QuickBooks Payroll pricing: what Intuit payroll costs in 2026
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QuickBooks Payroll, which Intuit now sells as QuickBooks Workforce, costs $88 to $203 a month plus $6.50 to $10 per employee, according to Intuit's pricing page (checked October 16, 2026). Each price bundles payroll with a QuickBooks Online accounting plan, so 10 employees cost $153 to $303 a month for payroll and books together.
New customers get 50% off the base fee for three months; the per-employee fee is not discounted. Intuit's tax penalty protection, which pays penalties and interest up to $25,000 a year, comes only with the top Workforce Elite plan, and Intuit does not print Elite's price.
QuickBooks Payroll (now QuickBooks Workforce) is Intuit's full-service payroll add-on to QuickBooks Online: it runs payroll, pays and files payroll taxes, and posts every payroll to your QuickBooks books.
On this page
- QuickBooks Payroll at a glance
- QuickBooks Payroll plans and prices
- What QuickBooks Payroll costs for 5, 10 and 25 employees
- Add-on fees and what each plan leaves out
- QuickBooks tax penalty protection: what it covers and the $25,000 cap
- Contract, cancellation and W-2 access after you leave
- How to set up payroll in QuickBooks Online
- QuickBooks Payroll support hours
- What QuickBooks Payroll customers complain about
- How we score QuickBooks Payroll
- Who QuickBooks Payroll fits, and who should pick something else
QuickBooks Payroll at a glance
- Entry price
- $88 + $6.50 per employeeper month, includes QuickBooks Online Simple Start, checked Oct 16, 2026
- Contract
- No annual contractcancel anytime; no prorated refund
- Penalty protection
- Elite plan onlyup to $25,000 a year; notice within 15 days
- Our score
- 52/100payroll category
Does QuickBooks do payroll? Yes. Intuit sells full-service payroll inside QuickBooks Online: it calculates paychecks, pays direct deposits, deposits and files federal and state payroll taxes, and books each payroll in your ledger. The catch is that the prices on the pricing page are bundles. You cannot see a payroll-only price there; each plan pairs payroll with an accounting tier (Simple Start, Essentials or Plus).
The pricing page we checked on October 16, 2026 sells Workforce Payroll and Workforce Premium bundles and names Workforce Elite in its FAQ without a price. If a review or help article quotes a different plan name or price, check it against the current pricing page. Our scores follow our published scoring method.
QuickBooks Payroll plans and prices
| Plan | Base per month | Per employee per month | Promo base, first 3 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workforce Payroll + Simple Start | $88 | $6.50 | $44 |
| Workforce Payroll + Essentials | $125 | $6.50 | $62.50 |
| Workforce Premium + Plus | $203 | $10 | $101.50 |
| Workforce Elite | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Contractor Payments | $25 (20 contractors included) | $2 per extra contractor | 50% off for 3 months |
Source: QuickBooks payroll pricing and contractor payments pages, checked Oct 16, 2026. The contractor promo displays "$1250/mo", which looks like a formatting error for $12.50.
- Annual billing: the page offers "+10% off annual price" at checkout but shows no annual figures.
- Free trial: the fine print says the 30-day free trial applies to the monthly base price only, not to per-employee or per-contractor fees.
- Benefits administration on Premium is listed as "Limited availability, additional fees apply."
- Background checks through Checkr start at $29.99 per report.
What QuickBooks Payroll costs for 5, 10 and 25 employees
| Plan | 5 employees | 10 employees | 25 employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll + Simple Start | $88 + (5 × $6.50) = $120.50 | $88 + (10 × $6.50) = $153 | $88 + (25 × $6.50) = $250.50 |
| Payroll + Essentials | $125 + (5 × $6.50) = $157.50 | $125 + (10 × $6.50) = $190 | $125 + (25 × $6.50) = $287.50 |
| Premium + Plus | $203 + (5 × $10) = $253 | $203 + (10 × $10) = $303 | $203 + (25 × $10) = $453 |
Source: QuickBooks payroll pricing page, checked Oct 16, 2026. Our arithmetic. Includes the QuickBooks Online accounting tier; excludes payroll taxes, extra states and add-ons.
During the promo (first three months), 10 employees: $44 + $65 = $109 on Simple Start, $62.50 + $65 = $127.50 on Essentials and $101.50 + $100 = $201.50 on Premium + Plus.
First year, 10 employees on Payroll + Simple Start: (3 × $109) + (9 × $153) = $327 + $1,377 = $1,704.
A second state: each additional state is $12 a month on Payroll and Premium, so 10 employees on Simple Start across two states cost $153 + $12 = $165 a month.
Contractors only: 30 contractors on Contractor Payments cost $25 + (10 × $2) = $45 a month.
If you would pay for QuickBooks Online anyway, part of each bundle is your accounting bill, not payroll. Compare it against a payroll-only provider plus your current QuickBooks plan before you decide. Gusto vs QuickBooks Payroll runs that comparison, and payroll service costs compared shows every provider's per-employee rate.
Your own payroll taxes are a far bigger number than the software fee. Estimate them with the employee cost calculator.
Add-on fees and what each plan leaves out
- Extra states: $12 a month per additional state on Payroll and Premium.
- State registration: not included. Intuit's disclosure says "If you expand to new states you'll need to enroll in electronic services there as well." You open the state withholding and unemployment accounts yourself.
- Tax penalty protection: only on Workforce Elite. Payroll and Premium bundles have no published penalty guarantee.
- Benefits administration: extra fees on Premium; amounts not published.
- Background checks: from $29.99 per report.
- Year-end forms after you cancel: $150 if Intuit prepares year-end filings or W-2s after cancellation.
QuickBooks Desktop payroll: Intuit's payroll pricing page we checked lists only the QuickBooks Online bundles. In the QuickBooks Community, a Desktop 2021 user said staying on Desktop would cost about $1,000 a year plus payroll plus $8 per employee per month (QuickBooks Community). If you are on Desktop, get a written quote before your renewal and compare it with QuickBooks Payroll alternatives.
QuickBooks tax penalty protection: what it covers and the $25,000 cap
On Workforce Elite, Intuit pays payroll tax penalties and interest "up to $25,000 per year." Among the payroll guarantees in our research, only this one and ADP RUN's name interest (ADP covers interest only when it held your tax money past the due date), and this is the only one with a dollar cap.
What it excludes:
- The taxes themselves (you still owe any unpaid tax).
- Errors before your first payroll on Elite.
- Worker misclassification and labor law violations.
- Willful or fraudulent input.
- Issues Intuit already told you to fix.
- Accounts not in good standing, such as returned debits or billing holds.
You must email the full notice to taxnoticeresolution@intuit.com within 15 days of the notice date and answer the team's follow-up. The clock runs from the date printed on the notice, not the day you open it.
On the Payroll and Premium bundles we found no published penalty guarantee. For other providers' terms, Gusto pays penalties (not named interest) with notice 30 days before the deadline, and ADP RUN pays penalties from its own errors. Compare them in Gusto vs QuickBooks and the best payroll software ranking.
Contract, cancellation and W-2 access after you leave
- Contract: "No annual contract" and "Cancel anytime."
- How to cancel: Settings, then Subscriptions and billing, then Cancel. The cancel form cannot be changed once you send it.
- Last bill: cancellation takes effect at the end of the monthly billing period, with no prorated refund.
- Taxes at cancellation: on full service, Intuit pays outstanding tax liabilities when you cancel, so keep the bank account open until those debits clear.
- Year-end forms: $150 if Intuit prepares year-end filings or W-2s after you cancel.
- Data access: payroll data stays available "until one year after the date your subscription was canceled." Intuit also says "W2's require an active subscription."
Intuit staff have given buyers different answers over time: in February 2026 a staff reply said the archive shows two years of forms (QuickBooks Community), while a 2020 reply said data stays available for six months after the tax year ends (QuickBooks Community). Download your W-2s, Forms 941 and 940, state wage reports and payroll registers before you cancel.
Leaving mid-year needs care. One Hacker News commenter described about two years of fallout after leaving QuickBooks Payroll (HN). Patriot, by contrast, lets former customers keep downloading W-2s (Patriot review).
How to set up payroll in QuickBooks Online
- Pick a Workforce bundle that matches the QuickBooks Online tier you need. If you already pay for QuickBooks Online, ask how your current subscription is credited.
- Get your federal EIN and your state withholding and unemployment account numbers first. QuickBooks does not register state accounts for you.
- Connect the business bank account Intuit will debit for net pay and tax deposits.
- Add each employee with Form W-4, the state withholding form, pay rate and direct deposit details.
- If you are switching mid-year, enter year-to-date payroll from your old provider so W-2s and quarterly filings come out right.
- Turn on automatic tax payments and filings, then enroll in each new state's electronic services when you hire there.
QuickBooks Payroll support hours
Intuit says payroll support is available by phone and chat. The pricing page does not publish payroll support hours; the Monday to Friday, 5am to 6pm Pacific hours shown there are for sales. Check the hours in your account before you rely on same-day help near a payroll deadline.
What QuickBooks Payroll customers complain about
QuickBooks Workforce has 4.4 out of 5 from 511 reviews on G2. Intuit's US Trustpilot page has 1.1 out of 5 from 1,550 reviews, but it covers every Intuit product, not just payroll (Trustpilot, both seen October 16, 2026).
- Price increases: the main theme. A June 25, 2026 thread reports the worker charge going up "OVER 50% per employee" (QuickBooks Community). An April 2026 reply says payroll for 15 to 20 employees went from $1,566 in 2022 to $2,210 in 2025, with added per-employee charges from November 2025 (QuickBooks Community).
- Desktop users priced out: Desktop customers say they are being pushed to subscriptions (QuickBooks Community).
- Owner-only payroll: in a 2020 thread, an owner with no employees asked how to stop paying $25 for payroll they no longer used (QuickBooks Community).
How we score QuickBooks Payroll
QuickBooks Payroll scores 52 out of 100, behind Patriot and Gusto (69 each), OnPay (67), Wave (64), SurePayroll (56) and Square (55). The bundled price ($153 a month for 10 employees), a penalty guarantee limited to the unpriced Elite plan and unpublished support hours cost it the most points.
| Criterion | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Price transparency and cost for 10 employees | 15 of 25 | Publishes Workforce Payroll + Simple Start at $88 + $6.50 per employee, or $88 + 10 x $6.50 = $153 a month for 10 employees (7 of 15), but names a Workforce Elite plan with no price (8 of 10 for transparency). |
| Tax filing coverage and guarantee | 8 of 20 | Says it provides full-service tax filing without stating state coverage, and you enroll in each new state yourself (3 of 10); penalty and interest protection up to $25,000 a year applies only on the unpriced Elite plan, with notice due within 15 days (5 of 10). |
| Features | 10 of 20 | Contractors are paid through a separate $25 Contractor Payments plan (2), each extra state costs $12 a month (2), benefits administration has 'limited availability, additional fees apply' (2), payroll sits inside QuickBooks Online accounting (4), and time tracking is not published on the pages we checked (0). |
| Contract and exit terms | 11 of 15 | Self-serve cancellation ends at the close of the billing period with no prorated refund (4); payroll data stays available for one year, but W-2s need an active subscription and Intuit charges $150 to prepare year-end forms (3); no annual contract and no setup fee mentioned (4). |
| Support access | 4 of 10 | Phone and chat support are listed (4), but support hours are not published; the Mon to Fri 5am to 6pm PT hours shown are for sales (0). |
| Documented complaint patterns | 4 of 10 | Trustpilot 1.1 from 1,550 reviews for all of Intuit US (0 of 4); QuickBooks Community threads document price increases and Desktop users pushed to subscriptions (several), leaving 4 of 6. |
Source: HRPricing payroll scores, checked Oct 17, 2026, from published terms, prices and documented complaints. Full method: how we score payroll providers.
Who QuickBooks Payroll fits, and who should pick something else
QuickBooks Payroll
Fits a business that keeps its books in QuickBooks Online, wants payroll posted to the ledger automatically, and does not mind paying for the bundle. Choose Elite only if the $25,000 penalty protection is worth a price you will have to get from sales.
How the score adds up
- Price15/25
- Tax filing8/20
- Features10/20
- Contract and exit11/15
- Support4/10
- Complaints record4/10
What works
- Published prices for three bundles
- No annual contract
- Elite covers penalties and interest up to $25,000 a year
- Payroll data kept a year after canceling
Watch out for
- Penalty protection only on Elite, which has no public price
- $12 a month for each extra state, and you register yourself
- Repeated price increases reported
- $150 for year-end forms after you cancel
Pick something else if:
- You do not use QuickBooks Online. Gusto Simple is $109 a month for 10 employees and Patriot Full Service is $87 (Gusto pricing, Patriot review).
- You want a penalty guarantee without buying the top tier: compare Gusto vs QuickBooks.
- You are on Desktop and facing a renewal: see QuickBooks Payroll alternatives.
The full ranking is in best payroll software for small businesses.
Bottom line: for 10 employees, QuickBooks Payroll with Simple Start accounting costs $153 a month after the promo. It makes sense when you need QuickBooks Online anyway. If you only need payroll, cheaper published options exist.
Frequently asked questions
Does QuickBooks do payroll?
How much is QuickBooks Payroll per month?
Which QuickBooks Payroll plans does Intuit sell now?
Does QuickBooks pay payroll tax penalties?
Can I get W-2s after I cancel QuickBooks Payroll?
Is there a QuickBooks Payroll free trial?
Sources (13)
- Intuit: QuickBooks payroll pricing (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Intuit: QuickBooks Contractor Payments (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Intuit: Tax Penalty Protection (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Intuit: Cancel your QuickBooks Payroll subscription (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Intuit: QuickBooks payroll disclosure (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- QuickBooks Community: Price increase 2025 (seen Oct 16, 2026)
- QuickBooks Community: Price increase for Workforce (seen Oct 16, 2026)
- QuickBooks Community: Abrupt cost increases (seen Oct 16, 2026)
- QuickBooks Community: How to get a W-2 when I stopped using QB Payroll mid-year (seen Oct 16, 2026)
- QuickBooks Community: Deactivate employee payroll (seen Oct 16, 2026)
- G2: QuickBooks Workforce reviews (seen Oct 16, 2026)
- Trustpilot: Intuit QuickBooks (US) reviews (seen Oct 16, 2026)
- Hacker News: Comment on leaving QuickBooks Payroll (seen Oct 16, 2026)
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