Every payroll service quotes a base fee and a per-employee fee, which makes them impossible to compare at a glance. So put in your headcount and this works out what each one really costs a month, then shows exactly where per-employee pricing overtakes a low flat base.
Pricing reviewed 29 August 2026 . Indicative US published pricing in USD; some providers (ADP, Paychex, Paycor) are quote-based and shown as typical figures.
Per-employee fees multiply. Change your headcount and the ranking re-sorts by your real monthly cost.
See payroll priced beside 632 tools and services, in one list →
| Service | Base / mo | Per employee | Cost at your size | Per employee all-in | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho PayrollBest value Single-state payroll in all 50 states with the usual pay schedules; the Standard plan is $29 a month for the organisation billed annually, plus $5 per employee. Worth it mainly if you already run other Zoho apps. |
$29 | $5 | $54 | $10.80 | Zoho ecosystem users | Visit site |
| Patriot Low per-employee rate; a self-service tier drops the base to $17 if you file your own taxes. |
$37 | $5 | $62 | $12.40 | Budget full-service | Visit site |
| SurePayroll Great for very small teams and nanny/household payroll, with tax filing on the full-service plan; multi-state adds $9.99. |
$29 | $7 | $64 | $12.80 | Small & household | Visit site |
| Roll by ADP Run payroll by text from your phone; flat pricing with ADP’s tax engine behind it. |
$39 | $5 | $64 | $12.80 | App-first, chat-based | Visit site |
| Square Payroll Integrates with Square POS; a contractor-only plan drops the base to $0 + $6 per contractor. |
$35 | $6 | $65 | $13.00 | Square & retail users | Visit site |
| isolved Full-service payroll with HR and benefits for growing companies. |
$40 | $5 | $65 | $13.00 | Mid-market focus | Visit site |
| Homebase Payroll Pairs with Homebase scheduling and time clocks, ideal for restaurants and retail. |
$39 | $6 | $69 | $13.80 | Hourly & shift teams | Visit site |
| Wave Payroll Cheaper ($20 base) in self-service states where you file the taxes yourself. |
$40 | $6 | $70 | $14.00 | Wave accounting users | Visit site |
| Rippling A modular platform where payroll is $8/employee on top of a base, powerful but it adds up. |
$35 | $8 | $75 | $15.00 | Payroll + IT + HR | Visit site |
| OnPay One flat plan with full-service payroll, HR and multi-state built in, no upsell tiers or hidden add-ons. |
$49 | $6 | $79 | $15.80 | One flat plan, no upsells | Visit site |
| Gusto Simple plan at $49 + $6/employee with excellent UX; the $35 tier below it pays contractors only, not employees. |
$49 | $6 | $79 | $15.80 | Popular all-rounder | Visit site |
| QuickBooks Payroll Tight accounting integration; Core plan here, higher tiers add same-day direct deposit. |
$50 | $6 | $80 | $16.00 | QuickBooks users | Visit site |
| Namely All-in-one HR platform with integrated payroll; strong culture tools. |
$50 | $6 | $80 | $16.00 | HRIS + payroll | Visit site |
| Dayforce Integrated HCM + payroll with real-time processing; strong compliance. |
$55 | $6 | $85 | $17.00 | Global payroll suite | Visit site |
| Oracle HCM Cloud Large-scale cloud HCM with payroll; enterprise pricing. |
$55 | $7 | $90 | $18.00 | Oracle payroll module | Visit site |
| Multiplier Global Payroll starts at $20 an employee a month; its EOR runs from $459. |
None | $20 | $100 | $20.00 | Cheapest global payroll | Visit site |
| Deel Payroll (US) Pays contractors worldwide; simplified US W-2 payroll available. |
None | $25 | $125 | $25.00 | Global contractor payroll | Visit site |
| Fingercheck Payroll, time tracking and hiring together; the 360 plan is where payroll starts and every plan bills a five-employee minimum. |
$79 | $10 | $129 monthly minimum |
$25.80 | Hourly teams with time clocks | Visit site |
| Hourly Gold plan at $80 + $12 an employee; workers comp is a separate product, not bundled into that price. |
$80 | $12 | $140 | $28.00 | Payroll plus workers comp | Visit site |
| Papaya Global Payroll Plus starts at $29 an employee a month; the EOR product is a different thing entirely at $499. |
None | $29 | $145 | $29.00 | Global payroll at scale | Visit site |
| Remote.com Payroll Payroll for remote workers and global teams; flexible per-person model. |
None | $30 | $150 | $30.00 | Global and contractor | Visit site |
| Deel Pay international contractors at $49 each; full EOR costs much more. Not for simple US W-2 payroll. |
None | $49 | $245 | $49.00 | Global contractors | Visit site |
| Justworks A PEO: the high per-employee fee buys big-company health benefits and full HR and compliance. |
None | $59 | $295 | $59.00 | PEO with benefits | Visit site |
| Insperity Professional Employer Organization with payroll, HR and compliance bundled. |
None | $72 | $360 | $72.00 | HR-focused PEO | Visit site |
| ADP TotalSource Payroll, HR, benefits and risk management; no base fee, high per-employee. |
None | $75 | $375 | $75.00 | Full-service PEO | Visit site |
| APS Payroll $50 + $6 an employee, but APS states a $416.67 monthly minimum, so a small team pays the floor rather than the formula. |
$50 | $6 | $417 monthly minimum |
$83.33 | Mid-size with a floor | Visit site |
| Paycom One of the biggest US payroll providers and it publishes no figure anywhere, only a quote form. |
not published | not published | Quote | via quote | Large US employers | Visit site |
| Paylocity Quote only; the pricing page returns nothing a reader or a script can price. |
not published | not published | Quote | via quote | Mid-market HR and payroll | Visit site |
| BambooHR HR tiers are published, but payroll is sold as an add-on and priced by quote. |
not published | not published | Quote | via quote | HR first, payroll bolted on | Visit site |
| Paychex Flex Quote-based; strong compliance and a dedicated rep, but pricing is opaque and add-ons stack up. |
not published | not published | Quote | via quote | Scaling SMBs | Visit site |
| ADP Run Quote-based and pricier up front; deep compliance and HR for teams that want hand-holding. |
not published | not published | Quote | via quote | Established businesses | Visit site |
| Paycor A full HCM suite, quote-based and aimed at larger teams wanting everything in one system. |
not published | not published | Quote | via quote | Mid-market HR suite | Visit site |
| TriNet PEO with payroll, HR and benefits; quote-based, best for 100-500 employee range. |
not published | not published | Quote | via quote | Mid-market PEO | Visit site |
| Workday Payroll Large-scale cloud payroll with global capabilities; quote-based for most. |
not published | not published | Quote | via quote | Enterprise cloud payroll | Visit site |
| SAP SuccessFactors Global enterprise system with deep payroll integration; quote-based. |
not published | not published | Quote | via quote | Enterprise HCM + payroll | Visit site |
Usually a $30 to $50 base plus $4 to $8 per employee, so a team of five runs about $55 to $90. PEOs charge $50+ per employee with no base, in exchange for bundled benefits. Enter your headcount above for your real figure.
For tiny teams the base fee is most of the bill, so the lowest base wins and the table above is sorted that way by default. As you grow, whoever has the lowest per-employee fee wins, since that multiplies. Sort by cost at your size. Worth knowing before you pay anything: Payroll4Free is free up to nine employees, tax calculations and direct deposit included. It is not in the table because it does not publish what it charges above nine, and a table that ranks by cost cannot rank a cost nobody has published.
A low base plus a small per-employee charge suits most small businesses. Pure per-employee (PEO) pricing only pays off when the bundled benefits and HR are worth the premium. The calculator shows your crossover point.
Full-service payroll files and pays your federal, state and local payroll taxes automatically. A few cheaper self-service tiers hand that back to you. Check the plan is full-service, that is where the real value is.