Payroll for One Employee (2026): Services Ranked by Monthly Cost

Payroll services ranked by monthly cost for one employee

SurePayroll is the cheapest of the 11 full-service payroll plans we priced for one employee, at $36 a month, and Paycor Basic is the most expensive at $104. At one employee the base fee is most of the bill, so the order here differs from a 10-person ranking. Every plan below deposits and files federal and state payroll taxes; the price is the base fee plus one per-person fee, billed monthly, for one state.

Not every provider on the market. How we rank

RUN Powered by ADP and Paychex aren’t ranked because both quote prices on request. Payroll4Free and Patriot Basic are left out because you file the taxes yourself.

What one employee costs over a year, and with the owner on payroll

One employee costs $487 in year one on SurePayroll and $492 on Square, once SurePayroll’s annual form fees are added. If you pay yourself through payroll too, most services bill both of you, so the 2-person columns are your real price.

Is SurePayroll really the cheapest payroll for one employee?

SurePayroll is the cheapest payroll for one employee of the 11 we priced, on its main published price, $5 a month below Square, but three things weaken that lead.

• SurePayroll’s pricing page shows two starting prices. The page calculator uses $29, which we rank on, but a second card says $39. At that base one employee costs $46 a month, tied with Wave behind Square, Patriot and Roll. Confirm the price at sign-up.
• SurePayroll’s year-end forms cost extra. SurePayroll bills W-2s and 1099s once a year ($50 plus $5 per form), which shrinks its year-one lead over Square to $5. Patriot’s price includes its year-end filings.
• SurePayroll costs more with two people over a year. At 2 people, year one costs $576 on SurePayroll against $564 on Square or Patriot.

Other payroll services worth a look for one employee

Square, Patriot and Roll are within $3 a month of each other at one employee, so pick between them on what else you need.

• Square Payroll, $41 a month: no annual form fee on its pricing page, multistate filing and next-day deposit included; it fits best if you already take payments on Square.
• Patriot Full Service, $42 a month: year-end 940, 941, W-2 and W-3 filings included, with US-based phone support on weekdays.
• Roll by ADP, $44 a month: runs from a phone app, pays employees and contractors at the same rate, and gives new customers three months free.
• Gusto Simple, $56 a month: one state only; a second state means Gusto Plus.

The cheapest payroll service at any headcount is on its own page, where Patriot leads from 5 people up.

Do I need a payroll service for one employee?

You don’t legally need a payroll service for one employee, but you do need to withhold, deposit and file federal employment taxes for that one person, as set out in IRS Publication 15, plus your state’s withholding and unemployment filings. A full-service plan does all of that for $36 a month or more. Doing it yourself costs nothing in fees, and the steps below are the work you take on.

How do you do payroll for one employee yourself?

Running payroll for one employee yourself takes six steps, most of them repeated every payday or quarter.

1. Get an employer identification number (EIN) from the IRS.
2. Have your employee fill in Form W-4 for withholding and Form I-9 to verify they can work in the US.
3. Register with your state for income tax withholding and unemployment tax, and report the new hire to your state.
4. Each payday, withhold federal income tax plus the employee’s 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare, and pay the same Social Security and Medicare amounts again as the employer.
5. Deposit those taxes electronically on your IRS deposit schedule (Publication 15 explains how to find yours) and file Form 941 every quarter.
6. File Form 940 once a year for federal unemployment tax, 0.6% on the first $7,000 of wages after the usual state credit, and give your employee a W-2.

A payroll tax calculator shows the amounts for each paycheck. The true cost of your first employee is more than salary plus taxes, so price that before you hire. If you’re not sure the person is an employee at all, settle employee or contractor first, because a contractor gets a 1099 and none of the withholding above.

How much is QuickBooks payroll for one employee?

QuickBooks Workforce Payroll costs $57 a month for one employee: the $50 base fee plus $7. New buyers pay $25 for the base fee for the first three months, which makes the first three months $32 each. After that, QuickBooks is 9th of 11 here, $21 a month above SurePayroll.

What if the one employee is you?

If the one employee is you, most services charge for each person paid, so you plus one employee is 2 people on the bill. Paying only yourself as an S corp owner is a different setup, with its own salary rules.