Comparison

ADP RUN vs QuickBooks Desktop

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ADP RUN

Manage your business's payroll and HR tasks from anywhere. This app offers an intuitive interface for starting payroll, adding employees, and ensuring tax compliance. Access important reports and insurance information on the go.

Highlights
  • Start payroll with a tap
  • AI-powered error detection
  • Add new hires and manage staff
  • Stay compliant with tax requirements
  • Run, download, and share reports
  • View insurance policy info
Read full description

Take control of payroll and HR when you're on the go With an intuitive experience, powerful search, and quick access to the most important features, the RUN Powered by ADP® payroll mobile app is built for the way your small business works. Here are some of the features available at your fingertips—wherever your day takes you. • Start payroll with a tap • Avoid payroll mistakes with error detection powered by AI • Add new hires and manage your staff • Stay compliant with payroll and tax requirements • Run, download, and share reports • View insurance policy* info and manage certificates** ...and so much more! * Automatic Data Processing Insurance Agency, Inc. (ADPIA) is an affiliate of ADP, Inc. All insurance products will be offered and sold only through ADPIA, its licensed agents or its licensed insurance partners; One ADP Blvd. Roseland, NJ 07068. CA license #0D04044. Licensed in 50 states. Certain services may not be available in all states with all carriers. ** For workers’ compensation policies through ADPIA®

About

QuickBooks Desktop

Streamline expense tracking by capturing receipts and bills directly from your mobile device. Automate entries, attach documents for audit trails, and track business mileage with ease. Designed for existing QuickBooks Desktop users to save time and stay organized.

Highlights
  • Scan receipts and automate expense entries
  • Upload bills and automate bill entries
  • Attach documents to transactions
  • Track business mileage with auto-calculated distance
  • Organize digital audit trails
Features
Read full description

Are you a QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus, Premier Plus or Enterprise customer? Save time with receipt and bill capture to automate entries. No more lost receipts or time consuming expense reports! Easily attach documents to transactions. Scan receipts - Save time by automatically creating categorized receipt expense entries. Just photograph, import and review. - Stay organized by attaching digital receipt images to expense transactions for audit trails. - Accurately categorize, modify or record multiple receipt transactions at once. Upload bills - Save time by automating bill entries. Just photograph, import, and review. - Stay organized by attaching files to bill transactions for simplified audit trails. Attach documents to your transactions - Attach documents to transactions faster by directly uploading them. - Save time by directly attaching multiple documents to transactions at once. - Stay organized by eliminating the need to store physical documents. Track your business mileage - Add your business miles on your mobile and manage it all in QuickBooks Desktop. - Distance will be auto-calculated using starting and ending locations. - QuickBooks automatically fetches the IRS standard mileage rate to calculate mileage expenses.

Screenshots

ADP RUN4 screens
QuickBooks Desktop4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ADP RUN at 80% against QuickBooks Desktop's 5%. ADP RUN also leads on rating (4.9 vs 1.9) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ADP RUN holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 1.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ADP RUN has 51K ratings behind it against 119, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of ADP RUN's written reviews are positive against 5% of QuickBooks Desktop's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ADP RUN versus QuickBooks Desktop: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterADP RUNQuickBooks Desktop
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (51K ratings) — better1.9 (119 ratings)
Positive reviews80.3% of reviews — better4.9% of reviews
Number of ratings51K — better119
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.416.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size92 MB206 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperADP, IncIntuit Inc.

Customer experience

ADP RUN

All ratings51,135 ratings
Positive98.9%
Neutral0.7%
Negative0.4%
Written reviews203 reviews
Positive80.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative17.7%

QuickBooks Desktop

All ratings119 ratings
Positive17.6%
Neutral6.7%
Negative75.6%
Written reviews61 reviews
Positive4.9%
Neutral4.9%
Negative90.2%

User reviews

ADP RUN

From 51K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Convenient for on-the-go payroll
  • 👍 Helpful customer support
  • 🚀 Efficient payroll processing
  • 👍 Seamless app experience

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🔍 Lacking key features on mobile
  • 🔍 Limited functionality compared to desktop
  • 🔍 Difficult to manage multiple companies
  • 🔍 Payroll editing issues

QuickBooks Desktop

From 119 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Amazing mobile application
  • 🚀 Ease and speed of recording transactions
  • 💡 AI and OCR capabilities
  • ✅ Automatically codes entries
  • 🔗 Links to receipts/invoices

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App freezes at logo
  • 🐛 Takes hours for receipts to show
  • 🐛 Doesn't work with desktop version
  • 🐛 Zero help on the road
  • 🐛 Broken after working

Bugs and requests

ADP RUN

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes when trying to access certain features
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS devices
  • Endless login loop when switching between companies
  • Inability to access payroll functions on mobile
  • Inconsistent performance across different devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to edit employee information on mobile
  • Access to payroll reports and analytics on mobile
  • Support for managing multiple companies on mobile
  • Improved navigation and workflow for entering payroll
  • Seamless integration between mobile and desktop experiences

QuickBooks Desktop

Reported bugs

45 issues
  • App freezes at logo screen
  • Receipts take hours to show on desktop
  • Doesn't work with desktop version
  • Broken after working
  • Receipt management doesn't work
Show 40 more
  • Transaction creation failed
  • Not flexible to change business name
  • New app not out yet, but discontinued app still charging
  • App won't work with subscription
  • Scanning is a joke, takes too long
  • Seldom works correctly
  • Mimics phone screen, can't link or find company
  • Can't recognize QuickBooks invoice
  • Only allows 1 page documents
  • Mileage app is somewhat pointless
  • Developers focus on logos, not fixes
  • Can only select bank account for credit card receipts
  • Have to scroll through all accounts to find the right one
  • Shows no company
  • Duplicate company names
  • Scan tool stopped working
  • Can't add multiple employees/users per account
  • Doesn't support JPEG upload to bills
  • Doesn't sync with desktop
  • Freezes on upload
  • Companies don't show up
  • App crashes every time
  • Camera recognition is horrible
  • Nightmare to attach receipts
  • No receipts travel to desktop
  • Company shows up many times
  • Deleted companies still show on mobile app
  • No camera access after update
  • Camera doesn't recognize edges of receipts
  • Scan only captures partial receipt
  • Limited functionality, can't update file names or delete receipts
  • Can't login despite being administrator
  • Subscription confusing, keeps asking to pay more
  • Doesn't connect with QuickBooks
  • ID or password invalid
  • Company duplicated with different IDs
  • Hard to attach receipts
  • Have to scroll through expense accounts
  • Semi-functional mileage app
  • Save button is behind the keyboard

Requested features

16 requests
  • See sales orders or purchase orders on sign-on
  • Ability to see documents (sales orders/purchase orders)
  • PDF conversion for scans
  • Ability to type expense account description
  • Get receipt recognition back
Show 11 more
  • Allow PO's to be made from the app
  • Scan directly into QB again
  • Support going straight to bills
  • Fix bug where credit card is not recognized as a card
  • Allow users to hide or delete deleted companies from the mobile app
  • Allow camera and photo access
  • Improve scanning to capture entire receipt
  • Allow switching between companies
  • Allow attaching multiple pages
  • Improve mileage tracking functionality
  • Allow direct upload of receipts to bills

In-app purchases

None

ADP RUN

No in-app purchases

None

QuickBooks Desktop

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ADP RUN free?
ADP RUN is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is QuickBooks Desktop free?
QuickBooks Desktop is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ADP RUN or QuickBooks Desktop?
ADP RUN is rated higher. ADP RUN averages 4.9 out of 5 from 51K ratings, while QuickBooks Desktop averages 1.9 from 119 ratings.
Do ADP RUN or QuickBooks Desktop have ads?
Neither ADP RUN nor QuickBooks Desktop shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ADP RUN or QuickBooks Desktop?
ADP RUN ships an update every 6 weeks, and QuickBooks Desktop every 6 weeks. Most recently, ADP RUN was updated on October 17, 2026 and QuickBooks Desktop on October 9, 2026.

Other comparisons