9 Best Payroll Software Options for Small Businesses

What’s the best payroll software for your business?

Well, what’s the best side of the pool for diving?

Depends. (Deep ends — get it?)

If you’re in the market for new payroll software, we’ve got you covered. From basic payroll to offering benefits, let’s see what’s on the market today.

Whether you need it for time tracking, tax filing, or payroll processing, here are eight of the best payroll software tools we think you should consider for your small business in 2020.

1. Deskera
2. Agiled
3. Gusto
4. Remote Team
5. Patriot Software
6. Quickbooks Payroll
7. OnPay
8. Square Payroll
9. Rippling
10. Wave Payroll

1. Deskera

Benefits: Generate payroll and payslips in a matter of minutes with Deskera People. Employees can view their payslips, apply for leaves , and file their claims and expenses online. Run unlimited payrolls and only pay for the power users.

Potential Drawbacks: Currently only integrations with Zapier and payments like Veem, Paypal and Stripe. 

Best for: Small businesses, 5+ employees

Pricing: Starts at $19 per month per user. Get the annual deal of Deskera at AppSumo.

2. Agiled

Benefits: Simple UI and easy to use. Run payroll smoothly in a few clicks and generate payslips for the team. Teammates can see their salary slips, track time, log expenses, and apply for leaves. There is no limit on the number of payrolls you can run. 

Potential Drawbacks: No Transferwise integration, but it is on their roadmap and coming soon.

Best for: Small businesses, agencies, and remote teams. 

Pricing: Starts at $15 per month for 5 users. Or you can get the Agiled Premium Plan Annual Deal for $249 on Appsumo.

2. Gusto

Source: Gusto

Benefits: Users like the simple interface, low cost, middle-of-the-road pricing, and helpful employee onboarding features. You can also administrate small business medical, dental, vision health benefits in Gusto. The time tracker feature makes managing your hourly employees a piece of cake.

Potential drawbacks: “Gusto will charge for all employees on the books — regardless of if they take a wage that month or not. Therefore, inactive employees cost quite a bit of money annually. This cost should be taken into account when compared to alternatives.” — TrustRadius.

Best for: Small businesses and nonprofits looking for a payroll system.

Website: https://gusto.com/product/payroll

Pricing: Starts at $6 per month per person.

3. Remote Team

Source: AppSumo

Benefits: Users like the integrations (including Toggl, DeskTime, Harvest, and TransferWise to name a few) modular interface, built-in inventory tracking, document management, and e-sign features, and customizable overtime terms.

Potential drawbacks: Some users report difficulty manually adjusting hours tracked.

Best for: Remote-first teams, small businesses with many international contractors/employees with different pay rates and tax compliance needs.

Website: https://www.remoteteam.com/payroll/

Pricing: Remote Team normally starts at $14.99 per month per user. Get a LTD on Remote Team starting at just $59 for a limited time.

4. Patriot Payroll

Source: Patriot

Benefits: Users like how affordable this payroll solution is, how quick and easy it is to use every month (even for a non-accountant with limited experience running payroll), and how responsive their customer support team is.

Potential drawbacks: Some users complain about PTO tracking.

Best for: From small businesses to large organizations with up to 100 employees.

Website: https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/

Pricing: Base price at $10 + $4 per employee/contractor.

5. Quickbooks Payroll

Source: Capterra

Benefits: Users like that once you set up payroll, you can configure it to run automatically every month. They also like that it integrates seamlessly with many other applications including their accounting software if they use Quickbooks by Intuit. They also offer payroll tax penalty protection up to $25K.

Potential drawbacks: Some users report that making changes to certain payroll data can be difficult to finesse, and in general users reported mixed levels of user-friendliness.

Best for: Anyone who uses QBO for accounting, small businesses craving automation.

Website: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/

Pricing: Starts at $45 + $4 per employee per month.

6. OnPay

Source: Capterra

Benefits: Users like the straightforward price point, the ease of payroll and tax submission, the unlimited monthly payroll runs, and the reports available.

Potential drawbacks: Onboarding does not seem to be as intuitive as other HR software and users report updates that change the interface fairly often, causing them to have to re-learn certain tasks.

Best for: Small businesses who don’t like to be nickel-and-dimed.

Website: https://onpay.com/payroll-software

Pricing: $36 + $4 per person each month.

7. Square Payroll

Source: Capterra

Benefits: Users like the done-for-you quarterly reports, new hire reports, and W-3s, the efficiency of tracking employee hours, and the pay-as-you-go workers’ comp.

Potential drawbacks: Users seem to report that it lacks some core flexibility/customization features that other more robust options have, employees can clock in using the mobile app unless disallowed in the dashboard.

Best for: Brick and mortar businesses that use Square as a POS, small businesses that only hire contractors, or businesses where employees “clock in/out.”

Website: https://squareup.com/us/en/payroll

Pricing: Starts at $5 per contractor (add $29 per month if you have employees).

8. Rippling

Source: TechCrunch

Benefits: Rippling covers payroll, benefits, HR, and IT, so it offers a wider base of functions than other providers on this list. Users like the easy, customizable, and organized user experience, the wide number of integrations with 3rd party software available via SSO. (Also just a note that people seem really ENTHUSIASTIC about Rippling — far more than the sleepy reviews on other software.)

Potential drawbacks: Users say that the reporting features are not as robust as they wish and that it lacks a direct customer service line — though they are responsive via email

Best for: Mid-sized businesses wanting a modern software offering payroll control and a wide variety of integrations for human resources, SSO, and beyond.

Website: https://www.rippling.com/payroll/

Pricing: Starts at $8 per month per user.

9. Wave Payroll

Source: Capterra

Benefits: Users like that it integrates with Wave’s free accounting software, its payroll automation, and that it automatically fills out my employee tax forms.

Potential drawbacks: This is not a full-service payroll solution, so some users report that it lacks some features or feels more “DIY” than other options (but this may be a benefit for some)

Best for: Small business owners running their bookkeeping on Wave, who want to add seamless payroll features.

Website: https://www.waveapps.com/payroll/

Pricing: Starts at $20 + $6 per active employee/contractor.

Pick Your Favorite Payroll Software

Everyone celebrates when that direct deposit hits their bank account. Cha-ching!

Which of these best payroll software services look most interesting to you? There are so many payroll providers to look at, including many not mentioned here like RUN powered by ADP, Sage, Wagepoint, Paychex Flex, Zenefits, Xero, Paycor, BambooHQ, and more.

And if you’re looking for other great tools to power your business, at a fraction of the cost you’re used to paying, then browse the AppSumo store. We’re always updating it with new software solutions to help you stay productive, save costs, and get the word out about your business.