ADP RUNPayroll, tax filing and basic HR for small businesses
vs
WaveClear books. Confident decisions.
Comparison · Payroll · weekly run Nov 3
ADP RUN vs Wave
Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?
The short answer
ADP RUN is the stronger AI pick in Payroll: it has a visibility score of 12 versus 2.3 for Wave, and ranks ahead in 67% of the answers that name both.
Choose ADP RUN if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (12 vs 2.3)
- AI answers describe it more positively (50% vs 38% positive)
- You prefer a larger, established vendor (5,000+ employees)
- reliable and highly rated
Choose Wave if…
- Free accounting and invoicing for micro-businesses
- Well suited to freelancers and very small businesses
- Ongoing free plan rather than a time-limited trial
- Affordable and reliable for small businesses
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 3
| Metric | ADP RUN | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 12% | 2.3% |
| Change vs last week | New | New |
| Rank in Payroll | #11 | #23 |
| Share of voice | 4% | 0.9% |
| Mentions this run | 18 | 4 |
| Positive in AI answers | 50% | 38% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
ADP RUN 0pp · Wave 0pp over 0 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
ADP RUN leads on 3 of 3 engines
ChatGPT
AI Mode
Perplexity
ADP RUNWave
Head to head in AI answers
3 engine answers name both brands
2ADP RUN ranked higher
1Wave ranked higher
| Prompt | Engine | ADP RUN | Wave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alternatives to the most popular payroll platform | Perplexity | #5 | #10 |
| Which payroll platform offers a free trial? | ChatGPT | #7 | #3 |
| Which payroll platform offers a free trial? | Perplexity | #2 | #6 |
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | ADP RUN | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | — | Flat tiers |
| Entry price | — | Free; paid from $19 / mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud-based | Cloud-based web application with a mobile app |
| Support | Chat support | Live chat and email support, Monday to Friday 9 AM to 4:45 PM Eastern, Wave Advisors bookkeeping and coaching (paid add-on) |
| Founded | — | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Roseland, New Jersey (parent ADP) | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Employees | 5,000+ | 201–500 |
| Funding | — | Series D |
| Best for | Small businesses with 1 to 49 employees | Freelancers, solopreneurs, contractors and consultants who run small businesses and want simple books and invoicing without accounting expertise |
Plans side by side
ADP RUN
Pricing not available.
Wave
Starter$0month
Pro$19month per business (billed monthly); $190/year billed annually
Wave Advisors$149month (starting at)
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
ADP RUN
- reliable and highly rated
- robust compliance across all 50 states
- scalable for growth
- hands-off automated payroll
- free months promotional offer
Wave
- Free accounting and invoicing for micro-businesses
- Well suited to freelancers and very small businesses
- Ongoing free plan rather than a time-limited trial
- Affordable and reliable for small businesses
- Clear public pricing
- Free plan mainly suits a single user, not teams
- Free products offer fewer controls and growth features
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 100%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “ADP RUN vs Wave”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/adp-run-vs-wave, data of Nov 3, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.