ADP TotalSource review: what ADP's PEO costs and how it works

ADP TotalSource at a glance

Published price

None"quoted rather than listed"

ADP's industry range

$40 to $160per employee per month, or 2% to 12% of payroll

Workers' comp

Includedin the service fee, per ADP

IRS CPEO

Yessince 2017; IRS list 8/7/2026

ADP TotalSource is ADP's PEO, built on ADP's payroll platform. It is quote only, and the most useful price signal comes from ADP itself: a published industry range, not a TotalSource rate.

ADP TotalSource pricing

ADP's TotalSource page says "ADP TotalSource pricing is quoted rather than listed, since it is built around factors that are specific to your business." The named cost drivers are workforce size and demographics, injury risk and workers' comp exposure, and where your employees work. There is one TotalSource product, with no published tiers.

ADP's guide also says "Quotes are risk-adjusted" and that "With ADP TotalSource, workers' compensation is managed and included as part of the service fee." That makes TotalSource quotes hard to compare with PEOs that bill workers' comp separately, because the admin fee and the insurance sit in one number.

What TotalSource could cost for 5, 10 and 25 employees

Using ADP's own industry range, here is the admin fee span before premiums and taxes. Because TotalSource folds workers' comp into the service fee, compare a TotalSource quote with another PEO's admin fee plus its workers' comp, not with the admin fee alone.

Then add employer taxes, which pass through at cost: 7.65% Social Security and Medicare (Social Security on wages up to $184,500 in 2026), FUTA at a net 0.6% of the first $7,000 per employee ($42 each), and state unemployment tax (2026 SUTA rates by state). For 10 people earning $50,000, employer FICA is 7.65% x $500,000 = $38,250 a year. Then add the employer share of health premiums. Run your own state with the employer cost calculator, and compare against other PEOs in PEO cost per employee.

What the TotalSource fee includes and leaves out

Included, per ADP's TotalSource page:

• Multistate payroll, tax filing and compliance monitoring.
• Medical, dental, vision, 401(k), employee assistance program and pet wellness plans (ADP does not say whether premiums are part of the fee).
• Workers' comp coverage, plus risk, safety and claims support.
• A dedicated HR business partner and specialists, EPLI-backed guidance.
• Applicant tracking, background checks, career site, onboarding, ADP MyLife Advisors and the mobile app.
• Tax payments "bonded up to $1 million annually".

Not included or not published: health premiums, setup fees, minimum headcount, contract length and exit fees. The $1 million bond guarantees that ADP pays the taxes; it is not a promise to cover penalties if a filing is wrong, and ADP does not publish who bears those.

Benefits through ADP TotalSource

TotalSource offers medical, dental, vision, 401(k), an EAP and pet wellness plans. Reviewers raise two issues: carrier choice, with one Capterra reviewer "limited to just Aetna health plans that increase every year" (Mar 31, 2025), and price, with another who found a better policy at about 75% of the cost by shopping on her own (May 24, 2024). Carrier options depend on your state, so ask which carriers you can choose from before comparing premiums. In 2026, Nayya, citing KFF, reports that about 10% of small group rate filings sought increases of 20% or more (Nayya).

Contract, renewals and exit terms

"Steep increases each year" (Capterra, Apr 1, 2025) is the most repeated TotalSource complaint. Several reviewers who left kept ADP for payroll: "I am keeping the payroll and dumping TS" (May 24, 2024) and "Use ADP for payroll but nothing else" (Jun 3, 2024), both on Capterra. That route keeps your payroll data in ADP but ends co-employment, so you need your own benefits, workers' comp policy and state unemployment account. See ADP RUN payroll pricing for what the payroll-only side costs.

Leaving any PEO also means a new 401(k) plan, new health plans that start the day the PEO plans end, and confirming who files W-2s for the part of the year TotalSource paid wages. Our PEO exit checklist covers the timing.

CPEO status, states and company size

Certified PEO: yes. ADP says TotalSource has been an "IRS-certified PEO (CPEO) since 2017" and is ESAC-accredited, and the IRS active CPEO list (report date 8/7/2026) shows ADP TotalSource, Inc. and 17 related entities. We did not check ESAC's own list. With 18 similar names on the IRS list, confirm which entity and EIN your contract names. See the IRS CPEO list.

States: ADP says TotalSource "manages multi-state payroll, tax filings and state-specific compliance as part of its core platform."

Size: no minimum or maximum published.

Support

Each client gets a dedicated HR business partner, and ADP says "dedicated support is just a call away". Hours are not published. ADP as a whole draws heavy support complaints on Trustpilot (1.2 out of 5 from 3,126 reviews across all ADP products, seen October 16, 2026), with reviewers saying it is "almost impossible to talk to a human being" (Sep 23, 2026). Those reviews mostly concern ADP payroll, not TotalSource, which has no separate Trustpilot page. On G2, TotalSource scores 4.3 out of 5 from 576 reviews.

What ADP TotalSource customers complain about

Our score for ADP TotalSource

ADP TotalSource ranks 3 of the 15 PEOs we score.

Scores come from published terms, prices and documented complaints, not testing. See how we score and our PEO rankings.

Who ADP TotalSource fits, and who should look elsewhere

Also read the Paychex PEO review (the other payroll giant's PEO), the Insperity review and the TriNet review, or go back to the PEO hub.

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• TriNet reviewQuote-only pricing, the FSA complaints, minimums and how to leave.
• TriNet alternativesScored alternatives, the ASO option and what changes when you leave.
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