The Top 5 Alternatives To QuickBooks Payroll

Gusto’s pricing starts at $40/month + $6/person/month under its Simple plan for paying 1099 contractors and W-2 employees. The Simple plan offers extensive payroll processing and employee management features.

Gusto’s Plus plan costs $80/month + $12/person/month and adds more advanced features, built-in time tracking, multistate payroll processing, next-day direct deposit, and optional HR resources.

Gusto also offers a Contractor-Only plan that starts at $35/month + $6/person for businesses that exclusively pay 1099 contractors.

Larger companies may consider Gusto’s Premium plan for access to Gusto’s full feature set, services, and priority support.

Gusto boasts an impressive feature set that should be more than enough for small business payroll processing. Here’s a look at Gusto’s standout features:

• Unlimited payroll processing, including multistate payroll processing for businesses with out-of-state locations
• Direct deposit and check payment options, plus early access to funds through Gusto Wallet and next-day processing
• Time tracking, including web-based kiosks and mobile clock-ins via the Gusto mobile app for employees
• PTO and time-off tracking with the ability to set custom time-off policies and manage requests
• Robust, customizable reports, plus job costing
• Strong HR and employee management features, including an HR resource library, hiring and onboarding tools, employee surveys, and performance reviews
• Benefits administration, including health, vision, dental, and more
• Employee self-service portal where employees can add and edit information such as their address, preferred payment methods, and more

• Pricing: Like QuickBooks, Gusto’s time tracking features cost extra and require users to subscribe to the software’s higher pricing tier to access the service.
• Benefits Administration Limitations: Unlike QuickBooks Online Payroll, Gusto’s benefits administration isn’t available in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
• Mobile App For Employee-Use Only: Gusto doesn’t offer a mobile app for employers, so you’ll need to process payroll via your phone’s web browser if you’re on the go.

ADP does not publish the cost for any of its Run Powered by ADP pricing plans, so businesses will need to contact ADP directly for a quote. Our business was quoted a per-payroll run fee, plus a one time set up fee.

However, ADP customizes quotes based on a business’s size, service needs, payroll run frequency, and other factors, so your quote may differ significantly.

ADP boasts one of the most comprehensive feature sets of any payroll software service available. There’s not a lot the company hasn’t implemented throughout its 75-year reign as one of the best payroll software solutions available. Here’s a look at ADP’s features:

• Full-service payroll, including multistate payroll processing and auto-scheduled payroll
• Multiple payment methods, including direct deposit, paycheck delivery, and direct debit card
• Full tax support at the local, state, and federal levels
• Online employee portal supporting editing, time tracking, schedule management, pay stub access, benefits management, time-off management, and mobile payroll processing
• Excellent reports, including all standard payroll reports, plus nice-to-haves such as job costing
• Onboarding and HR support, including new hire reporting, access to an extensive HR library, and labor law compliance posters
• Benefits administration, including health, vision, and dental insurance

• Pricing: As ADP charges on a per-payroll run basis, businesses that have more frequent pay schedules may be charged more. Additionally, ADP’s customization options can make for a package with many add-ons, which can drive costs up.
• Package Options: ADP gates some essential features behind its higher plan tiers, including garnishment payment services and state unemployment insurance.

Paychex only publishes pricing for one of its plans, which starts at $39/month + $5/employee/month. For all other pricing information, businesses must contact Paychex directly.

Paychex offers users four pricing plans, each offering essential payroll and HR features. Going up a pricing package tier adds access to dedicated payroll specialists, HR resources, learning, more integrations, stronger analytics, and more.

Paychex also boasts many add-on services, enabling businesses to custom tailor their service packages.

Paychex offers an extensive feature set that’s on par with competitors, such as ADP. The software boasts features that include:

• Unlimited payroll processing, including off-cycle payroll runs, multistate payroll processing, and support for multiple pay rates and schedules
• Built-in time tracking, including mobile app clock-ins, web browsers, geolocation, attendance alerts, and custom time-off policies
• Full-service tax support at the federal, state, and local levels, plus tax form completion and filing
• Extensive reporting, including over 100 built-in reports and robust customization options
• Benefits administration with enrollment tracking, health, vision, and dental insurance, retirement accounts, and health savings account options
• Onboarding tools, including self-managed digital onboarding for new hires, plus eSigning
• Online employee portal with pay stub access, custom fields, and time-off management
• Mobile app also works for employers and includes task tracking, schedule management, time-off request management, access to reports, access to employee data, and mobile payroll processing

• No Free Trial: Paychex does not offer a free trial for new customers, so businesses must use the software’s limited demo to get an idea of what the software offers and how it functions. Otherwise, they’ll need to schedule a guided demo, which can be tedious and time-consuming.
• Nontransparent Pricing: In addition to lacking a free trial, Paychex also doesn’t publish the vast majority of its pricing information. So, remember to ask about pricing information when you’re scheduling that guided demo.

Paylocity uses a quote-based pricing model in which each business is given a custom pricing package based on their unique needs. While this pricing structure offers pricing flexibility, it lacks pricing transparency and can drive costs up as a la carte options are tacked on.

Paylocity is a Human Resources Information System (HRIS), the software offers an extensive payroll, HR, and employee management features. Here’s a look at Paylocity’s features:

• Unlimited payroll processing, including off-cycle payroll runs, multiple payment methods, garnishment management, and full-tax service at all government levels
• Expense management, including mobile app receipt uploads, automatic reimbursements, and reporting
• Advanced HR features, with new-hire reporting, paperless onboarding, custom workflows, learning, secure document storage, and analytics
• Benefits administration for retirement accounts, health, vision, and dental insurance, workers’ compensation, and employee benefits self-management
• Time tracking consisting of mobile and web-based clocking and a robust selection of time tracking integration options
• Time-off management that includes time-off policy customization, accrual, and request management

Patriot Payroll offers two payroll pricing packages: Basic Payroll at $17/month + $4/employee/month and Full Service Payroll at $37/month + $4/employee/month.

Basic Payroll doesn’t include any payroll tax filing and remittance services, while Full Service Payroll offers complete tax support at the federal, state, and local levels.

If you’d like to add on Patriot’s accounting software, you’ll pay an additional $20-$30/month for the service.

Compared to QuickBooks Online Payroll, Patriot Payroll doesn’t offer as complex a feature set. However, Patriot Payroll offers all the payroll essentials you’ll need, including:

• Unlimited payroll processing, plus 2-day direct deposit options, support for multiple pay rates and schedules, and custom deductions
• Full-service tax support, including payroll tax calculation, filing, and remittance at federal, state, and local levels
• Automated workers’ compensation and retirement plan contributions via Next Insurance and Vestwell integrations
• Built-in time tracking, with a web-based time portal, auto imported time cards, custom time-off policies, and reports
• Online employee portal to view and edit information, review pay stubs, and access tax forms

• No New Hire Reporting: Patriot does not handle new-hire reporting on behalf of your business, so you’ll need to ensure that you report new hires to your state new hire registry.
• Very Limited Integrations: While Patriot Payroll does offer some integrations, those integrations are limited to Vestwell, QuickBooks Time, Next Insurance, QuickBooks Desktop, and QuickBooks Online.
• Limited Benefits Administration: Patriot Payroll doesn’t enable businesses to administer and manage benefits from within the software. However, the software does offer workers’ compensation and retirement plan contributions.
• No Mobile App: If you enjoy QuickBooks’ mobile app solutions, you’ll definitely be missing them in the switch to Patriot Payroll, as the software only supports web-based access.