7 Best Payroll Services: A Dive Into Payroll Solutions

Managing payroll is complex and time-consuming, causing stress for businesses of all sizes. With the need to accurately calculate wages, withhold taxes, manage benefits, and stay compliant with constantly evolving regulations, it’s no wonder that many business owners and managers feel stressed.

Mistakes in payroll processing can lead to serious consequences, including hefty financial penalties, low employee morale, and even legal issues.

That’s why we’ve reviewed the best payroll services, helping you confidently choose the perfect solution to save time, reduce errors, and ensure compliance. We’ll guide you through finding the ideal match for your business needs.

QuickBooks Payroll

QuickBooks is an accounting software company that has been in business since 1983, and currently serves around 100,000 customers. It offers many services to small businesses, including payroll processing. QuickBooks Payroll is a cloud-based payroll software that allows businesses to pay employees, file payroll taxes and manage employee benefits.

Features

• Automatically calculate and file taxes
• Direct deposit for employees
• Manage employee benefits
• Generate reports for tax filing
• Create custom paychecks with deductions and withholdings
• Track time and attendance

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Easy-to-use interface
• Accurate calculations for taxes and deductions
• Great features for managing employee benefits

Cons:

• Expensive compared to some other options in our list, but still good value for money

Pricing

QuickBooks offers three different pricing tiers: Basic, Enhanced, and Full Service. Each tier offers different features and services at varying prices.

• The Payroll Core + Simple Start is for $75/month plus $5/employee per month.
• The Payroll Core + Essentials starts at $100/month plus $5/employee per month. It also lets you track hours and pay bills in one place.
• The. Payroll Premium + Plus starts at $160/month plus $8/employee per month. It comes with account support and allows up to 5 users per account.

Who Is This Software Best Suited For?

QuickBooks Payroll is best suited for small businesses looking for an easy-to-use payroll solution with useful features such as automated tax filing, direct deposit, and employee benefits management. With its affordable pricing plans, it’s a great option for businesses on a budget who want access to reliable payroll services without breaking the bank.

Visit QuickBooks’ website

Gusto

Gusto is a modern, online people platform that helps small businesses take care of their teams. Founded in 2011, Gusto has grown to serve over 200,000 businesses and their teams with modern HR tools, payroll, and benefits.

Features

• Automated payroll processing
• Employee onboarding and offboarding
• Tax filing and compliance
• Health insurance for employees
• 401(k) retirement plans
• Generous employee discounts on products and services
• Time tracking and PTO management
• Customizable pay stubs

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Easy-to-use interface for both employers and employees
• A complete suite of features to manage payroll, taxes, benefits, etc.
• Highly secure platform with bank-level encryption

Cons:

• Limited customization options for certain features such as pay stubs

Pricing

Gusto offers three pricing tiers: Simple ($40/month + $6/month per employee), Plus ($80/month + $12/month per employee), and Premium with custom pricing.

• The Simple plan includes employee profiles and self service, hiring and onboarding tools plus payroll and time-off reports.
• The Plus plan adds advanced reports, time tracking, project management, and workforce costing among other features.
• The Premium plan gives access to account managers, compliance reports, easy payroll migration features.

Who is Gusto Best Suited For?

Gusto is best suited for businesses looking for an intuitive platform to manage their payroll. With features and competitive pricing tiers it’s a great choice for businesses looking to improve their payroll processes while providing quality benefits to their employees.

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OnPay

OnPay is a cloud-based payroll processing system that helps small businesses automate tax filing and payment workflows. Founded in 2007, OnPay has quickly become one of the most popular payroll software solutions for small businesses. It currently serves over 10,000 customers across the US and Canada.

Features

• Automated payroll processing and tax filing
• Employee self-onboarding
• Time tracking and PTO management
• HR features such as employee onboarding, performance reviews, benefits administration, etc.
• Mobile app for employees to access their pay stubs, hours worked, and PTO balances
• Great reporting capabilities

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Helpful customer service
• Comprehensive HR features included in all plans
• Simple and direct pricing

Cons:

• No auto payment option

Pricing

OnPay charges a flat rate of $40 per month plus $6 per month per person paid. There are no additional fees or setup costs. All plans include full access to all features including automated payroll processing, employee self onboarding, time tracking and and PTO management.

Who Is OnPay Best Suited For?

OnPay is an ideal solution for businesses looking for an affordable yet complete payroll software solution with payroll processing and tax filing capabilities. OnPay is a great choice for businesses that want to make their payroll easier. It has an easy-to-use system and all the features you need are included in the plan, no extra cost.

Visit OnPay’s website

Square

Square is a financial services, merchant services aggregator, and mobile payment company based in San Francisco, California, operating since 2009. It also offers payroll services. With Square Payroll, businesses can easily manage their payroll online and automate tax filings.

Features

• Payroll tax filing
• Direct deposit payments
• Accurate calculations of employee and contractor payments
• Ability to pay hourly and salaried workers through direct deposit, check or Cash App/Cash Cards
• Year-end information for Square Payroll
• Use Square Shifts with Square Payroll
• Sign up for Square Payroll

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Broad payroll services
• Automated tax filings
• Easy deposit options

Cons:

• Limited reporting
• no free trial

Pricing

Square Payroll offers two different pricing plans based on whether the business wishes to pay employees, contractors, or just contractors. Here is a general overview of the pricing model:

1. Pay Employees & Contractors: This plan is for businesses that need to process payroll for employees and contractors. It includes features such as tax filings and payments, full-service payroll process, unlimited monthly pay runs, direct deposit, and customer support. The pricing for this plan includes a monthly base fee of $35, with additional charges of $6/month per person paid.
2. Pay Contractors Only: This plan is for businesses that only need to process payroll for contractors. The pricing for this plan is $6/month per person paid.

Square Payroll website

Who is it Best Suited For?

Square Payroll is particularly good for hourly paying or seasonal businesses, due to its pay-as-you-go feature. Square Payroll is also convenient for businesses that already use other Square solutions, as it integrates with them for timecard, tips, and commissions.

Papaya Global Payroll

Papaya Global is a cloud-based payroll and payments platform for global workforce management, founded in 2016. It has customers from over 160 countries, including some of the world’s largest companies.

Features

• Automation: Papaya Global automates the entire payroll process, from onboarding to payment.
• Compliance: The platform ensures compliance with local labor laws and regulations in each country.
• Flexibility: Papaya Global offers flexible payment methods, including bank transfers and digital wallets.
• Security: The platform uses advanced security measures to protect customer data.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Full global coverage
• useful automation features
• Cost-effective pricing plans

Cons:

• Slow setup time
• limited integrations

Pricing

Papaya Global offers a few pricing options for their global payroll and payments platform. Their pricing starts at $3 per month per employee for their Payroll Platform License, which allows businesses to upgrade their payroll and payments technology without replacing their payroll partners/

Other pricing options include:

• Full-Service Payroll: Starting from $12 per month per employee. This includes their advanced payroll platform, embedded payments, global partner network, and employee portal.
• Data and Insights Platform License: Starting from $150 per month per location. This allows businesses to analyze payroll costs and headcount in real-time.
• Payments-as-a-Service: Starting from $3 per month per employee. This streamlines payments through the first embedded platform designed for workforce payments.
• Employer of Record: Starting from $770 per month per employee. This allows businesses to hire top talent anywhere and build local teams in weeks, not months/
• Contractor Management: Starting from $25 per month per employee. This allows businesses to onboard and pay international contractors quickly and compliantly

Who is it Best Suited For?

Papaya Global Payroll is best suited for companies with international employees who need a complete solution for managing their global payroll operations. It offers an intuitive interface, global coverage, cost-effective pricing plans, and advanced security measures for protecting customer data.

Get a demo for Papaya Global here

Lano

Lano.io is a cloud-based compliance and payments platform that provides a unified solution for hiring, managing and paying employees and contractors in full compliance in over 150 countries worldwide, without setting up a legal entity. Their platform allows businesses of any size to streamline and automate their global workforce management processes, from hiring new employees to processing multi-country payroll.

Best Features

• Manage quickly and easily global payroll with partners in 130+ countries
• Hiring tool that helps you connect to the talent pool everywhere in the world and simplify the HR process
• Manage and pay automatically contractors with minimum risks

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Lano.io offers a free version to start with
• The ability to manage global payroll quickly and simply with partners in 130+ countries

Cons:

• No bank transfer automation

Pricing

Their pricing starts at €2.50 per month per employee for their Payroll Consolidation service, which allows businesses to control global payroll from a single dashboard. This includes a setup fee from €250 per provider.

Other pricing options include:

• Integrated Payments: Included with the Lano Platform.
• Global Employment Solutions: Starting from €550 per month per employee for their Employer of Record service.
• Contractor Management: Starting from €20 per month per contractor.
• Multi-Country Payroll: Starting from €300 per month for 1-5 employees and €30 per employee per month for more than 5 employees. This includes a one-time setup fee of €1000 per provider.

Who is it Best Suited For?

Lano.io is best suited for businesses that need to manage their global workforce through one panel, from payroll, to EOR, and contractors. It is particularly good for businesses that need to manage global payroll quickly and simply with partners in 130+ countries.

Visit Lano

Skuad

Skuad is a modern payroll and HR software designed to cater to businesses with remote or distributed teams across the globe. With an emphasis on simplifying international payroll management, Skuad has quickly become a go-to solution for companies looking to manage diverse workforces efficiently.

Best Features

• Support for multi-currency payroll processing
• Automated tax calculations and compliance for multiple countries
• Centralized platform for managing global workforce data
• Integration with popular accounting and HR tools
• Employee self-service portal for easy access to payslips and tax documents

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Streamlines international payroll management
• Ensures global tax compliance

Cons:

• May be less suitable for businesses with only local employees

Skuad pricing

Their pricing starts at $19 per month for their Global Contractor Payments service, which allows businesses to hire and pay contractors globally, with localized contracts and bullet-proof IC compliance.

Other pricing options include:

• Global Employment: Starting at $199 per month per employee. This includes hiring full-time employees anywhere while Skuad manages payroll, benefits, and compliance.
• Skuad Enterprise: Contact Skuad for pricing details. This includes tailor-made solutions for large businesses with custom pricing and bespoke functionality

Who Should Choose Skuad?

Skuad is an ideal choice for businesses with remote or distributed teams working across multiple countries. Its focus on global payroll management, multi-currency support, and automated tax calculations make it a powerful tool for companies looking to simplify their international payroll processes and ensure compliance with diverse tax regulations.

Get a free demo today

Best online payroll services: Wrap up

Selecting the right payroll service provider is crucial for small business owners looking to streamline their payroll processes and ensure compliance with tax regulations. The range of payroll companies available today offers various features and pricing tiers, catering to businesses with diverse needs.

Carefully evaluate the best payroll service providers we’ve reviewed, so you can make an informed decision that suits your company’s requirements. Choosing the right solution not only simplifies managing payroll data but also allows you to focus on growing your business while enjoying peace of mind.