What is the best payroll software in 2026?

OnPay keeps it simple: one payroll plan, Payroll Essentials, at $49 a month plus $6 per worker. That plan covers what most competitors split into tiers. Federal, state and local tax filings are included, W-2s and 1099s are included, and paying people in several states costs nothing extra. There are no implementation or integration fees.

Run the math for 20 people: $49 plus 20 times $6 is $169 a month. For 50 people it is $349. On a multi-state team, that gap widens against providers that charge per state.

Unlimited pay runs and year-end filings are included. Time Tracking costs $15 a month plus $4 per worker. The HR add-on costs $15 a month plus $2 per worker. It brings onboarding documents, policies and HR tools on top of payroll. Support is available by phone, chat and email, which users mention often, and the user base skews small: almost all of its reviewers work at companies with 50 people or fewer.

Its limit: OnPay is not trying to be an all-in-one HR platform for a 500-person company. Larger teams that need deep performance management or global payroll will outgrow it.

Tip: if you are moving from another provider mid-year, ask OnPay to load your year-to-date totals before your first run. Wrong YTD numbers are the most common cause of W-2 corrections in January.

QuickBooks Payroll is rarely bought alone. Intuit now sells it bundled with QuickBooks Online accounting: payroll plus Simple Start at $88 a month and $6.50 per employee, plus Essentials at $125 and $6.50, or the Premium payroll tier with QuickBooks Plus at $203 and $10 per employee. There is no annual contract.

The value is the link with your books. Paychecks, taxes and benefits post straight into your chart of accounts. If your bookkeeper already works in QuickBooks, that saves the monthly re-entry that payroll from another provider usually creates.

All three bundles are full-service: QuickBooks calculates, files and pays your payroll taxes. That puts it on the same level as OnPay on coverage, at a higher monthly price because you are also paying for accounting.

Its limit: price creep. The bundles look affordable during the introductory discount and jump afterwards. The jump between bundles is steep: from $6.50 to $10 per employee on the top tier.

Tip: if you only need payroll and your books are elsewhere, compare the QuickBooks bundle with OnPay plus your current accounting tool. You may be paying twice for accounting.

Patriot is the budget pick that does not cut corners on what matters. Full Service Payroll costs $37 a month plus $5 per worker, and Patriot deposits and files your federal, state and local payroll taxes. For 10 people, that is $87 a month.

Read the fine print on states, though. Each additional state costs $12 a month. A remote team spread across three states adds $24 to the bill, which narrows the gap with OnPay quickly.

Patriot also sells a Basic plan at $17 plus $4 per worker. It calculates paychecks, but you file and deposit the taxes yourself. It is cheaper for a reason. Unless you know the deposit schedules by heart, the full-service plan is the safer buy.

Its limit: Patriot is deliberately simple. Integrations are fewer than with QuickBooks, and HR features are basic. It shines for a small, stable team, less for a fast-growing company.

Tip: if all your employees are in one state, Patriot Full Service is hard to beat. If you hire remotely, recompute with the $12 per state before you sign.

Square Payroll makes sense for one kind of business: the one already running on Square. You import timecards and direct tips from Square POS into payroll, from the Payroll section of your Square Dashboard. No retyping at the end of the week.

The full-service plan costs $35 a month plus $6 per person paid. Square calculates, withholds and files your federal payroll taxes, and handles state payments and filings too. For a team of 12, that is $107 a month.

There is also a contractor-only plan at $6 per person paid. It suits a business that pays only freelancers. But it does not include automated federal and state tax payments and filings, because contractors handle their own taxes.

Its limit: outside the Square ecosystem, its main advantage disappears. HR features are light, and a business that grows into several locations with complex rules will find more depth elsewhere.

Tip: import timecards and tips before your first run, then check one paycheck line by line. Getting tips right on the first cycle saves corrections later.

ADP is the name many owners think of first, and RUN is its platform for companies of 1 to 49 employees. It comes in four packages: Essential, Enhanced, Complete and HR Pro. Each one includes what the previous one does, plus more HR tools.

All four include the core of payroll: ADP will calculate, file, deposit and reconcile your payroll taxes. That last word matters. Reconciliation means ADP checks that what was withheld matches what was deposited, which is where small businesses tend to get state notices.

Pricing is the catch. Every package shows a Get pricing button instead of a number. Users who mix ADP with QuickBooks for accounting speak well of the combination.

Its limit: you cannot compare it on price before a sales call.

Tip: get a quote from ADP and put it next to OnPay's public price for the same headcount. If ADP is more expensive, ask what the difference buys you in writing.