What's the best payroll software for a small business in 2026?

Gusto is a full-service payroll provider built for small US businesses. You enter hours and pay changes, Gusto runs unlimited payrolls, and its plans include tax filings and payments. The interface is built for owners, not accountants.

Pricing is a monthly base plus a per-person fee. Simple costs $49 a month plus $6 per person and covers payroll in a single state. Plus, at $80 a month plus $12 per person, adds multi-state payroll and time tracking. Premium sits at $180 a month plus $22 per person. A contractor-only plan exists if you only pay 1099 workers.

Run the numbers for your headcount: on Simple, 5 people cost $79 a month, 10 cost $109, and 20 cost $169. That's level with OnPay at the same sizes, so the decision comes down to the state question and the HR extras you need.

The catch is that one-state limit on Simple. The day you hire a remote employee in another state, you move to Plus, and the per-person fee doubles from $6 to $12. At 20 people, that jump takes you from $169 to $320 a month.

Tip: if a remote hire in a second state is on your roadmap, price Plus from day one. Teams that plan around the Simple price often get surprised by the switch after their first out-of-state offer letter.

OnPay sells one payroll plan and puts almost everything in it. Payroll Essentials costs $49 a month plus $6 per worker, and that price includes W-2 and 1099 filings, multi-state payroll and phone support. There are no implementation or integration fees, and the first month is free.

That flat design is its biggest strength. Where Gusto charges more for multi-state payroll, OnPay doesn't. A team with 10 people spread across three states pays $109 a month on OnPay. The same team pays $200 on Gusto Plus.

If you need HR tools (onboarding, handbooks, compliance resources), the HR add-on costs another $15 a month plus $2 per worker. You can skip it and still run full-service payroll.

Its limit: one plan means less choice. If you want HR tools, you pay the add-on, and if your business runs on many connected apps, check OnPay's integration list before you switch.

Tip: OnPay's phone support is part of the base plan. If you've been burned by chat-only payroll support, that alone can settle the choice.

Square Payroll comes from the company behind the Square card reader, but you don't need to sell with Square to use it. Full-service payroll costs $35 a month plus $6 per person paid. That's the lowest base fee among the full-service plans we compared.

Full-service means Square calculates, withholds and files federal payroll taxes for you, and files with state agencies too, including state income tax and state unemployment tax where they apply. Multi-state payroll is included in the same price, with tax payments and filings for each state where you run payroll.

Run the numbers: 5 people cost $65 a month, 10 cost $95, and 20 cost $155. That puts Square between Patriot Full Service and Gusto or OnPay at every size, with multi-state included, which Patriot's entry price and Gusto Simple don't match on that point.

If you only pay contractors, the contractor-only plan has no base fee at all: $6 per person paid in the month. It doesn't include payroll tax filing, which contractors don't need.

Its limit: Square Payroll is built for straightforward payroll. If you need deeper HR tools around it, Gusto's plans cover more ground. Tip: the price is per person paid in the month, so a seasonal business pays less in quiet months.

Patriot Software is the low-cost option in this comparison. Basic Payroll costs $17 a month plus $4 per worker: it runs payroll, but you file payroll taxes yourself. Full Service costs $37 a month plus $5 per worker, and Patriot files and deposits the taxes for you.

For most businesses, Full Service is the right plan. Tax filing mistakes are where payroll gets expensive, and the gap ($20 more on the base, $1 more per worker) is a small price to hand that work off. At 5 people, Full Service costs $62 a month; at 10, $87; at 20, $137. That's the lowest full-service price we found.

One detail many miss: in months when you don't run payroll, Patriot only charges the base fee. Seasonal businesses notice the difference.

Its limit is depth. Patriot does payroll well and keeps the rest light. Benefits administration, advanced time tracking and HR workflows are thinner than at Gusto, and the integration list is short.

Tip: Patriot regularly runs a 50% discount for the first three months on new accounts. Start in a slow month so the discount covers your learning curve.

QuickBooks Payroll makes the most sense for one kind of business: one that already does its accounting in QuickBooks. Payroll runs inside the same account, and wages, taxes and liabilities flow straight into your books. No exports, no reconciliation between two systems.

Intuit sells payroll bundled with accounting. Workforce Payroll with Simple Start costs $88 plus $6.50 per employee. With Essentials, it's $125 plus $6.50. The Premium payroll tier with Plus accounting is $203 plus $10 per employee. These are full monthly prices; Intuit often discounts the first three months by 50%, which brings the entry bundle to $44.

Compared like for like, it looks expensive: $153 a month for 10 people on the entry bundle, against $109 on Gusto or OnPay. But that price includes your accounting software. If you were paying for QuickBooks anyway, the real payroll cost is the difference.

Its limit: if you don't use QuickBooks for accounting, there's little reason to pick it. And bundled pricing makes it harder to see what payroll alone costs you.

Tip: check the billing period on the pricing page before you sign. The bundle prices are easy to misread, and the per-employee fee jumps on the Premium tier.