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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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: