Payroll Software for Small Business (2026)

Payroll software for small business ranked by cost at 10 employees

Patriot Full Service is the cheapest of the 11 full-service payroll plans we priced, at $87 a month for 10 employees, and Rippling is the most expensive at $220. Every plan below calculates pay, deposits and files federal and state payroll taxes, and issues W-2s. Each provider enters with its cheapest plan that does all of that.

Not every provider on the market. How we rank

The price is the base fee plus 10 per-person fees, billed monthly, for one state, at the regular price, so a free first month doesn’t change the order. RUN Powered by ADP and Paychex aren’t ranked because both sell payroll by quote only, and Justworks isn’t ranked because its pricing page blocked our check. Deel’s US payroll is left out because Deel calls it self-service and doesn’t say it files your taxes.

What each plan includes and where it costs extra

The cheapest bill isn’t always the cheapest plan for you: an extra state, faster deposits or contractor payments can add to it.

Each provider in rank order

Patriot, Roll and Square are the three cheapest at 10 employees, all within $8 a month of each other.

Patriot Full Service

Patriot Full Service is the lowest bill at 10 employees: $87 a month. That buys federal, state and local tax filing and deposits, plus year-end 940, 941, W-2 and W-3 filings at no extra fee. Support is US-based by phone, email and chat on weekdays. The catch is multistate: each extra state adds $12 a month, so a team in three states pays more than Roll.

Roll by ADP

Roll by ADP costs $89 a month for 10 people, and it pays W-2 employees and 1099 contractors at the same $5 rate in all 50 states. Roll runs mainly through a mobile app with chat support, has no long-term contract, and gives new customers three months free. Roll is a separate product from RUN Powered by ADP, which ADP sells by quote; ADP payroll pricing covers both. Roll is the pick for an owner who runs payroll from a phone and pays people in several states.

Square Payroll

Square Payroll costs $95 a month for 10 employees, with multistate filing and next-day deposit included. Tip tracking and timecard import come from Square POS, which is the reason to choose it. The per-person fee is $6, so Square drops behind Patriot and Roll as the team grows.

SurePayroll

SurePayroll costs $99 a month for 10 employees on its $29 base. The lowest base fee here makes it the cheapest plan for 1 to 3 people. W-2 and 1099 forms are billed once a year at $50 plus $5 per form, and the pricing page also shows a second card that starts at $39.

Wave Payroll

Wave Payroll costs $100 a month for 10 employees and files your state and IRS payroll taxes, but not your 1099s. Wave suits a business already keeping its books in Wave. Contractors cost $6 each per month.

OnPay

OnPay costs $109 a month for 10 employees on its one plan, which includes federal, state and local filings, W-2s, 1099s and pay in as many states as you need with no per-state fee listed. OnPay says it has no setup fees and gives one month free. For a team spread across states, OnPay’s flat terms can beat Patriot once Patriot’s state fees are added.

Homebase Payroll

Homebase Payroll costs $109 a month for 10 employees, the same as OnPay, and adds tax filing, W-2s, 1099s, tip pooling and next-day payroll to Homebase’s scheduling app. The free Homebase Basic plan covers one location and up to 10 employees, so an 11th hire or a second location means a paid plan.

Gusto Simple

Gusto Simple costs $119 a month for 10 employees, 8th of the 11 on price. Simple includes unlimited payrolls and tax filings and payments, but only in one state; a second state needs Gusto Plus at $219 for 10 people. Gusto’s plans and fees, including next-day pay and contractor add-ons, are broken out on their own page. Against the biggest name in payroll, see ADP vs Gusto.

QuickBooks Workforce Payroll

QuickBooks Workforce Payroll costs $120 a month for 10 employees, with next-day direct deposit and unlimited 1099 e-filing. The plan makes sense when your books are already in QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Payroll pricing comes with no free trial on payroll plans; the offer is a lower base fee for three months. QuickBooks and Gusto Simple are $1 a month apart at 10 people, so Gusto or QuickBooks comes down to where your books already live.

Paycor Basic

Paycor Basic costs $149 a month for 10 employees: the highest base fee here at $99, and a $5 per-person fee, the same as Patriot and Roll, so Paycor never closes the gap with them at any headcount. Paycor Basic includes federal and state tax filing and direct deposit with no setup fee.

Rippling

Rippling costs $220 a month for 10 employees: a $40 base fee, $8 per person for the platform and $10 per person for payroll billed monthly. Those payroll figures come from Rippling’s own blog, because the Rippling pricing page quotes payroll by request. Rippling is built for companies that want HR, IT and payroll in one system; for payroll alone it costs the most here. Rippling vs Gusto is the closer comparison.

How much does payroll software cost for a small business?

Full-service payroll software costs $87–$220 a month for 10 employees across the 11 plans we priced. Below 5 people the base fee decides the order; above 10 the per-person fee does.

For self-file and contractor-only plans too, see every payroll plan ranked by cost at 1, 5 and 10 people. If you’re hiring your first person, payroll for one employee has its own ranking, where SurePayroll comes first. Payroll fees sit on top of the taxes themselves; the employer payroll tax calculator shows those for your team.

Can I just use QuickBooks for payroll?

Yes: QuickBooks sells payroll on its own, and Workforce Payroll costs $50 a month plus $7 per employee. At 10 employees that is $120 a month, or $33 more than Patriot Full Service. Intuit’s pages don’t say payroll-only needs QuickBooks Online accounting, and Intuit also sells accounting and payroll bundles.

Which payroll plans don’t file taxes for you?

Patriot Basic and Payroll4Free’s free software calculate paychecks but leave tax deposits and filings to you, which is why neither is in this ranking. Patriot Basic costs $17 a month plus $4 per person. Payroll4Free is $0 for 9 or fewer people paid at most monthly, runs on Windows, and doesn’t publish the price of its tax service. Both suit someone who already knows the deposit schedule and filing deadlines.

How to choose payroll software

Pick on the one fact about your business that changes the bill most.

• If you run Square POS or need tips imported, take Square Payroll; restaurant payroll software has its own ranking.
• If you pay people in more than one state, compare Roll and OnPay, which include every state, against Patriot plus its state fees.
• If half your team are contractors, Roll charges the same $5 for both.
• If you also need benefits and HR, payroll software alone won’t cover it: look at HR software for small business or PEO services.
• If you’re comparing the big quote-only names, ADP vs Paychex covers what they sell.