Payroll services and software: what they cost and which to pick

Payroll at a glance

Cheapest full service

$37 + $5Patriot Full Service, per month

10 employees

$87 to $400published full-service plans

Quote only

ADP RUN, Paychex, Ripplingplus Paycor, Paylocity, Paycom

Federal tax on a $50,000 hire

$3,867employer FICA and FUTA a year

Almost every small business payroll service bills the same way: a monthly base fee plus a fee for each person you pay that month. The base fee matters most for a team of one to five. The per-person fee matters most once you pass about 10 people. The service fee is also the smaller number: the employer side of federal payroll tax on one $50,000 employee is $3,100 Social Security, $725 Medicare and $42 FUTA, or $3,867 a year, against $60 to $96 a year in per-person fees at $5 to $8.

Every price on this page links back to a dated source. For the full list of 16 plans, add-on fees and a two-state example, read what payroll services cost in 2026. For the ranked list with tax guarantees and exit terms, read the best payroll services for small business.

What payroll services cost for 5, 10 and 25 employees

Three things raise the bill after you sign. A second state: Patriot and QuickBooks charge $12 a month per extra state, SurePayroll $9.99, and Gusto Simple covers one state, so a second state means Gusto Plus. Year-end forms: SurePayroll bills $50 plus $5 per W-2 or 1099. Leaving: if Gusto files your final returns it charges $100 federal plus $100 per state plus $5 per form.

The biggest names publish nothing. ADP shows only "Get pricing" for every RUN package; see ADP payroll pricing and estimates. Paychex shows "Request Pricing" on all four plans, and the $39 plus $5 still quoted on review sites belongs to the retired Flex Essentials plan; see Paychex pricing and promo terms. Rippling says only that plans "start at $8 per employee per month, with a monthly base fee" without stating the base; see Rippling payroll pricing. If you keep your books in QuickBooks Online, the bundled price is on QuickBooks Payroll pricing.

Three ways to run payroll

Computer programs for payroll come in two kinds: software that does the math and leaves the tax deposits and filings to you, and full-service software that also pays and files the taxes. The third option is to hand the employer role, in part, to a PEO.

Doing it yourself saves the fee but puts every deadline on you. For 2026 wages, W-2s go to employees and the Social Security Administration by February 1, 2027. Most new employers deposit withheld tax by the 15th of the following month. The steps are in how to set up payroll for a small business and how to process payroll, step by step.

If you are weighing outsourcing, read what you hand off when you outsource payroll. If health benefits are the reason you are looking at a PEO, the math is in PEO vs payroll service: on published Justworks prices, the PEO has to save you about $98 to $107 per employee per month to break even.

Payroll picks, ranked by score

Ranked by our payroll scores out of 100: price and cost for 10 employees (25 points), tax filing coverage and guarantee (20), features (20), contract and exit terms (15), support (10) and documented complaints (10). Patriot and Gusto tie at 69; Patriot is listed first because it earns more price points (25 to 23), our tie-break rule. How each point is earned is on our scoring method page; commissions are not an input.

The rest of the 15, in score order: SurePayroll 56, Square Payroll 55, QuickBooks Payroll 52, Justworks Payroll 42, ADP RUN 32, Paychex 25, Rippling 21, Paycom 12, Paylocity 12, isolved 10 and Paycor 10. The quote-only providers score low mainly because they publish no price, no tax guarantee terms or no exit terms. Restaurants and retailers on Square POS should still read Square Payroll pricing, and household employers our SurePayroll review.

Contracts, tax guarantees and leaving

• Cancellation. Gusto, Patriot, Wave, QuickBooks and SurePayroll let you cancel yourself. ADP and OnPay need 30 days' written notice. Paychex's current promo (fees waived up to six months for agreements signed October 12 to 31, 2026) comes with a one-year agreement, and Paychex can recover the free months if you leave early.
• Who pays the penalty. QuickBooks covers penalties only on its Elite plan. Gusto's terms cover penalties but do not name interest. Wave pays only when it is at fault and after you pay the agency. Patriot names a guarantee but does not publish its terms.
• Records after you leave. Patriot keeps reports, 941s, W-2s and 1099s available after you cancel. Wave's payroll data access ends at the end of the month you cancel, so download everything first.
• Price rises. ADP's RUN terms allow base fee increases after the first six months with 30 days' notice, and a QuickBooks Community thread (June 25, 2026) reports a per-worker charge up more than 50%.

The complaint that shows up most across all providers is reaching a person who can fix a problem: an ADP reviewer on Trustpilot wrote on October 7, 2026 that "Their Customer Support is non-existent." Switching mid-year has its own traps; the checklist is in common payroll mistakes and how to fix them. Provider-by-provider exit routes: Gusto alternatives, ADP alternatives and Paychex alternatives.

Payroll for your type of business

• Self-employed and small-team payroll: one person costs $41 a month on Square Payroll and $42 on Patriot Full Service.
• Restaurant payroll: $114 to $260 a month for 15 staff with time tracking, plus tip credit rules.
• Construction payroll: crews, subcontractors and construction SUTA rates.
• Certified payroll: the weekly WH-347 report on Davis-Bacon jobs.
• Paying 1099 contractors: $6 per contractor on Square, and 2026 1099 rules.
• Nonprofit payroll and church payroll and minister tax rules.
• Nanny and household payroll.
• Payroll for accountants and bookkeepers.
• Payroll and PEO for startups and enterprise payroll for larger companies.
• Cloud-based payroll services and HR and payroll software in one system.

Payroll taxes, calendars and guides

Software runs the math, but you choose the schedule and you are still liable for the tax. In 2026 a Friday biweekly payroll has 26 paydays on either cycle; both calendars are in payroll schedules and the 2026 payroll calendar. Federal rates and limits are in 2026 payroll tax rates, state unemployment rates in SUTA rates by state, and the full employer bill for one hire in the employee cost calculator.

Start with payroll taxes explained if you are new to this. Every state page, with registration steps and a worked $50,000 example, is on the payroll taxes by state hub, and every how-to is on the payroll and hiring guides hub.

Every payroll page on HRPricing

Price pages, reviews, rankings and topic guides for US payroll, listed by name.

• ADP alternativesTen payroll services ranked against ADP RUN, with real monthly costs and how to leave mid-year.
• ADP pricingNo published RUN prices, the dated estimates, promo terms and the 30-day exit rule.
• HR and payroll softwareEight all-in-one HR and payroll platforms, scored, with published prices and estimates.
• Startup payroll and PEOPayroll, PEO or EOR for a funded startup, with scores and 10-person costs.
• Best payroll software15 payroll providers scored on price, tax guarantees, exit terms, support and complaints.
• Certified payrollThe weekly Davis-Bacon wage report, field by field, and how it differs from prevailing wage.
• Church payroll and accountingPayroll prices for church staff and how minister pay, housing allowance and FUTA differ.
• Online payroll servicesWhat cloud payroll does, 15 online providers scored, and the cost at 3, 15 and 40 employees.
• Construction payrollSubcontractor hiring steps, construction SUTA rates by state and payroll costs for a crew.
• Enterprise payrollQuote-only payroll for larger companies, the best price estimates and an RFP checklist.
• Free payroll softwareWhat free payroll covers, the free months on paid plans, and the cheapest plans that file your taxes.
• Gusto alternativesWho beats Gusto on price, multi-state and exit terms, and how to leave without a tax mess.
• Gusto pricingThree published plans, the per-person fee, add-ons and exit fees.
• HR outsourcingFour ways to outsource HR, what each costs at 10 and 25 employees, and how to leave.
• Payroll costsPublished prices for 10 providers, totals for 1 to 50 employees, and every add-on fee.
• Nanny payrollThe 2026 nanny tax, a worked $40,000 example, state rules and household payroll services.
• OnPay reviewOne flat price for any number of states, the HR add-on math and a 30-day written exit.
• Patriot reviewThe lowest published full-service price at 10 employees, add-ons and the best exit terms we found.
• Paychex alternativesTen payroll services that publish their fees, and how to leave a Paychex agreement cleanly.
• Paychex pricingQuote-only plans, the dated estimates, add-on fees and the April 2027 promo terms.
• Paycom reviewQuote only: a dated per-run estimate, the implementation fee and the terms to get in writing.
• Paycor reviewQuote only with a 50% off offer, the old $99 + $5 list price and the Deputy route.
• Paylocity reviewQuote only: the $18 to $22 per employee estimate, implementation math and missing terms.
• Payroll for accountantsAccountant payroll programs, retail cost per client and referral payouts, with the gaps marked.
• Nonprofit payrollPublished payroll prices for 10 and 25 staff, plus the 501(c)(3) tax rules software must handle.
• Payroll outsourcingThree ways to outsource payroll, the published prices and the tax liability you keep.
• Payroll processingThe full payroll cycle, a worked paycheck, 2026 deadlines and what services charge.
• Payroll reportsRegister, tax liability, 941, W-2 and certified payroll reports, with an example and due dates.
• Paying 1099 contractorsContractor payment tools priced for 5, 20 and 50 contractors, plus 2026 1099 rules.
• QuickBooks Payroll alternativesSwap only payroll or the whole QuickBooks bundle, with costs and a mid-year exit plan.
• QuickBooks PayrollIntuit's payroll and accounting bundles, per-employee fees and exit terms.
• Restaurant payrollMonthly cost for 15 and 30 staff, tipped wages by state and tip reporting rules.
• Rippling alternativesWhat replaces each Rippling module, what it costs, and how to move payroll mid-year.
• Rippling pricingAn $8 per-employee floor, an unpublished base fee, modules and what to ask before signing.
• Payroll for 1 to 5 peopleReal monthly costs for one owner, two people and five, plus how S corp owner payroll works.
• Square PayrollFull-service and contractor-only prices, the W-2 fee and the penalty guarantee.
• SurePayroll reviewTwo base prices on one page, $50 + $5 per W-2 and the terms you should get in writing.
• Wave Payroll review$100 a month for 10 in any state, a pay-first guarantee and records that vanish at month end.
• isolved reviewNo prices or terms published; how reseller sales work and what a quote must beat.