# Paylocity vs ADP Workforce Now: which do AI models recommend for payroll software, September 2026

HR AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, Payroll software. Five of twelve models named Paylocity first on the direct prompt; one named ADP Workforce Now. Page: https://hr-ai-index.com/core/payroll-software/paylocity-vs-adp-workforce-now/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paylocity | 17% | #3 of 13 | 29% | 35 | 11 of 12 |
| ADP Workforce Now | 4% | #7 of 13 | 11% | 18 | 10 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- MiniMax M2.5: both first (first choices: ADP Workforce Now, Paylocity) (alternatives: Rippling, UKG Pro)
- Perplexity Sonar: paylocity first (first choices: Paylocity, Rippling) (alternatives: ADP Workforce Now, Paycom)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: paylocity first (first choices: Paylocity, Rippling) (alternatives: ADP Workforce Now, Paycom)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: paylocity first (first choices: Paylocity) (alternatives: ADP Workforce Now, Paycom, Rippling, UKG Pro)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: paylocity first (first choices: Paylocity, Rippling) (alternatives: ADP Workforce Now, Paycor, UKG Pro, Workday)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Rippling) (alternatives: Paycor, Paylocity)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Rippling) (alternatives: ADP Workforce Now, Deel, Paylocity)
- Mistral Small: neither first, one named (first choices: Paycom) (alternatives: ADP, Gusto, Paylocity, Rippling)
- Kimi K2: neither first, one named (first choices: Rippling) (alternatives: ADP Workforce Now, Gusto, Paycom)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: Rippling) (alternatives: ADP Global Payroll, ADP Workforce Now / ADP Full Service Payroll, Deel, Paycom)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither named (first choices: ADP, Rippling) (alternatives: BambooHR, Gusto, Zenefits)

## What the models said about Paylocity

- "here are the platforms you should be cautious about and why:

### 1. Paylocity ... claim the software causes significant errors in payroll processing" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "multiple user discussions describe poor support and technical issues, so it is a candidate for extra due diligence" (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt, hard negative)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.