle with its own base, per-contractor, and year-end fees—get that line item or you are not comparing the mixed workforce.
Growing multi-location service company
When you add locations, extra states ($9.99/mo on SurePayroll), local taxes, time tracking, and an office manager doing HR by hand, RUN’s multi-jurisdiction payroll, onboarding, and Complete/HR Pro tools start to match the job. That is operational complexity, not a magic employee number.
Company adding an HR / office-manager role
If that hire will live in recruiting, handbooks, training, and compliance databases, RUN’s higher packages exist for that work. If they will mostly run payroll and file the same taxes you already file, SurePayroll plus a $30/month employment-law add-on may still be the smaller system.
Alternatives
Other options we review.
GustoPublished payroll + HR if you want a modern all-in-one instead of either vendor.
Read review →
PaychexSame family as SurePayroll; fuller full-service HR—compare vs ADP, not as a SurePayroll clone.
Read review →
OnPayFlat published payroll pricing if the decision is cost clarity, not ADP’s stack.
Read review →
SurePayroll alternativesOther options if payroll-first SurePayroll is not the fit.
Read review →
ADP alternativesOther options if RUN’s quote or scope is not the fit.
Read review →More comparisons
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