Cheapest Payroll Services For Businesses

Gusto payroll pricing starts at $40/month + $6/person on the Simple plan for paying both contractors and employees.

Gusto also offers a plan for businesses that only pay contractors, which costs $35/month + $6/month per person . Gusto frequently runs promotions for new customers, such as its current promotion, which waives the base price on its Contractor Only plan for six months.

Additional services such as benefits administration, international contractor payments, and spending accounts come with an additional fee.

Gusto has a wealth of features for small to mid-sized businesses looking for payroll and HR combined into a single solution. Gusto offers the following payroll features and add-ons:

• Gusto’s Simple plan doesn’t include its built-in time tracking. You’ll need to subscribe to Gusto’s Plus plan to take advantage of its built-in time tracking system, which costs double the price of the Simple plan. Otherwise, you can integrate Gusto with third-party time and attendance software, such as QuickBooks Time.
• Gusto’s Simple plan also doesn’t include next-day direct deposit. Again, if you need next-day direct deposit, you’ll need to upgrade your plan at nearly double the price of the cheapest plan.
• Gusto’s benefits administration service is limited and doesn’t include Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Users may also choose to add time tracking and HR software for an additional cost.

Patriot Payroll’s solid range of features aims to streamline payroll for small and growing businesses. Here’s a breakdown of Patriot Payroll’s features for small businesses:

• Patriot Payroll’s benefits administration is limited. Patriot Payroll offers support for retirement plan contributions and workers’ compensation insurance but does not offer benefits administration for health, vision, or dental insurance.
• Patriot Payroll’s accounting integrations are limited to QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop.
• Patriot Payroll doesn’t have built-in time tracking but does offer an integration with QuickBooks Time.

Paychex does not publish prices for its Flex Select and Pro plans.

Pricing for add-on services is also unpublished, so if you’re looking to add services, such as time tracking or integrations, you’ll need to get in touch with Paychex to customize your payroll package.

Paychex offers a generous feature set, even on its most basic plan. While you won’t get goodies like an employee handbook builder tool, you’ll get everything you need to handle payroll without breaking the bank. Here’s a look at Paychex’s features:

• Paychex’s add-ons can be expensive. Although add-on services can be a good thing for small businesses that don’t need anything more than the basics, businesses with more complex needs may find that building the perfect payroll service package with Paychex can break the bank.
• Paychex charges per payroll run, rather than offering unlimited payroll like the vast majority of its competitors, such as Gusto, QuickBooks, Onpay, and nearly every other option on this list.
• Paychex is difficult to trial. Paychex’s self-guided demo is very limited compared to other options on the list, such as Patriot Payroll. Further, getting a full look at the software can only be done after scheduling a full demo with a salesperson.

Square Payroll’s pricing starts at $35/month + $6/employee on its Employee’s and Contractors plan. The software’s Contractors Only plan costs $6/per person with no monthly base rate.

Square Payroll is both affordable and fully functional. Though Square Payroll doesn’t have many bells and whistles, the software includes all the essential payroll features a small business could need, including:

• Square’s customer service leaves room for improvement. Many customer reviews of Square Payroll suggest that it can be challenging to get issues resolved in a timely manner.
• Square Payroll can’t be used to pay household employees or for businesses within the agricultural industry. Unfortunately, you can’t use Square to pay household employees, such as cleaners or nannies.
• Square Payroll’s features are basic without add-on services. Although Square Payroll is offered as a standalone product, it’s a bit barebones without subscribing to the other solutions within the Square ecosystem.

OnPay utilizes a single payment plan tier. The only additional fees from OnPay are those incurred for insufficient balances and tax form printing and mailing services.

OnPay offers a ton of payroll and HR features for small businesses at an affordable price. Here’s a breakdown of OnPay’s payroll and HR features:

• OnPay’s accounting integrations are limited to QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, or Xero. While these software options are very popular, it’s a significant limitation for businesses that use other accounting software.
• OnPay requires third-party integrations to track time. You’ll need to use Quickbooks Time, Deputy, or When I Work to track time and attendance and sync the data with OnPay.
• OnPay’s customers aren’t happy with its mobile app. OnPay’s mobile app is home to a collection of very poor reviews from disgruntled customers calling the app completely unusable.

Roll by ADP simplifies payroll to a chat-based platform on your mobile device, but it still packs a lot of features into its AI-powered app. Here are some of Roll By ADP’s best features:

• Roll By ADP only integrates with QuickBooks Online. While it’s great to have an accounting integration, more options would be a solid addition.
• Roll by ADP is a robust, but bare-bones payroll service. Benefits administration, time tracking and attendance, and other payroll-adjacent features are completely lacking within Roll.

Although the Payroll4Free software doesn’t have many bells and whistles, it boasts essential payroll features that should be sufficient for businesses with basic payroll needs, including:

• Payroll4Free only supports up to 10 employees or contractors per business. If your business outgrows Payroll4Free, you’ll be stuck with fees that rival traditional payroll software or the hassle of transferring your payroll data to a payroll service provider that can accommodate your team.
• You may pay for direct deposit and tax services. Fortunately, Payroll4Free’s tax and direct deposit services are still exceptionally cheap, but they will cost a business that’s looking for completely free payroll services with tax support.
• Payroll4Free can only be run on Windows. Macs can run Payroll4Free — if they’re running Windows OS.

SurePayroll’s pricing starts at $19.99/month + $4/employee per month and offers two service plans: Self-Service and Full-Service.

SurePayroll’s Self-Service plan is best for businesses that want to manage their payroll tax filing and remittance in-house or with an accountant, while the Full-Service plan is best for businesses that want their payroll tax filing and remittance handled for them.

• SurePayroll doesn’t offer built-in time tracking. However, the software does offer some time tracking integrations with popular time and attendance software, such as StratusTime, Homebase, and When I Work.
• SurePayroll’s integration options are limited. The software integrates with fewer than 30 software options, but competitors typically offer hundreds of options.
• SurePayroll’s reporting feature is limited. Other payroll software tends to have a larger selection of built-in reports and stronger customization options.