Compare ratings, reviews, features, and pricing to see which service will do the most for your small business.
Every day, small businesses share all the dirt about their payroll service on review sites like G2 Crowd. Here’s how the premium companies compare:
Meets Requirements
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Ease of Use
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Ease of Setup
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Ease of Admin
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Quality of Support
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Ease of Doing Business With
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Sentiment on Product Direction
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Customer review data on this page is all from G2.com. Links and additional resources.
Once you have a sense of which payroll solutions you want to consider, take a closer look to make a more informed choice. The mix of payroll, HR and benefits that different providers offer can vary dramatically — as can the cost.
Payroll isn’t the only thing most payroll companies do. From paying employees to keeping your HR compliant, here’s a quick overview of what most businesses look for. Or see our complete guide to choosing a provider for a detailed checklist.
Any provider should allow you to enter hours or wage information, calculate state, federal, and local payroll taxes, and keep track of all the deductions and withholding. But getting from gross pay (what your employees earn) to net pay (what’s in their paychecks) is only one thing to look for. When comparing payroll services, make sure completing a pay run is easy and intuitive. And also check the reviews to make sure you choose the most accurate service.
Here’s how the top payroll services are rated for entering payroll data and the accuracy of tax calculations:
Payroll Entry
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Tax Calculation
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Customer review data on this page is all from G2.com. Links and additional resources.
Can you pay employees the way they want to be paid? And how much work will go into it on your end? Most small businesses (and their employees) prefer direct deposit payroll because transactions happen automatically, but some opt to print checks — or to have a provider do it for them. Make sure the payroll company you choose handles payments your way.
All the best payroll solutions receive great ratings for direct deposit, but some charge extra fees for the service.
Among the premium providers on this page, automated state and federal taxes are par for the course. No matter who you choose, having all your tax forms and payments filed for you will save a lot of time.
These services all offer at least some help with year-end W-2s and 1099s, too. Outsourcing your workers’ year-end taxes will keep you organized and free up employees to do their taxes on time. Double check to understand any fees for W-2s and 1099s. Traditional providers often add on annual and per-employee fees, while newer cloud-based systems like OnPay and Gusto process employees’ tax forms for free.
Here’s how small business owners rate different providers for the way they handle payroll taxes:
Tax Filing
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Automatic Tax Payment
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Check/W-2 Printing
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Check/W-2 Delivery
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Customer review data on this page is all from G2.com. Links and additional resources.
Once you’ve got payroll and taxes covered, it’s a good idea to look at the other ways the services you consider can save time. Employee self-onboarding lets you move all the paperwork for new hires into the cloud. Just enter a few employee or contractor details, and many providers will work with your new hire to get everything set up online. Self-service features will help down the road by letting employees pull their own paystubs and update information — freeing up you and your team to focus on more important activities. Make sure your provider offers lifetime employee accounts so former employees can retrieve their own records after they’ve left the company.
In customer ratings, the more modern providers lead the way when it comes to employee experience:
Web Portal
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Benefits Manager
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Mobile
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Customer review data on this page is all from G2.com. Links and additional resources.
For most small businesses, payroll is just the beginning of a much more complex accounting process. From analyzing labor costs to getting data synced with your accounting software, there’s still a lot of heavy lifting to do after you run payroll. Does the service you’re looking at give business owners what they need to delegate responsibilities to other employees? And while all of these solutions offer some form of payroll reports and integrations with software like QuickBooks and Xero, a few allow a lot more flexibility. Be on the lookout for add-on fees for access to these services — especially from better-known traditional providers.
Here’s what small business owners think of their payroll’s reporting, scalability, and user management capabilities:
Reporting and Dashboards
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
User, Role, and Access Management
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Scalability
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Accounting Integration
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Customer review data on this page is all from G2.com. Links and additional resources.
From ADP to QuickBooks, all of the top five payroll companies offer some form of integrated employee benefits and workers’ comp coverage — as well as HR features ranging from org charts to time off management and time tracking. For some providers, like OnPay, most or all of these HR services are automated and included for a single fee. Others, like Gusto and Paychex, require an upgrade.
When researching solutions, it’s a good idea to ask specifically how workers’ comp or 401(k)-related expenses are deducted and remitted, and what additional administration fees are required to access broader HR and benefits admin capabilities.
While it may be a routine business activity, payroll isn’t easy. The average small business owner who does payroll themselves spends about 18 hours a month calculating and processing payments.
Good payroll software simplifies a lot of the work, but tax laws change, humans make mistakes, and even the best payroll providers experience a hiccup every now and then. From setting up your employees to answering questions to dealing with issues if they ever come up, it’s critical to choose a service with outstanding support.
In the ratings and reviews, one provider really stands out:
Quality of Support
OnPay
Gusto
Paychex Flex
Run by ADP
QuickBooks Payroll
Customer review data on this page is all from G2.com. Links and additional resources.
All of the top solutions do most things pretty well. Some small businesses are most comfortable going with a name they recognize, like ADP or Paychex, regardless of the cost. Others like to keep all their finances with Intuit. And some business owners prefer the energetic feel of Gusto.
OnPay is often the highest rated among small business owners — both overall, and when it comes to customer service. We also share PCMag’s highest rating with Gusto (while the Motley Fool’s Blueprint says we’re in a league of our own). If you have a few minutes, we encourage you to take a closer look!
We’ll even migrate all your employee info and prior wages for you.
For full-service payroll, pricing should start at around $40 a month. When you evaluate different providers, make sure you understand how they calculate pricing. A number of payroll companies charge per pay run, and since most businesses run payroll two or more times per month, the actual cost can be a lot more than it looks when you first get an estimate.
Also, beware of setup fees, integration fees, and annual fees for things like W-2 filings. In a perfect world, all payroll costs should look something like this.
We put together detailed, head-to-head comparisons of both the feature sets and the review data for most of the premium payroll solutions. Compare any two providers here:
Really understanding pricing is probably the most important thing you can do. Even if you’re not price-sensitive, there can be a lot of sticker shock after the fact if you end up spending two-to-three times the price you were quoted.
One other thing to think about is any special tax treatment or reports you might need. For example, farms and ag businesses often need to file Form 943 for certain employees. Nonprofits are exempt from federal unemployment taxes, and churches have additional exemptions their payroll provider may need to help with. When you’re looking for the best payroll service for your business, make sure to get into the little details so all your bases will be covered.
If it helps, here’s how OnPay serves different industries:
The ratings on this page are all based on customer ratings from Gartner’s G2.com — one of the most reputable sites. If you’re looking for additional resources to help make your decision, we also recommend the following sites:
These days, all the best services are based in the cloud. While some of the core functionality of desktop payroll software can be good, online services offer a number of distinct advantages:
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