APS vs. Namely

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
APS
Score 1.4 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
APS is a national workforce management and cloud-based HR solution provider. The platform includes core HR, payroll, time and attendance (including manager and employee self-service), compliance tools, and onboarding.N/A
Namely
Score 7.2 out of 10
N/A
Namely is an end-to-end HR, benefits, and payroll solution for mid-sized businesses. The cloud-based platform can be used to manage the entire HR process.N/A
Pricing
APSNamely
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
APSNamely
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalRequired
Additional DetailsThe Payroll solution is offered as a standalone service, but additional solutions must be used in conjunction with the Payroll solution.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
APSNamely
Considered Both Products
APS
Chose APS
We used Intuit Payroll when we used Quickbooks, then Paychex when we left Quickbooks, and APS Payroll has been the best of them as far as price, the ease of use, and the ability to do what we need.
Chose APS
Paychex was probably the best system, but the constant shifting of support teams caused a loss of institutional knowledge every time.
ADP was impersonal and support phone calls almost always went overseas. The lack of knowledge of the support service was disturbing.
It was hoped …
Chose APS
I have used ADP for many years and always found the system to be restrictive in ADP's resistance to building rules that matched the organization's needs rather than asking the organization to modify its policies to match 'canned' rules already built within ADP. Bamboo and …
Chose APS
I believe APS is better than Paychex as mid-tier provider. I believe Paycor is not as good due to the cost and functioning drastically different. ADP is terrible in comparison to anything due to it lacking customizability and support for smaller and mid-tier clients. APS is …
Chose APS
They both have their good points and negative points, overall I think ADP is a better with recruitment platforms and onboarding. But APS had some good features as well.
Chose APS
We are a work College and our students have to work a minimum of 10 hours per week at an on-campus job. APS allowed us to be able to track a student's time as well as a professional's time but in different ways. A very versatile system that meets all our needs.
Chose APS
APS OnLine is a cost-effective solution compared to the other big name timekeeping/payroll software options on the market today. A quick demo will show the benefits of this simple, easy-to-use yet powerful solution. They are also quick to address issues and to work with the …
Chose APS
All the other payroll systems were very complicated and had a lot of capabilities that were nto needed for an organization of our size. This made it difficult to use and confusing. APS covers all our needs and does so with ease of use and great support.
Chose APS
ADP and Paychex - Noah built them after he built the ark :) Clunky, expensive, and error prone. Stratus TIme - great time and attendance program, now purchased by Paychex.
Chose APS
APS Online is a much simpler system to use for end users and administrators, processing is quicker (immediate), and integration between the various modules is seamless. In the past, HRB talked to Payroll module, Payroll module talked to Etime, however HRB didn't talk to Etime …
Chose APS
We were previously with ADP and while the functionality improved when we moved to the Workforce Now version, we still wanted an improved and more economical solution for integrating payroll and HR with benefits management. APS Online offers that.
Chose APS
The boutique feeling and the great customer service are worth its weight in gold! APS OnLine is also financially a great decision. All around, a perfect way for our size of company to go. We haven't looked back since!
Chose APS
This is the only payroll service I have used. It has been a good experience and learning opportunity.
Chose APS
We have used ADP. I have also worked with IBS Payroll solutions at another company. APS OnLine is less bureaucratic than ADP. APS is less user friendly or customer service oriented than IBS Payroll.
Chose APS
I have not used or looked at any similar products. APS sold itself to us and we are not interested in changing to another company.
Chose APS
APS has been the easiest to work with hands down. Our accounting software is Great Plains, but the payroll module was insufficient. APS has provided us an export compatible with Great Plains.
Chose APS
I selected APS because of the way they responded when I initially reached out to them. I honestly don't remember all of the payroll companies that I contacted. APS was quick to answer my question with straight forward answers. They were very pleasant and always seemed to …
Namely
Chose Namely
We had used Namely in conjunction with Wurk for payroll and Ease for benefits enrollment. Unfortunately the "fraken-system" was very cumbersome to manage. The fraken-system was used due to the limited options in the cannabis industry for providers who were willing to work with …
Chose Namely
Namely has a robust suite of offerings, and fallows for a la carte selection of add-ons (rather than a single bundled option). This has allowed our company to save money by not purchasing options / functionalities that we dont need, but may drive up the cost for other …
Chose Namely
I do recall that Namely appeared to be user friendly. The big promise not provided was the connection between Namely and NetSuite.
Chose Namely
ADP Workforce Now, Workday Professional Services Automation and Paychex Flex
Chose Namely
Paychex Flex offered more support for the payroll side. All of the disadvantages that Namely has stem from the fact that Paychex Flex provided these benefits for us before. We selected Namely because it had more features in one place than Paychex Flex did. The feel for the …
Chose Namely
Our experience has traditionally been with entertainment focused HR providers, as our company added other business verticals a need for more traditional HR services became manifest. Namely filled the gap and while is still missing some of the more granular time tracking aspects …
Chose Namely
Namely functionally worked better for our company size and industry. Namely also provides a higher level of customer service and resolves problems timely. Their tax team takes care of all our questions or concerns. Namely provided a higher quality of service and HR workflows …
Chose Namely
Namely was able to check all of the boxes in the most affordable way
Chose Namely
We LOVE rippling and prefer this tool. I would recommend.
Chose Namely
UKG has many bells and whistles that may sound awesome, yet they are not always necessary to complete the tasks necessary. Sometimes less is more. Suppose you make a product so complex in some areas you lose the ease of use. I like that I was able to jump right into using this …
Chose Namely
Namely was selected for their price and all the integrations that it has.
We evaluated more softwares but they didn’t accomplish everything we wanted to made with Namely
Chose Namely
Namely does not compare to Workday because the size and scale of the company is very different. There are a lot of automated features and ATS integrations that Workday offers and I hope Namely will be able to offer someday as well.
Chose Namely
The reason I continued to choose Namely at multiple employers is due to the continuity of employee experience. And the features have continued to grow since I initially onboarded in 2014. Also, through the years, I have had terrific benefits teams. The customer service has been …
Chose Namely
The easy to use feature makes it countable on others. Its compatibilty with other platforms along with management for employee number and employee rating is making it more useful.
Chose Namely
This tool is uniquely different than work productivity tools. When running a growing company it is necessary to have a virtual HR Resource service and Namely has facilitated the need. When I came to work for our company this was my first experience with this type of software …
Chose Namely
BambooHR has eNPS, which is pretty helpful and allows us to send pulse surveys to employees to get an understanding of how they are doing. Namely doesn't have anything like that.
Chose Namely
I think namely is a more user-friendly version of Ceridian for the teammates; however, Ceridian definitely functions more completely.
Chose Namely
In my opinion, the worst in every way. I have talked to other people that do payroll and they steered away from Namely and chose things like Paylocity or others.
Chose Namely
As a user (not administrator) of Namely, I can say that offers an all-in-one human resources software package that I preferred compared to industry-standard tools like Workday because of its excellent design and usability. However, my company switched to Workday (which I don’t …
Chose Namely
We're currently evaluating alternatives, but there appear to be only features to gain no matter where we look.
Features
APSNamely
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
APS
9.1
Ratings
10% above category average
Namely
6.9
Ratings
14% below category average
Pay calculation10.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors8.00 Ratings5.50 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment10.00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.80 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Direct deposit files10.00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.00 Ratings4.10 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.90 Ratings6.60 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
APS
-
Ratings
Namely
7.0
Ratings
11% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings4.60 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings6.30 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
APS
-
Ratings
Namely
7.4
Ratings
8% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings6.50 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
APS
-
Ratings
Namely
8.3
Ratings
3% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
APS
-
Ratings
Namely
5.9
Ratings
31% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings5.90 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
APS
-
Ratings
Namely
8.2
Ratings
9% above category average
Report builder00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
APS
-
Ratings
Namely
6.7
Ratings
16% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings4.80 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
APS
-
Ratings
Namely
4.1
Ratings
64% below category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings3.10 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings3.10 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings4.10 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
APS
-
Ratings
Namely
5.9
Ratings
28% below category average
Performance plans00 Ratings4.60 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings2.20 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
APS
-
Ratings
Namely
5.9
Ratings
28% below category average
Candidate search00 Ratings5.90 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
APS
-
Ratings
Namely
8.8
Ratings
13% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Best Alternatives
APSNamely
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
APSNamely
Likelihood to Recommend
1.0
(0 ratings)
7.9
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.7
(0 ratings)
9.9
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.5
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.8
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.7
(0 ratings)
5.5
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
APSNamely
Likelihood to Recommend
APS Payroll is an easy to use payroll system, and integrates well with some things such as the APS Hire feature, which handles onboarding, and the eSelfServe timeclock feature. It exports well to Quickbooks, but is only ok with NetSuite. (It works but is a completely manual process and takes a lot of setup.) Our tax registration and filing has been fine and we're always apprised of any tax discrepancies such as small Unemployment overages/underages when filed compared to what was withheld.
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Namely is nice because it has everything all in one place: performance, applicant tracking through Greenhouse, payroll, time off, hourly timesheets, and benefits. From the payroll side, Namely is especially helpful for remote employers who have employees in multiple states, especially Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. Namely will automatically update the payroll profile of the employee with the state and local tax for the work or home location, whichever the employer chooses. I have found a few mistakes with the local tax being assigned not matching the Ohio Tax Finder, but for the most part, it is accurate. It is also helpful that we can create multiple payrolls for multiple periods and they are included in the overall fee
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Pros
  • It's fast and intuitive. Our previous contractors were ADP and Paychex and neither were intuitive. Our payroll runs have less errors now than with previous vendors. Payroll prep time is down from 5 hours with ADP to 2 hours with APS for the HR Manager.
  • The limiters are great. I'm always afraid of that error that no one caught. Let's assume that you add a $200 limiter to overtime. Any time that a staff member is about to receive more than $200 in overtime for that pay period, a red flag goes up for the HR manager to double check.
  • We have 3 programs in public schools that block certain ports. APS has a 2nd feature using GPS so that staff can only check in for their shift while they are in the designated GPS range. Great for someone who has to report to a remote location. Just add the GPS coordinates and they can't check until they get to the project.
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  • Namely has helped with our COVID sick leave response. It has made a major difference both with the weekly payroll and the 941 tax filing
  • Keeping track of our multiple PTO plans. Thank goodness for Namely, I have shredded my old PTO spreadsheets.
  • Employees like the convenience of the cell phone app. As a payroll administrator, I like the Geo Tracking tool where I can see where some are when the clock is in or out.
  • The flexibility inside of the payroll system both as you are finalizing an employee profile and when you are processing payroll is a major advantage.
  • The reports I get out of Namely in Excel format work well for me.
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Cons
  • More robust HR reporting options and better customized report building.
  • Be able to have multiple recruiting pipelines that are tracked.
  • Less glitches in APS Hire. Especially with sending onboarding emails and applicants not being able to open them.
  • Better file feed communications and auto-updating to save time and add efficiency to processes.
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  • in my opinion, HORRIBLE performance review platform, we had a really hard time with it and would not recommend that you use this function
  • In my experience, poor customer service, difficult to get ahold of them when you need support
  • Capabilities are limited in comparison to other more robust HRIS systems
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Likelihood to Renew
I have been using the system for over a year now and feel more comfortable with the functionality of it. I have just recently implemented the benefit administration portion.
Read full review
Administrators and employees love Namely. It is very easy to use and streamlined. Employees stay engaged with news feed updates and enjoy all the self service options. The time cards are very easy to access and clocking in and out for non-exempt employees is a breeze. Namely is part of our family.
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Usability
The APS Payroll software is very easy to use, and it is easy to train new employees on it. The APS Payroll support team is very helpful and response time is quick. It is easy to enter/change employee information, adjust salaries and benefits, etc. New features have also been added that makes it even better, such as being able to set up your own income/deduction items.
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It is very simple to use for myself, the HR team, and our employees. I find the payroll process very user-friendly. Reporting is simple to navigate and produce the required information requested. I know our employees enjoy the self-service feature and use it on a regular basis, which saves me time.
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Reliability and Availability
I haven't had any outages
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No answers on this topic
Performance
Very quick
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
I had to learn APS on my own, and the support team held my hand. They are still there when I have an occasional question. Anytime I need support, I can call my rep or send an email and help is on the way, without failure. The support team is awesome
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Unfortunately, in more recent years we've had a lot of difficulty with Namely as they've undergone a lot of internal changes. It took 4 returned emails saying the person no longer worked at Namely to find someone to help me (I finally called payroll) and it took a while to get connected with a direct source of help. Namely now has set up their "pod" feature of communication which works well for the most part, but is different. I felt spoiled when we first started with Namely, but now it feels very much like working with most large companies' help centers. There is a system to go through and you do have the option to click "urgent". In general the help is efficient, but it still takes a few days and it's hard to speak with someone directly. It is all done via online communications and is difficult to actually speak to someone on the phone. This works well for most cases, but I do feel frustrated more often than I'd like to with this type of communication. (2019/2020)
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In-Person Training
Even if it wasn't in-person on location, we felt like we had our trainer in the room with us.
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No answers on this topic
Online Training
We had great webinars.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
It would have been helpful to understand the phases of the implementation up front so I could have prepared differently for enrollments, billing, and transfer of information to payroll. At the end of the day, I'm happy with the selection and the system and anticipate I will like it better as we go along. We have done a number of other system implementations in the past few years, and this has been pretty painless, however, I've had a few surprises.
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There were so many specialists in the implementation process; it would have been nice to have fewer people who had a more holistic understanding of the platform. Also, the onboarding meetings covered so much technical information that there was relatively little time for questions (though questions were invited). Eventually, everything worked out.
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Alternatives Considered
We had used ADP for years and had always struggled with their customer service. With over 20 locations (20+ W2s, quarterly filings, etc) we had a lot of questions. We would have to call and sit on hold for long periods of time to talk to someone who couldn't always answer our questions. Then we would get different answers from different people or have to re-explain our issue. It was a major time suck for my employees and they dreaded having to call all of the time. For us - the final straws for us to switch providers were: +Numerous year end filings with incorrect names and addresses (they couldn't keep our 20+ locations separate even though our paperwork was completed correctly) +Incorrect SUI rates for several locations that resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in overpayments which was a lot of money for small hotels. We had sent in numerous requests for them to fix this but it never happened +Lack of care - even though we were having all of these issues, nobody would work with us to get them all resolved and make sure to remedy the situation. We had to seek out a manager to get them resolved but even after this, we still had more issues. Overall - DON'T stick with ADP or even think about switching to them. They might be able to slash prices but their poor customer service and lack of care will cost you in the end. It's not worth it. APS does everything ADP had the capability of but we don't have the errors or headaches we did before. I am really looking forward to this year end!
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We had used Namely in conjunction with Wurk for payroll and Ease for benefits enrollment. Unfortunately the "fraken-system" was very cumbersome to manage. The fraken-system was used due to the limited options in the cannabis industry for providers who were willing to work with us. We eventually transitioned to OnePoint to have an all-in-one system but also left it because it was not able to scale with the organization.
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Scalability
I've never had a problem with the system nor in finding the right information.
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • We were able to transition quickly and continue to successfully hire and onboard new hires for several Clubs that opened within weeks of moving to APS.
  • We do struggle a bit with the ease of reporting simply because our locations are all under separate EIN and that can make it difficult to easily combine data queried under custom reports, so the volume of reporting that I might wish to be able to push through weekly in order to help address 'real time' trends is not always available.
  • The lack of effective dating for position and wage changes does mean that HR and available APS data is not 'real time' accurate and that HR does need to return to the system to update changes well after-the-fact, which is not ideal.
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  • When we were over 100, it provided a huge benefit to us due to the accuracy of payroll, benefits integration and management, and org chart and performance tracking. Having all of that in one place was a huge improvement from the former disjointed user experience.
  • When we dropped below 100 due to covid, our insurance rates went up 93% to offer comparable plans, and we had to move over to a PEO for benefits which meant we also had to move payroll. It was hugely disruptive, and now our employees have a bad experience when trying to manage their HR lives in multiple places. It is confusing and, again, disjointed.
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ScreenShots

APS Screenshots

Screenshot of workforce planningScreenshot of expense management

Namely Screenshots

Screenshot of the Namely employee dashboard. This creates a central hub to access payroll and benefits info, share announcements, celebrate milestones, and navigate everything HR, from a desk or on the go.Screenshot of Namely Payroll, which is backed by automation and built-in compliance.Screenshot of the Onboarding interface, for new hires.Screenshot of the Applicant Tracking interface, which supports processes from job posting to onboarding with tools for hiring teams and candidates.Screenshot of the Benefits Administration interface, which supports open enrollment, plan changes, and employee elections.Screenshot of the Workforce Management interface. From here, viewers can track time, manage schedules, and handle complex workforce needs.