Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
Best for Businesses That Plan to Grow
ADP Run
- Highly scalable
- Accessible and thorough employee records
- Customizable and voluminous reports
- Professional user experience
- Excellent mobile apps
- Expensive
- Manual hour entry could be easier
ADP is a well-known provider of payroll and benefits administration services. ADP Run is its version for SMBs. It offers an exceptional combination of usability and flexibility. ADP Run’s depth and customizability show in every part of the service, including its mobile apps.
ADP Run targets businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Its attention to detail makes it a good choice for organizations that need deep payroll processing, recordkeeping, and reporting capabilities. Because ADP has plans for businesses of all sizes, it’s an appealing option if your company is set to grow.
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Best User Experience
Gusto
- Exceptional user experience
- Straightforward operations
- Flexible spreadsheet view of pay run
- Excellent reporting tools
- Dedicated mobile apps
- Expensive
- Many reports require you to download them
Gusto has four subscription levels for payroll processing, making it more scalable than most competitors. You can start with Gusto Simple, which offers everything you need to run payroll, and then upgrade as you need more features (such as more HR options and time-tracking tools). A contractor-only version is also available. Gusto’s user experience is outstanding, and it almost makes the process of running payroll pleasant.
Gusto is ideal for novice payroll managers thanks to its support resources, understandable workflow, and usability. But it can also easily support your business as it grows.
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- Fast, capable payroll processing
- Terrific user experience
- Expanded compliance resources
- Supports numerous vertical industries
- Exceptional employee portal
- No automatic payroll
- Custom reports could be more intuitive
The flexible OnPay serves both general and specialized businesses, including those in agricultural, medical, and professional service industries. It’s easy to use thanks to its clear interface and navigation tools. OnPay also has a reasonable price of $49 per month, plus $6 per employee per month.
OnPay is ideal for small businesses new to payroll, though it can also handle hundreds of employees. The service doesn’t pile on extra fees the way some others do, so it’s good if you are trying to keep your budget in check. OnPay rivals Gusto in terms of usability, so you can get up to speed quickly, no matter your level of previous experience.
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Responsive Site
- Simple, understandable user experience
- Excellent pay type management
- Deep integration with QuickBooks Online
- Many thorough, customizable reports
- Great Workforce employee app
- Expensive
- Some pages tend to sprawl
- Post-payroll summary could be better
QuickBooks Online is the best overall small business accounting service, and it integrates beautifully with QuickBooks Payroll. If you don’t use QuickBooks for accounting, you can still use QuickBooks Payroll as a standalone application. It has a flexible and thorough setup process, as well as numerous customizable payroll reports. Like all Intuit products, the app’s user interface and navigation tools are simple and understandable.
We recommend QuickBooks Payroll primarily for QuickBooks Online users. It’s more expensive than most competitors, but its deep, smooth integration might justify the expense if you want to take advantage of this all-in-one system. However, it doesn’t integrate with any other accounting applications. There are better, less expensive payroll services that you could use as a standalone or integrated service.
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Intuit QuickBooks Payroll Review
- Exceptional setup process and guidance for new users
- Attractive, intuitive interface
- Detailed and flexible Hours and Money Types
- Excellent employee portals
- Great mobile access
- HR and Time & Attendance components cost extra
- Pay runs could be more versatile
There’s something almost charming about the flexible and inexpensive Patriot Software Payroll. The information it shows you is, for the most part, easily scannable, though its simplicity is deceptive. Behind those modest, friendly pages is an efficient and intuitive payroll processing engine. An affordable, simple, and integrated accounting application called Patriot Software Accounting adds to the appeal.
If your small business isn’t likely to scale up and doesn’t need expansive HR support, you should consider Patriot Software Payroll because of its exceptional setup wizard, guidance for new users, and thorough focus on payroll. It can technically handle more than 100 employees, but it’s best for companies with fewer than 10.
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Best for Managing Hourly Workers
Homebase
- Excellent scheduling tools
- Good payroll worksheet
- Multiple time import options
- Custom reports
- Expensive
- Limited integration options
- Weak payroll preview and few reports
Homebase started as a scheduling and time tracking app for hourly workers and added payroll functionality later. The site’s payroll and HR tools are fairly robust, though its real strengths and depth lie in its original focus on managing hourly employees. We also appreciate its clear user interface.
Homebase is best if you run a small, service-based business and need comprehensive scheduling and time tracking tools for hourly workers. The payroll section of the app also supports salaried employees if you need that functionality, however. Finally, the software’s approachable design means it’s suitable even if you don’t have a lot of experience with payroll.
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Homebase Review
- Competent payroll processing
- Good integrations with related Square apps
- Clear user experience
- Helpful setup guide
- Great support options
- Not the best value by itself
- Supports few earnings types
- Minimal customizability
- Limited report options
Square offers an excellent ecosystem of financial services and tools that work well together. Its payroll piece, Square Payroll, integrates especially well with Square Point of Sale (POS). The combination supports hourly workers and payroll administrators as they record hours, schedule shifts, and complete other compensation-related tasks. We include Square Payroll here because of this powerful connection, but it’s expensive by itself, considering its limited features and scope.
Square Payroll works best in conjunction with Square POS, so you should consider it only if you intend to use both. We don’t recommend it for companies with dozens or even a handful of employees.
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The Best Payroll Services for 2025
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Buying Guide: The Best Payroll Services for 2025
What Is a Payroll Service?
We use the term “payroll service” to describe do-it-yourself software that enables you to run payroll, even if you don’t have a background in finance. These web-based apps process your organization’s payroll and distribute the correct amount of money to employees every payday. They calculate and submit payroll taxes and filings, as well as track other withholdings, such as for health insurance and retirement plans. They provide templates for thorough employee records and allow you to create policies for additional benefits like time off. These services are also compliant with standard industry guidelines and best practices.
You can often connect payroll websites to small business accounting applications like Intuit QuickBooks Online so that the payroll data becomes a part of a company’s overall finances. Within payroll apps, you can view such data in preformatted reports or customize the output to suit your specific needs. And although our focus is on the actual payroll process, we also look at the HR tools that these services offer.
Besides automatically submitting payroll taxes and filings, the payroll services we review also calculate, prepare, and sometimes distribute W-2s and 1099s. The companies that develop them also provide mobile apps that allow you to do most of the tasks as on the desktop web versions, including processing payrolls. Workers can access a lot of their own payroll data via employee apps, too.
Payroll worksheet in Gusto (Credit: Gusto/PCMag)
How We Test Payroll Services
When we test and review payroll services every year, we specifically look at those we deem best for small businesses of 10 workers or fewer—that’s our sweet spot. (Of course, some of these applications can handle hundreds of employees.) We run payrolls using sample payroll data and evaluate the depth and usefulness of features like employee records and HR tools. We also look at each payroll service’s history, reputation, and security practices.
How Much Does Payroll Cost for a Small Business?
Every payroll website we reviewed charges a base price, averaging around $50 per month, and a per-worker (employee or contractor) monthly charge of usually just a few dollars. Some, like Patriot Software and Gusto, have additional fees for some services.
If you’re on a budget and want full-service payroll at the lowest cost, Patriot Software is your best choice. It costs $37 per month, plus $5 per month per worker. Square Payroll, which, like Homebase, works especially well for hourly workers. It goes for $35 per month, plus $6 per month per worker. (Its contractor-only version waives the monthly base fee.)
You pay a lot more for four of the other payroll websites we reviewed. ADP Run, Gusto, Homebase, and Intuit QuickBooks Payroll are among the most expensive. Their base prices are roughly $80 per month, and then you must factor in the per-worker fees. To be fair, these applications provide more depth and flexibility than the less expensive ones. OnPay, however, gives you roughly comparable capabilities for much less.
Why Do You Need Payroll Software?
If you process payroll manually, you know it’s a complex, deadline-driven, and exacting process. Your employees count on you to dispatch their paychecks and authorize direct deposits on scheduled paydays. They expect you to know how much to withhold for all the taxes they owe and the benefits you offer—and to pay them.
There’s an enormous amount of detail to track, especially if you try to do it all on paper. Employees generally don’t tolerate mistakes well. Tax agencies can assess stiff fines and other penalties if you don’t get payroll filings and taxes in on time, too. Benefits providers might cut off services such as health insurance if you fall behind on payments.
Payroll services help you process accurate and timely pay runs. They count on you to provide correct information about your payroll configuration and employees. And they won’t let you complete a payroll if you’re missing any required inputs.
These applications make supporting data like employee profiles available while you’re getting ready to pay your workers. They also offer special assistance and error-checking in many areas. For example, Gusto can complete your state registration for you (for a fee), and ADP Run is especially good at troubleshooting pay runs.
Possible problem alert in ADP Run (Credit: ADP/PCMag)
These services can save you an enormous amount of time, which is usually in short supply for business owners. They minimize the frustration and headaches that come with payday, ultimately promoting goodwill with your employees because of their accuracy, flexibility, and timeliness. And they might even save you money you would otherwise pay in penalties.
In short, there really aren’t any downsides to paying your employees and contractors via a payroll service.
What Does Setting Up a Payroll Service Entail?
Though each payroll service has a unique user experience, they all have similar structures. They begin with the setup process, which is the most detail-oriented and time-consuming aspect of paying your staff.
Though the exact order varies, some services walk you through pages of questions in a step-by-step fashion. Others provide partial setup wizards and leave the rest to you. These setup wizards ask for information about your company, such as your address and Employer Identification Number (EIN). You select your payroll schedule, which is usually weekly or biweekly, and you connect the application to your payroll bank account.
If your business offers employee benefits such as health insurance and retirement plans, you can create records that outline the cost to employees and any company contributions. If this is the case, you need to ensure that you pay benefits providers on time. Some companies, like ADP and OnPay, function as benefits brokers, while others, like Homebase and Intuit, allow you to work with third-party providers. These services then deduct the required amounts during the payroll process and submit them.
As part of the setup, you must also create thorough records for each employee, with details such as their contact information, date of birth, number of allowances from form W-4, salary or hourly pay rate, and Social Security number.
Employee record in Patriot Software Payroll (Credit: Patriot Software/PCMag)
If you have compensated employees in the past, you need to enter any existing payroll history. This process can be arduous and might require assistance from the site’s onboarding specialists because absolute accuracy is critical. Some sites, like ADP Run, include tools to help automate this process.
If you offer additional payroll types like paid time off and sick pay, you can define your policies for accruing these benefits. The services then keep track of them for you. You can also pay bonuses and commissions during a regular pay run or issue them by creating an off-cycle payroll. Need to include garnishments like child support on paychecks? Payroll services can do that, too. Most also let you create custom pay types, sometimes even when you’re in the middle of a pay run.
Once you complete the setup, you generally can’t return to the dedicated setup tools, so it’s essential to get everything right the first time. That said, every payroll service we tested has a comprehensive settings section where you can add to and modify the payroll information you’ve already entered.
Setup takes time and might require you to consult many resources. But, in the end, it allows you to run your payrolls so much faster than you could manually.
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How Long Does It Take to Run a Payroll?
Running payroll is the easy part. Though they differ in many ways, payroll services all work similarly during the actual pay run. When you launch a payroll, they show you a list of hourly and salaried employees (and possibly contractors; you might run them separately) and their pay rates. You first check to make sure the pay period and pay date are correct. After that, you simply enter the number of hours worked, where applicable, in the appropriate pay type boxes (such as regular, overtime, vacation) or import them.
Every service has more than one way to import hours from a mobile app, a time clock, or time sheets, all of which are more likely to be accurate than entering them manually. Sometimes, you pay extra for this capability, like with ADP Run, which lets you turn a tablet into a time clock for punching in and out.
After you enter all the necessary details, you preview your payroll. You can see each employee’s gross and net pay, withholding for taxes and benefits, and any company contributions. The payroll services then show you the total amount of money they will withdraw from your bank account for direct deposits and taxes, as well as the exact date of the withdrawal. And they usually provide a link to any checks you must print.
Hours worksheet in Homebase (Credit: Homebase/PCMag)
After you approve a payroll, the services can generate additional tables or reports with the details of the pay run. Many allow you to edit, cancel, or void a payroll after you approve it, but before a certain deadline.
If you have few employees or a very simple payroll, the process shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Depending on which service you use, you might be able to let payrolls process automatically (assuming there are no changes from the previous run). Some even offer same-day payroll and advances on paychecks.
In larger companies, separate departments usually handle payroll and HR. In your small business, though, both of those responsibilities might land on your desk or that of another employee. There’s so much overlap between payroll and HR that you will do HR tasks even if you’re strictly running your payroll through a payroll service.
Most of the payroll services we review offer basic HR components, such as document storage, document templates, online W-4 and W-9 forms, and new hire reporting. Some offer extras, such as background checks, compliance alerts, performance reviews, and recruitment and talent management. We primarily look at each site’s payroll processing capabilities and consider good HR tools a bonus.
Are Payroll Sites Safe?
The thought of using a payroll service might leave you wondering whether it’s safe to put all your business’s payroll data online. All the payroll services we review come from reputable companies with years or even decades of experience. They make every effort to keep your sensitive payroll data safe, as you can read about in our reviews. Many support multi-factor authentication, too.
Can You Conduct Payroll From Your Phone?
It’s possible to run a payroll from your phone, though it’s easier to do so from a larger screen. Many mobile versions let you view employee records and sometimes even reports. Some payroll services are accessible through mobile browsers, while dedicated apps are available for others. They don’t all replicate absolutely every feature of their desktop counterparts, but some do.
As mentioned, you can invite employees to create login credentials and enter some of their personal information on their worker portal, either via the desktop or mobile versions. In most cases, they can do much more than that, such as punch in and out, request time off, see pay stubs, and view benefits.
